Study Circles
Open to all, study circles enable people of varied backgrounds to explore the application of the Bahá’í teachings to their individual and collective lives. Groups of friends ages 15 and up come together to advance through a sequence of courses based on the Bahá’í Writings developed by the Ruhi Institute.
Study circles, which usually form in a locality with the assistance of a more experienced participant or “tutor”, provide participants with the knowledge, spiritual insights, and skills to enable them to contribute to the betterment of society, starting with their own neighborhood, and according to their own pace and possibilities. Institute courses build capacities to serve as a host of devotional gatherings, a teacher of children’s classes, an animator of a junior youth group, and a tutor of study circles, among others. In this way, study circles help increase the number of people involved in an expanding process of spiritual and social transformation.
A brief description of the first seven courses in the main sequence can be found below. Guidance for ordering Institute materials can be found on this page. To find a study circle in your area, contact us.
Book 1: Reflections on the Life of the Spirit
The first book in the sequence of courses is largely concerned with the question of identity. What is the real identity of the “I” in the sentence “I walk a path of service”? A group progressing through this book develops the capacity to understand and reflect on the Bahá’í Writings, to pray and to study prayers, and to shape a pattern of life known for its devotional character.
Book 2: Arising to Serve
Book 2 of the sequence explores the nature of a path of service and the manner in which it is to be trodden. An essential feature of community life is unity and fellowship. Participants think about the joy of service, sharing their faith, and acquiring the skills and abilities, knowledge and qualities, needed to enter into conversations with others that are uplifting to the mind and spirit.
Book 3: Teaching Children’s Classes
A further act of service addressed by the Institute is the spiritual education of children. The education of children is essential to the transformation of society. Book 3 and its branches focus on some of the knowledge, skills and qualities necessary for those wishing to enter this important field of service. Participants learn to foster the development of spiritual qualities in small children with love and discipline.
Book 4: The Twin Manifestations
Book 4 in the main sequence returns to the question of identity, the “I” in the statement “I walk a path of service.” History shapes much of the identity of individuals, as well as entire peoples. The second and third units in the book are dedicated to the study of the life history of Bahá’u’lláh, the Author of the Bahá’í Faith, and His Forerunner, the Báb. In the first unit, the significance of this Day is briefly examined. Seeing clearly the elements that characterize the past enables individuals to contribute more effectively to shaping the future.
Book 5: Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth
According to the Bahá’í teachings, an individual reaches the age of maturity at 15, when spiritual and moral obligations become binding. The years immediately before this age, then, take on special significance. This is the time when fundamental concepts about individual and collective life are formulated in the mind of an adolescent struggling to leave behind the habits of childhood. Youth between the ages of 12 to 15 have much to say, and whoever treats them as children misses the opportunity to help them form a proper identity. Book 5 focuses on some of the concepts, skills, qualities, and attitudes that experience has shown are required by those wishing to implement a program for the spiritual empowerment of junior youth.
Book 6: Teaching the Cause
People from every walk of life are welcome to explore the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and learn how to apply them to better their lives. Although the sharing of Bahá’u’lláh’s message is one of the most essential services to be rendered, teaching is also a state of being in which one is constantly sharing with others a gift.
Book 7: Walking Together on a Path of Service
Book 7 is dedicated to an act of service crucial to the functioning of the Ruhi Institute itself, namely, helping a group of individuals go through the initial six courses in the sequence. Mutual accompaniment on a path of service to one’s community is central to the process of capacity building set in motion by the courses. Participants study the spiritual dynamics of advancing along a path of service, examine some of the concepts, attitudes, skills and abilities needed to accompany a group a friends on this path, and consider the role of the arts in the activity of a study circle.
A complete list of available materials and instructions for ordering can be found on the book order page.
“Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone.”