Links to Selected Essays I Have Submitted to Other Blogs

Just aggregating some selected writings posted to Baha'i Coherence and another blog project that aren't already posted here. At this point I don't want to post them in full since they are outdated and in some cases, I no longer take the same position. I am also no longer a Baha'i, and so I think it would be misleading for me to post the Baha'i Coherence stuff as if they had just been written. A longer term project will be to organize various things I have written and perhaps update some of the with my current thinking.

From Baha'i Coherence:

Is Usury Good?
Theology or Consciousness
Reflections on Robert Wright's: Evolution of God
Depression as an Opportunity
The Process of Authenticity: Part 1
The Process of Authenticity: Part 2
Beyond Utopia and Myopia
The God of Evolution
A Religion for Atheists?
Physical Resurrection: Linchpin of Christianity?
The Search for a Modern Theology

From Bounded Irrationality:

How to Run the World
The Problem of Artificial States
A Distinctly Africa Green Revolution
Islamic Banking and Moroccan Attitudes Towards Interest

Buddhism, Meditation, and the Baha'i Faith: Part 3

I realize that most people go into meditation looking for stability, happiness, and comfort in the face of their own existence...I have spent many years cultivating extreme experiential instability, careful awareness of the minutia of my suffering and the clear perception that I don't even exist as a separate entity...I can honestly say that these practices are without doubt the sanest thing I have ever done in my life. -Daniel Ingram

The path of insight is not known to be easy. There are said to be many ups and downs - ecstatic bliss and energy one moment and crushing fear and misery the next. There are many maps of this territory, all different on a superficial level, yet all containing many of the same fundamentals. In the words of Ingram:

One of the most profound things about these stages is that they are strangely predictable regardless of the practitioner or the insight tradition. Texts two thousand years old describe the stages just the way people go through them today, though there will be some individual variation on some of the particulars today as then. The Christian maps, the Sufi maps, the Buddhist maps of the Tibetans and the Theravada, and the maps of the Khabbalists and Hindus are all remarkably consistent in their fundamentals. I chanced into these classic experiences before I had any training in meditation, and I have met a large number of people who have done likewise. These maps, Buddhist or otherwise, are talking about something inherent in how our minds progress in fundamental wisdom that has little to do with any tradition and lots to do with the mysteries of the human mind and body. They are describing basic human development. These stages are not Buddhist but universal, and Buddhism is merely one of the traditions that describes them, albeit unusually well.

In this post I will discuss the map, known as the "Progress of Insight", which is originally derived from the Pali cannon in the Theravada tradition, as related by Mahasi Sayada and Daniel Ingram. The part of the map that I will discuss is "1st path" (there are four successive paths) which is basically the road to initial, but not complete, enlightenment, to a point after which insight generates itself automatically whether one practices or not, beyond the "plane of limitation". I will also relate this path to the first Four Valleys in the Sufi tradition, as commented on by Baha'u'llah: Search, Love, Knowledge, and Unity. 

My motivation for doing this is simply to share something that has become a big part of my life. This is my own working model of spiritual development and I will relate some of my experiential reports traveling along this path. 

Buddhism, Meditation, and the Baha'i Faith: Part 2

-Part 1 Here-

And if we turn inward and prove our True Nature, that True Self is no-self, our own self is no-self, we go beyond ego and past clever words. Then the gate to the oneness of cause-and-effect is thrown open. Not two and not three, straight ahead runs the Way. Our form now being no-form, in going and returning we never leave home. Our thought now being no-thought, our dancing and songs are the Voice of the Dharma. How vast is the heaven of boundless Samadhi! How bright and transparent the moonlight of wisdom! What is there outside us? What is there we lack? 
-From the Song of Zazen

The Baha'i Faith is a mystical religion. Baha'u'llah describes the spiritual seeker in the Valley of Knowledge - "the last plane of limitation" - as one who has "passed over the worlds of names, and fled beyond the worlds of attributes as swift as lightning" and has "made their dwelling-place in the shadow of the Essence." 

It is also a practical religion. Baha'u'llah emphasizes the need to be "anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements."

Putting these two things together requires being “in the world, but not of the world” so to speak. This requires a delicate balance and careful integration of the two modes; yet they are each distinct. They are mutually reinforcing but they also develop along different axis.

Somewhat along these lines, in Buddhism there are three types of training which reinforce and integrate with each other, yet are distinct: morality, concentration, and insight. 

Buddhism, Meditation, and the Baha'i Faith: Part 1

So the true goal of meditation is achieved through a dialectical process that alternates between dissolving into flowing nothingness and detecting subtler and subtler instances of solidified somethingness. - Shinzen Young

In my opinion, the Baha’i community is exceptionally well developed in two important ways. 

The first way has to do with thinking about and acting in the world.  It has a comprehensive system of morality - with laws and principles that guide personal conduct and attitude; it has a brilliant evolving mechanism for interacting in the world and trying to make it better - the institute process; it has a universal and unique system of governance; and it is philosophically and theologically rich and modern.

The second is along a mode of spiritual practice: prayer and contemplation. There are countless prayers revealed by Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l Baha, and clear instructions for ideal practice, for example in the long obligatory prayer. The writings are poetic and intriguing and, by both the content and the very structure of the language, evoke positive spiritual feelings, mystical inclinations, and realizations of oneness.  

