Author: Alison Marshall

It’s time for Naw Ruz celebrations. I’ve collected together a few videos on YouTube in celebration of Naw Ruz. I have made a playlist of them, where you can find all the videos listed below. Here are the videos featured on the playlist:

I learned pretty much everything I know about the Baha’i mashriqu’l-adhkar (house of worship) from a handbook by Sen McGlinn called A Mashriqu’l-Adhkar Handbook, which is available on Amazon in kindle format for a couple of dollars. For those without a Kindle, Laura Foster has written an excellent essay about the mashriqu’l-adhkar, which gives a…

Baha’u’llah explains that religious laws are of two kinds – the ones that don’t change and the ones that do. From what I can make out, most laws do in fact change. This is in keeping with the law of change in the contingent world, which guarantees that everything changes. It stands to reason, then,…

Baha’u’llah refers to the heart throughout his writings, and places a great deal of importance on it. For example, he says in Arabic hidden word no 59 that the heart is his home: “O child of existence, your heart is my home, sanctify it for my appearance, your spirit is my place of revelation, purify…

Everyone experiences situations where people who identify as believers act in ways that are inconsistent with Baha’u’llah’s teachings. Baha’u’llah’s writings are packed with exhortations to be a good person and to have a sin-covering eye as regards the failings of others. However, endeavouring to do this can be difficult when another person’s actions are seriously…

In this blog post, I continue my commentary on Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of the Son. The previous blog post in this commentary can be found here: Tablet of the Son: paragraphs 15-17. The entire commentary so far can be found here. In this post, which focuses on paragraphs 18-20, Baha’u’llah is quoting from a letter he wrote…

Baha’u’llah sets a high standard when he asks us to be respectful toward others no matter what they say or how they behave. In other places, he counsels us to be humble before others, such in Arabic hidden word 30: “Deny not My servant should he ask anything from thee, for his face is My face; be then abashed before…

Way back in the 2000s, I had the idea of writing an introductory book about the Faith for a global audience. When Steve and I made the big move in 2010 from the south of New Zealand to the north, from the city to the country, I promised myself and Baha’u’llah that I would consecrate…

A fresh translation from Adib Masumian of Baha’u’llah’s lengthy and important Tablet of the Veil reveals a new side to Baha’u’llah. The circumstances surrounding the revelation of the tablet are unusual and enlightening. Baha’u’llah has chosen to place himself in the situation many of us find ourselves in – how to deal with a person…

What are vain imaginings? I can’t give a definition. I’ve been trying to come up with one for some months now and what I find is that more and more of the contents in my mind seem to fall into that category. Currently, I would say that vain imaginings and idle fancies are thoughts that…