Reddit mentions: The best baha'i books

We found 43 Reddit comments discussing the best baha'i books. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 20 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

1. The Hidden Words

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The Hidden Words
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Weight0.25 Pounds
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Number of items1
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2. An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith (Introduction to Religion)

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An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith (Introduction to Religion)
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Height9 Inches
Length6 Inches
Weight0.771617917 Pounds
Width0.58 Inches
Release dateApril 2008
Number of items1
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3. Paris Talks: Addresses Given by 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1911

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Paris Talks: Addresses Given by 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1911
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Length6 Inches
Weight1.01 Pounds
Width0.7 Inches
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4. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

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Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah
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Length4.25 Inches
Weight0.72 Pounds
Width0.9 Inches
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5. A Short Introduction to the Baha'I Faith

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A Short Introduction to the Baha'I Faith
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Height6 Inches
Length0.5 Inches
Weight0.4299014109 Pounds
Width9.25 Inches
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6. The Baha'i Faith: A Short History

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The Baha'i Faith: A Short History
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Length5.8 Inches
Weight0.56879263596 Pounds
Width0.56 Inches
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7. The Baha'I Faith: The Emerging Global Religion

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The Baha'I Faith: The Emerging Global Religion
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Length5.999988 Inches
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Width0.6999986 Inches
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9. Life, Death and Immortality: The Journey of the Soul

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Life, Death and Immortality: The Journey of the Soul
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Length6 Inches
Weight0.61 Pounds
Width0.5 Inches
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10. Life, Death, and Immortality: The Journey of the Soul

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Life, Death, and Immortality: The Journey of the Soul
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Height8.5 Inches
Length5.5 Inches
Weight1.15 Pounds
Width0.752 Inches
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13. Revelation of Baha'u'llah Baghdad 1853-63

Revelation of Baha'u'llah Baghdad 1853-63
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Release dateDecember 2012
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16. Beyond the Culture of Contest (George Ronald Baha'i Studies)

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Beyond the Culture of Contest (George Ronald Baha'i Studies)
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Length5.5 Inches
Weight0.80248263368 Pounds
Width0.64 Inches
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18. Her Eternal Crown

Her Eternal Crown
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Length5.45 Inches
Weight1.15 Pounds
Width1.03 Inches
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20. The Kitab-i-Iqan: Book of Certitude (Forgotten Books)

The Kitab-i-Iqan: Book of Certitude (Forgotten Books)
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Length5.25 Inches
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🎓 Reddit experts on baha'i books

The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where baha'i books are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
Total score: 40
Number of comments: 14
Relevant subreddits: 2
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Number of comments: 3
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Number of comments: 3
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Number of comments: 1
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Total score: 1
Number of comments: 1
Relevant subreddits: 1

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Top Reddit comments about Baha'i:

u/finnerpeace · 3 pointsr/religion

I would read SHORT but incisive texts from great religions or religious thinkers. Just one or two a day to start with.

I personally love The Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah, but there are many great interfaith collections as well. One nice one is God's Big Instruction Book, here used, which is actually many tiny delicious nuggets from different world Faiths.

I'd read one or two short interesting pieces, and meditate on them.

I think the spirit is quite easily reawakened and nourished! Also looking forward to seeing others' recommendations...

I also really like this prayer:

>O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.

>O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.

Here in musical form

There's also a really neat event called Soul Food that happens in several cities, with very uplifting and inspiring interfaith readings. Attending something like that might also be helpful: but really, I think short prayer, meditation, and reading are the best.

u/dragfyre · 7 pointsr/bahai

Hey lampshade! Welcome, and thanks for the question.

A good place to start if you're looking for Baha'i books is the Baha'i Reference Library, which has a number of authoritative Baha'i texts. You can also find all of these for purchase at the Baha'i Bookstore online, and for free in e-book form.

The order you read them in kind of depends on your own background and what you're interested in, but a good place to start is with Bahá'u'lláh's Hidden Words, which is like a distillation of the spiritual teachings that lie at the core of all of the world's great religions.

If you have a strong mystical bent, you might want to follow that up with Bahá'u'lláh's Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, or Gems of Divine Mysteries. Both of these are essentially letters to individuals who had asked about certain spiritual truths, such as the path taken by a soul on its spiritual journey.

If you're really interested in Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on the evolution of religion throughout history, and His interpretation of past religious prophecies, you should definitely read the Book of Certitude, aka the Kitáb-i-Íqán. I've known a lot of people who've started learning about the Bahá'í Faith through this book; it really delivers some penetrating spiritual insights.

