As the first month of the new year comes to a close, it’s quite common to see New Year’s resolutions begin to fall away as they are slowly abandoned.
I must admit it’s a tradition I’ve never actually taken part in. The process of reflection and re-evaluation of goals, inherent in this annual tradition, however, is one with much merit.
When we are able to evaluate our actions over a period of time and consciously put forth effort to bring those actions into accordance with some larger plan, we’re really able to affect change in ourselves and in those around us — lack of willpower notwithstanding.
That is a process I do partake in. The writings of Baha’u’llah (the founder of the Baha’i faith) ordain that it’s necessary to carry out daily readings of the Word of God and, through this framework, conduct self-reflection.
I’ve found there are really two main consequences when this reflection comes together. Most directly, it helps you understand the noble purpose of mankind and the latent potentialities of each person to really be a positive influence in the world and to help society advance. This can be realized in something as simple as practicing kindness towards everyone you meet, or perhaps something more difficult like eliminating every form of prejudice. However subtle, that might affect the way that you act.
On the other hand, though, it manifests even more externally to the self. When you’re able to take that ability to self-reflect and transfer it into a group setting, those around you also benefit. The sharing and collective generation of knowledge is really one of the most powerful tools that a society has at its disposal.
Being at university, I find that I really have the privilege to exercise one of the fundamental beliefs of the Baha’i faith, exactly in the form I just mentioned: the independent investigation of truth. I get to spend my days studying with others who, not only share my inherent curiosity and desire to understand the world around us, but are interested in talking about what they find and even want to put that learning into action.
Last year, during reading week, I attended a seminar hosted by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, a Bahai-inspired organization, which brought a large number of students together to really try and understand, in their own way, how to go about participating in and affecting the discourses that exist within society.
We often live in a fragmented world where one minute we are our work-selves, another our student-selves, then later perhaps our family-selves. The fact that we never exactly integrate the various aspects of society of which we are a part really doesn’t help the efficiency of this process and was of great concern to a number of the students present.
I thought this might be a good time to share these brief thoughts about reflection while we’re still in that sort of mode, and perhaps it’s a mode we can begin to adopt as part of our culture — a culture of action, consultation, and reflection, with the overarching goal of the betterment of the world and the advancement of society.
With that in mind, I’ll leave you with a few quotations from the Bahai writings that I hope guide most of my reflection:
“All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.”
“Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.”
“The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds.”
