"Spirituality in a Phony World: In Search of Authenticity" A Talk by Payam Akhavan
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2018
- In this talk titled 'Spirituality in a Phony World: In Search of Authenticity', International Law Professor and former United Nations prosecutor, Dr. Payam Akhavan, reflects on our quest for authenticity, what it means, and how he feels it’s emerging as one of the central challenges of civilization today.
Payam Akhavan PhD (Harvard) is a Professor of International Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is a Member of the International Court of Arbitration and a former UN prosecutor at The Hague. His prior academic appointments were at Yale, Oxford, Paris, and Florence, and he has served with the United Nations in Bosnia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, and other conflict zones. He is a founder of the ‘Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (www.iranhrdc.org/english/), and he has also produced and contributed to several notable documentary films on human rights. His global career has been featured in the New York Times, BBC World's HardTalk, Maclean's magazine, Toronto Star, and Brazil's TV Globo. In 2005, he was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. In October 2017, he delivered the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Massey Lectures. The companion book, a memoir entitled 'In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey' (amzn.to/2CAPwQF), became the #1 bestseller (non-fiction) in Canada. This talk was given at the Grand Canyon Baha'i Conference, 25 December 2017.
This talk was given at the Grand Canyon Baha'i Conference, 25 December 2017.
You can find the audio version of this talk here on Baha'i Blog's Soundcloud page: bit.ly/2EDNLmL
You may also enjoy Dr. Payam Akhavan's keynote presentation given at the same conference called 'What are We Waiting For? Serving Humanity in a World of Extremes’, which you can watch here: • "What are We Waiting F...
For more Baha’i-inspired talks, you can visit Baha’i Blog’s Soundcloud page: / bahai-talks or Baha'i Blog's UA-cam channel: bit.ly/2ia1Yxp
I love his style of expressing the rough realities of life.
Excellent presentation Doctor! I noticed that you gave it on December 25, 2017. December 25 is the date the beloved Guardian dated The Advent of Divine Justice in 1938, so this is the 79th Anniversary of that Epic Letter.
We need more of these courteous but "direct" talks to have us awakened/re-awakened to the realties around; grass root actions.
Great talk! Thank you. Yes, the "ONEness of mankind" can only be realized by really believing in and feeling it deep in our souls, resulting in action.
We may be overwhelmed by the degree, size and the urgency of the need for service all over the world. But we can start in our own communities, in our work places...one doesn't necessarily have to go to the other end of the world to touch a soul, to help a broken heart heal, to shov love...doesn't matter how big or small the act of kindness is as long as it is done, as I understand from the Baha'i teachings, in a selfless manner, with purity of heart...
Participation in the Core activities in your communities gives you that opportunity to experience authenticity and helping your community. No need to travel around the world to do that. Start de Children Classes, or Preyouth Group or a Devotional or a Study Circle and each week you are going to have the opportunity to do just that and not just talk about it. That life of service is right there in our grasp. We just need to want to do it. We have the means. It is a sacrifice but it is worth it.
Thank you Mr. Akhavan.
Dr. Akhavan's talk is not only thought provoking and highly inspiring, it's absolutely brilliant. Many thanks for sharing!
You're most welcome! Thanks for the support!
Pure, kindly, radiant- authentic, disciplined expression.
"The wound is where the light enters you". I have also heard this referred to as 'the precious pearl'. In a strange way this painful wound is also a beautiful gift to us.
Amazing, relevant talk. Best I've heard from a Baha'i source in quite a while.
This is a really amazi.ng sharings its enlightenment to the social cancers that we have to focused on and think what service we contribute for the betterment of humanity. Each one arise to uplift the moral dignity.
I don't know why you would give a thumbs-down for such an authentic talk?
Not everyone holds the same views, the same understanding, the same beliefs, etc. Needless to say, it's ok to disagree. Acceptance of our differences is the key. :)
Fantastic talk ❤
❤️🙏🏿❤️
I search for these programs to listen to conversations about our sacred scriptures, but far too often I only learn and hear only about faith in action.
Hello! We strive to have a diversity of talks on Baha'i Blog and perhaps, if you haven't listened to them already, you might enjoy Dr. Rafati's talk on the "Tablet of Medicine" or Nader Saiedi's talk "Fire and Light in the Bab's Tablet". These talks are very much about some sacred texts of the Baha'i Writings. Thanks for listening!
