Learning as a Mode of Operation

At whatever level they operate, the central theme of all Bahá’í development efforts is learning. As members of a religious community, Bahá’ís hold to a common set of beliefs and fundamental principles. Yet the wise application of these principles to social transformation is something that must be learned through experience. At the heart of all collective action fostered by the Bahá’í community, therefore, is a concern for the application of spiritual principles. Not only do such principles point the way to practical solutions, but they also induce the attitudes, the will, and the dynamics that facilitate implementation. Equally important to the learning process are the contents and methods of science, for by religious truth is not meant mere assertions about the esoteric, but statements that lead to experimentation, application, and the creation of systems and processes whose results can be validated through observation and the use of reason. Further, the advancement of society requires the multiplication of material means, and these are generated by scientific endeavor in areas such as economics, agriculture, and environmental protection. Development as a learning process, then, can best be described as one of study, consultation, action, and reflection on action— all carried out in the light of the guidance inherent in religious teachings and knowledge drawn from science.

When efforts are carried out in this manner, visions and strategies are re-examined time and again. As tasks are accomplished, obstacles removed, resources multiplied, and lessons learned, modifications are made in goals and methods. The learning process, which is given direction through appropriate institutional arrangements, unfolds in a way that resembles the growth and differentiation of a living organism. Haphazard change is avoided, and continuity of action maintained.

In the worldwide Bahá’í community, the process of learning about development unfolds at various levels. Fundamentally, it emerges at the local level, in villages and neighborhoods throughout the world where a growing number of people and institutions are striving to promote the material and spiritual progress of their communities. These efforts grow in effectiveness to the extent that they are able to contribute to and draw from a global process of learning concerned with the material and spiritual prosperity of humanity as a whole. Structures are required, then, at all levels, from the local to the national and international, to facilitate learning about development. At the international level, the Bahá’í International Development Organization has been established at the Faith’s world headquarters in Haifa, Israel. It helps to strengthen institutional capacity in every country to promote Bahá’í development efforts, ensures that material resources become increasingly available to such efforts, and offers general advice, based on insights gained around the world, in response to questions that arise. The Development Organization sees itself as a learning entity dedicated to the systematization of a growing worldwide experience made possible by the participation of increasing numbers of individuals, agencies, and communities in the development of their societies. The approach to development that comes into focus, then, defies categorization into either “top-down” or “bottom-up”; it is one, rather, of reciprocity and interconnectedness.