Society Builders paves the way to a

better world, to a better day

a united approach to building a new society.

Join the conversation

for social transformation.

Society Builders.

Society Builders with your host, Duane Varan.

Welcome to another exciting

episode of 'Society Builders'.

And thank you for joining

the conversation for Social Transformation.

Today's episode is part two of our

discussion exploring 'a History of Tomorrow'.

Now, in our last episode, we explored

the art of fashioning, of translating vision

into reality, of bringing it into fruition.

I hope your key takeaway from that episode

was that fashioning is a skill, and that

there are ingredients like faith and action that

are indispensable to effectively make it happen.

So fashioning is something we have to work hard

at, get good at, to be effective at.

But our discussion was largely framed around the

experience you can have as an individual.

In other words, what you can do to

bring vision into fruition in your own life.

The task of doing this at a collective level

is infinitely more challenging because, of course, a community

of people have to together embark on that voyage.

And in the Baha'i context, this is even more complex,

because this has to occur with true consultative will, and

not as a result of some kind of coercive pressure.

In other words, Baha'is have to choose to

bring about this kind of collective change.

So how do you get a group of people to buy

into a vision, adhere to a game plan, give of themselves,

and actively work together to bring it to fruition?

Just as fashioning at the individual level is

a skill, translating vision into reality at a

collective level is also a skill.

And it requires its own set of

ingredients to effectively make it happen.

There are things that we can do that

will make it more or less likely that

we'll be effective at pulling it all off.

NOW you can see why I wanted to

first discuss vision at the individual level before

tackling it at a collective level.

It's just so much harder to do as communities.

But I hope that as we explore this

theme, we'll better appreciate not only the challenge,

but also the opportunities, the key ingredients that

help us do this better.

And in that context, we'll return to the critical

role of the guidance from the Universal House of

Justice that we've been referring to across these first

three episodes the release of the society-building power

of the Faith in ever-greater measures.

So my hope is that by the end of this

episode, we can better appreciate not only why this guidance

is so seminal to Baha'is, but also how critical it

is to shaping our journeys moving forward.

As communities, we'll better situate the unique role

this guidance plays in shaping our collective will,

our collective capacity for bringing vision to fruition.

I'd like to start this episode

with a metaphor of sorts.

Most religious traditions have this dream awaiting the

arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

And Baha'is share this dream.

But as Baha'is, it's more like we were all standing on the

beach when we saw a big jet flying across the sky.

And out of this big cargo jet came a massive crate.

And as the crate came down with parachutes deploying,

we noticed that all across the crate were written

the words 'Kingdom of Heaven on Earth'.

So naturally, we were all so excited this

was the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

I mean, this is what we've been waiting centuries for.

And so, overwhelmed with joy, we opened up

the crate and looked inside, and to our

surprise, it was a DO IT YOURSELF kit.

In truth, this is the story of all great religions.

All of the Prophets and Manifestations of God

have come to us with the blueprints for

building the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

And rather than roll up our sleeves and get

busy working to build it, we keep looking up

to the heavens, waiting for it to happen.

What we don't appreciate is that it already

happened, just like the temple being already built.

As we discussed in our last episode,

we just need to now get busy and build it,

or continue building it, as the case may be.

This kind of common plan is largely

what defines a community of faith.

A community of faith is a group of people who

have bought into a particular vision and are willing and

eager to contribute of themselves to building it.

So what you see in the Baha'i Faith is

the plan which Baha'u'llah brought for the world today.

And you have to decide for yourself if it's

divine in origin and whether you want to be

a part of building it and making it happen.

Now, you can build beautiful things

without building to a plan.

But what is truly remarkable about the plan

of a community is that you continue building

to that plan generation after generation, and not

just in one community, but globally.

So you know that your

contributions don't exist in isolation.

You're a part of something bigger than yourself.

You transcend yourself.

So there's no doubt that as an individual on your

own, without a community, you can still have the ability,

potential and capacity to do great, great things.

But however great those contributions will be, it's

different to the kind of contribution you can

make as part of a community.

As part of a community, you are

contributing to a plan that will live

beyond you, a plan greater than yourself.

