Reflecting the Infinite Power of Brahman

This weekend Baha'is approached people in their homes on the Hilltop and in the Salishan housing development, and made a lot of friends, a lot of contacts with people interested in developing the spiritual life in their community through children's classes, junior youth animators, study circles.

I stayed on the "prayer team", exhausted from four thirteen + hour days in a row, up until 1 AM and up again at 7 or 8. Prayers take an effort also. I'm a strong believer in the power of prayer. Saturday there was deepening all morning, then people forming teams, and I stayed behind praying; Corinne and Karen joined me later.

Sunday morning I showed up at the house and only Bonita was there; probably most other people were at the devotional meeting across town. We were talking and the phone rang: it was George, looking for someone to accompany our dear friend Dr. Pattabi Raman who was going to be speaking at the Temple Beth El. The last time I was at the Temple Beth El was a few days after 9/11, when I decided to do what I call a "prayer pilgrimage."

Because I am too shy to openly teach people about the Baha'i Faith very often, a decade or more ago I finally started driving all around Tacoma early in the morning while it is still dark and I was less conspicuous in my car. I would drive from South, to East, to North and to the West, stopping in the parking lots of churches, of the Cambodian Buddhist Temple, the parking lot of the meeting place at Salishan, Tacopid, the Indian Health service on the Puyallup Reservation, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Muslum Mosque, and at Temple Beth El; reciting prayers at each location. I remember observing that after 9/11 some misguided soul had spray painted the parking lot at Temple Beth El with a hateful message.

When George explained the situation, I hopped into my car and drove to Temple Beth El and caught up with Dr. Raman in the office. We set up the classroom, set up the overhead projector, and connected with Abby, one of the moms/teachers. In came five high school students to hear two talks: one on Hinduism, and one on the Baha'i Faith. Pattabi is a born and practiced instructor and his presentations are both simple and brilliant, cutting to the heart of the matter.

My favorite take-home learning was when he talked about the principle of Brahman, unlimited spiritual power throughout the universe, and its relationship to Atman, the soul of humans. He held up a student's notebook. "If this is a mirror, it reflects not just the nose, the eye, the hair, the ear. It reflects your entire face. If this mirror becomes broken in several pieces, each piece does not just reflect a portion--it still reflects your entire face. Every person reflects the light of the Brahman. Every person reflects this infinite power. And every person, because each reflects this light, is part of the whole human family."