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Baha'is You Might Want To Know

© Lloyd Madansky

Baha'is are encouraged to acquire knowledge. Not just knowledge of scientific things, but, if so moved, to investigate the various arts. Abdu'l-Bahá wrote, " This wonderful age has rent asunder the veils of superstition and has condemned the prejudice of the people of the East. Among some of the nations of the Orient, music and harmony was not approved of, but the Manifested Light, Bahá'u'lláh, in this glorious period has revealed in Holy Tablets that singing and music are the spiritual food of the hearts and souls. In this dispensation, music is one of the arts that is highly approved and is considered to be the cause of the exaltation of sad and desponding hearts."

In previous articles, I shared with you, my readers, some Baha'is who are poets. I would now like to introduce you to some other Baha'is. Some are well known and other, not so well know, but, they have contributed greatly to the advancement of their respective art. I do hope that my introduction to them will inspire you to search out their works and get to know them better.

JOHN BIRKS GILLESPIE

John Birks Gillespie is better know by "Dizzy" Gillespie. Dizzy was, with Charlie Parker, the founder of bebop and had a great influence on Jazz. A short bio of him can be found at http://www.enmu.edu/~daym/mus103/dizzy.h... . While there is much available about Dizzy concerning his contributions to music, there is very little about his contributions to the Baha'i Faith. The following link provides a glimpse into this aspect of Dizzy's life, but, to hear the three excerpts from a series on him, you will need RealAudio. http://www.unb.ca/web/clubs/abs/dizzy.htm. I have been a fan of Dizzy since the Sixties and believe that once you listen to his music and read about his life, you will be to.

KEVIN LOCKE

His Lakota name is Tokeya Inajin which is translated as "The First To Arise." He is best known as one of the foremost players of the traditional Northern Plains flute, but he is also a hoop dancer, storyteller and educator. Kevin's perspective on the nature of religion and the place the Baha'i Faith has is expressed in his own words, "I believe that the Covenant or relationship between God and humankind is and has been binding over all peoples; and that all peoples have been informed of its existence and parameters either through major prophets and messengers of God such as Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, Bahá'u'llah, or through other holy souls who established spiritual pathways within unique cultures worldwide, such as among my people, the Lakota.

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