On Losing My Faith

After seeing Bryan's post I felt compelled to update as well, after about two years of inactivity. This is essentially a coming out post. I have only told a handful of people where I am at - out of worry that I would disappoint friends. Now it has been a while, and since I helped start this blog I feel like I should use this forum to explain myself. To put it simply: I lost my faith. Since then I have regained interest in spiritual practice - but not belief in a Baha'i sense. Let me explain.

What to do during writers block? Write about writing.

So I have been in a writing slump lately. I can no longer use a crazy work schedule as an excuse, since I am back to the 40 and life is pretty laid back at the moment. I thought I would utilise this writers block to reflect upon the purpose and nature of writing within a blog format, as well as think out loud about new directions to go in.

Writing has become incredibly important to me, especially in the last year. I find that it is a great way to give voice and to actively explore emotions and cognitions that might have remained sub-conscious otherwise. Blogging has given me a forum to think about the craft of writing as well as the content. What I mean is, I used to write a lot a few years ago without very much thought to word choice, sequence, rhythm etc, kind of a throw-up if you will. Looking back on it now is invaluable, not only to see the progression of my thought but also to realize how far the craft of it has come. I find that the focus on craft has greatly improved the content; ideas are more tightly knit and lend themselves to greater cohesiveness.

Too much concern about craft can often inhibit writing, which has been the biggest problem lately. I have a post in progress that I find disjointed and cliche, even if it is a true record of my feelings

I find it important to challenge myself in different styles of writing. When I was working on my thesis, academic writing would have become dry if I couldn't also write poetically. Recently I have attempted to write in fictional and non-fictional narrative styles, which has always seemed horribly daunting, but has turned out okay so far. A few of my posts have been essays on religious/spiritual themes. The approach has been an analytical one; I would also like to approach them subjectively and poetically. Another interest, which is the approach of many blogs, is to comment on current events in a thoughtful way and link up to different others who are doing the same.

Writing is a form of therapy, a means of reflection, and a chronological record of our experience in this life. I intend to invest more energy finding words for the experience.

A Biblical Case for Baha'u'llah

Introduction

“The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promise of God, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his heart that which hath been revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, O ye beloved of God, and let you ears be attentive unto his Word, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the crystal waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His Cause. – Baha’u’llah

This is quite a remarkable claim made by Baha’u’llah. As a Baha’i I have come to believe that He is the manifestation of God for this age and the return of Jesus Christ foretold in the Bible. Christians have every right to be skeptical of this claim, for there are many warnings of false prophets in the New Testament. This essay is an exploration of Baha’u’llahs claim in light of the biblical writings concerning the nature of Jesus's return, and the reality of false prophets.


The Return of the Jesus

Throughout the Bible, there are many promises that Jesus will return. Probably the most fantastic mention, one that conjures up images of a sudden and awful cataclysmic event is:

"For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be...But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." Matthew 24:27-30

It is quite a leap of faith to interpret these images literally. If stars literally fell from the sky, the planet would be burned up before they made contact....Luckily for those of us who believe in the laws of physics, there is much biblical evidence that this fantastic image of return is not to be taken literally. Consider the story of Elijah. The Old Testament speaks of the ascension of Elijah, much like the ascension of Jesus, in which he gets taken up into heaven:

"Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven" 2 Kings 2:11

This is an important statement because Elijah was prophesied to return before the coming of the Christ:

"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." Malachy 4:5

One of the major stumbling blocks that the Jews had in accepting Jesus as the Christ is that they believed that Elijah would return in same manner in which he was taken up. Jesus addresses this, saying that in fact Elijah did come, but not as they were expecting. Instead John the Baptist was the manifestation of Elijah. It is clear that Jesus’s definition of Elijah return was inherently spiritual:

"And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' And He answered and said, 'Elijah is coming and will restore all things'; but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Babtist." Matthew 17:19


Spiritual vs. Physical Resurrection

If we are to believe that Jesus physically resurrected and will also physically return, why is it that the Jews also believed this even though it wasn’t the case? Could it be that the return of Jesus will also be a spiritual return, manifested in a different physical vessel? Paul the apostle hints at the fact that many of God’s teachings can only be understood using a spiritual lens:

"For to us God revealed them through the spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of a man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of god; for they are fo0lishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." 1 Corinthians 2:10-14


He also clearly lays out the difference between the physical body and the spiritual body, and the relationship that they have with each other. In the first part this statement, he talks about how we must sacrifice our physical selves so that our spiritual selves can be liberated:

"But someone will say, how are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own...There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another...So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body, if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”

In the second part, he uses the analogy of the first Adam, who represents the physical self, compared to the last Adam (Christ), who becomes the life giving spirit. He ends the quote by making it very clear that a perishable body cannot inherit the imperishable body; they are two distinctly different things:

"The first Man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam(Christ) became a life-giving spirit. However the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." 1Corinthians 15:35-50

This is an unequivocal statement that our physical bodies will not be resurrected, as many Christians believe. They are flesh and blood, perishable; they must be sown like seeds to make way for the tree of the spirit. So than what about Jesus? Was he not resurrected physically? The accounts of him leaving the tomb after the crucifixion and appearing before the disciples are written in a very literal manner:

“And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen…And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, ‘do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here.” Mark 16:2-6

"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself, touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have…He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them." Luke 24:38-39

By looking only at the previous accounts, it would seem clear that Jesus's resurrection was literal. This interpretation however is inconsistent with Paul’s description of the natural and spiritual body. One could argue that Jesus is the exception when it comes to physical resurrection. However, this is inconsistent with other passages where it is stated that we will be raised in the same manner as Jesus:

"Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh…Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you" 2 Corinthians 4:10-14

The appearances of Jesus to his disciples must have been the spiritual body of Jesus. An overpowering spiritual bounty that was so real and amazing that it could only be explained in terms of physical experience, such as touching His wounds and eating with him. Three days after Jesus had been crucified, his body had been sown, the body that his followers had known had disappeared, His spiritual body had been resurrected, and was available to all who sought to abide in the spirit of Jesus, and have that spirit abide in them:

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4

This spirit of Jesus became the spirit of God, and the spirit of love:

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life". John 6:63

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:24

"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:1


Spiritual Return

If Jesus resurrected spiritually, he will also return spiritually. He speaks at length about this spiritual return, which he describes as a different entity all together:

"'And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.'" John 14:16-17

"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me." John 15:26

"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." John 16:7

Most Christian’s interpret the “helper” as being the third part in the Holy Trinity, referred to as the Holy Spirit. The idea of the trinity was constructed by early Christian theologians attempting to make sense of these verses. The concept of the trinity doesn’t explicitly exist within the Bible. Since we know that the spiritual body of Jesus must be manifested within us, it “is now easy to see that the “helper” can actually refer to Jesus's spiritual return. This spiritual return is also referred to as “the Spirit of truth”, who will speak to us according to our increased capacity, which is no longer in figurative language, but as plain as day:

"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you" John 16:12-14

These things I have spoken to you in a figurative language; an hour is coming when I will speak no more to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the father." John 16:25

This being, which is referred to as the the "Helper", the "Spirit of Truth", and as Himself, will also have a new name.

"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My 'new name'" Revelation 3:12


False Prophets

Jesus was very clear that there would be many false prophets:

"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many." Matthew 24:5

He also warned His followers to be skeptical of any rumors of a promised one:

“Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. For false christ’s and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. If therefore they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them." Matthew 24:23-26

He clearly states that he is the only Christ:

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me." John 14:6

And his followers assert that Jesus is the only name which can be followed: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" Acts 4:12

Peter, who was the foundation of the early church, also admonished the followers to stay clear of false prophets and destructive heresies:

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." 2 Peter 2:1

John, another core follower of Jesus, describes the king of false prophets, the Antichrist, and provided the criteria by which to judge:

"Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son." 1 John 2:20


Criteria for Discernment

So how will we know when Jesus does return, how can we avoid being led astray? This is not an easy question. The Bible says that Jesus will come at a time when we do not think he will:

"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will." Matthew 25:42-44

When he comes, it will be like a thief in the night. When do we know when our house has been robbed? We know the morning after the fact. We do not know when Jesus will return. He might already be here:

“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2

Fortunately, the Bible gives ample guidance as to what to look for. We must look to the fruits:

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they" Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:15

So how can we discern a prophet bearing good fruit from a prophet bearing bad fruit? We must test the spirits to see if they are from God. They must bear good fruits, and they must testify that Christ has come in the flesh and is from God:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world" 1 John 4:1-3

This implies an independent investigation of truth. This means that we cannot just believe something because our families or friends believe it. We do not want to be of those mentioned in the following verse, who persecuted the prophets just as our fathers might have:

"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did you fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who have received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it." Acts 7:51-53


A Case for Baha’u’llah

The Baha’is believe that the Spirit of Jesus has returned in the human temple of Baha’u’llah. We do not expect anybody to believe this because we say so, but we do exhort people to independently investigate the truth of Baha’u’llahs claim and to judge him by his fruits. First look at the life of Baha’u’llah, which was defined by selfless love and service in the face of extreme adversity and opposition. Any seeker who would meet Him would be so transformed and humbled by the overpowering spirit and power of His presence, that many would go on to dedicate their lives, and even face martyrdom, to advance the cause of Baha’u’llah.

Second, look at the world community that Baha’u’llah has set up. Every day, Baha’is coming from every corner of the globe arrives on pilgrimage to the Baha’i world center on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Throughout the world, the Baha’is are devoted to establishing the kingdom of God on earth, where all peoples, regardless of race, religion, culture, or gender will become united and establish peace on earth described in the Bible:

“In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many people’s will come and say, ‘come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will render decision for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.” Isaiah 2:2-4

The Baha’i faith is the first religion in the history of the world that has not broken up into competing sects. Baha’u’llah establish a clear covenant by which the authority is clear, and yet there is room for flexibility and organic growth. In every Baha’ i community with at least 9 members, a local spiritual assembly is elected to guide the community. This election is done by secret ballot, there is no campaigning. People are encouraged to vote in a prayerful manner for those that will best guide their community. No one person has more spiritual authority over anybody else, there is no clergy. The assembly comes to decisions as a body through a process of consultation. This pattern is replicated on a national level, and on a global level. Every 5 years, 9 members are elected by Baha’is from all over the world to serve on the Universal House of Justice. While this body is obligated to follow the guidance explicitly set down by the founders, they are tasked with guiding the world community, and deciding on matters that have not already been revealed.

