Allah-u-Abha and good morning!

While catching up over the phone last night, my old friend asked me concerning Project Conversion, “Dude, how’s it going–I mean–how are you holding up?”

I thought for a moment, trying to clear my head of the prayer I had just memorized and say, “Jumping between the faiths is like making the ‘red eye’ flight between every month.”

To those of you who aren’t privy to airline lingo, a “red eye” flight is one that takes place late at night, and because one often traverses various time zones, you end up looking like a zombie for a few days due to extreme fatigue and disorientation.

Baha’i month on Project Conversion began Tuesday, February 1st. I didn’t actually start sleeping until that Friday. Why? Because this is about changing one’s perspective from the inside out. The only way to do that is to “become” the change. Gandhi was right about this. Each month I have to put on new clothes, so to speak. If the beginning of Project Conversion was like doing a cannon ball into ice-cold water, transitioning from month to month is like changing identities every month and trying to keep up with yourself.

Hinduism for me was a huge adjustment. I had to think about things I’ve never thought about, do things I’ve never done, believe things that only a few years ago I would have sworn would send me straight to Hell. It’s a highly visual, tactile, and colorful faith–a sensory overload for someone coming from the Western tradition. It took me a while, but I grew to love it and just when I was starting to understand it and really groove on the whole concept…

I have to rip myself away. When I wake on the first day of the next month, I have to untrain myself in the ways of the previous month to make room for the next. This is tough. Every night of this past week was a turbulence of dreams. I dreamt of Lord Shiva (my deity for Hinduism) all while chanting “Allah-u-Abha” (the Greatest Name for Baha’is). Even though I had carried over practices such as meditation and vegetarianism from the Hindu month, I was having a hard time “moving in the new furniture.”

Sure, it looks easy on here with every post. You get some descent info about the faiths and snapshots into my daily life, but I never anticipated the challenges associated with every transition. Just yesterday I mastered a short Baha’i prayer, and this will do wonders for me because it will replace the Hindu one that typically plays on “repeat” in my head due to constant chanting. This is what I do day in and day out. I wake up and fall asleep (sometimes) with Project Conversion. When I said I would immerse myself in each faith, I meant just that. Am I complaining? No. I love this. I’m learning more than ever. I love the reactions and the interaction with everyone who emails me. The stories and guidance and comments folks–complete strangers!–are sharing is what makes this worth waking up to. I can no longer see life any other way. Each month, when I put on the clothes of each new faith, I fall in love again–I’m enraptured.

The world will never look the same, but it is because of the fires I set inside myself to burn away the ignorance and misconceptions, until there is nothing except a smooth, polished sheet of gold on which to write these new impressions and ideals. This is what we must do within ourselves if we want peace. This isn’t a march on humanity, this is an assault on our very being. We must burn the chaff that is ignorance and prejudice. I’m making an extreme example of this so that even if you perform a fraction of what I’m doing, the world is suddenly that much closer to peace.

A reader recently sent this quote from Baha’u'llah and I think it fits perfectly with what is going on here.

Consort ye, O people, with all religions with joy and fragrance.

The guy certainly knew how to throw down some words. I hope this post has given you some insight into what is going on and what it takes to make this happen. Of course, much of that is due to the involvement of you, the reader. Without your input, this is just one man’s journey–a curiosity. But your feedback has helped me to believe that this is humanity’s journey, and therefore we don’t have to do this alone.

Now, maybe a quick nap.

Allah-u-Abha, and peace.