The Baha'i Community in Silver Spring, Maryland

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The Baha'i Community in Silver Spring, Maryland

Religion Renewed: Transforming neighborhoods through spiritual community

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How do Baha'is Meditate?

If you're loking for meditation groups, Baha'is mediate in a wide variety of fashions but follow no formal or required mechanism for meditation. Bahá'u'lláh all mankind to spend each day in meditation, and meditation is central to Baha'i daily life:

"Meditate profoundly, that the secret of things unseen may be revealed unto you, that you may inhale the sweetness of a spiritual and imperishable fragrance..."

While a variety of meditations are helpful, Bahá'u'lláh encouraged us specifically to reflect at the end of each day on our deeds and their worth. Other than this one specific topic for meditation, Bahá'u'lláh did not specify a particular approach to meditation. Instead, each individual is free to choose his or her own meditational form. 

The mystic feeling uniting man with God

Shoghi Effendi, who led the Baha'i community world-wide, wrote in 1936 that...

"...the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling that unites man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. And this is the reason why Bahá'u'lláh has so much stressed the importance of worship. It is not sufficient for a believer to merely accept and observe the teachings. He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality, which he can acquire chiefly by the means of prayer. The Bahá'í Faith, like all other Divine religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character. Its chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man that has first to be fed. And this spiritual nourishment prayer can best provide."

Linking prayer and meditation as associated daily religious practices, Baha'is typically combine the two practices to a degree during Devotional Gatherings which are open to and specifically meant for all mankind, not just for Baha'is.  The Baha'is in Silver Spring often interweave meditation and prayers from the Holy Writings of all faiths.

Find out how to engage the Silver Spring Baha'is regarding Devotional Gatherings and Meditation!

Photo of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, courtesy of Bahai.us.