Tag: spiritual

West Berkshire Baha’is launch children’s classes

Published on by TVBahaiLeave a comment

The West Berkshire Baha’i  Community has launched Sunday morning children’s classes in Newbury, for youngsters aged five to 10. 

Myra Erbenova, who holds the classes, said: “The Baha’i writings attach great importance to the periods of childhood and youth, providing clear guidance to parents and communities to raise children in a nurturing and unambigious environment. The moral and spiritual education of the next generation is vitally important.

“These classes are designed to help ensure that children grow strong intellectually, morally and spiritually. They encourage youngsters to develop a strong sense of purpose, whilst empowering their own transformation and leading them to contribute to the advancement of society.”

Class dates for September 2010 are:

  • Sunday 12 September, 9.30am to 11am, Newbury.
  • Sunday 26 September, 9.30am to 11am, Newbury.

For more information, or to find out how to join in these activities, please call 01635 552558 or email myra@khorassani.com

Composer’s award resonates well

Published on by TVBahaiLeave a comment
Composer Lasse Thoresen. Photo by courtesy of Lisbeth Risnes, Mic.no

West Berkshire Baha’is have sent a message of congratulations to Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen after he won a prestigious music award for his piece Opus 42.

Lasse, who won the Nordic Council Music Prize 2010, became a Bahai in 1971. Since then virtually all of his compositions are said to have incorporated spiritual themes.

Opus 42 was described by the adjudication committee as ‘strikingly beautiful’ and is being acclaimed for the similarities it draws between ancient and modern, as well as Scandinavian folk music and sounds more associated with the Middle East. It also incorporates the traditional overtone singing of Mongolia, in which the singer manipulates the resonances created as the air travels from the lungs to the mouth and nose.

Lasse said: “I think it is important to regard cultural differences as a resource and not as a threat. Even if you cannot escape from your own cultural conditioning, in some ways you can embrace other cultural sensibilities and reflect them in your own cultural context and produce an example of fruitful coexistences of cultural differences.”

Classical music lover Shawn Khorassani, a West Berkshire Bahai, said: “The Nordic Council Music Prize was searching for a work ‘in which all involved play their own part’ and that’s a very important facet of the Bahai Faith.”