The little-known religion, Bahá'í, is attempting to bring the world universal unity.

Practitioners of Bahá'í meet at Bard College every other Friday to discuss the origin, teachings and beliefs associated with their non-mainstream faith.

The group's organizer, Bard freshman, Caity Cook explained that Bahá'í originated in Persia in the mid-nineteenth century when its founder, Bahá'u'lláh, was proclaimed the next in a line of messengers of God, a list which includes other religious figures such as Jesus, Buddha and Mohammad. It teaches that all prior monotheistic religions are essentially grounded in the same basic principles, and preaches unity of all peoples regardless of race.

"Religion should be a uniting factor," says Cook. "It shouldn't segregate people."

Cook told the group that she learned about Bahá'í in her early teens.

"Before that, I hated religion," she said. "I saw the discord that it produced. The whole divisive aspect of it turned me off."

She began attending meetings and workshops with a friend, which sparked her interest in Bahá'í.

"It just started to answer all of my questions," she said. "And there was action, not just speaking."

Within the religion, there is no hierarchy or clergy, as practitioners of Bahá'í believe in "an independent investigation of truth," and use the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and other influential Bahá'ís as their guide.

"There is an ocean of writings," Cook explained.

Also in attendance was Christine Krug, another follower of Bahá'í, who explained, "To be Bahá'í, is to be in love with the writings."

Krug went on to explain the duties of Bahá'í.

"There are certain things like praying," she said. "We have obligatory prayers."

She continued by saying that like Islam, Bahá'ís believe that taking a pilgrimage to their religious homeland is important.

"My family is going on pilgrimage to Israel," she said. "Everyone is recommended to go at least once."

Bahá'í is a world religion that celebrates diversity. At Friday's meeting, this became apparent, as the twenty or so people in attendance all seemed to come from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Many of the attendees were not Bahá'í themselves, but rather were there to learn more about the faith. There was an even mix of males and females in attendance as well.

Another topic of discussion was the origin of the Bahá'í faith, a story which is backed by actual historical documents.

Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í's founder, whose name means "glory of God," was born in 1817 to a wealthy Persian family. He began spreading the word of God at a young age, explained Cook.

"As a teen he was able to answer all of these complicated questions," she said. "He was just such an embodiment of love and fairness."

The Persian government, fearing a cultural revolution, jailed Bahá'u'lláh for four months. During this time he allegedly received a revelation from God, which according to Cook, "descended upon him like a waterfall."

After being released, Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to Israel where he spent the remainder of his life, and was eventually buried. In Israel, he began writing many of the teachings that Bahá'ís follow today.

"He wrote so much," Cook said. "It was said that when he would write, the words would go right through him without thought."

In America, the number of people who practice Bahá'í is on the rise.

In the year 1900, there were only about 500 active members of the Bahá'í faith in this country. By 1996, that number had risen to about 133,000. Also, in 2001, the United States had one of the highest numbers of local Bahá'í assemblies in the world, second only to Africa. [Source: http://bahai-library.com/]

If you would like to learn more about Bahá'í, there is a plethora of information that exists in books and on the internet. If you are from the Hudson Valley, and are interested in attending upcoming discussions about Bahá'í, dates and times are available via the web at http://www.nybahai.org/hudsonvalley/.