_AN INDIVIDUAL ATTEMPT AT A SYSTEMATIC PLAN FOR TRANSFORMATION
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"Systematization ensures consistency of lines of action based on well-conceived plans. In a general sense, it implies an orderliness of approach in all that pertains to Baha'i service, whether in teaching or administration, in individual or collective endeavour. While allowing for individual initiative and spontaneity, it suggests the need to be clear-headed, methodical, efficient, constant, balanced and harmonious. Systematization is a necessary mode of functioning animated by the urgency to act."
(The Universal House of Justice to the Baha'is of the World, Ridvan Message 155)
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By Michael Teske, Haifa, Israel

I wish to share with you my attempt at a systematic plan for transformation. First I will give you a little background as to how this developed, and then I will explain the program. Some of you might be familiar with Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Well, apparently when he was a young man, he was notorious for his ill manners and poor and rude behavior; he was also quite promiscuous -- leading some to say that he is the father of our country (the United States). Anyway, at some point in his life he wanted to change, but he realized that everytime he tried to change his behavior he would become paralyzed or nothing would happen because he would be trying to change everything at once. He recognized that he could only accomplish a transformation if he focussed on one thing at a time. So he looked at a year, there are 52 weeks in a year, divide by 4 and you have 13. So he chose 13 qualities that he would like to develop or improve within himself and decided to focus on one of these qualities each week. Week number one he only focussed on quality number one; week number two he only focussed on quality number two, and forgot about quality number one, etc... So in this way he worked through all the qualities in 13 weeks and then repeated this four times so that at the end of one year he had worked on each quality a total of four times and could get excited about the progress that he made.
About two years ago, I attempted to put this same program into action here with a slight twist... I chose 13 things about myself that I wanted to develop or strengthen within myself, and then associated these with the names of 13 of the 19 names of the Baha'i months. Well I wrote all of this down on a sheet of paper, and now I do not even remember how much I followed this plan -- perhaps it was only a couple of weeks and then I somehow got distracted and the paper got lost amongst my ever growing stacks of papers. Anyway, about one month ago as I was saying the Long Obligatory Prayer one evening, as is often the case, I was battling stray or seemingly random thoughts. In this case the thought that popped into my mind was wondering about systematic plans as mentioned in this year's Ridvan message 155 from the Universal House of Justice to the Baha'is of the World. Immediately I wondered where this piece of paper was that I had written down this transformation plan some two years before, knowing that it must be in a particular stack of papers. I then fought with myself, saying that hey, I am in the middle of praying here and letting stray thoughts distract me. Just then another thought pops into my mind... In "The Secret of Divine Civilization" Abdu'l-Baha mentions "attributes of perfection" and there seems to be somewhere between 10 to 15 of these -- I wonder if there are 13 and if so maybe I should do the "Benjamin Franklin Transformation Plan" with these "Attributes of Perfection". Oh, hey now I am in the middle of prayer and I am letting myself get distracted again, but I must promise myself to remember to look this up in the morning when I go to work, as my book is in the office.
The next morning when I got to work I immediately counted 13 attributes of perfection... so since then for the last month I have been pursuing a plan of action of focussing on one attribute of perfection a week. I just completed the fourth week and the fourth attribute of perfection.... Now as I proceed I am becoming even more excited, as I realize that in 13 weeks I will have gone through all these 13 attributes of perfection one time; then for the rest of the year I will revise what I have compiled three times.... this seems like a powerful method of developing and reviewing material as well as a potentially potent path towards tremendous transformation. Only time will tell for sure...., but don't necessarily discard those stray thoughts that come to you in prayer... it might be the only time your brain is relaxed enough for God to send you a message.
I hope that you find this useful or that it stimulates you in a different direction useful for your own self, remembering that everything we do is a process towards growth -- my previous attempts at individual systematic plans of transformation have led me to this new stage of development... May Baha'u'llah assist each one of you in your own struggles towards perfection!
ATTRIBUTES OF PERFECTION
(Summarized from "The Secret of Divine Civilization", Abdu'l-Baha, pp. 35-40)
(1) learning and the cultural attainments of the mind
(2) justice and impartiality
(3) to arise with complete sincerity and purity of purpose to educate the masses
(4) to fear God
(5) to love God by loving His servants
(6) to exercise mildness and forbearance and calm
(7) to be sincere, amenable, clement and compassionate
(8) to have resolution and courage, trustworthiness and energy
(9) to strive and struggle
(10) to be generous, loyal, without malice
(11) to have zeal and a sense of honor
(12) to be high-minded and magnanimous
(13) to have regard for the rights of others
(Editor's note: If you have begun a similiar systematic plan for your own transformation, we would be interested to hear and learn from you.)