There are also more general introductory books about the Bahá'í Faith that are available. Two commonly recommended books for those interested in reading about the Bahá'í Faith are A Short History of the Bahá'í Faith by Peter Smith, and A Short Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith by Moojan Momen. If you want a very quick foretaste of both books, you can check out this combined review. Smith has also published a newer book, An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith, which you might want to consider as well.

u/DavidbinOwen · 9 pointsr/bahai

My recommendation is that you read and try to understand what the Baha'i Faith is and actually teaches. Just because you disagree does not make them hypocrits. Perhaps they see and understand aspects of the Bible you are missing due to the dogmas long taught but not necessarily consistent with the teachings of the earliest Christian community. Not all Baha'is are perfect but Baha'is are often quite well versed in other religions and have sound theological and factual bases for their beliefs.

First, there are some tremendous miracle stories in the Baha'i Faith. The Bab's execution was witnessed by perhaps 10,000 persons in Tabriz in 1850 and accompanied with multiple "miracles". But those are proofs only to those that witnessed them and the Baha'i Faith teaches that miracles are not reliable evidence or proofs. Turn the story on its head, what proof do you have really that Christ was resurrected after three days? The Gospels were not written until decades after the event. The number of witnesses was extremely small.

Second, most Baha'is revere the Bible but we recognize that certain passages are more likely authentic and others are of questionable authenticity or accuracy.

You might be surprised to learn that some of the early Western Baha'is were Christian ministers, like George Townshend. There are Baha'is currently that teach the Bible in religious studies courses in Universities. The Baha'i Faith also has an extensive literature on the Bible, including the prophesies fulfilled by Baha'u'llah (See, for example, Thief in the Night by William Sears at https://bahai-library.com/pdf/s/sears_thief_night.pdf is an old classic; more recent books include: https://www.amazon.com/He-Cometh-Clouds-Gary-Matthews/dp/0853984085; https://www.amazon.com/Shall-Come-Again-Bible-Prophecies-ebook/dp/B01BYT5QOK ; and https://www.amazon.ca/Lord-Lords-Hushidar-Motlagh/dp/0937661171 ). Many Baha'is, like me, in North America became Baha'is precisely due to the ability of the Baha'i Writings and Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha to address our Christian beliefs. [I will add as replies some summaries of the passages and evidence for Baha'u'llah. ]

Some Answered Questions by 'Abdu'l-Baha (which is free online for download at https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/ ) has some excellent discussion chapters on some important Christian and Bible topics.

I became a Baha'i because it confirmed my Christian beliefs and i could rationally understand the Baha'i Faith. I had a near-death experience at age 12 (1973) when I was told Christ had returned, His religion would be in the Holy Land, and I would find this religion later in my life. I remained a devout Christian for six years but searched for this new religion until I randomly came upon a book called Baha'u'llah and the New Era around age 18 (1979). I studied extensively day and night for three months before becoming a Baha'i.

u/jamescountry · 9 pointsr/bahai

To be honest, if you're interested in learning about the Baha'i Faith in broad terms, the best way to begin would be with an introductory book. The classic of this genre is Esslemont's Baha'u'llah and the New Era; other good books include those by Smith, Momen, and Bowers (this last one is targeted specifically to a Christian audience).

Of the books you mentioned, The Hidden Words is probably the most accessible (and shortest!), and it's usually what I recommend to people who are interested in the Baha'i Faith. However, it's not always useful to look at the Baha'i Faith through the same lens as we may look at, say, Christianity or Islam, as having one or two "Holy books" that are central to all understanding. The Baha'i Faith is blessed with having many pieces of writing from the central figures of the Faith, and it's not possible to gain a full picture of the religion just by reading the four texts you mentioned.

Edit to add: The other excellent way to learn about the Baha'i Faith, which I heartily recommend, is to meet with some Baha'is from your area and talk with them. There are (relatively) a lot of Baha'is in Ontario (although I don't know where you are specifically), and there are usually ways to go about contacting them via the web.

u/TheLurkerSpeaks · 5 pointsr/bahai

The Kitab-I-Aqdas means The Most Holy Book, but I don't think it's fair to equate it with being the Baha'i Bible or Qur'an. It is one of literally hundreds of books and tablets which comprise the Writings of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith, all of which are sacred, all of which are equivalent in importance to the Bible for Christians/Qur'an for Muslims. It's also not the best reading for someone completely new to the Faith, as it is speaking to a Baha'i audience who is asking for laws, some of which might not be understood out of context.

On top of that, the Baha'i Faith has the Writings of the Bab (the Prophet-Founder of the Bab'i Faith, Predecessor to the Baha'i Faith) and 'Abdu'l-Baha (son of Baha'u'llah, authorized interpreter of the Writings of Baha'u'llah) which are given nearly equivalent weight. That brings the total volume of sacred Writings of the Baha'is to several orders of magnitude greater than that of most any other world religion. It can be difficult to know where to start, and overwhelming when someone heaps book after book after book upon you. We're not even getting into Shoghi Effendi or the Universal House of Justice yet.

