Introduction

I first planned to study the Buddhist perception of health and illness, but was quickly overwhelmed by the dozens of Buddhist inspired communities only in my region. So I switched to the Baha’i community, a religious group I had only vaguely heard of before. I had once missed the opportunity to visit their impressive temple in Haifa, while in Israel. The picture of the temple, under which the prophet Baha’u’llah’s body is buried, can be seen on your left. In Montréal, I walk by their library regularly but never considered stopping by. I thought this to be a good opportunity to further investigate about this obscure but intriguing religion.

I found the contact information on the Baha’i Community of Canada Website. I called a few times and left a message on their voice mail. After a few days with no reply, I contacted them by email, explaining my request. I received a swift and warm answer, with an invitation to attend their next religious gathering on the following Sunday.

Now, I am French Canadian. The dark era of Duplessis with his government's association with the Catholic Church is not very far away in my parent’s memory, and I was raised to be highly suspicious of organized religion. Later in life, I became an atheist. Because of this background of mine, I must admit I was a little apprehensive to enter this unknown religious place of worship…