Third, Baha’u’llah constantly speaks of Jesus as the Son of God, who came to earth to bring salvation to the souls of men. Here is but one of many verses where Baha’u’llah praises Jesus:

“Know though that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things…We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things…Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.” –Baha’u’llah

Putting Baha’u’llah’s praises of Jesus within a larger context, he taught a concept called progressive revelation. This means that God has been with humanity at all times, giving guidance through manifestations of God. The core spiritual message is always the same, ancient and eternal:

“It is clear and evident to thee that all the Prophets are the Temples of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in diverse attire. If thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold Them all abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith.” - Baha’u’llah

Nevertheless, this Spirit of God is revealed using concepts and establishing laws relevant to the culture and evolutionary capacity of the people. Jesus speaks of progressive revelation using the parable of the wineskins:

"And he was telling them a parable: 'No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts in on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But the new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.'" Luke 5:35

Today is the day where the new wine of the spirit is reviving the hearts of humans, recreating the very foundation of civilization. It is not an instant event that is beyond our reach. Instead, we have been given the spiritual tools to build this new civilization ourselves, and thereby realize and manifest our true spiritual self, which mirrors the Spirit of God:

“This is the day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving kindness…Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the knower of things unseen.” –Baha’u’llah.

Fasting Reflections

Baha'i's Fast for 19 days out of the year, meaning we don't take in food or drink from sunrise to sunset. We considered it one of the pillars of our faith, a time of reflection, detachment, and rejuvenation.

Fasting is always an interesting time for me. My whole world is turned around.

There are the day to day practical changes. I have not been exercising. During the day I need to maintain some hydration while at night, after I have eaten and digested, It is already late and I am tired. I am less social during the fast. I have less energy to engage people in conversation that I am ambivilent about. I avoid going to lunch or coffee with friends, which is usually the most social part of the day. There is also more time to work because I am not excusing myself for coffee and snacks, yet I probably get less work done. My attention span gets shot starting at about 2pm.

Then there are the spiritual things. We are told that every hour of this time is endued with a special spiritual potency. The time that is spent well in my consciousness and spirit is amplified, while the time I waste and misdirect feels more tragic. There are also less things to distract me from my core being, and more things to remind me of it. The day is not broken up in the same manageable chunks before and after meals; instead it is a long and drawn out marathon all day, and then all day again the next, for 19 days. I lose the strength to manage and marginalize in my mind and soul the personal and moral issues that I am facing. Food is no longer a viable way to forget and distract.

It is a direct confrontation and struggle. There are only two ways to respond to this. Either prayer is used to accept, engage, and transcend these issues, or I get resentful and crabby. There have been many times during the Fast where I have eaten just to comfort a whiny heart, and to spite any injunction that it not be pampered. There is no middle ground during the fast. Most of the time I live my life in this middle ground, a comfortable place that neither rejects nor fully accepts spiritual consciousness. Pink Floyd coined it as being "comfortably numb".

During the Fast, we have the potential to grow and evolve, or to sink into the dark depths of ourselves. It is really the only choice we have at anytime, it just becomes especially salient during these 19 days; and probably when we die.

Jesus and the Unity of Humankind

"The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." - Luke 6:5

This was a profound and controversial statement made by Jesus. It was a response to the Pharisees who criticized Him and His followers for eating and drinking on the Sabbath. A curious statement considering that he fully upheld the law.

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
For Truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" - Matthew 5:17-19

The key concept here is that while he did not come to abolish the law, he did come to fulfill it. This distinction is key. Like in so many other cases, he uses a parable to draw the distinction:

"No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the will will not match the old.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.
But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins." - Luke 5:36-3

Jesus, "Lord of the Sabbath", announces that he is the new wine, and the grace and salvation that he provides is the new wineskin, the fulfilment of the law. The implication of this is that all humans now have access to salvation, not just the Jews who had controlled the physical means previously. As Paul is to state later:

"But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and the circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God." - Romans 2:29

To justify this concept, Jesus quotes the book of Isaiah:

"'The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" - Luke 3:4-6

This means that the gates had been opened, and all flesh now had access to the salvation of God, not just the Jews. Elsewhere he states:

"And not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" - John 11:52

"And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd. " - John 10:16

Naturally this was not an easy thing for many to accept, even for many of his closest followers. Peter, whom Jesus proclaimed "you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my My church", was hesitant to allow non-Jews into the Church. If Peter was the rock of the church, then Paul was the vision. He consistently pursued the teaching of everybody, no matter the background:

"For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
for just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly..." - Romans 12:3-6

Eventually Peter did come around, but it took a direct exhortation from God:

"And on the next day, as they were on their way, and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
And he became hungry, and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;
and he beheld the sky opened up, and a certain object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
And a voice came to him, 'Arise, Peter, kill and eat!'
But Peter said, 'By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.'
And again a voice came to him a second time, 'what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy...'
And as he talked with him, he entered, and found many people assembled.
And he said to them, 'You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean...'
'I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to him.'" - Acts 10:9-35

One of the most compelling teachings of Jesus is unity in diversity. Through the spirit, people of all different colors, races, cultures, and customs can become united. In this realm, nobody can be considered above anybody else, a revolutionary teaching 2000 years ago and even today. Imagine if Christians had truly followed this guidance. They would not have engaged in colonization, slavery, war, and subjugation. In fact, many Christians acted like the Pharisees who discriminated based upon race and nationality, effectively missing the point completely:

"'And why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?'"..."'But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great'". - Luke 6:46-49

Initial Thesis Proposal

I am interested in hearing feedback on this. My ideas are still in development

Research Proposal

Background:

