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In Praise of Gardens – the Bahá'í Perspective

By President Elect Angus M Robinson – Rotary eClub One

Whilst on business recently in Israel, I had the opportunity to visit the magnificently maintained and peaceful, terraced gardens of the Bahá'í Faith located on the slopes of Mount Carmel at Haifa in Northern Israel. Opened in 2001, this spiritual attraction was constructed with funding of some US$260m sourced from adherents to the Bahá'í Faith from all around the world. In addition on any given day, it is not unusual to around 100 disciples applying their skills to gardening and general maintenance work. The result of their labours is a sight to be seen!

The Bahá'í Faith is an independent monotheistic religion with a worldwide population of some five million people. They come from more than 2,000 different tribal, racial, and ethnic groups and live in 235 countries and dependent territories. It is claimed that the Bahá'í Faith is the second-most geographically widespread religion in the world, after Christianity. It originated in Iran in 1844 and has its own sacred scriptures, laws, calendar, and holy days.

According to the Bahá'í Faith web site, it is understood that the religion teaches that the founders of the world's major religions, including Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad, are divine teachers sent by the one God to educate humanity through teachings and laws suited to its stage of development. The Bahá'í Faith recognises two additional teachers for this age: the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh.

The web site also claims that the main theme of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation is unity. He taught that "the earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." His writings contain principles, laws, and institutions for a world civilization, including: abandonment of all forms of prejudice; equality between the sexes; recognition of the common source and essential oneness of the world's great religions; elimination of the extremes of poverty and wealth; universal compulsory education; responsibility of each individual to search independently for truth; establishment of a world federal system based on principles of collective security; and recognition that religion is in harmony with reason and scientific knowledge.

Because of its commitment to these ideals, it is also understood that the Bahá'í community has been an active supporter of international organisations such as the United Nations. Service to humanity is another central teaching of the Bahá'í Faith, which has led Bahá'ís to initiate thousands of social and economic development projects - most of them modest, grassroots efforts such as schools, village healthcare campaigns, and environmental projects - around the world.

The Bahá'í World Centre in the Acre/Haifa area of Israel has been both the spiritual and administrative center of the Bahá'í Faith since Bahá'u'lláh was exiled there in 1868. The Shrines (burial places) of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa and of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre are the two holiest places on earth for Bahá'ís.

In introducing the Terraced Gardens, the Bahá'í Faith web site has pointed that gardens have long been associated with peace, tranquility, spirituality, and solace. “They soothe the senses and allow for introspection, contemplation, and meditation”. In a garden, they claim (and I can’t help but agree) that “we feel closer to nature and, for a few precious moments, aware of something greater than ourselves. The mind is gently turned from thoughts and pressures of daily life”.

It is pointed out that traditionally gardens have been constructed for contemplation or quiet enjoyment, but usually for one person or one class of people. Kings, popes, and the well-to-do have built gardens for private repose and tranquility. In addition, “minimalist Japanese Zen gardens are designed for meditation, neighborhood key gardens as a refuge from a bustling metropolis, and vast estate gardens for freedom and escape from court life”.

“Each type of garden says something about the owner, and each design affects the visitor in a different way”. Included amongst other exemplars, the Garden of Eden is cited as giving us a clue to humankind's relationship with gardens.

“Eden is the archetypal garden, that paradise of all paradises and mother of all gardens”, it is claimed.

Furthermore, “in the Bible and in countless stories, endlessly embellished, Eden is described as a beautiful garden, filled with all types of animals, fruits, plants, flowers, and trees imaginable. The temperature is always perfect, the grass is always green, the water always fresh and flowing, and the man and woman who inhabit the garden are initially perfect, unblemished, and chaste. But man challenges God's omnipotence and Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden.”

“The Garden of Eden has been shaped in our minds as the perfect paradise, a place longed for, a personal garden of escape. We compare the world's beautiful gardens to this mystical, ephemeral place that may be present only in our imaginations and certainly holds different meanings for each one of us.”

It is concluded that If Eden represents a place where God can be found, then its loss represents a separation from God, regression towards our baser, animalistic tendencies. “Reconnection with the garden is our collective dream” is the message.

Reflecting on these pearls of wisdom, it is no wonder that so many young people today, in funding their own spirituality, elect to be married in a garden rather than in a traditional chapel.

To quote British poet and hymn writer Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858 – 1932), “One is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth.” AMEN

About the author: Angus M Robinson has been a Rotarian since 1994, first as a member of the Rotary Club of Sydney in Australia, and subsequently as a member of Rotary eClub One. Angus will serve as President of Rotary eClub One in the 2008-2009 Rotary year.