User:David/Topic/One strategy for effective study of the Bahá’í Writings

Shoghi Effendi has said:

“ It is absolutely essential for those who desire to spread the movement to be quite familiar with the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and the Master. ” — On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2, pp. 20-21

And elsewhere:

“ ...as to what subjects within the Faith you should concentrate on he feels that the young Bahá'ís should gain a mastery of such books as the “Dawn-breakers”, “God Passes By”, the “Íqán”, “Some Answered Questions” and the more important Tablets. All aspects of the Faith should be deeply studied. ” — On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, The Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 143

At this point, we've gone over lots of what's, what we should do each day, what we should do in general, but while the what's are practical steps, just as important to our success are understanding the why's, because those are where we will find our motivation to persevere in the face of tests. If you wanted to participate in a marathon the what you would need to do is practice a certain amount each day. And on days when you didn't feel like practicing your motivation would be the why you're practicing, in order to accomplish that specific goal. 

As we begin to put the Bahá’í teachings into practice we should think about why we are doing them. This why also helps us make better decisions and better focus our time and effort. Imagine exercising without the why, you wouldn't know if you should practice by running or lifting weights or something else entirely. Why do we need to study from the Bahá’í Writings? 

There will be many valid answers, but I'll focus on just one as an example. Let's assume this why is to deepen our understanding of Bahá’u’lláh's teachings. Then what should we do? Should we grab a book, flip to a random page and read a paragraph just before falling asleep? I personally have done this, because I was focused on accomplishing the what (reading something) without much thought on the why. If our why is deepening in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh we need to be systematic and thoughtful. Taking the Writings piecemeal can be worse than doing nothing at all, since important context and related or balancing concepts will be overlooked. Imagine studying a textbook in such a way!

Another, and more challenging component of being systematic in our study involves gathering, relating, and organizing concepts. These are difficult because they require conscious effort, practice and dedication over a period of time. It is through these processes that we build relationships between ideas and gain a deep and lasting understanding of the Writings. It can be frustrating to know you read something impactful, but when that quote or idea would be useful to you or others you can't find it. If you've studied successfully in school you may want to go back to those techniques that worked for you then. Otherwise, here is what was taught to me by a staff member at the World Centre when I was there as a volunteer. 

First a small group was gathered together for the purpose of starting a systematic study of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, book by book. We would read in our own time, at our own pace and then meet weekly for discussion. While we read we would take notes, and during our weekly discussion we would each share and learn from the others, broadening our thoughts and understandings. If you wanted to replicate this you could, for example, start with the Kitáb-i-Íqán and a note taking program like Evernote. Evernote is a program that let's you insert a snippet of text and then build layers of context on top. Snippets can be added to a notebook (for grouping notes from a particular book), then can be assigned a topic, and topics can be organized into a larger hierarchy. Later when you want to find that quote again you need only remember the book or topic where you would have organized it. Search of snippets and tags is also possible. If you need help finding study partners please email me.

For an example of note-taking and organizing the Writings in this way, take a look at the website loomofreality.org. But if you embark on this journey I encourage you to make the work unique to you and not feel pressured to follow the outline that someone else has created.

In closing I want to make sure I haven't left you with the impression that study has just one correct application, it can be applied in many ways. For example you could read a quote that represents something you want to try and accomplish during the day, or something to be mindful of. You could read or reread at night to reflect on your actions. You can choose a quote or idea in the writings you find difficult and read it in the morning to let yourself reflect on it throughout the day, or any number of other ways. All these will be effective strategies for studying and deepening in the Bahá’í Writings. The point is not that we find the one correct method and repeat it the rest of our life, but that we simply try and be mindful and act with purpose.