Poor diet is the cause of many adverse health effects, such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and many others (Must et al. 1999). There is a growing body of literature linking the lack of accessibility to healthy, diverse, and cheap food with bad dietary habits and food insecurity (Morland et al. 2002, Cummins and Macintyre 2002). Low accessibility areas, often coined “food deserts”, have been defined as areas that are both far from suitable retail food outlets, and are inhabited by those without suitable access to transportation, often those with low income, minorities, and the elderly (Apparicio et al. 2007, Zenk et al. 2005). There has been a growing social concern over the existence of food deserts in the last decade, as large supermarkets have moved out into the suburbs (Clark et al 2002), leaving many inner city and low income areas reliant on small independent stores (Eisenhauer 2001), many of which lack healthy food and are more expensive (MacDonald and Nelson 1991, Chung and Myers 1999).

Various indicators have been developed over the years to study the spatial variability in access to food retailers. These include simple provision indicators, accessibility indicators, and model-based indicators. An example of a simple provision indicator is retail grocery square feet per household. The more sophisticated model-based indicators attempt to investigate the level of population-store interaction by estimating the demand and supply of a given area (Clark et al. 2002). Spatial accessibility has most commonly applied to hospital access, and consequently this application is where many of the more advanced measurement techniques have been developed. These have been simplified into four general categories as “provider-to-population ratios, distance to nearest provider, average distance to a set of providers, and gravitational models of provider influence” (Guagliardo 2004). It has been observed that results can vary significantly depending on the measurement being used. This has prompted a recent study in Montreal that combines 3 different measurements, proximity, diversity, and variety, to measure spatial accessibility to food. Proximity is derived by using network shortest path distance, diversity is derived by measuring the total number of supermarkets within a walkable distance, and variety is derived by measuring mean distance to three different supermarket chains. The authors then go on to correlate this combined measure to a social depravation index using five variables to identify food deserts. These variables, based on percentage of the total population, include income, single parent families, unemployment, education, and immigration (Apparicio et al. 2007).

To my knowledge, there have been no studies locating the existence of food deserts in Albuquerque. It is an open question whether even the most sophisticated methodologies, particularly the recent Montreal study, would apply to Albuquerque in all respects. Albuquerque is a historically agricultural area, even though it has almost ceased to be a source of primary income for most farmers, especially the younger generation (Friends of Albuquerque 2006). Nevertheless, there is still an abundance of food sold in farmers markets and neighborhood food stands. Many of these agricultural neighborhoods might also be those that fit the common criteria as being food deserts.

Statement of Problem:

I want to contribute to the methodologies of identifying ‘food deserts’ by testing the common assumption that supermarket chains are the only indicator of healthy, cheap, and diverse food, especially for places similar in character to Albuquerque.

Objectives:

1.) I want to replicate the Montreal study, which appears to be the most sophisticated in assessing food accessibility, in Albuquerque.

2.) I want to revise/improve this methodology to reflect local agriculture by surveying where people get their food in areas that would be considered ‘food deserts’.

3.) I would then develop a set of metrics to reflect differences in diversity, health, and price between local and supermarket food retailers.

4.) I would use these metrics to possibly redefine ‘food desert’ boundaries in Albuquerque.

Method and Data Considerations:

1.) In identifying supermarkets, I will need to get access to a licensed database of food stores and geocode them into a map. I would also need to do some field checks to test the quality of the information.

2.) I will be relying heavily on census information to create a social depravity index in similar fashion to the Montreal study.

3.) I will need to develop a stratified random sample in order to survey the areas identified as food deserts.

4.) I need to do some more research on developing the metrics necessary for comparing the food characteristics of different food retailers. This is where I might need to get a committee member with a background in economics.

Discussion:

I hypothesize that in Albuquerque, the assumption that supermarkets are the only provider of food accessibility will be true regarding food diversity, but not always true regarding food health and price. If this is the case, then I believe that this study can help to more accurately define food deserts in Albuquerque and other urban environments that have similar characteristics. It might also contribute to the debate about how to alleviate food deserts. A few studies have pointed out the location of supermarkets in food deserts might actually exacerbate the problem, by putting many of the local vendors out of business and creating ‘micro-food deserts’ for those that cannot travel to shop, such as retirees, mothers with children, and the disabled (Clark et al. 2002). Although it might be outside the scope of my research, future research might investigate the possibility that a policy of supporting the creation of local farmers markets in ‘food deserts’ provides better food accessibility in some areas than that of attracting large supermarkets.

References:

1. Apparicio P, Cloutier M, Shearmur R: The case of Montreal’s missing food deserts: Evaluation of accessibility to food supermarkets. International Journal of Health Geographics 2007, 6:4.

2. Chung C, Myers S: Do the poor pay more for food? An analysis of grocery store availability and food price disparities. Journal of Consumer Affairs 1999, 33(2):276-296

3. Clarke G, Eyre H, Guy C: Deriving indicators of access to food retail provision in British cities: studies of Cardiff, Leeds and Bradford. Urban Studies 2002, 39(11):2041-2060.

4. Cummins S, Macintyre S: A systematic study of an urban foodscape: The price and availability of food in Greater Glasgow. Urban Stud 2002, 39(11):2115-2130.

