The Bahá'í Faith is a religion followed by several million people in the
world, from all countries and all backgrounds.
All these people believe in the unity of mankind - that all people
matter, and that the world should be run as one country for the benefit
of everyone.
They believe that it is the differences between us which make life
interesting, and that we should cherish these differences, not ignore
them.
They believe that there has only ever been one religion - the religion
of God. God sent His Messengers to different places at different times
so that everyone in the world could hear about Him.
Bahá'ís believe that there is only one God, though people may call Him
by different names. God is something we can never really understand: we
can only learn about Him through His creation and His Messengers.
Bahá'ís follow Bahá'u'lláh, the latest in a long line of Messengers sent
by God to tell us how we should live and behave. The name Bahá'u'lláh
means the Glory of God. Although He passed to the next world over a
hundred years ago, Bahá'u'lláh wrote down everything we need to know to
be able to build a better life here on earth and in the world to come.
Bahá'ís believe that Christ, Muhammad, Buddha, Moses and Krishna were
all Messengers from God.
These Messengers all said basically the same thing - that we should love
God and love one another, that we should be honest, truthful, kind,
trustworthy, humble. It was only their social teachings which were
different: this is because they were meant for a particular time and
place. Now we are part of a world society new laws are necessary.
All of these Messengers promised a time when a great Messenger would
come to bring peace to the whole world. Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh
was that Messenger and that the time for peace is now.
The State of the World
Bahá'ís are very concerned with the state of the world we live in. They
feel that we need to take a more spiritual, less selfish attitude to
this earth, for we need to live in harmony with our environment.
Wherever Bahá'ís live, they try to help people in whatever way is
possible. If they live in a village in the Third World, they will
organise a school, a farming or health project which will benefit
everyone. In every country there are many ways in which Bahá'ís can be
useful.
Above all, Bahá'ís do everything they can to encourage world peace - by
joining and supporting other groups, and by putting forward their own
ideas for an international peace conference. It is only when we have
peace and co-operation that many of the problems of the world will be
solved.
Daily Life
Each day a Bahá'í should turn to God in prayer. Each morning and evening
he or she should read some of the Bahá'í scriptures, meditate on them,
and try to put them into practice.
There are many books of Bahá'í scripture but here are just a few
examples from the writings:
"Turn all your thoughts toward bringing joy to hearts."
"Strive that your actions day by day might be beautiful prayers."
"See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends."
"Breathe not the sins of others whilst thou art thyself a sinner."
"Think ye at all times of rendering some service to every member of the
human race."
Living up to the Bahá'í teachings may be very difficult but we can only
do our best. Through prayer we find out what we can do to improve
ourselves and to serve our fellow human beings and also find the
strength to do it.
Bahá'ís believe that our purpose in this life is to learn, to develop,
so that when move on to the next world we will be closer to God.
Community Life
Bahá'ís meet together regularly to pray, discuss local matters, to enjoy
one another's company and to get to know one another. This is called a
'Feast'. Where there are only a few Bahá'ís, this will be in someone's
home. Where a whole village are Bahá'ís they will build a Bahá'í centre.
In a few places in the world there are large Houses of Worship which are
open to everybody, whatever their religion.
Bahá'ís often hold small meetings in their homes, for people who want to
come and talk and learn more about the Bahá'í Faith. These are usually
called "firesides".
In each local area Bahá'ís elect an assembly of nine people who make
sure that everything runs smoothly and that everyone is happy. Each
country has a national assembly and there is a world body too.
The Future
Bahá'ís believe that eventually there will be a world government which
will make sure that all countries are treated fairly and that the planet
survives in a healthy state.
There will no longer be vast differences between rich and poor
countries, or rich and poor people.
Every child in the world will be able to go to school.
Everyone will learn a world language so that we can all understand one
another better.
Women will be treated equally with men and they will use their influence
to help bring about peace in the world.
When it comes down to it, it is the people of the world who have to
change the world. And we can only start with ourselves.

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