How did I end up in Tournai in Chambre d'Hôte Maison Tahereh? I wanted to sleep in a bed for once, and youth hostels are not very thick. There is one in Tournai, so I contacted them. They had a bed for 45 euros, including breakfast. For a Les Auberges de Jeunesse - Belgium I think that is an outrageous price and I thanked.
When I looked up the address of the campsite, Maison Tahereh suddenly appeared as a similar option, so I went to have a look, also because the name intrigued me. Their cheapest room was 31€, and 2.5€ for breakfast. That was quickly clinched.
When I checked in, Ms. Monique Anbergen me explanation of the name. Tahereh was a Persian heroine of the 19th century who was martyred because of her faith (Bábí). She was also a famous poet of her time and pioneer in the emancipation of women. She was convinced of the emergence of a new planetary era. She is often mentioned in Bahá'í literature as an example of her courage in the fight for women's rights.
From there, the conversation continued about the Baha'i religion, which Monique has professed for 40 years. As a youngster, she was spiritually searching and in the Ardennes, where she was teaching at the time, she met two young Baha'is. After a thorough study of the Baha'i mission, she took the plunge and even went to Africa (Upper Volta, since 1984 Burkina Faso) for 3 years to spread the religion.
I really only know the Baha'i religion by name and was curious to learn more about it.
It is a very recent religion, founded in 1844 in Tehran by prophet 'Bab' (Arabic for gate). Bab was executed and the religion was then further spread by Baha'ullah (1817-1892), whose arrival had been announced by Bab. The latter was also persecuted for his faith and imprisoned for a long time in Akko (Palestine).
The main principles of Bah'is that I could note are:
1) They believe in a progressive revelation. All religions sprang from the same source. The messages of the prophets of the different religions responded to the needs and context of their time and involved renewal. This is why many prophets were persecuted.
2) The all of humanity is an organism, which has yet to take several steps towards unity by:
3) The Baha'is have no clergy, at the national level they work with nine-member democratically elected 'spiritual councils'.
Internationally, they have the ''Universal House of Justice'. This institution started only in 1963, long after the passing of the main figures. It runs the international Baha'i community according to the rules revealed by Baha'u'llah and consists of a Bureau of Counsellors elected every five years by the members of the national spiritual councils.
Baha'ism is a recognised religion by the UN. Worldwide, there are 7.5 million Baha'i, very widely spread across all continents and many ethnics. This is how they achieve unity in diversity. That is also why Ms Anbergen's Chambre d'Hôte has 4 rooms, each decorated in a different ethnic style . I was assigned the Sahara room at a very favourable rate.
There are about 600 Baha'is in Belgium. I am happy to have met one of those 600 in person.
16 September: Opening the door at Diamondway Buddhist Centre in Tallinn The centre's meditation sessions are open
