Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Sunrise and Sunset times for the fast
Hi all... well I thought I had to get up early for the Fast here in Glasgow (Scotland) but... ouch... you guys down near the equator really get your sleeping patterns upset!
At least according to this helpful page on the BBC weather website, that lists the sunrise and sunset times for Akrotiri, which is as near to Limassol as makes no difference. Not that waking times are the point of the Fast at all, but I just honestly don't remember getting up that early when I was living in Cyprus!
I hope that's helpful, and I hope the Fast is going well for everyone!
Oli Habibi, 02:26 AM
Sunday, January 12, 2003
"Discover Your Own Spirituality" Seminars in Paphos, starting January 2003
Starting in late January at the Axiothea Hotel in Paphos, this is a course of five seminars designed to help participants explore some of the eternal spiritual concepts – the soul, love, spiritual progress – that are common to all religious faiths. The course gives an opportunity for people who may have no religious commitment, but who are interested in exploring spiritual ideas, to discover their own spirituality. The atmosphere will be one in which diversity is welcomed and each person is encouraged to search out the truth for themselves.
The application of spiritual concepts to life in the 21st century will be discussed in an open atmosphere, using some passages from the works of Baha’u’llah (1817-1892) as a starting point and guideline.
The teaching method will be participative, the tutor will facilitate the group discussions, provide materials and questions to guide the sessions and ensure that the atmosphere is one in which the participants are free to explore these concepts and draw their own conclusions.
The topics for the sessions will be:
1. The real you
2. Love
3. Prayer and Meditation
4. Life and Death, the journey of the soul
5. True Happiness
The exact dates are to be finalised next week.
Ramin Habibi, 09:16 PM
Health & Well-Being Exhibition, Paphos 18-19 January
The Limassol Baha'is will be participating in next week's Health & Well-Being Exhibition at the Azia Beach Hotel in Paphos. This followed the success of the Baha'i stall at Nicosia's Mind Body Spirit exhibition in November at which some Paphos residents asked for more information. We look forward to meeting lots of people inquiring about the Baha'i Faith and inviting them to the "Discover Your Own Spirituality" seminars described above.
Ramin Habibi, 09:13 PM
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Dinner to Honour Lellos Demetriades and Family
Tuesday November 12th the Baha'i Centre in Nicosia was filled with light, love and friends on the holy day for the Birthday of Baha'u'llah. The Baha'is of Cyprus arranged a special dinner to honour Nicosia Mayor-for-Life Lellos Demetriades for his work for all the people of Nicosia. The photo is of Lellos and his wife Olga, with their son Achilleos and his wife; Eric Hellicar is in the centre.
Ramin Habibi, 11:01 PM
Monday, November 11, 2002
Birthday of Baha'u'llah
The Baha'i Day (we have our own calendar, like all major religions) is taken from sunset to sunset, so starting from about now is the anniversary of the birthday of Baha'u'llah, our prophet. He was born in 1817 in Tehran, Iran (it was called Persia then), and lived until 1892, when he died near Akka, Israel.
His birthday is of importance to us, one of nine holy days in the year for Baha'is, and we hope you have a good day!
Incidentally, the Baha'is are keeping very busy as you can see from the 'upcoming events' link; probably enjoying a dinner with invited dignitaries in Nicosia as I'm writing this, and then tomorrow hopefully back in Nicosia to celebrate Baha'u'llah's birthday (remember the 'day' goes from sunset to sunset) at the Ledra Palace. If all goes well, I'm sure someone can be convinced to write an exclusive report for this site!
Oli Habibi, 07:49 PM
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
UK National Baha'i Festival
What is this topic doing on this website, especially when it could be on the badly neglected Glasgow Baha'i site? Well that's actually too insightful a question for me to answer fully, but anyway there were at least 2 current and 3 ex-members of the Limassol Community at the UK National Baha'i Festival (formerly the Teaching Conference) in the seaside resort of Scarborough, this last weekend.
The full Habibi family enjoyed ourselves very much, the organisation, quality of presentations, and facilities were all of high order, and the couple thousand or so people (many non-Baha'is included) had a really good weekend. Me saying that after I had the flu, travelled for 9 hours in the round-trip, and cracked our car windscreen (insurance will go up!) shows exactly how good it was!
Apart from the full program of main talks from keynote speakers, there was a large Baha'i bookshop, stalls from various bodies (for instance the Association of Baha'i Women), dedicated creche faciliities, a junior youth programme and 6 cafes and bars, including a Persian Tea House which was amazing!
For those that can't attend any of the week-long summer schools or winter schools, this is always an important weekend, and this year's one was perhaps the best yet!
Oli Habibi, 02:16 AM
