A New Baha'i Paradigm: A New Culture of Learning and Growth in the Baha'i Community

Apr 24, 2010

by RonPrice
posted in Pioneering Over Five Epochs

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I posted an introduction to the paradigmatic shift in the Baha’i community, the new culture of learning and growth that is at the heart of this paradigm, six years ago. I did this posting at several internet sites and have revised that post many times in the last six years as developments in the paradigm have come about, as new messages from Bahá'í institutions have been published and as many individuals have commented verbally and in print on this new culture. It seemed like a good idea to give readers some specific steps on how to access this now revised article, what is now a book of more than 200,000 words and more than 500 pages, using a font 14. The book is found at Baha’i Library Online(BLO), the largest collection of Baha'i resources online.

In the time this book has been on the internet there have been more than 20,000 views of this analysis, this statement on the new paradigm at the few sites where it has been posted. In addition to googling “Baha’i Culture of Learning and Growth” and accessing this book, in the process, at several internet sites, readers can find this piece of writing at BLO by clicking on the following:

bahai-library.org/file.php?file=price_culture_learning_paradigm

Readers can also access the latest edition of this book at BLO by taking the following steps: (i) type Baha’i Library Online or Baha’i Academics Resource Library into your search engine; (ii) click on the small box “By author” at the top of the access page at BLO; (iii) type “Price” into the small box that then appears and click on the word “Go;” then (iv) scroll down to article/document item #47 and (v) click on that item and read to your heart’s content. When your eyes and your mind start to glaze over, stop reading. The book can be downloaded free and you will then have access to this book, this context for all the new paradigmatic terminology that has come into the Baha’i community in the last 17 years.

The statement, the book in question, is a personal one, does not assume an adversarial attitude, attempts to give birth of as fine an etiquette of expression as I can muster and, I like to think, possesses both candour and critical thought on the one hand and praise and delight at the many interrelated processes involved in the execution of this paradigm on the other. I invite readers to what I also like to think is “a context on which relevant fundamental questions” regarding this new paradigm may be discussed within the Baha’i community.

This book also contains an update, an inclusion of commentary on the most recent messages from the institutions of the Cause—including the Ridvan messages of 2010, 2011, and 2012. One of the advantages of the BLO site is the freedom it gives to a writer to update the book right on the site in an ongoing process as new insights from major thinkers in the Baha’i community and information from the elected and appointed institutions of the Cause comes to hand.

If time and the inclination permit, check it out. No worries, no obligation, just if it interests you. You may find the piece of writing too long, as I’m sure many readers do. It is certainly a view from the inside, but it is just one person’s view building as it does on the ideas and writings of others: Bahá'í institutions and individuals.

We each have a different experience on the inside of this paradigm, on the inside of this Faith or, indeed, living on the inside of our global society. You may find this book too personal due to the fact that I attempt to answer the question: “where do I fit into this new paradigm?” After a few paragraphs of reading, you will get the flavour of the exercise. Just keep reading if your mind and spirit are enjoying the process, and stop as soon as you lose interest. You may want to come back to it from time to time since 200,000 words is a long read at a single stretch.

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RonPrice May 09, 2010

I have appreciated the comments received since posting the above item here at Lunch as well as other internet sites. The House of Justice 2010 Ridvan message is the longest of that institution's messages since being at the apex of Baha'i administration in the last half century. That Ridvan, April 2010, message is an interesting contrast to the 2009 Ridvan message which was that institution's shortest Ridvan message. The House of Justice's messages in the last 50 years continue the pattern of long and short messages and everything in between that the leader of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, wrote during his thirty-six years in office from 1921 to 1957. Shoghi Effendi was known as 'the Guardian' to the international Baha'i community. -Ron Price, George Town, Tasmania----Australia's oldest town!

RonPrice April 30, 2011

I year later, on 21 April 2011, the annual Ridvan message from the Universal House of Justice was sent electronically to most national Baha'i communities. That message has been in the hands of individual Baha'is for less than 10 days. I post here a 6000 word commentary and context on that latest message. It can be found at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/54200818/The-2011-...-Commentary-and-Context. Readers can google this essay or go to Scribd, a social publishing site, where tens of millions of people share original writings and documents. Scribd's vision is to liberate the written word, a vision not unlike the vision here at Lunch.

RonPrice January 05, 2012

Readers must now go to this link at Scribd to access my book updated to 1/1/'12: http://www.scribd.com/RonPrice The link indicated above will not yield any useful result.-Ron

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RonPrice (RonPrice)
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This full frontal facial photo was taken in 2004 when I was 60. The photo was taken in Hobart Tasmania. With its light and shadow, its light side and its dark side, it is an appropriate photo to symbolize … more

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