God Speaks Again by Kenneth Bowers is a great starting point for someone who knows nothing.

Baha'u'llah and the New Era by J.E.Esslemont was the starting point for decades before this.

The Hidden Words by Baha'u'llah is my choice for a first read of the Holy Writings.

The Kitab-I-Iqan/Book of Certitude by Baha'u'llah is much heavier reading, but is the core of Baha'i Theology, if you want to dive into the deep end.

Thief in the Night by William Sears is my starting point for people who are intimately familiar with Christianity and the Bible.

My advice is to start with only one book, then move to others. Have fun!

Edited for grammar

u/akward_tension · 1 pointr/ParisComments



comment content: Ditto for the Hidden Words. One of the best books to get a brief, yet potent idea of the profound spiritual truths that underlie not only the Bahá'í Faith, but all of the divine religions. Gleanings is the next level up IMO; it's a collection of longer passages that dive much deeper into Bahá'u'lláh's Writings. As well, I find 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Paris Talks give a good introduction to a variety of key Bahá'í principles.

Regarding introductory books about the Bahá'í Faith, as opposed to Scripture: A few commonly recommended books are A Short History of the Bahá'í Faith by Peter Smith, A Short Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith by Moojan Momen, and The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion by Douglas Martin and William Hatcher. Smith also published a newer, updated book, An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith.

subreddit: bahai

submission title: Recommended book in Amazon?

redditor: dragfyre

comment permalink: https://www.reddit.com/r/bahai/comments/5vvad2/recommended_book_in_amazon/de62dud

u/DonBoByuti · 8 pointsr/Psychonaut
Absolutely, my friend. I'm sure most of these can be found online for free but I have listed the Amazon links for familiarity (I prefer books as opposed to online).

Books

Aldous Huxley: The Perennial Philosophy

Baha'u'llah: The Hidden Words

Baha'u'llah: The Seven and Four Valleys

The Kybalion

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

Michael Singer: The Untethered Soul

Wisdom of the Buddha

The Bible

Two powerfully insightful Youtube Channels (many more are similar):

Monadic Media

Gary Lite

Film

Inner/Outer Worlds

In the end, all of these (and much, much more) seem to confirm the truths we find and experience in psychedelics. I hope they bring you comfort and happiness.

)

-Don Bo Byuti

Nobody But I

G9D
u/gobex · 1 pointr/Epicureanism

Epicurean: Introduction to the Epicurean Way of Life (Epicurean Philosophy Series, Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074M26P5T/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Iv2KAb64M81K2

Tending the Epicurean Garden https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O2D62QW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_vx2KAbKDJ5GH5

So far what I've found. I've read the first book listed it basically just goes into more detail behind the meanings of various verses of Epicurus. The second one I've just read the tablet of contents and section 5 on epicurean therapy.

I haven't read this one below but looks promising.

EPICURUS and THE PLEASANT LIFE: A Philosophy of Nature https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071KKHF3Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_MH2KAb02GG8V9

u/91995 · 6 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

In the past, the economic contest (to win in business) was separate from the legal contest (the pursuit of justice). This broke down when some entities became so rich as to make it prohibitively expensive for anyone to match their legal resources.

A great discussion of this issue in Beyond the Culture of Contests by Michael Karlberg.

u/99Kelly · 3 pointsr/bahai

There is a lot of literature on evolution and the Bahá'í Faith. The book I like to recommend is Evolution and Bahá'í Belief by by Keven Brown and Eberhart von Kitzing Link https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-BahaI-Belief-AbduL-Bahas-Nineteenth/dp/1890688088

u/ClydeFroggg · 1 pointr/religion

http://www.amazon.com/The-Hidden-Words-Bahaullah/dp/193184707X

And

http://www.amazon.com/The-Story-Bahaullah-Promised-Religions/dp/1931847134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414069042&sr=8-1&keywords=baha%27u%27llah

?

I'm very unfamiliar with Baha'i so that would be cool to read up on it. Will these texts be a harder read without any knowledge of Baha'i or should I start somewhere else?

u/raineykatz · 6 pointsr/whatisthisthing

reverse image search

https://www.amazon.com/Her-Eternal-Crown-Della-Marcus/dp/0853984425

eta- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/In-this-portrait-by-Philip-Alexius-de-Laszlo-Queen-Marie-of-Romania-is-wearing-the-1909_fig3_294260980
>In this portrait by Philip Alexius de Laszlo, Queen Marie of Romania is wearing the 1909 Cartier kokoshnik that most likely bears the Ruspoli sapphire as the center gem. Examination of a high-definition image of that jewel (courtesy of Cartier archives) confirms this. Courtesy of Peles National Museum.

u/nabil1030 · 0 pointsr/videos

For those saddened by the message in this video:

I have found the notion of "Power With" - as opposed to Power Over to be a refreshing principle.

If you dig this, you'll like: