Dear all,
I read some of the posts on ruhi on this list with
interest.
>From what I am getting from the USA Bahais at various
places on the internet it seems that in the USA Ruhi
is tutored in quite a strict way, with a lot of
emphasis on 'how it is supposed to be taught'.
In Ireland we started a year later than most of the
world (for some reason, can't remember why) with
implementing ruhi in study circles. Currently, in our
cluster, the emphasis is on having as many people
doing Ruhi as possible.
I came across book 1 in 1997 when I was staying in New
Zealand. I did not like it a bit. It reminded me of
the Jehovah's witness magazine, where they would ask a
question and then would expect you to literally quote
the text.
Then, in 2002 in Ireland, I came across a Bahai who
found the faith at 19, (and was 28 at the time I met
her), had just finished a Masters degree in women
studies, and had been studying ruhi at the world
centre in Haifa under one of the ITC people there. She
also has a bachelors in literature, and part of her
masters degree she did in South Africa, but she is
from an European country. She was planning to do her
phD in womens study at the time I met her and as far
as I know (she moved outside Ireland) she is doing
that now. She is not at all a person who likes
standard answers. She likes to think and use her
thinking ability.
I did book 1 with her as a tutor. I think we did use a
dictionary, but am not remembering that strongly. I
was very much like: hey they are trying to put their
interpretation down our throat. But she challenged me
on that. I realised it was not so. There are only two
questions in that book which have nothing to do with
the writings but with the interpretation of the
editors of the writings. All the other questions are
writing out sentences from the quotes provided.
I did not write the answers down, until my tutor
explained to me the importance of it. It is not so
much that you are able to find it in the text, the
main thing is to memorise the quote. writing down the
answer quoting from the quote helps you to memorise.
And I could see that.
There was discussion, because people sometimes wrote
down their own ideas instead of quoting the quote.
That was fine too, although she gently reminded us
time and again that the reason for quoting the quote
was to memorise the quote and to let the words of the
quote sink in.
i have done 5 books now, the only book I need to do is
book 7. book 5 is not yet included in the cycle of
books to finish before our institute coordinator
regards one as having finished the necessary series of
books.
My all time favorites are book I and book 6.
We have had two declarations within 6 months due to
two people interested in learning more about the Bahai
faith doing respectively book 1 (and declared after
that) and doing book 2 (without having done book 1)
and declared during doing book 2.
This happened one year after many of the Bahais in
our cluster had entered book 1 for the first time and
at the stage of the two declarants most of us in the
cluster have at least done 3 books. I think that that
fact had something to do with that we felt comfortable
enough to invite seekers to the ruhi classes.
I have done the different books under all different
tutors. And none had this absolutist style. And
discussion to a degree was possible, the degree was
there because of wanting to go through the book as
that being the main objective, since the focus was on
texts.
I have found that there was also a feeling of getting
to know the other participants better, by doing the
books with them. Every time I did a book (most of them
by the way were intensive courses, in which you do the
books in a week rather than a class every week of 2
hours) the group was different, different
participants, different tutor.
I love the ruhi method, but I do not think it is the
only method. I also think tutors can adapt the ruhi
books when they see fit to do so. And it seems that
the building momentum document seems to support that,
that ruhi can be adapted.
Better than firesides I find ruhi a very good way to
present the Bahai faith to people who want to learn
more about it.
We are encouraged in the Bahai faith to learn quotes
by heart,
Often when I read about the Bahai process in the USA,
I get this feeling that people, Bahais and non-Bahais
in the USA are very literally prone, in that they want
to do things correctly and are so focussed on what is
the letter of the law, that they leave out room for
any flexibility or creativity. In Ireland this is
certainly not the case, and I would like to find out
how this works in other countries in Europe. There is
resistance to ruhi in Europe as well, for the same
reasons as are posted on this list. And the same
objections i had initially to ruhi. I am still
critical, and I still long for intense deepenings, but
most people in my community don't seem able to bear
deepenings the way I like them, get too tired or
distracted easily, and I have had that since i became
a Bahai.
The objections are: it forces down an interpretation
of the writings (and I have been proven in book 1 at
least that that is not true), it is okay for
illiterate people (then why did it appeal so much to
one with a masters in women studies and a bachelor
degree in literature, both English and otherwise? One
raised in a country where critical and analytical
thinking is far more promoted than for example in the
USA?), and it is too fundamentalistic in approach.
I have not found enough evidence for those claims.
There is a little bit of evidence, but not enough.
Of course I may be prejudiced and overlook some
things. I may take things too much on face value.
On the other hand, it could be that those who have
these objections are prejudiced as well and had the
misfortune to have tutors who are not or were not
capable to be flexible and creative in their eagerness
'to do it right', whatever 'right' is. A tutor is not
a word we use anymore in ireland, we use the word
facillitator. There is a difference, in my feeling.
maybe truth lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe one
proof coudl be to study which clusters attract most
new believers and have greatest success in
consolidating the communities, and whose new believers
become active, and deepened. Maybe one could analyse
why this happened, what are the possible causes. If
these clusters have a lot of people, seekers and
enrolled Bahais , doing the ruhi courses, it coudl be
a proof that the ruhi courses do have a lot of
success.
The USA is one year ahead of Ireland. We had after one
year after most people have done at least 3 ruhi books
2 new believers in 6 months time, (there are 43 bahais
in dublin city, and I think in the whole cluster about
100 or 110 bahais). There should be figures available
about what are successful clusters and the relation to
the ruhi courses done in these clusters.
I am still searching, and I do not believe that ruhi
as we know it is the beginning and end of it all. But
I do think it has quite a lot of value, and that some
of us can be extremely prejudiced to things when they
don't immediately appeal to the intellect. I am one of
them, so I think I have a right to speak about this!
;o)
(from my earliest days in the faith there was this
dichotomy between my analytical powers, and
intellectual powers and my heart).
much love,
janine van rooij
dublin, ireland.
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