5. Eisenhauer E: In poor health: Supermarket redlining and urban nutrition. Geojournal 2001, 53:125-134

6. Friends of Albuquerque: Friends of Albuquerque’s environmental story 2006

http://www.cabq.gov/aes/s2sv.html

7. Guagliardo, M: Spatial accessibility of primary care: concepts, methods, and challenges. International Journal of Health Geographics 2004, 3(3).

8. MacDonald J, Nelson P: Do the poor still payer more? Food price variations in large metropolitan areas. Journal of Urban Economics 1991, 30(3):344-359

9. Morland K, Wing S, Roux A, Poole C: Neighborhood Characteristics associated with the location of food stores and food service places. American Journal of Preventative Medicine 2002, 22(1):23-29

10. Must A, Spadano J, Coakley EH, Field A, Colditz, and Dietz WH: The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity. Journal of the American Medical Association 1999, 282:1523-29.

11. Smoyer-Tomic K, Spence J, Amrheim C: Food Deserts in the Prairies? Supermarket accessibility and neighborhood need in Edmonton, Canada. The Professional Geographer 2006, 58(3):307-326

12. Zenk S, Shulz A, Israel B, James S, Bao S, Wilson M: Neighborhood racial composition, neighborhood poverty, and the spatial accessibility of supermarkets in metropolitan Detroit. American Journal of Public Health 2005, 95(4):660-667.

Tests

I often wish I wasn't so introverted. While I feel like I have a strong understanding of my emotions and spiritual self, I often have trouble communicating and expressing it to others. I don't know where it comes from. I have been experiencing this in various forms since I started college. Often I feel like my mind betrays me. I can be in a conversation with somebody, and then some kind of mental loop takes place. I start seeing the person I am conversing with and the conversation we are having through the eyes of what I project to be some other person's thoughts and feelings. It's like my mind roll plays, "ok, if I was this type of person, how would I feel about this situation, or what if I was this person?". I have to really struggle to stay locked in as the self that I know I am.

The effect of this odd looping in my mind is that I feel like I cannot respond to the person I am with; I am emotionally numb. My whole being really wants to connect with them but it feels impossible. The few people I have gotten really close to during this time were a result of me overcoming that, doing anything desperately to develop the friendship. For so many others, the relationship has stayed distant, awkward. I could not express my respect and love for them, so I kept it in my heart.

The reason that I am probably writing this blog post, and many others, is that I do want to connect with people in a profound way. I feel like writing my feelings is the only way I can, I don't feel blocked up when I am alone.

I also am trying to get to the source of my problem. It seems mainly a mental problem, though I suspect it stems from a deep emotional place I cannot access right now. In the beginning I was angry that this was happining. I had felt during my last year of high-school that I had a gift for reaching out, affecting and being affected by others. As this ailment arose and lingered, I finally got to the point where I gave up, stopped caring. First by becoming numb to it all, then through prayer I realized I had to be detached from what my previous concept of enlightenment had been. These days I have learned to live with it, manage it. It has become my reality. While I know that I have evolved and grown because of it, sometimes I wonder, sometimes I get frustrated.

All I can do is rely upon God, and peel away the layers leading to my true self.

Immigrants, refugees and minority populations

"O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the effulgence of the world's great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne...There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are subjects of one God. " -Baha'u'llah

During this past year, a passion has grown inside of me regarding the plight of immigrants, refugees, and minority populations. While this is an issue all over the world, my experience has tied me emotionally to the immigration debate in the U.S. A few nights ago I was watching the republican debate and the subject of immigration reform came up. One of the candidates was speaking on his belief that all illegal immigrants should be shipped back to Mexico, a giant Berlin type wall should be built along the border, and English should be the exclusive language because it is what ties a country together, establishes a common identity, blah blah blah. I am in the process of reading 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich', and so it was interesting hearing this man speak at this time. The implicit ideas of national and racial purity, common ancestry, common culture, and common history being a barrier to racial diversity curiously resembled some of the warped writings of Hitler including

"The state is a racial organism"; "Nature... puts living creatures on this globe and watches the free play of forces. She then confers the master's right on her favorite child, the strongest in courage and industry...The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness..."

As a Baha'i, I understand that racial diversity is one of the most important assets that we have as humans. Having immigrants, minorities, and refugees among us represents a golden opportunity to love our neighbor, to expand and enrich our perceptions and cultural life, and by reaching out and integrating our efforts, hastening the inevitable realization of the unity of humankind and true human justice in the eyes of God. While I am sure this man claims he is a Christian, he is conveniently overlooking the injunction to love thy neighbor; probably because all the literal neighbors in his posh suburb look the same as him. The prejudice of immigrants in the U.S. has absolutely no justification no matter how you look at it.

From a biblical point of view:

Throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, a common theme is the salvation of all human kind, thereby bringing all people into the spiritual body of Christ. Here are just a few examples.
"In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it..." Isaiah 2:2

"And not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" John 11:52

"For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think...For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, and since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly" Romans 12:3-6

From an economic point of view:

A common argument against Mexican immigrants is that they push down wages of American workers, especially among high school dropouts. The evidence for this argument is inconclusive, and, in fact, there is a growing body of evidence against it. According to the 2000 census, immigrants made up 28 percent of workers without a high school education and 13 percent of total workers. George Borjas of Harvard University conducted a study comparing wage trends between groups with different education and work experience. By comparing groups with a large proportion of immigrants to groups with few immigrants, he concluded that, between 1980 and 2000, immigration caused wages to be 3 percent lower than they would have been. For high school dropouts, wages were 8 percent lower. Critics of immigration use this to support their case. They overlook what Borjas reports about immigrants' affect on investment. Firms who use cheaper immigrant labor use that surplus to invest more, creating more jobs in the process. Adjusted for capital stock, overall wages are unaffected and the loss of wages for high school dropouts is only 5 percent. Gianmarco Ottaviano of the University of Bologna and Giovanni Peri of the University of California-Davis point out that these findings should be adjusted, further considering that immigrants and natives often work in different types of jobs.
Immigrants are often found doing construction, gardening and housework, while low-skilled natives often do logging and mining. Taking this into account, they conclude that immigrants' affect on the wages of high school dropouts is virtually nil.

