Ruhi Book 1

This time last year, I had just decided to become a Bahá’í. Thanks to phone calls on my behalf from the Isle of Wight to Bridge of Weir, to Elderslie, to Glasgow, I now found myself on what I thought was Zoe Sier’s doorstep, awaiting my first Ruhi experience. Actually it wasn’t the right house, but that’s another story.. When we finally found each other and I had been introduced to goodness knows how many enthusiastic Bahá’ís (*gulp*), we discussed a suitable time to meet each week. At this point I didn’t know what exactly I was going in for, and when Karmel Helmy produced a thin, red book entitled “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit”, I was surprised. How could this be a “fun” group of Bahá’í youth if all we did was work from this book? But little did I know, from the pages of this insignificant looking book would spring memorable evenings of fun and games, a bunch of amazing friends and a whole new outlook on life! And of course, a delicious pizza every Wednesday. The exercises at first glance seemed suspiciously easy, copying out quotations from the Writings, ticking boxes, reading aloud around the group. However, it was not as simple as that – we talked about what the actual meaning of the quotes could be and hearing other people’s ideas was really helpful. We did many unique artistic activities to help us understand the Writings better. If anyone glanced in the window during the classes, I wonder what they would have thought. Pizza strewn over the floor, some people banging drums and playing didgeridoos while others are quietly making playdough models: aha! they must be Bahá’ís. This, er, shall we say, creative approach was a great way to learn. Each week we enthusiastically learnt up the quotations, and I always looked forward to the class.
 

Dancing to Bollywood music during a Book 2 break

Book 2

My other Ruhi experiences have been equally as fun but quite different. The week long Ruhi 2 intensive course in Fyvie, at the Fozdar’s home, was another good way of getting to know people, and getting to try delicious food. It was like staying in a beautiful countryside retreat, away from the stresses of exams and brothers. Although I did get a pleasant little replacement brother, Mark, whose only small request was to dance to Bollywood music all day. It was luxury – we always got a good night’s sleep, woke up to a delicious breakfast, lounged about in squashy armchairs all day and just as we got peckish Lorrie would bring in cups of tea and biscuits. We took breaks whenever we got tired or had refreshing “energisers” such as playing football or, guess what, drinking more tea. Visiting “newly-enrolled believers” was much easier than it sounds. Due to a shortage of these people, our tutor, Nadia Donald, took us to talk with her family, who kindly entertained us with guitar songs and biscuits.
 

Book 3

For the past weeks I’ve been part of Peter Ballantyne’s Ruhi Book 3 group, which again has been a great source of food ... sorry, I mean spiritual food. Being the youngest member of the group (unless you count Anya’s baby Sandy), it’s very interesting to see what adults do instead of games. Apart from playing “Guess What Type of Coffee We Are Having Today”, singing “We are Drops” complete with actions is the favourite form of entertainment. The different personalities within the group mean that we have some deepening discussions, ranging from the importance of teaching children by example – to the subject of how to make seagulls explode. Our first children’s class is next week.. As you can see, all that’s left for me to write is to strongly recommend Ruhi classes. They’re very valuable for your ongoing spiritual journey as a Bahá’í, and you will definitely learn something new. Thanks to the amazing tutors, each class is unique in its approach and activities, but, of course, they always contain both types of food. So – try them for yourself.

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As with all promising developments, there’s a time for promises, and a time for those promises to be realised. The Training Institute is no exception, and our community is now increasingly examining specifics of how the potential of this process will be realised in our country, and not just elsewhere. It is this especially strong focus on outcomes that characterises the stage we are now coming to in the Institute process.

We’ve not always been at this stage. We’ve been through speculation on the merits/de-merits of the process, creating/selecting materials, and the stage of familiarising ourselves with something seemingly unfamiliar. But the passion with which so many have embraced the goals and suggested methods of the Five Year Plan, and the rapidity with which so much of the community is progressing through the selected sequence of courses, confirms that those are not the challenges of today.

It is transformation of our communities, and the increasing attractiveness this will hold for ourselves and our friends/relations, that will yield us the significant advances in the process of entry by troops. The role of the Institute process in this is clear: And the consequences of this transformation and enhancement could not be greater: This pattern in action can and should comprise many things. The institute process is not an end in itself, but a means to (among other things) develop our understanding, spiritual qualities, capacity and motivation to hold devotional meetings, children’s classes, more study circles, deepening sessions/firesides, and other novel activities. Hence the attention in many communities to ensuring the outcome of study circles is action, not just words, or a feeling of satisfaction. And the Institute Board’s processes, never designed to be seen in isolation, are constantly evolving to support this. The need for action is as great as ever:

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