Pilrimage Day #6 February 7, 2009

2-7-9 Saturday 2130 Nof Hotel

0930 Met Mrs. Imani and family + other family at the Dan Carmel: sherut to Akka. We bought about 50 lbs of enormous pomegranates, grapes, then bought fresh-pressed pomegranate juice at a vendor. Looked at an Arabic bookstore, hung out at Rabin Peace Park looking for our connections, me trying to quell my anxiety.

Eventually we walked back closer to town and met up with our party. We all took 3 taxis to Bahji. Tip # 4: Supposing hypothetically that one eats a lot of pomegranates and grapefruit and little else, and sits inside the Shrine in a side room, one may discover that due to the acoustics and silence inside the shrine, every tiny sound emited from the digestive process becomes magnified greatly. So one leaves to try again later.

Today at the Bahji Visitors Center there were fresh, ripe avocadoes from the property. Perfect.

Returning to the Shrine: more prayers for unity and for individuals, the departed, the intensive programs of growth teaching efforts. This time I stayed in the main hall of the Shrine, mainly saying the Greatest Name and soaking up the spirit.

The Haram-al-Aqdas is the greater area surrounding the Shrine at Bahji, and considered just as holy. In the photos taken of the Shrine there is always a black metal gate in front of the door of the Shrine. Past the gate is the Haram-al-Aqdas. The gate appears like a veil before the Beloved. Seeing the door without the gate is like seeing the Beloved without the veil.

We caught a sherut to the PRC where I ate some cheese, the cauliflower and tahini. Enayat made one more call and was able to get messages from his cell at last. Taxi to the Nof: the driver gave us his card with a poem he wrote.

Unity prayers help.