From a national/Cultural point of view.

I won't say much on this, but one thing I will say is that God did not make nations, humans did. Recent science has shown that all humans originated in Africa. No group of people can claim to have ultimate inheritance of any piece of land. Of course there is a natural need for political jurisdiction of certain areas by local authorities, proper documentation of the ebb and flow of population, property rights, and all the other good stuff of civil society, but that does not give anybody the right to restrict the movement of others who are only looking to find a better life for their families.

In conclusion, I am entirly convinced that it is necessary for all of us to shift a paradigm however implicit, that views diversity as a weakness, a deviation from some kind of over-romanticized cultural or national identity. By reaching out to all people, no matter how different they might seem to us, we can create a unified world which is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Conceptual Filters

Conceptual filters bother me. It bothers me when people view the world and the issues therein always from one ideological dogma. I am not saying that I am against having a common set of principles and beliefs, I definitely have them as a Baha'i. I just think that it is very important to understand things in a different way, with different assumptions, using a different balance of objective and subjective tools.

For example, it bothers me that their is a stark intellectual gulf between 'left' and 'right' thinking. I come from a background that would be considered very 'progressive', 'left', 'liberal', etc. Growing up, I always tackled information and ideas with a pre-established opinion, effectively filtering out any ideas that did not conform with that opinion. ideas coming from Michael Moore or Amy Goodmen types were considered almost scripture.

Then something happened and I started questioning some assumptions. I started looking deeper into ideas, gathering information from many different sources, and realizing that my whole view of the world was full of holes. I started reading between the lines and noticing that various ideological mediums that I held dear always left out certain facts in order to create a consistent narrative. It was kind of scary; I had always felt rather secure in the narrative of my beliefs.

I am a firm believer in the independent investigation of truth. It is a nice belief, because it means that I can question it, and hopefully not be a hypocrite. I don't just mean a lazy investigation of truth, but a vigorous one that temporarily sets aside any implicit biases and cultural perspectives that we have been raised with. One that draws us outside of ourselves, using many sources of information and perspective.

I am at the point now that I feel I don't need to maintain a consistent conceptual fabric of reality to be able to affect change. New information does not need to be put into a pre-set equation of understanding in my mind. I feel now that if I continue to expand and deepen my knowledge and spirit, any new situation and idea can be dealt with on its own terms, with perception based upon experience and reflection, but not ideology.

Reflections on Marriage

Sjona and I are coming up on our 1 year anniversary. As much as anything, it is a good time for us to reflect on how we have grown as a couple, and how we can still grow.

It is easy I think, in a marriage, to take the other person for granted, to become too comfortable with their acceptance and fall into the less inspired side of ourselves. It is too easy to be mean and hurtful with each other and not even realize it. It takes vigilance to always be thoughtful of the other person and continually regenerate loving feelings and gestures. No matter how much you think you know the other person and their capacity, it is important to always rediscover them and not limit them to what you think you know from the past; because both people are always growing.

Sjona continually surprises me. The more I know about her the harder she is too predict (in a good way). I am grateful that I have been given the chance to grow and develop with a beautiful soul in mutual love and respect.

The Problem with Photographs

It is always interesting to look at old photographs of two years back, four years back, six years back. Kids are tinier, some people look the same, some people look surprisingly different. It is always easy to think; "Those were the days, now everything is different, now I'm old...".

The problem with photographs is that they most often don't reflect reality. Everybody always looks happy in photographs. We smile to project this ideal of happiness to a later date, it is our attempt at immortality. Often, we are really hurting inside, and yet we look happy, disturbed, yet we look blissful. These photos are an example. This was during my second year of college, I had just broken up with my first love over matters of Faith. I faced other almost debilitating mental and emotional challenges, some which directly related, some which seemed to be unrelated and come out of nowhere. I wanted so badly to be happy...and spiritually free, as in the Prayer:

...Assist him so that he may fly towards the apex of prosperity and salvation, wing his way with the utmost joy and happiness throughout the illuminable space, raise his melody in Thy supreme name in all the regions...

The more I wanted it, the more trapped I felt. I got to the point where I seriously felt that I was crazy, that I could no longer continue to function within society.

That is why it is interesting for me to look back at old pictures. Because I look so happy and I think; "Wow, those were good times, Things now seem pale in comparison." Then I realize that that was one of the worst years of my life, since then I have grown so much and have realized stability and progress in my spiritual journey. I have overcome so much.

Calm in the Storm

There are those days when I feel productive, there are those that are more stale and meaningless, there are also those that are filled with intense emotion, an unquenchable desire to extract meaning out of every atom, every pedal. There are those days where I feel a victom to my ego, both haughty and insecure. There are those days which are wrapt in prayer, serene, loving, sacraficing. There are those days which I feel so busy that I start feeling and thinking like a robot. Analytical, judging, separating, evaluating, producing....

