doberman pizza. a baha'i (bahai, bahá'í) blog.

Here’s a really cool version of everybody’s favourite musical fireside song, These Great Oppressions—performed by Canadian Baha’i musician Dean Kalyan.

These great oppressions
That have befallen the world
Are preparing it for the advent
Of the Most Great Justice

These fruitless strifes
These ruinous wars
Shall pass away
And the Most Great Peace shall come

And, as an added bonus, here’s JB Eckl and Eric Dozier performing another musical fireside song, O Son of Man, at a concert in Austin, TX. See more!

If thou lovest me,
turn away from thyself
If thou seekest my pleasure,
regard not thine own
That thou mayest die in me
And I may eternally live in thee
O Son of Man!

Polynesian music group Mana wins the awesomeness award of the month with their new music video pulled straight from the pages of Ruhi Book 1 and the writings of Bahá’u'lláh:

That seeker should also regard backbiting as grievous error, and keep himself aloof from its dominion, inasmuch as backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.

Bahá’u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Iqan (The Book of Certitude), p. 194

Here’s wishing all the fans and readers of doberman pizza a happy celebration of the Birth of Bahá’u'lláh. 190 years ago, a new day dawned and a new sun rose from the horizon of Persia to illuminate the whole world. Last night’s celebration in Ottawa was pretty epic—over 700 people attended! Here’s a video presentation that was shared as part of the celebration.

Musical awesomeness from Fire and Snow (see original on Youtube).

That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. (Bahá’u'lláh, Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 91)

here’s a neat little video put together by Matthew Levine of Anthem for the World fame—it’s based on the statement made by Shoghi Effendi in the World Order of Bahá’u'lláh letters that many now construe as foreshadowing the creation of the Internet. Check it out (nice music, too!):

A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity.

Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá’u'lláh, p.203

* no, this is not about the Internet Oracle.

It wasn’t until I read about them on the one and only Baha’i Blog and actually had a chance to hear some of their music that I started to light up: Common Market is serious business. Seriously challenging and seriously honest vocals—many inspired by the teachings of the Baha’i Faith—delivered by Ra Scion, along with seriously refreshing and uplifting beats from Blue Scholars‘ DJ Sabzi, make this combo into a mix between revolution and revelation. I bought two copies of Common Market’s album, and the songs on it still enjoy frequent rotation onto my iTunes playlist. Recent news from LiveJournal user sciontific—Ra Scion’s wife—shares an Associated Press article about the growing Seattle hip-hop scene that extensively features both Common Market and Blue Scholars and their independent record label, Massline Media. Check it out and don’t be left behind—and do check out the new Blue Scholars album, Bayani, for a share of lyrical bliss.

Here’s a little Baha’i pilgrimage video I put together out of clips taken during my family’s pilgrimage to the Baha’i World Centre in Israel—specifically, to the old city of ‘Akká. There are many Muslim traditions (hadith) about ‘Akká, some of which are quoted by Bahá’u'lláh in His Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. This video is based on the tradition which states, “He that counteth forty waves [in ‘Akká], while repeating: ‘God is Most Great!’—exalted be He—God will forgive his sins, both past and future.”

The Cyprus Baha’i Arts Festival was held in the city of Limassol from June 23th-29th. You can read up a little more about it on the Baha’i World News Service. Fortunately for those of us who couldn’t manage a plane ticket to Cyprus, highlight videos such as the one below are sprouting up, chronicling the event. You can also do a search on YouTube to find videos of individual performances.

Found this beautiful video montage of photos of the Baha’i Houses of Worship throughout the world, set to Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” (lyrics). Share it with your friends. Thanks to maz for the video and the original post (see it on Youtube).

For those of us who were unable to attend the first ever choral festival at the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, the American Baha’i National Centre offers a video highlight of the experience.

lors de mon pélérinage baha’i à Haïfa, en Israël, j’ai pu faire la rencontre d’une famille baha’ie super sympa et dotée de talents musicaux massifs et entièrement hors norme! La famille Martino vient du pays des Alpes et des noix de Grenoble, et nous avions tous eu la grande bonté de faire partie du même mini-groupe de pèlerins (le groupe francophone, bien sûr). C’était un groupe tout plein de chansons; les Martino nous ont appris tout un répertoire de belles chansons chorales baha’ies lors de nos visites aux lieux saints à Haïfa et à ‘Akka. Je me souviens très clairement des prières chantées vers le Point d’Adoration, le Tombeau de la Beauté Benie, Baha’u'llah—cette journée chaude et claire lors de notre deuxième visite à Bahji; de la soirée que nous avions passés ensembles sur les escaliers des terrasses autour du Sanctuaire du Bab, à chanter sous le clair de lune, contre la silhouette de ce Mausolée sacré, partageant notre héritage musical de tous les coins du monde.

C’est donc en me rappelant de ces moments sacrés que je reprends ces mélodies, puisque cette merveilleuse famille a pris le temps de rendre accessible ces chansons au monde entier à travers la Médiathèque Baha’ie: il s’agit de l’album “Une échelle pour vos âmes”. Ci-dessous vous y trouverez quelques exemplaires; je vous encourage à télécharger l’album au complet et commetre ces beaux airs à votre mémoire! Rendez visite aussi au blog de Silène en Inde (elle est à droite dans l’image, avec sa soeur Mélissa et moi-même).

Fais déborder mon coeur d’amour

La Rose martyre

many of you reading this post may know who Devon Gundry is, so the following won’t come as news to you—I’m just shocked that I didn’t discover his music earlier! We ended up crossing paths at the Cultivating the Roots conference at Bosch Baha’i school last weekend, where he performed for a “music night” on the Saturday evening—giving me a chance to witness his talent first-hand. His sound is energetic, clean, and insistent, with “a sense of urgency, as there indeed should be in conveying the message of Bahá’u'lláh to an ailing mankind” (as observed in a comment on the YouTube video included below). He performed two songs that evening: “Loving Eyes” (listen to my video) and “A Healing Prayer”, which you can watch below. That’s just a sample, of course; you really need to listen to some more of his music and discover his talent for yourself. He’s on Myspace (aka Facespace?), and his CD is for sale on his website—devongundry.com. If you like it, you can also come and share the love on his Fan club on Facebook!