The Bahá'í community’s educational endeavors are aimed at nurturing both the spiritual and intellectual capacities of individuals, at various stages of life, empowering them to contribute positively to their communities and society. Key aspects include: Spiritual Education of Children, Junior Empowerment Program and Study Circles.
Spiritual Education of Children
Children are potentially the light of the world. They are the most cherished treasure a community can possess. What we do or fail to do today, will determine their choices they make tomorrow as citizens of the world.
The Spiritual Education of Children uses a well designed curriculum for children from the age of 5 to 11 and is open to children from all religious backgrounds. It focuses on nurturing their moral and spiritual development by emphasizing core virtues such as kindness, respect, love, justice, forgiveness, etc. with stories, songs, and interactive activities to help the children internalize these values. The classes aim to help children develop a strong spiritual foundation, an appreciation for diversity, and a commitment to contributing positively to their families, communities, and the world.
Junior Youth Empowerment Program
Junior youth represents the age group from 12-15. They are a special group as they are somewhat in between childhood and youth when many changes are occurring within them. While society often represents this age range as a tumultuous period in one's life; the Junior Youth Empowerment Program sees in these young people altruism, a sense of justice, eagerness to learn about the world, and a desire to contribute to the construction of a better world.
The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program is an educational program that enables those age groups to develop their powers of expression, capacities for moral reasoning, and an ethic of service to others. It empowers them to form a strong moral identity, channels their surging energies into contributing to the well-being of their communities and enables them to navigate through a crucial stage in their lives as well. By going through the program, they can become agents of positive change in the world.
A study circle is a small group of people that meets regularly to study, reflect and act together. Anyone aged fifteen or older, whether a Bahá’í or not, is welcome to take part. The purpose of the study circles is to develop the participants’ spiritual and intellectual skills so as to contribute to the transformation of their communities starting with their own neighborhood. The study circle is done through systematic study of a sequence of courses based on the Bahá’í Writings using the courses of the Ruhi Institute.
The first in the sequence of the Ruhi Institute is Book 1, which is called ”Reflections on the Life of the Spirit”. It examines spiritual matters such as prayer, meditation, life and death and the development of the soul. Currently the Ruhi Institute has already developed the main sequence of courses up to Book 14.
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