Teaching
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Teaching, as in "teaching the Cause of God", is the act of spreading awareness and understanding of God's Will for humanity, as revealed by His Manifestations. Bahá'u'lláh enjoined on all His followers the "sacred obligation" to spread the Cause of God (i.e. the Bahá’í Faith);[1] in His Will and Testament, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá further proclaimed "the guidance of the nations and peoples of the world" to be "the most important of all things", and that "Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of Teaching."[2] The Universal House of Justice cited teaching the Cause of God as one of the "essential requisites for spiritual growth" emphasized by both Bahá'u'lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.[3]
Direct and Indirect Teaching[edit]
The Guardian of the Faith made it clear that an important part of teaching is teaching by example - in other words, the way we behave should demonstrate to others what it means to be a Bahá'í. He then made clear that even if we are not actively explaining the teachings of the Faith, we will be engaging in "indirect" teaching if we behave as a Bahá'í might be expected to. What he referred to as "direct" teaching involves verbal interchange on the subject of the Faith.
Different Stages of Teaching[edit]
Bahá'ís often like to differentiate between proclamation, teaching and deepening, although they could, or even should, be regarded as stages of the same process. Proclamation is the stage in which people are told, in a general way, about Bahá'u'lláh and about the existence of His Faith; teaching (in this narrower sense) is the stage in which people have the details and concepts explained, and they engage with it; deepening is the continuation of this same process, after declaration, to ensure that they are still exploring the Writings and learning about Bahá'í concepts. This last phase, in a wider context, is also called consolidation.
Pitfalls[edit]
When seeking to engage others in conversation about the Faith, there are numerous mistakes which could theoretically be made, but Bahá'u'lláh urges that we teach with wisdom, that we "speak not unless we obtain a hearing", and that we present the Cause as if we were presenting a gift to a king. With this courteous and careful approach, we should be able to impart our message! He also urges every Bahá'í to explain something which s/he understands, and others do not, "without feeling himself to be the slightest bit superior" to others. If we follow His own guidance, we should find that the "pitfalls" dissolve by themselves.
Anna's Presentation[edit]
In Book 6 of the main series of books of the Ruhi Institute, a good example exists of one way to present the Faith. A hypothetical person named Anna explains the Faith, step by step, to her friend. This is often known as "Anna's Presentation". Although it is a logical approach to the presentation of the Faith, it does not mean that a Bahá'í must explain everything in exactly the same way with exactly the same words, but rather that he/she considers carefully the concepts that when shared in a systematic, clear and confident way, will aid the seeker’s heart to be opened. In practice, the seeker may well respond with questions and comments which lead the Bahá'í into a different area of discussion, but hopefully Anna's Presentation will have given that Bahá'í a model to return to when the seeker's questions on that particular area have been answered. The Presentation suggests that Anna keeps a small number of teaching aids with her, in the form of photographs and prayer cards. There also exist little booklets or flip charts which include suitable prayers, quotes and photos which could be of use during such a presentation. At the same time, the Universal House of Justice warns that use of this sample presentation should not become too "formulaic". It may be that some people have taken it all too literally, and think that they have to say these set things in a set order, when genuine interchange with a real seeker is not usually like that at all!
Social Media[edit]
In recent years, a multiplicity of platforms have been set up which allow individuals the opportunity to mention the role of the Faith in their lives, to express a Bahá'í opinion on a subject of the moment, to share a Bahá'í quote, and so on. This constitutes proclamation of a sort, but is not very targetted, and is not generally directed towards teaching specific individuals. It may possibly, however, lead to other people expressing interest in the Faith. Examples would include the use of Twitter and Facebook.
Teaching Materials[edit]
Bahá'ís may have access to a wide range of teaching materials, including books, pamphlets or leaflets, cards, posters and DVDs. Used wisely, a Bahá'í teacher can enhance the spoken word and deepen the understanding of the enquirer by using some of these.
