Content and Process of Spiritual Education

The Content of Spiritual Education

The spiritual education curriculum presents a sequence of Bahá’í concepts to be learned. The Bahá’í writings indicate a rich variety of subjects to include in a spiritual curriculum, and offer strategies for serving children of varying ages and levels of spiritual maturity within the same learning framework, based upon Bahá’u’lláh’s words:

“Strain every nerve to acquire both inner and outer perfections, for the fruit of the human tree hath ever been and will ever be perfections both within and without. It is not desirable that a man be left without knowledge or skills, for he is then but a barren tree. Then, so much as capacity and capability allow, ye needs must deck the tree of being with fruits such as knowledge, wisdom, spiritual perception and eloquent speech.”
— Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í Education, p. 5, no. 9

A comprehensive and flexible curriculum was developed into a suggested nine-year Scope and Sequence, containing 172 distinct topics. These topics are distributed through three levels of learning, beginning with introductory topics and progressing to more advanced topics over the course of study.

Strands of the Curriculum

The content of the Core Curriculum is organized into three “strands,” or major categories of study:

The Central Figures of the Faith

The Principle of Oneness

The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh

Themes of Study

Each strand has several themes:

The Central Figures of the Faith

The Báb
Bahá’u’lláh
‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The Principle of Oneness

The Oneness of Religion
The Oneness of Humanity
Race Unity
The Equality of Women and Men

The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh

The Covenant
The Institutions of the Faith
The Guardianship
Huqúqu’lláh and the Bahá’í Funds
A Life of Service

Within each theme, specific learning goals and topics systematically guide the learner to increasingly deeper levels of knowledge, understanding, spiritual insight, and action.

Three Levels of Study

All of the themes of study are organized into a nine-year sequential curriculum for children and junior youth, ages 6 to 14:

Level One — children 6–8

Level Two — children 9–11

Level Three — junior youth 12–14

These three levels of study may be adapted to meet the unique needs of diverse communities. This flexibility enables beginning learners of any age to start with the basic concepts of Level One, using age-appropriate activities, and advance progressively through more mature concepts.

The spiritual education of each learner is carefully documented in a comprehensive Student’s Spiritual Education Record.

The Process of Spiritual Education

The Core Curriculum organizes the content or topics taught into the following broad categories:

Knowledge

To know facts regarding a spiritual principle

Wisdom

To gain deeper understanding of a spiritual principle

Spiritual Perception

To perceive how a spiritual principle applies to one’s own life

Eloquent Speech

To demonstrate in words and deeds the spiritual principle learned

Knowledge

Knowledge requires the learner to become familiar with spiritual, historical, and intellectual information. The Bahá’í writings state that children must acquire basic knowledge of many subjects, including:

The Lives and Teachings of all the Manifestations of God
The Lives of the Central Figures and Their Families
Bahá’í History
The Covenant
The Administrative Order of the Bahá’í Faith
The Important Problems and Needs of the Current Condition of Humankind
The Divine Proofs
The Principles of the Bahá’í Faith
The Principle of Oneness
The Principle of the Equality of Women and Men
The Need to Eliminate Prejudices
The Importance of Education
The Importance of Work as Worship
The Importance of Arts and Crafts
The Balance between Spiritual, Physical, and Intellectual Education
The Sacred Writings, including:

The Hidden Words
Tablets of Tarázát, Kalimát, Tajalliyát, Ishráqát, Bishárát
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
The Kitáb-i-Aqdas and The Kitáb-i-Íqán
The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys
Some Answered Questions
The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
The Advent of Divine Justice
The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh
The Qurán
God Passes By

Wisdom

Wisdom can be defined as a deep understanding of knowledge. Wisdom, or understanding, is necessary for both spiritual and academic learning. Wisdom makes information meaningful. The writings suggest that children need to understand such topics as:

The Station of Bahá’u’lláh
Self-Knowledge
The Importance of Prayer and Divine Assistance
The Principle of Moderation
What True Education Requires of Them
The Purpose of Education and the Station of the Teacher
What It Means to be a Bahá’í
Their Future Responsibilities

Spiritual Perception

Spiritual Perception includes penetrating inner vision, insight, and intuition, and is used to discover purpose. Through spiritual perception, children apply knowledge and wisdom to life’s issues and problems. Spiritual perceptions are often described in physical terms, such as seeing with the inner eye, hearing with the inner ear, tasting the divine elixir, feeling the spirit, and inhaling the divine fragrances.

Children need to develop spiritual perception of:

Their Purpose in Life: Why we have been called into being
Their Direction: Children must be Encouraged to Set Goals
The Mysterious in the Sacred Writings
The Difference between Divine and Satanic Knowledge
The Love and Fear of God
True Liberty
Spiritual Characteristics
The Importance of a Good Character
The Value of Chastity and Purity
The Relationship between Physical Cleanliness and Spirituality
The Divine Nature of the Bahá’í Funds
The Bounty of the Huqúqu’lláh
One’s Relationship to the Environment
The Importance of Kindness to Animals

Eloquent Speech

Eloquent Speech is the endeavor to live a Bahá’í life and engage in service to humanity. Children need to learn to:

Be Teachers of the Faith
Engage in Service to the World of Humanity
Use the Power of Action (True Thought is Manifested in Action)