So this contribution to community is special

and unique and leaves a lasting impact.

Now, I'm not saying that you

shouldn't make contributions as an individual.

After all, not everything you do will

inherently fit in the corridor of community.

All I'm saying is that in addition to your

individual contributions to the world, be a part of

a community and contribute also to that community's ability

to make its contributions as well.

And in today's episode, we want to explore

that process of contributing at the community level.

As a general rule, there are two approaches

to mustering collective support around a vision.

The first approach is coercive.

You use the levers of reward and punishment

to push a community to implement your plan.

At its extreme, this occurs

through tyranny, through sheer force.

The first Emperor of China, for example,

had a great vision for the erection

of a great wall protecting his lands.

But he implemented that vision by forcing people,

really against their will, into building it.

The outcome was amazing, but there was

a massive amount of suffering that people

endured to bring that dream into fruition.

And there's no shortage of

examples like this throughout history.

I mean, Hitler, Stalin, the list is long and endless.

Now, coercion doesn't have to be this extreme.

Even our work environment has some level of

coercion associated with implementing our corporate plans.

You get rewarded financially if you deliver, punished,

or even possibly fired if you don't.

One way or another, we impose rewards

and punishment to deliver on our vision.

So most vision is brought to fruition using

these kinds of methods, built through pushing people

using the levers of reward and punishment.

Now, the other approach to collective implementation

happens purely through collective free will.

There is no coercion.

Collectively, we choose to be part of a plan.

It happens through free agency.

Rather than push a community to action, a

vision pulls us, compels us to action.

Naturally.

Collective action resulting from free choice

is much harder to achieve.

But it's also far more meaningful, because free

will is what gives our choice value.

You know, if Baha'u'llah wanted to, He

could make the whole world believe.

But what would the value be in that?

The whole point of our relationship with our Creator

is that we are endowed with free will.

And that means that we get to decide

for ourselves whether we believe or not.

And whether, when faced with a moral

dilemma, we do the right thing.

We can choose to do what's right or not.

The choice is entirely ours.

But that is what gives our lives meaning.

It's what gives our choices value.

And in a similar way, at a collective

level, there is meaning, there is value to

a community choosing its own destiny.

And that's the approach that is

characterized by the Baha'i Plans.

It's a central theme to the new world we're

working to build, a world built on consultative will.

So at a high level, then, let's accept that

we want to adopt this approach centered on free

agency, on a community deciding its own fate.

But how does that get operationalized?

So here we need to explore the relationship

between three key constituents in this drama the

individual, the community, and a system of administration

to help translate vision into action.

Each of these central actors play a

critical role in bringing vision to fruition.

At the end of the day, all

power resides with the individual, particularly where

the approach is voluntary in nature.

It's the individual who decides what energy, if

any, they choose to bring to the party.

The system of administration faces the challenge

of helping effectively stimulate and channel the

energy of its individual members.

And we're going to dedicate an episode,

or probably a few episodes actually, to

better understanding the challenges for such administration.

But in this episode, I'd like to focus on the

community as an organic and holistic entity and the role

it plays in this collective art of fashioning.

It's critical here that we distinguish and

differentiate a community from its individual members.

A community is not the

totality of its individual members.

It's an organic entity that is defined by

more than the sum of its members.

It goes beyond its membership.

I mean, you can have a community

with individuals who have incredible capacity as

individuals, but collectively, as a group, they

might have incredibly limited capacity.

For example, this is the classic story of

the academic department in a university made up

of incredibly bright and capable people.

I mean, by definition, these

are incredibly smart people.

There's just so much capacity.

But put them together in a room and it's

impossible to predict what their collective capacity will be.

All too often it's tragic to see

how limited that collective capacity really is.

Now, I'm not talking about every academic department.

Naturally, there are great departments and dysfunctional ones, but

it always amazes me when things don't click that

you can have so many brilliant and clearly capable

people, but who, when you bring them together, struggle

to get even the simplest task done.

Their departmental politics constrains them

rather than empowering them.

And so even though they have this immense

capacity as individuals, collectively their capacity is hampered.

