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Learning in Action

Referring to the global Plans, a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer in August 2002 indicated that the challenge before the friends everywhere is “to study the guidance issued by the House of Justice, on the one hand, and to learn from experience as they strive to put that guidance into practice, on the other.”^[1] A letter written to another believer not too long before expressed the hope of the House of Justice that “the general messages it issues from time to time, as well as its letters that shed light on certain specific aspects of these new developments, will help the friends to clarify issues in practice and move steadily toward unity of thought and action.”^[2]

The above passages suggest that, at a most fundamental level, the implementation of the global Plans of the Faith is impelled by learning. Every global Plan represents a stage in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan, which is leading humanity towards the world civilization envisioned by Bahá’u’lláh. The success of each stage of this historical enterprise depends on the capacity of the Bahá’í community to respond to the provisions set forth in the global Plan that defines that stage. It is in this context that the aim of accelerating the process of entry by troops, which will remain the focus of the global Plans until 2021,

… identifies a necessity at this stage in the progress of the Cause and in the state of human society. With this perspective, the three inseparable participants in the evolution of the new World Order—the individual, the institutions, and the community—must now demonstrate more tangibly than ever before their capacity and willingness to embrace masses of new adherents, to effect the spiritual and administrative transformation of thousands upon thousands, and, above all, to multiply the army of knowledgeable, consecrated teachers of a Faith whose emergence from obscurity must be registered on the consciousness of countless multitudes throughout the earth.^[3]

It is in learning to respond to the requirements of the global Plans, as set out in the messages of the House of Justice, that the capacity of the three participants increases. In this sense, learning is a “mode of operation.” On various occasions, the House of Justice has explained that this mode of operation is characterized by action, reflection, and consultation:

If learning is to be the primary mode of operation in a community, then visions, strategies, goals and methods have to be re-examined time and again. As tasks are accomplished, obstacles removed, resources multiplied and lessons learned, modifications have to be made in goals and approaches, but in a way that continuity of action is maintained.^[4]

The instrument that has allowed the process of action, reflection, and consultation to accelerate and the learning to occur at a fairly rapid rate at the grassroots is the reflection meeting. In its 17 January 2003 message to the Bahá’ís of the world, the House of Justice wrote,

It is especially gratifying to note the high degree of participation of believers in the various aspects of the growth process. In cluster after cluster, the number of those shouldering the responsibilities of expansion and consolidation is steadily increasing. Meetings of consultation held at the cluster level serve to raise awareness of possibilities and generate enthusiasm. Here, free from the demands of formal decision-making, participants reflect on experience gained, share insights, explore approaches and acquire a better understanding of how each can contribute to achieving the aim of the Plan. In many cases, such interaction leads to consensus on a set of short-term goals, both individual and collective. Learning in action is becoming the outstanding feature of the emerging mode of operation.^[5]

What is important is that the experience gained in one part of the world does not remain isolated from the experiences elsewhere. Through the institution of the Counsellors, the lessons learned at the grassroots are systematized into a body of knowledge that can help the friends acquire a better understanding of the dynamics of promoting the process of entry by troops. This knowledge can then be diffused widely by the International Teaching Centre, the Counsellors and their auxiliaries, stimulating the work at the grassroots and accelerating the learning process further. The House of Justice has described this aspect of the Counsellors’ work in the following way:

A resource made available to the Counsellors by the International Teaching Centre and through them to the community at large is an accumulating store of wisdom born of experience—the experience of a highly diverse community dedicated to the creation of a new civilization. Through the network of Counsellors, Auxiliary Board members and assistants, the Teaching Centre can observe the workings of individual and collective endeavors, analyzing their methods and approaches, and introducing the conclusions it draws into the processes of the systematic growth of the Faith. Thus in the institution of the Counsellors we have a system through which the lessons learned in the remotest spots on the globe can be shared with the entire body of the believers, enriching consultation, stimulating experimentation and inspiring confidence that the great enterprise in which the Bahá’í world is engaged is assured of success.^[6]

It was in this context that the House of Justice wrote to the Counsellors in 1998:

You represent an army of able and highly motivated servants of the Cause throughout the world. Yours is an institution which, in one respect, has a particularly intimate relationship with the Universal House of Justice; in another, it is able to exercise an influence that penetrates the very grassroots of the community. Its nature fits it, uniquely, to serve as a river of encouragement, example and love whose waters can refresh and invigorate the spirit of every believer they touch.^[7]

In the period covering the Four Year, Twelve Month and Five Year Plans, as the friends have learned to put into action the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, the changes in their habits of thoughts, modes of expression and patterns of behavior have become so widespread and so pervasive that there has been a marked shift in culture:

Since the outset of the Four Year Plan, the entire Bahá’í world has been undergoing a profound change in culture required by the single focus of the global Plans in this latter part of the first century of the Faith’s Formative Age—advancing the process of entry by troops. It is important that the necessity of this change be fully appreciated by the friends and that new ideas not be measured by old modes of thinking, which, while valuable in many respects, have not been conducive to rapid growth.

When new and challenging ideas emerge, it is inevitable that differences of opinion would arise and levels of understanding vary. Not infrequently, extremes in thinking appear. It takes time for habits of thought and modes of expression to change and for patterns of action to be adjusted. What the Universal House of Justice finds encouraging is that the institutions of the Faith in…are making strides and are intensely engaged in trying to see how growth can be accelerated through such elements as study circles, devotional meetings and children’s classes and that they can count on wise believers like you to help them in this essential process.^[8]

An important aspect of the change in the culture of Bahá’í communities worldwide is a collective acknowledgement of what is needed to bring about entry by troops:

The central theme of the Four Year Plan—that of advancing the process of entry by troops—produced a high degree of integration of thought and action.… The thematic focus of the Plan bore implications for all categories of Bahá’í activity; it called for a clarity of understanding which made possible systematic and strategic planning as a prerequisite of individual and collective action. The members of the community came gradually to appreciate how systematization would facilitate the processes of growth and development. This raising of consciousness was a huge step that led to an upgrading of teaching activities and a change in the culture of the community.^[9]

Collective consciousness of the requisites for advancing the process of entry by troops has given rise to new ways of thinking and acting, as the House of Justice explains in a letter written on its behalf:

A remapping of the Bahá’í community through the formation of clusters worldwide is an example of a change which is challenging the community to embrace new ways of thinking and acting, such as to mobilize a common effort among local institutions and individual believers that extends across contiguous borders within each cluster. As you will appreciate, this is a process which necessarily involves an initial period of adjustment and which will continue to unfold over a period of time into distinctive features of a dynamic community that is constantly evolving.^[10]

As the Bahá’í community develops the habits of learning and meets the challenges of the Plans, unity of thought and action is becoming a tangible reality throughout the Bahá’í world.