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Response
An exploration in the Baha'i Writings of the dual nature of human relationships.
- GenresBaha I
134 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
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11 people want to read
About the author
Bahíyyih Nakhjavání
23 books110 followersBahiyyih Nakhjavání is a Persian writer educated in the United Kingdom and the United States. After teaching literature at universities in North America and Europe, she came to live in France where she has been conducting workshops in creative writing/reading for the past decade. Bahiyyih Nakhjavání's books, both fiction and non-fiction, have been translated into many languages. In 2007, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liège.
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November 11, 2020
Without a doubt one of the most beautiful books I've read in a long time, speaking to the goal of every soul: "To recognize the oneness within ourselves and around us in this fragmented world."
What is our response to the needs of others, to the needs of humanity, the the needs of our own soul? What is the language of compassion and what is the language of consultation? Bahiyyih Nakhjavani beautifully outlines and analyses the quality and qualities of our response, and juxtaposes it/them with "our performance in the theatre of social acceptability".
And in the context of a disintegrating world, she shows how "our business is to make bonds. [...] Communication, whether tranquil or turbulent, which binds souls in spite of time and space, is the stuff of immortality." And she shows how vulnerability is the first step towards self-sacrifice.
More than anything else, she shows how the Covenant between God and man is the quintessential relationship which requires our response. "For Baha'is the nature of the Covenant between God and man is the crystallization of all we mean by response. The breakdown in that essential communication creates the alienation and loneliness we feel in a society where there is no commitment to an ideal. Ignorance of its need is indicated by the psychological distress within an individual who cannot reconcile his material and spiritual powers."
What is our response to the needs of others, to the needs of humanity, the the needs of our own soul? What is the language of compassion and what is the language of consultation? Bahiyyih Nakhjavani beautifully outlines and analyses the quality and qualities of our response, and juxtaposes it/them with "our performance in the theatre of social acceptability".
And in the context of a disintegrating world, she shows how "our business is to make bonds. [...] Communication, whether tranquil or turbulent, which binds souls in spite of time and space, is the stuff of immortality." And she shows how vulnerability is the first step towards self-sacrifice.
More than anything else, she shows how the Covenant between God and man is the quintessential relationship which requires our response. "For Baha'is the nature of the Covenant between God and man is the crystallization of all we mean by response. The breakdown in that essential communication creates the alienation and loneliness we feel in a society where there is no commitment to an ideal. Ignorance of its need is indicated by the psychological distress within an individual who cannot reconcile his material and spiritual powers."
Displaying 1 of 1 review