sunset at Bahji
Baha'i Pilgrimage...something every Baha'i should do at least once in their life if possible...
This phase of my journey began 16 years ago, when Janet, the woman who taught me about the Baha’i Faith submitted my name for pilgrimage after I realized I had always been a Baha’i, I just didn’t realized the source until I declared my belief in Baha'u'llah in 1994.
I was first invited several years ago, but was unable to afford to go at that time and had to decline the invitation. My second invitation arrived a couple years ago, and if I declined this one, my name would go to the back of the list. So I picked the date farthest out that didn't interfere too much with my work schedule. Oct. 12-20, 2009. I had planned on taking both of my daughters with me. But as fate would have it, that was not to be. My youngest just started a new job and couldn't take time off, and my oldest just started school, and the timing wouldn't work for her either. I invited my husband to go with me, but he promptly declined and expressed his displeasure at my wanting to go, but agreed to not stand in my way. So I began making preparations for myself...but one month before my scheduled departure date I had come to the conclusion during my evening prayers that once again, I could not afford to go. I resigned myself to God's Will...believing the time was not right...that I did not deserve to go right now...that my time would come...I would email the BWC (Baha’i World Center) the next morning and let them know to give my slot to someone else....
...But when I turned on my computer and checked my email that next morning I saw I had a facebook message from a young woman I had not seen in 12 years or so...saying..."Amy-Good morning!! During my prayers this morning I had an overwhelming thought of you. It distracted me from my prayers but I went with it and this is where it led me: Do you have enough money to go on pilgrimage? I would like to offer $1,000.00 to help you go. Give me your address so I can send you a check. I know this seems very odd, but I am so joyous about this and I hope you will be too!! Love to you and your family! Allah'u'Abha!!"
Needless to say...Tears streamed down my face as I read those words...it seemed Baha'u'llah had given me permission after all! Suddenly a whirlwind of tentative planning came to fruition. A month later, after a stressful ride to the airport in the first blizzard of the year, I found myself in Haifa, Israel. Words cannot convey the magnitude of this gift that has been given to me. Gratitude overwhelms me for having been given a gift I fear I can never adequately repay. I am humbled and awe-struck by the forces at work in the universe and in my own life. Ya-Baha-u'l-Abha! (O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious!)
The experience of Pilgrimage is so vast it cannot be contained in a few words, I will simply attempt to convey some of my thoughts and feelings as I reflect back on my journey...
During one of the evening talks it was mentioned that Abdu’l-Baha had once told Juliette Thompson that “Pilgrimage is a powerful experience which is not fully understood until the next world…” This struck a chord with me…and will stay with me for the rest of this earthly life.
Akka, in what is now Israel…formerly a Prison City across the bay from Haifa. Baha’u’llah was exiled to Akka in a futile attempt to extinguish His infant Faith.
We had the opportunity to visit Baha’u’llah’s cell in the Citadel on one of our visits to Akka. A stark room, with stone floors and cracked plaster walls. With 2 open windows looking out to the sea. I was in a group of 20-25 pilgrims. We entered and sat on the floor. I sat with my back against the wall, facing the windows. Quietly praying and meditating. Secretly hoping to be the last to leave. I had an overwhelming urge to sing the short healing prayer while in this blessed spot. My prayer was answered…I found myself alone within these blessed walls. I stood up and slowly made my way around the room…and began to sing softly to myself. Immediately I was struck by the acoustics in this room…even my soft quiet song reverberated throughout my entire being. And I was suddenly reminded of Baha’u’llah’s time in this cell and how His chanting of the Blessed Verses must have sounded. I get goose-bumps just thinking about it.
“THE Breath hath been wafted, and the Breeze hath blown,
and from Zion hath appeared that which was hidden, and from Jerusalem is heard the Voice of God,
the One, the Incomparable, the Omniscient.”
-(Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 90)
“This Day all the signs have appeared. A great City hath descended from heaven,
and Zion trembleth and exulteth with joy at the Revelation of God,
for it hath heard the Voice of God on every side.”
-(Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 90)
What I wished I had known while I was standing in that cell…was that if I knew where to look…I might have seen another prominent place in Baha’i history. The house of ‘Abdu’llah-Pasha.
From where, when looking out of the window in the reception room there…I could see …the two windows of Baha’u’llah’s cell in the Citadel…perfectly framed, through a cut out in the courtyard wall, and that was all that was visible…a surreal moment in time for me. The house of Abdu’llah-Pasha served as the residence of Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’u’llah’s son, the perfect exemplar of His Faith) and the Holy Family after Baha’u’llah’s passing for several years. Still a prisoner within the city walls, it was from here that he directed the construction of the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel. And where Baha’u’llah’s daughter, Bahiyyih Khanum, secretly hid the remains of the Bab in her room for many years, until the Shrine was completed. Sitting on the floor in the main hall, I was suddenly aware of the historical significance of what transpired here. I ran my hand over the stone floor, and in an effort to help me remember, I could not resist the urge to lay my face upon the cool stone. Flooded with impressions of the footsteps of those Holy Souls who endured so much, so that I might be here at this moment…tears streamed down my face.
Another moment of profound awareness for me came when once again I found myself all alone…this time in Baha’u’llah’s room in the Mansion of Bahji. The room where Baha’u’llah breathed His last breath. Once again tears streamed down my face as I recalled the history of how Baha’u’llah came to be here. All of the events that had to happen. For Baha’u’llah to be in the Holy Land at all, the result of exile. The first residence of Baha’u’llah after being allowed to leave the Citadel was the House of Abbud, within the prison city. The owner of which built this ‘The Mansion of Bahji’ in 1870 as a summer home. Vacated when the owners fled due to an epidemic. Abdu’l-Baha was able to rent it for Baha’u’llah in 1879. The inscription over the door reads, “Greetings and salutations rest upon this mansion which increaseth in splendour through the passage of time. Manifold wonders and marvels are found therein, and pens are baffled in attempting to describe them.” The original owner had no idea Baha’u’llah would end up here. Yet the inscription is stunningly accurate…as I find my pen is baffled in its attempt…