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Activities in Thames Valley Bahai Community. Baha'i Faith in the UK Baha'i Religion Spiritual and Material

Attitude of mind is important for prayer

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Bahá’ís across the Thames Valley got together on Saturday 9 July to commemorate the date in 1850 that the Bab – one of two main figures in the founding of their Faith – was executed by firing squad in Iran, then called Persia.

This major holy day marks the events surrounding the Bab’s death. The Bab (a title meaning ‘the Gate’) had many followers, but his beliefs did not meet with approval from leaders of Persia’s state religion, and they decided he should be taken from prison and put to death.

Shawn Khorassani, a West Berkshire Bahá’í, said: “It is the attitude of mind in which prayer is made that is important, not the language itself. 

“To Bahá’ís, prayer is more than making requests to God: it’s more like a conversation with God in contrast to meditation, which is like a conversation with one’s inner spirit. Prayer is a vital part of Bahá’í spiritual life.”

The remains of the Bab are now entombed in Haifa, Israel, in a beautiful shrine on Mount Carmel.

Shawn gets a flavour of life in a classroom

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Learning about the Bahá’í Faith

It’s ‘a good few years’ since West Berkshire Bahá’í  Shawn Khorassani went to school himself.

But he didn’t let that get in the way when he was asked to be guest speaker at  St Gabriel’s Independent Day School for Girls, Newbury.

Shawn put his best foot forward and gave a talk about the Bahá’í Faith to a class of 17 ‘Year 5’ pupils at  St Gabriel’s.

He said: “It was the first time I had been to St Gabriel’s to talk about the Bahá’í Faith, and I really enjoyed it. I was asked to talk about the Bahá’í holy days. It was a fantastic class – the pupils showed real knowledge and lots of interest. The interactivity of the whole lesson was wonderful.
 
“Education is an important aspect of life for Bahá’ís, so it was especially good to be invited to St Gabriel’s School.”