Today is an interesting day. I am in the midst of finals, also in the midst of helping to launch an intensive program of growth, I constantly feel overwhelmed and busy. I am in a productive mode, yet I also feel incredibly sensitive to every emotion, especially those of awe, love, and tears. The objective flurry is becoming a captive of my subjective dreamscape, corny as it sounds...it is exciting. Walls are breaking down, probably to be rebuild at a later date, but maybe not. Assumptions are loosing there secure footing, I want to see everything in the now, as it really is. I am tired of proper perspective, I am tired of conceptual models, I am tired...and yet overjoyed...and exhausted.

The Dual Meaning of the Biblical Body

Definition: Study Circle-A group that forms to systematically study the Baha'i writings and apply the insights into concrete acts of service.

In our study circle, there is a lady who in many ways believes in the Baha'i Faith but is having trouble corraborating some things in the Baha'i Faith with the Bible. Baha's believe in the Bible, though we often interpret it differently than Christian's. One important such case comes from the idea that Jesus Christ, after 3 days of being crucified, left his cave, appeared numerous times to numerous followers in physical form, and then resurrected into heaven. The core meaning of this to Christian's is that Christ conquered death, and therefore by believing in him anybody could also conquer death. If reading these versus literally, it is almost impossible to contradict the Christian interpretation. This is especially given the fact that all four gospels speak about the disciples finding an empty tomb, and Christ appearing among his apostles and saying, among other things

"Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself, touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." Luke 24:38-39

Bahai's believe that Christ ressurected spiritually and has already returned with the same heavenly body, though a different physical body.

Investigating this matter requires looking at other Biblical scriptures and uncovering the meaning of 'body'. Is there only one meaning, well lets see. Paul the apostle, a persecuter of the Christians, turned convert after a confrontation with Christ, was a primary shaper of the Christian Church. He speaks of Christ appearing to him in a similar manner to the other apostles

"Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also" 1Corinthians 15:7

For a more detailed explanation, read Acts 9. He then proceeds to explain that as Christ is raised, so are his followers;

"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. for since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive...Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? 1Corinthians 15:20-29

Now he gets to the crux of the argument, how are the dead raised? How was Christ raised? What does it mean that Christ appeared among his apostels three days after his crucifiction and ate with them, touched them, etc? Read on...

"But someone will say, How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another...So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised and imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body, if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written, "The first Man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam(Christ) became a life-giving spirit. However the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." 1Corinthians 15:35-50

These versus almost unequivically show that it is not Christ's physical body that mattered, but his heavenly body. His physical body was sown to be raised a spiritual body. Likewise, his return is a spiritual return, ie. he is not going to come physically out of the sky. Christians now are in danger of making the same mistakes the Jews of Christ's time made. That is the expectation of a literal return. The Jews expected Elijah to return in a similar manner Christians expect Christ to return now. When Christ was asked about elijah's return, he said

"For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come."Matthew 11:13-14

John the babtist was not the physical return of Elijah, but the spiritual.

Baha'i believe in progressive revelation, meaning God sends messengers throughout eternity to bring salvation and a set of laws neccesary for the time and peoples capacity. In this day, Baha'is believe Baha'u'llah is the return prophesized in all the holy books. This is the day of fulfillment, the building of the New Jeruselum, based on the core precept of the unity of humankind. I invite Christian's to critically search deeper within their Bible and also to critically investigate the claims of Baha'u'llah for themselves.

Data Mining

I am now actively trying to decide on and plan for my master's thesis. While I am developing a clear idea, some important philosophical questions are coming up. In many ways I don't know if I can have a clear idea of what my results and correlations will be until I do the research. So while I can have a general hypothesis, I am waiting on the results and conclusions. The danger with this approach is that my research could be reduced to data mining, meaning that I look at the data to tease out a problem. If I use this approach, then I ask myself, why am I even here? What good is it to look for problems that that don't really exist, or at least do not have the relavancy to be noticed?

While talking to my friend Ryan, a fellow graduate student, he brought up the point that in order to have real purpose to our studies, we need to have a clear conceptual model of what we are looking for an what we want to find. Since we are both Baha'i, the ultimate conceptual model would be the unity of humankind, of which anything that we are studying should utimately give heed to. While I agree, I believe that is of upmost importance to be aware of our lenses, and to maintain objectivity while investigating the dictates of our conceptual model. For example, If I truly believe that urban sprawl in ABQ is bad because it wastes rescources and destroyes the environment, which by using a few more logical connectives, runs counter to my belief in the unity of humankind, I will orient my research to amplify this belief and propose alternatives according to my belief. What if my research doesn't prove this, what if instead it shows that the environmental consequences are negligible and that the economic benifits (which could or could not be a proxy for human well being) are substantial?

I guess what I am getting at is that over or under abundance of subjectivity can be harmful. Science cannot be conducted and interpreted enslaved to an ideology, nor can it be a purely objective endeavor that forgets to acknowledge that we, the scientists, citizens, and beings, who this research is utimately meant to serve, are part of the equation. We can and should have a conceptual model of reality that informs all our research, but it should not affect what we find, only what we choose to do with those findings.

This is the extent to which I have thought about my philosophical dilemma, I am open to ideas and comments from anyone. I am still searching.....