2004 Conference Analysis
The “Unravel The Mysteries” Forum is without a
doubt the best conference currently available to
young adults. Despite craving to write unapologetic
reviews of how things were done and how they
could have been done better there was virtually
no room for that this year. The event was
exceptionally well-organized, the plenary
sessions were engaging, the breakouts were
informative, the location was superb, the theme
was well-chosen, the speakers were first rate
and amply prepared, and the spirit was
incredible! This aspiring intellectual will go
on record announcing that this Forum has
replaced the ABS conference as his favorite of
all time.
Counselor David Smith and his wife, Board Member
Maim Smith, gave an informal roundtable
discussion on Marriage which was well attended.
The one distinction that I clearly remember was
the answer to a question concerning the
restrictions we (and our parents) often put on
future mates: not from a divorced family,
professional, etc. The answer as I understood it
was that we were all raised in families, which
as good as we thought they were, are described
poignantly by Shoghi Effendi as being lamentably
defective. So perhaps we should display a little
more humility in choosing a mate and ease up on
self-imposed restrictions and focus more on
refining ourselves than excluding others. That
we were able to have such a frank discussion
with members of these institutions was indeed a
blessing.
On the second day the conference experienced, in
plenary, what others had seen in breakout last
year, the one, the only, Nevin Jenkins! This
highly charismatic math teacher from Ohio
enthralled the crowd with anecdotes and
reasoning's, with examples and group
participation. One of the things he asked an
audience member was "If Bahá'u'lláh was standing
right here and asked you to do something,
anything, would you do it?" She said yes. Then
he said "what about 'Abdu'l-Bahá?" Yes. "And
Shoghi Effendi?" Yes. "What about the House of
Justice?" Yes. Then he contradicted her answer
and said "No, you wouldn't!" Lets face it, it
took me three years to finally figure out what
this five-year-plan was all about. We often
times don't listen right away to what the House
says. If we did the Faith would be much further
ahead. Nevin, speaking largely without notes or
props managed to engage a room of us for an hour
as he promoted the Ruhi curriculum of the
Institute Process, and urged the audience to
quickly involve themselves in the core
activities while they were involved in other
seemingly important activities including finding a spouse. He
advocated not holding hands before engagement,
not kissing until after marriage (as a service
to each other) and encouraged friendship with as
many people as possible.
Dr. Arash Abizadeh rounded out the morning
with a talk entitled, "Engaged Detachment, Comic
Detachment: Modernity and the Mystics Last
Laugh". In last year's Forum analysis I commented
that "the calibre of presentations left even the
most doltish sorely craving cerebral substance.
Instead of an ABS-style forum it seemed to fit
more in an ABC mold." This all changed with this
intellectually riveting session (and others this
year) which raised the bar of higher thought.
Dr. Abizadeh was more intent on conveying a
comprehensive and cogent summary of the dynamics
of detachment than placating the audience with
attractive platitudes. He began with the
criticisms of the traditional notions of
detachment--it being emotionless, leading to
other-worldly passivity, being vulnerable to
oppression, and against patriotism. He then
suggested that this was all true but then
offered a different view of detachment which
soundly rejected strict dichotomies or
trade-offs between say the physical and spiritual or
the body and soul. 'Engaged detachment' was
proposed suggesting that the physical world was
a reflection of spiritual virtues.
Dr. Abizadeh
then discussed how a battle raged for years in
the 1880s in Iran between the reformists and the
traditionalists on their polarized
understandings of detachment until a treatise
was published anonymously that reconciled their
positions using logic and reason. He later
informed us that it was actually 'Abdu'l-Bahá
that wrote it--a book now called "Secret
of Divine Civilization." His talk ended by
scripturally and anecdotally throwing support
behind using humor as a didactic and
consultative tool. Someone in the audience
countered and asked, "But isn't it mentioned in
the Writings that sarcasm is the lowest form of
humor." (Martinsquest.com would like to say that
it was not able to find any reference to this in
the Writings but it is a secular quote rumored
to be penned by Oscar Wilde.) This was by far
the most exciting workshop I attended this year,
although I also heard great things about the
marriage break out session the following day.
The artistic presentations, like last year, were
particularly vibrant, dignified, and
professional. Note that
Funk Master Vafa and
DJ Martin were asked to perform but turned
down the invitation. Perhaps next year, although
I'm not sure how well we would fit in as our act
is admittedly armature. This part of the forum
is, as always, very high-class and quite
memorable.
In summary, it is with great embarrassment (and joy)
that I have failed to identify one single point of improvement for this Conference, not a single suggestion or cavil. The
organizing committee and the "80 dedicated servants who have actively contributed to the Forum in the capacities of
coordinating, volunteering, performing, and presenting," deserve
enthusiastic appreciation and praise for a job
superbly, nay I dare proclaim, perfectly done.
See
Conference
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