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Each book teaches you at least one technique and/or skill; and these skills build on each other in a coherent and progressive way. For example, the practice of the course called 'Prayer' in Book 1 is that you visit at least two Baha'i friends and study a prayer with them. This apparently simple act means that you begin to acquire a number of techniques/skills: for example, how to approach another believer in order to visit his home to study spiritual matters; and how to actually study a prayer together.

Having learned much from taking this simple step, the participant is then ready for the bigger step of Book 2: that of sharing short deepenings with new (or old, depending on the circumstances) believers. Already he knows how to make the approach, already he knows how to make the visit spiritual instead of purely social; and now he learns the skill of making a short presentation on something that he has learned and practiced in his study circle.

He builds on this skill in Book 3, when he learns more about teaching, and also learns how to tell stories to children; thus, when he comes to Book 4 and must tell the stories of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, he has already learned the elements of story telling in Book 3; and he knows how to approach people from his experiences in Books 1 and 2. And so on. Each book building on the skill of the other. Without this practice, you have deepening and not training.

If the Book 1 participants are nervous or uncertain about approaching an individual for the study of the prayers, then it's up to the tutor to help them acquire this skill with quite a lot of handholding if necessary. If the tutor always bears in mind that she is responsible for ensuring that her participants get the best possible benefit from Book 1, then she will move heaven and earth to make certain that the participant not only understands the concepts in Book 1 and their application in life (i.e. the three levels of understanding), but that the participant also acquires the technique of immersing himself in ocean of God's Word by the questioning method learned in Section 1; and that he learns the skill of studying prayers with others.

These complex materials work on so many different levels: in Book 1 you not only learn the skill of reading the Writings more deeply and of visiting others to share a prayer, but you also begin to acquire the skill of allowing the Writings to help form your opinions. Along the way, you also learn some important Laws and Teachings of the Faith, and you begin to train yourself in the skill of memorisation.

In learning about the three levels of understanding, you are also learning about broader implications for the Faith, mirroring the call of the Universal House of Justice that the Training Institute should impart knowledge, spiritual insight and skill. It can be expressed thus:

Information + understanding

leads to ... wisdom

leads to .. spiritual insight + action

...through action you develop skill

...teach the skill.

For example, a mother studying Book 1 gets information which she understands about reading the Writings; through meditation she gains the spiritual insight that this would be a good thing for her to do, so she does it (action); through her daily action she develops the skill, and this she passes on to her children. In taking this action of teaching the skill to her children, she gets more information, develops more understanding, gains deeper spiritual insights which is expressed in increased skill, a skill which she then passes on once more, and so on in an ongoing process of learning.

This paradigm for learning is present throughout all the courses of the Ruhi Institute. At its heart is action.

Ann O'Sullivan

January 2004