And I've seen the opposite.

Like that college club I talked

about in our first episode.

I mean, we were a group of somewhat average college

students, but collectively we discovered a potential so much greater

than the sum of our parts awakening and cultivating skills

and talents we never even knew we had.

So there's something to be

said for a community's culture.

You can have a culture that

somehow stifles or one that empowers.

I mean, the most effective communities are those

whose culture is synergistic, elevating you to greater

and greater heights, reflecting a capacity greater than

the sum of its parts, elevating the atmosphere

in which they move.

This cultivates a symbiotic relationship between

the individual and their community, each

feeding and nurturing the other.

This is why I say don't think of

your community as a collection of individuals.

There is more to it than that.

And your collective capacity is a function in part

of the culture you cultivate within your community.

And building a strong community is not

just about recruiting capable members or having

good ideas or even great activities.

It's also about being aware of and

actively contributing to your community culture.

In truth, it is culture rather than activity that

will probably account for your greatest success or failures

as communities. Beyond culture, we should also talk

about a community's latent and demonstrated capacity.

Our latent capacity is our potential.

In fact, I'll refer to latent capacity

as potential to help differentiate it from

demonstrated capacity throughout this episode.

Now, we don't need to impose a

limit on our potential for today's discussion.

So let's dream big, like those early believers

in Chicago that we talked about in our

last episode, who dreamed of building a monumental

temple and who eventually pulled it off.

That's our potential, our latent capacity,

and it's truly infinite in scope.

But your demonstrated capacity is what, in

the light of experience, you are able

to achieve today as a community.

For example, can you imagine your community hosting an

event and getting 100 people to turn up?

Well, if you can, good job.

Now imagine filling a stadium with

tens of thousands of people coming.

Maybe that dream sounds implausible for you today.

So while it's definitely possible in

terms of your latent potential, it's

beyond your current demonstrated capacity.

So there's a gap between our

potential and our demonstrated capacity.

And our challenge is, how do we grow

our capacity to deliver to our potential?

How do we rise to achieve

a vision beyond our current capacity?

This is similar to the challenge

you face as an individual.

How do you get from your current reality to your dream?

So, similarly, how do we get our communities to rise

to the challenge to deliver on our collective dreams?

Now, what determines what our

capacity as a community is?

Spoiler alert here.

It's not the size of your community.

You can have a very large community with thousands of

members and do less than a community with just 20.

I mean, of course size is a

factor, but it's not the critical factor.

The single most important predictor of your

capacity as a community is your UNITY.

Baha'u'llah tells us that no power

can exist except through unity.

If you are united, you can make great things happen,

and in fact, your capacity will surge and grow.

But if you're not united, your ability to get

almost any task done will always be hampered, irrespective

of how incredible your idea might have been.

Perhaps the best measure of our unity

is the degree of participation by our

membership in any community initiative.

Our goal, of course, should be universal participation.

But while that's a tall order,

it conveys a principle, a direction.

The more people who choose to participate, the more

confident we can be that we're seeing unified action.

If an initiative can't win the participation of

its membership, it's spinning its wheels, and it's

unlikely to ultimately succeed, no matter how exciting

the genesis of that action might have been.

And, of course, our unity must have direction.

There's no point in being unified in inaction.

Unity finds its expression and service,

and that requires determination, dedication, energy.

The energy of our communities willingly giving

of themselves in the arena of action.

And of course, that energy must be positively oriented,

focused on what you're trying to build and not

getting bogged down by the obstacles we face.

It's vision which cultivates the release

of this kind of energy.

People willingly give of themselves when they see

a cause or a goal that they are

eager to help bring into reality.

So our capacity as a community is

defined by the action we can positively

mobilize while maintaining our unity.

You could almost state this as

an equation a community's capacity,

or we'll call that C, equals

our action, A, times our unity, U.

To make this all sound more scientific, we'll even double

the emphasis on unity so that we end up with

a really cool equation like C equals AU squared.

We'll think of this as

Einstein's law of community capacity.

So I can't emphasize enough that our

unity is critical to our action.