Faith in action is the only meaningful spiritual love. Without it the scriptures are nothing but words. Peace :)
Be contented with what we.have in the first place. My.work in pharmaceutical sales takes me to hospitals where I saw the very sick counting their last days in this world. Material world is ephemeral. Count your blessings and you will be humbled.
I am an Anishinabe Ojibwe grandmother and 3rd generation veteran. My grandmother was a Bahai and so are my grandchildren. The trauma I have endured, along with my father, grandfather and Ancestors has weighed heavily on my soul. A white Bahai said, "Oh, I'm so depressed." She goes on vacations and has a good life with her husband. She said, "I don't know what I am going to do?!!!". I told her to volunteer at a school and help children (she's retired). She never did it, and still complains about her depression. I'm really despairing over the coldness of the white Bahais
If you are a Baha'i under 35-40, and you are coming from a place of privilege, my suggestion is to start living with extreme frugality. We can't afford our parents mentality of wanting a nice big home to host feast in. A small apartment with ordinary things will do. Then find a family to serve close to you. Blessing quickly come.
“Content thyself with but little of this world's goods!”
(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 374)
first suggestion is that we should go to the nearest homeless shelter and volunteer our services
an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what Baha'ullah has taught us
Agree - Im just over 50, we can have a big house - we choose a simple, small home - less expense, less cleaning and when we invite people to our devotional fireside each Tuesday - we can have people from all social classes and they are comfortable - as the house is dignified but small and simple. We have had five souls join the Faith this year in our home, we have 4 new contacts coming this evening. This is the main thing - sharing mesage of Baha'u'llah.
An important note - Economists know that a key means of rising from poverty is home ownership. If someone can save enough for a downpayment and buy a house or condo, the mortgage payment would be the same as the cost of rent, but it provides equity as well as liquidity if needed (years of equity can pay for serious medical emergencies if needed - something renters don't have). A small, reasonably priced house or condo is a very good thing.
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
He only touches the surface. For years now China has been engaged is a massive effort in developing nations around the world, involving billions of dollars in loans. Officials are bribed, massive infrastructure programs are launched, millions of Chinese workers show up, and the countries are not only saddled with enormous debts that they can't pay, but the bribes keep coming and even more loans are made. China is pulling in a staggering amount of money and literally taking the food away from people who are barely getting by as it is. The power grid of the Philippines is owned by China. Kenya is absolutely overrun. The biggest harbor on the east coast of Africa - Mombasa - has been set up as collateral, granting China a 99 year lease if Kenya defaults. Meanwhile in Ethiopia the Chinese have built a massive dam that controls the headwaters of the Nile and is causing droughts in surrounding countries - countries that barely had enough water before this. It may well cause a war.
In other words, it is not just such entities as mining companies doing this. This is a superpower doing it and they are doing it everywhere.
I mentioned food. Kenya, Somalia and other countries have sold their offshore fishing rights to China so local fishermen can't go out more than a mile or so. It is killing the fishing industry. (You know about the Somali pirates? They used to be fishermen but they lost their fishing rights to the Chinese.) One more item: Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and is the main source of fish for all of central Africa. The major species there is tilapia. But the Chinese now have fleets on Victoria. It is astonishing to me - a former pioneer there - that if you want to buy tilapia in Kenya you have to import it from China. Seriously! China takes the fish from Kenya, freezes it, ships it to China, and then sells it back to Kenya. This kind of thing is harming billions of people all over the world.
Bravo, Check out Unity Foundation, Luxembourg
ego.problem is the only answer .
The world is spiritually bankrupt
Ok
Sad that 7 covenant breakers don't want to listen
let the 7 pieces of shits go to hell
I'm sure that not all of the dislikes come from "covenant breakers." I'm also sure that the dislikes are not all coming from a place of criticism toward the Baha'i Faith... I mean the Faith was hardly mentioned. This talk could be shared in a classroom without facing controversy from what I heard. Maybe ppl simply disliked the length or even the fact that the Faith was not directly discussed. Whatever the reason, we all need to be more keen to the likes than the dislikes, metaphorically speaking, in order to keep our belief in the good of humanity as a whole... lol...
@@kevinekaryanian4853 Baha'is do not believe in hell as a place ppl can go to... nor that humans are P.O.S. since we are all equal, wouldn't that make you and me a P.O.S. as well? Be well friend
I strongly suggest that you delete your comment. It makes a terrible impression on those who are not Bahá'ís. Our focus is on unity, not schism.
@@kevinekaryanian4853 I don't want to step on any toes, but this comment does not provide a good impression of the Faith.