All posts by Naysan Naraqi. Browse Other Authors

Naysan is the editor of Baha'i Blog and he has worked in various avenues of media for two decades. He’s passionate about using the arts and media to support and explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith and he has produced and collaborated on popular music projects like the "DawnBreaker Collective" and the successful Ruhi-inspired sequence of "MANA" albums. His experience as a producer for CNN was invaluable while working on a number of special projects for the Baha’i World Centre, including the "Building Momentum" and "Pilgrimage: A Sacred Experience" videos. If there’s a media-related Baha’i project out there, chances are that Naysan was involved with it somehow!

Visit Author's Website

Celebrating 8 Years of Baha’i Blog: Some Highlights of the Year!

, 3 Comments

It’s been eight years of Baha’i Blog, and we’re super excited to have come this far! The Baha’i Blog team is honored to be able to continue creating Baha’i-inspired content in the online space and we hope you’ve enjoyed our content and found it useful, informative, and inspiring over the years.

With so much going on here at Baha’i Blog, there’s no way we can cover everything we want to share in this article, but here’s a glance of some of the things we’ve been working on over the last Baha’i year: Continue reading →

EBBF Podcast Episode 7: Collaboration, the Shift from Self Interested Competition

Audio Leave a comment

The Ethical Business Building the Future organization, otherwise known as EBBF, is a not-for-profit that aims to promote and moral and spiritual wisdom and principles found in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith and the great religious traditions of the world, such as the principles of justice, respect, trustworthiness, integrity and unity.

#discoveringhow is EBBF’s podcast series where you can hear personal experiences and insights from EBBF members — each episode offers you stepping stones, fresh ideas, and the personal learnings of people who believe that ethical business can and should build the future.

In this episode we learn about collaboration, Leyla Tavernaro explains collaboration in the South African context and Vahid Masrour offers insights into how this is lived at Wikipedia. Michael Karlberg shares how it is necessary to change the culture of contest for collaboration to flourish in society.  Continue reading →

The Shrine of the Bab – Aerial Footage with Music

Video 1 Comment

This video shows aerial footage put to music of the Shrine of the Bab located in Haifa, Israel, and this year marks the Bicentennial of the Birth of the Bab, the forerunner to Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-founder of the Baha’i Faith.

The Bab, which means ‘the Gate’ in Arabic, was a Messenger of God, whose role can be likened to that of John the Baptist (who told of the coming of Christ) in heralding the coming of the latest Manifestation of God: Baha’u’llah.

For Baha’is, the Shrine of the Bab is the second holiest place on earth after the Shrine of Baha’u’llah in Akka, Israel, and it is a place of quiet prayer and meditation where Baha’i pilgrims and visitors from around the world can come and pay their respects. Shoghi Effendi also called the Shrine of the Bab the “Kuh-i-Nur ” (which means Mountain of Light in Persian), facing the “Darya-yi-Nur” (which means Ocean of Light in Persian), in reference to the Shrine of Baha’u’llah. Continue reading →

“My Light Is in Thee” by Oisin & Bahiyyih Devine

Video, Leave a comment

Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions is an initiative where we invite Baha’is and their friends from around the world to come into a studio and share the Baha’i Writings put to music.

In this Baha’i Blog Studio Session, we’re in London, United Kingdom with Oisin and Bahiyyih Devine who sing “My Light Is in Thee” from the Writings of Baha’u’llah. Continue reading →

“My Light Is in Thee” by Oisin & Bahiyyih Devine [Audio Track]

Audio, Leave a comment

Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions is an initiative where we invite Baha’is and their friends from around the world to come into a studio and share the Baha’i Writings put to music.

In this Baha’i Blog Studio Session, we’re in London, United Kingdom with Oisin and Bahiyyih Devine who sing “My Light Is in Thee” from the Writings of Baha’u’llah. Continue reading →

Baha’i Blogcast with Rainn Wilson – Episode 34: Judge Dorothy Nelson

Audio, 2 Comments

Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson.

In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick.

In this episode I visit the Honorable Judge Dorothy Nelson in her home in California. Judge Dorothy W. Nelson is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is an active member of the Baha’i Faith who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of United States for many years. She tells me about the fireside she’s been running in her home since 1961, and about her late husband Jim and how they both became Baha’is. She shares tips on having a happy marriage and integrating everyday life with your faith. We talk about the importance of ‘active’ listening, mediation and arbitration, and rehabilitation as an alternative to the justice system. She shares where she sees the Baha’i community going and reminds us that we’re a ‘learning community’, and she tells us the key to happiness. I hope you enjoy the conversation with this remarkable woman! Continue reading →

Celebrating 200 Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions Around the World!

, 1 Comment

I am so excited to be sharing the news that Baha’i Blog has just hit the huge milestone of publishing our 200th Studio Session, yes that’s right, our 200th Baha’i Blog Studio Session! (And it’s also kind of cool that this happened in the year that Baha’is around the world will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Birth of the Bab, the forerunner to Baha’u’llah, the Prophet founder of the Baha’i Faith).

If you haven’t heard of Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions, then I encourage you to check it out, but basically it’s an initiative where we invite Baha’is and their friends around the world, to come into a studio on location, and then we film and record an original song which must be based on the Baha’i Writings or letters of Shoghi Effendi, or the Universal House of Justice (though we have made some rare exceptions to this rule such as this tribute to Mona Mahmudnizhad by Tom Francis singing a cover of Doug Cameron’s “Mona With the Children”). We then make these videos and audio recordings available weekly on our YouTube Channel and SoundCloud page for everyone to listen to and be inspired!

We started Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions about three years ago, partly inspired by a letter from the Universal House of Justice which stated: “We long to see, for instance, the emergence of captivating songs from every part of the world, in every language, that will impress upon the consciousness of the young the profound concepts enshrined in the Baha’i teachings.”

So far we’ve published songs from 36 global locations in 28 different languages, and I’m always blown away by all of the wonderful talent and songs that exist in communities worldwide! We couldn’t have come this far without the help of so many wonderful souls who have not only taken part by singing in the Studio Sessions, but to all those who have helped in so many different ways, from picking people up from a train station, to helping to edit the videos. We’d really like to thank EVERYONE who has helped so far, in making this wonderful contribution to the arts a reality!

As many of you know, music and the arts are of significance in the teachings of the Baha’i Faith, and the Baha’i Blog team has been working hard over the years to help encourage and celebrate the arts in its various forms. So it’s no wonder that we’re super excited about this achievement, and we thought a good way to celebrate these 200 songs would be to list one example of each of the 28 languages we have represented so far, and then list one example from each of the 36 locations as well. Continue reading →