10 Personal Reflections that Refer to the Bab (Part 1)

“Personal Reflections on the Baha’i Faith from Around the World” is a Baha’i Blog initiative in honor of the bicentenary anniversaries of the Births of Baha’u’llah and the Bab, Prophet-founders of the Baha’i Faith. 

In this initiative, we share portraits of Baha’is and their friends from different countries and territories all over the world, and a few of their words about what the Baha’i Faith means to them or how it has touched their lives. 

We shared 200 portraits in 2017 to celebrate the Birth of Baha’u’llah, and we’ve been sharing another 200 portraits this year in honor of the Birth of the Bab. Our hope is that by sharing these pictures and excerpts, we will answer the call from the Universal House of Justice to communicate “a sense of what it means for humanity that these two Luminaries [the Bab and Baha’u’llah] rose successively above the horizon of the world.” (from a letter dated 18 May 2016 to all National Spiritual Assemblies)

Stay up to date by following the “Personal Reflections” social media pages on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

As the bicentennial celebrations for the Birth of the Bab draw nearer, we wanted to showcase 10 portraits that have shared so far in which the participants speak about the Bab and His Revelation. 

 

 

 

 

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“When I think of the Revelation of the Bab, I think of love and I think of hope. Mainly because those are just some of most powerful forces that exist in this world. Some of my favourite quotes from the Faith is: ‘O Son of Spirit! Love me that I may love thee, if thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee!’ Another is: ‘If thou loves me turn away from thyself, if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own.’ The Faith and the Bab always reminds me to have love in my heart and to have that hope. If I love Him, He is going to love me back and if I love the world, it’ll be a better place.” #bahai #bahaifaith #bahaipeople #bahaiphotos #bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Nov 23, 2018 at 3:16pm PST

 

 

 

 

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“The early Dawn-Breakers gave their lives and we’re just here to give our time and our energy as much as we can and align ourselves with the Teachings and the plan of the House of Justice and the Baha’i world. I don’t think there’s one right way of serving — there are so many ways — we just have to try and it takes courage.” #bahai #bahaipeople #bahaiphotos #bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Nov 24, 2018 at 2:55pm PST

 

 

 

 

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“…one of the things that is inspiring me in this day and age is that we’re actually revolutionaries. I feel like the early figures of the Dispensation of the Bab, who were these really heroic figures, are examples for us. Having a conversation with someone randomly, that you’ve never met before, about profound themes may be seen as an act of rebellion. People are really challenging social convention with everything that we’re doing — talking openly and honestly about spirituality and not restricting it just to your private home and being open about that and challenging thoughts in society is actually akin to that rebelliousness of those early believers who sought out to transform society radically. They were heroes of transformation.” #Bahai #BahaiFaith #Bicentenary #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bahaiphoto #Bahaiphitographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Aug 23, 2019 at 4:56pm PDT

 

 

 

 

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“The Bab brought change, an improvement to civilization and a new Message.” #Bahai #BahaiFaith #Bicentenary #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bahaipeople #Bahaiphotos #Bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Aug 3, 2019 at 4:50pm PDT

 

 

 

 

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“When I think about the Revelation of the Bab I think about unity. Because it is a message to the whole world. Your country, religion and race does not matter. All people are one.” #Bahai #BahaiFaith #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bicentenary #Bahaipeople #Bahaiphotos #Bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Jul 18, 2019 at 5:40pm PDT

 

 

 

 

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“One example of a law from the Bab is His emphasis on beauty and refinement. Some of the laws are so interesting when you think about them, because He knew that they didn’t have to be applied [because after Baha’u’llah declared His Station, He abrogated the Bab’s laws]. So for example: building a door that a tall person doesn’t have to bend under. I mean with laws like that, you go: Wow! When you think about it more deeply, there’s the principle behind it, and the deep spirit behind it. […] There’s so much layers and layers and layers of symbolism and changing conventions, and turning things on its head, and metaphors, and numerology, and also 5 million words of Revelation. It just will change the planet, it is changing the planet.”#Bahai #BahaiFaith #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bahaipeople #Bahaiphoto #Bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Jul 14, 2019 at 4:58pm PDT

 

 

 

 

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“The Bab prepared the way for this great Dispensation, and the fact that He went through a lot of suffering and a lot of tribulation assures us that whatever is going on in the world today is preparation for a greater thing afterwards.” #Bahai #BahaiFaith #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bahaiphoto #Bahaipeople #Bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Jul 9, 2019 at 5:37pm PDT

 

 

 

 

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“The greatest thing that you can see in the history of mankind started by Tahirih, one of the Letters of the Living. And that started way before the suffragist movement in the West and Tahirih was the pinnacle, not only the starter, but the pinnacle of the movement for the emancipation of women and her sisters throughout the world… And at the last moment she says, ‘You can kill me, you may kill me, but you will never ever be able to stop the emancipation of women.’ This is probably the most spectacular example of the Babi movement and later the Baha’i Faith.” #bahai #bahaipeople

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Nov 18, 2018 at 4:09pm PST

 

 

 

 

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“When I think about the Revelation of the Bab I think of a process of preparation that one needs to undertake in one’s life be spiritually ready to be a light for others, to be ready to be accepting, to be understanding, to be patient, to be loving, to be kind. But the pre-requisites are commitment, steadfastness, loyalty and understanding. And wisdom is generated out of those things.” #Bahai #BahaiFaith #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bahaiphotos #Bahaiphotographer

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Jun 22, 2019 at 6:24pm PDT

 

 

 

 

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“When I hear about the Dispensation of the Bab, I think of just priming [the world] for the coming of Baha’u’llah, of making the people ready for Baha’u’llah’s message because it was so impactful. They couldn’t just go from A to B. You know they had to have an intermediary step, which is just as important because if the Bab didn’t come, Baha’u’llah’s message would not have made as much of a strong effect as it did on the people.” #Bahai #Bahaipeople #BahaiFaith #BicentenaryBirthoftheBab #Bahaiphotos

A post shared by Personal Reflections Baha’i (@personalreflectionsbahai) on Jul 5, 2019 at 4:50am PDT

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.