The challenge here is to channel action in

corridors that will build and cultivate our unity.

This becomes synergistic.

That kind of unified action multiplies.

And as it does that,

it also attracts divine confirmations.

And this business of attracting divine confirmations is

the true secret to our ultimate success.

To help illustrate what I mean here, I'd like

to share a dream I had many years ago.

In my dream, I was sitting with someone

in a big 747 jumbo jet.

Now, that starts to date my story, but that's okay.

I was in a big 747 jet, and I

was training them on how to fly this plane.

We were in Houston, where I was living at the

time, and we were going to fly to Chicago.

I'm guessing Chicago makes a guest appearance in my

dream, since, after all, it is the site of

that monumental temple we discussed in our last episode.

So anyway, in my dream, I was training this

person how to fly this plane, and next thing

you know, we're speeding down the runway at high

speed, having pushed the throttle to the max.

Okay, all good things are going along really well.

We're racing down the runway.

So I say, okay, now pull back on

the steering wheel so we can get airborne.

But my trainee refuses to pull back on the stick.

He prefers the certainty of the ground he understands.

So next thing you know, we're zooming down the highway

at high speed with cars all around us, swerving and

weaving through the traffic, trying to avoid cars.

And I'm scared to death.

It's just so dangerous.

So I turn to the trainee and I say, 'what are you doing?

Pull back on the stick.'

And he replies, 'Why?

We'll get there this way too.'

Now, that's the experience of

so many of our communities.

We're designed to fly, to transcend the earthly realm, but

rather than pull back on our sticks and fly,

we prefer the certainty of the world we know.

And so we're cruising down the

freeway in our Jumbo 747 jets.

Never forget, our capacity to soar depends

on our capacity to align ourselves with

the power of the Concourse on High.

And there are things we can do that

either attract or repel these divine confirmations.

And unity is critical to this business

of aligning ourselves to attracting such power.

So we need to look at our communities

with an inner eye, being aware of the

need to attract divine confirmations so that we

are together, working to channel this divine reality.

Now, there are many other things that we could

do to contribute to better community culture, and realistically,

we don't have time to discuss them all today.

We'll be exploring these themes

much more in future episodes.

But my point here was simply to illustrate

that a community's culture matters and that there

are things that we can do to contribute

positively or negatively to that culture.

And this is critical because it's that

culture which will play a critical role

in defining our community capacity and our

ability to collectively bring vision to fruition.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, vision often plays the key

role in mobilizing a community and keeping it united.

Vision directly impacts a community's capacity to

fashion and its capacity for unified action.

As the Old Testament tells us, where

there is no vision, the people perish.

Vision unites us, motivates us to give of ourselves,

provides us with guidance and direction, channeling our initiative

so that we're more likely to be successful, which

in turn, further motivates and cultivates us.

I mean, vision is key.

It's the catalyst that unites and generates energy,

channeled in action.

And vision is all about our capacity collectively

to see the End in the Beginning.

This is one of the themes Baha'u'llah explains

in The Seven Valleys, a book where he

explores the journey of the soul.

And one of these valleys is The Valley

of Knowledge, part of which is about learning

to see the end in the beginning.

Here Baha'u'llah tells us the story of

Majnoon searching for his lover Layli.

And he's going crazy because he can't find

his Layli no matter how hard he searches.

But then a Night Watchman sees him

searching in the night and gives chase.

And in his fear, Majnoon runs away

from the watchman, cursing the watchman.

And suddenly, as the watchman closes in on him to

escape him, he musters a capacity he didn't know he

had to leap over an incredibly tall wall.

And on the other side of that wall, he finds his

Laili searching for a ring she lost in the garden.

And so the lovers are reunited.

And at that moment, suddenly, Majnoon realizes that far from

cursing the Night watchman, he should have been giving him

praise and thanking him, for were it not for the

chase, he would have never found his lately.

It's a poetic story, but the moral of the story is

that in life, we often can't see how events work.

To take us to a greater destiny, we need to

trust our journey and see the end in the beginning.

Seeing the end in the beginning is a powerful thing.

