Family Opens Its Home to Spiritual Unity

January 24, 2010

Author: Niyaz Pirani

Source: The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/news/baha-230733-yazdi-people.html

Heads down and eyes closed, the people gathered in the Yazdi family living room are listening intently.

"These minds and spirits are exhilarated by the message of thy glad-tidings," a woman reads from a small prayer book. "Oh, God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees, even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious."

They've come together to pray – to Jesus, to Allah, to Vishnu – and regardless of the doctrine of their personal faiths, all are connected by the unity taught in Baha'i – a 160-year-old Persian religion that focuses on the acceptance of all beliefs.

The Baha'i faith, Badi Yazdi explained, is built on the idea that religion is progressive. The messengers of other religions are manifestations of God, according to Baha'i beliefs, that were meant to bring spirituality to the people of their time.