It gives us strength to transcend every crisis.

Because we know a brighter future awaits us.

We understand by remaining focused on the end,

we don't get distracted by the present. Incidentally,

this idea of seeing the end in the beginning can help

us in so many ways in our personal life as well.

For example, one of the ways that my

dad translated this principle for me was helping

me when I was faced with life's challenges.

He'd say, Duane, anytime you're faced with a problem,

ask yourself: a year from now, will it matter?

If it does, then fight.

But if not, let go.

It doesn't matter.

I have to say, for the vast majority

of problems we encounter, we know that a

year from now, it really won't matter.

So we can let go and not get stressed

out and save our energy for the real problems,

the ones that will matter a year from now.

The ones that really do matter.

So my dad's guidance is about pausing, taking a

deep breath, and rising above our circumstances to see

how it all fits in with the bigger picture.

Take a peek at the ends

and ask whether it really matters.

I want you to try this.

You'll be amazed at how it will

help you rise above life's challenges.

So this is all about learning to

see the end in the beginning.

And collectively, this means we focus on

our destiny, rise above our current circumstances,

our limited capacity, and look beyond the

hill to actualizing our potential.

And here, the guidance from the

Universal House of justice is unique.

It's unique because, as Baha'is, we believe

the Guidance to be divine in origin.

I mean, you don't get better clarity than that.

It plays an entirely unique role in both unifying

and channeling our action at a collective level.

Because we believe the Guidance is divine, because we

yearn to translate it in the arena of action,

we choose to give of ourselves in a unified

framework, bringing the vision to fruition.

So the vision plays a key role

in giving us direction for unified action.

And that's really the whole point of this episode.

The vision articulated by the Universal House of

Justice that we release the society-building power

of the Faith in ever greater measures.

That vision plays a unique and powerful

role in focusing and channeling our service,

clearly defining a path for unified action.

We know our destination.

We understand the journey.

We are confident in our future.

We can write the history of tomorrow today.

Now, it's taken me these first three episodes just

to set the stage for our series, just to

help clarify why the guidance that we release the

society-building power of the Faith in ever greater

measures is so seminal to Baha'is worldwide.

Hopefully we can better appreciate how this kind of

fashioning is a skill, that there are things that

we can do to get better and better at

it at both the individual and collective level.

And hopefully we can understand why the guidance from

the Universal House of Justice is so life transforming.

It's life transforming because it defines our focus, a

unifying focus for us as individuals and communities.

It defines our focus for what for many of

us will be the rest of our lives.

And at a collective level, that guidance is the key

to channeling our service in a path of unified action.

Wow!

So it's taken us three episodes to explore just

a single sentence in the guidance from the Universal

House of Justice, our focus on releasing the society

building power of the faith in ever greater measures.

Now that we know our destination, we

can start to explore our journey.

And so our conversation continues.

In our next episode, we'll start to explore

the mechanics of translating this vision into reality.

The HOW, first by exploring the relationship of the

new plan to that of the previous ones.

We'll explore that relationship in our next episode.

So make sure you subscribe or follow this

series, tell your friends about it and leave

us your comments, suggestions and reviews at societybuilders.com.

Thank you for joining the

conversation on Social Transformation.

I look forward to continuing our

conversation next time, on Society Builders.

Society Builders paves the way, to a better world, to a

better day, a united approach to building a new society.

There's a crisis facing humanity.

People suffer from a lack of unity.

It's time for a better path to a new society.

Join a Conversation for Social Transformation Society Builders. So

engage with your local communities and explore all the

exciting possibilities. We can elevate the atmosphere in

which we move. The paradigm is shifting. It's

so very uplifting. It's a new beat, a

new song, a brand new groove.

Join the Conversation, for social transformation. Society Builders. Join the conversation, for social transformation. Society Builders.

The Baha'i Faith has a lot to say

helping people discover a better way, with discourse

and social action framed by unity. Now the time

has come to lift the game and apply the

teachings of the Greatest Name and rise to meet

the glory of our destiny.

Join the convesation. For social transformation.

Society builders. Join the conversation for social transformation.

Society builders.