Introducing the Brand New BahaiTeachings.org

The oneness of humanity, the unity of religion, and the oneness of God — since the 2012 launch of BahaiTeachings.org, hundreds of Baha’is have published thousands of articles here about their understanding of these topics and so many others. 

It has always been our hope that those who are on their spiritual journey can use this website and its social media presence as a resource to get acquainted with the teachings of the Baha’i Faith, a religion that provides a comprehensive framework for guiding humanity out of our current turmoil and to a world of unity, justice, peace, and prosperity.

Over the years, the website has had more than 13 million visitors. Our videos have been viewed over 12 million times on YouTube and Facebook, and we’ve gained more than two million followers across various social media platforms. About a year ago, we realized the site needed a new design and user experience. On behalf of the entire team, I’m thrilled to reveal a completely refreshed and updated look for BahaiTeachings.org.

Among the many changes you’ll see as you explore the site are a modified logo and updated content categories. We hope these will better reflect the terminology our readers use and enable them to access and engage with the content more easily. 

In the mid-19th century, Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith, wrote, “The pages of swiftly-appearing newspapers are indeed the mirror of the world.” 

We aren’t a daily newspaper reporting what’s happening in your neighborhood. But through our content and this new design, we strive to make this a space for everyone — a spiritual mirror where you can see yourself, your family, and your community reflected, and a window into the experiences of our brothers and sisters from all walks of life.

The BahaiTeachings.org team wants this to be a home where you can get your spiritual batteries recharged, and find the inspiration and answers to the questions that keep you up at night.

Like people from other faith backgrounds, Baha’is believe being of service to others — putting your beliefs into action — is essential to spiritual growth. After all, Baha’u’llah wrote that “The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds.” 

I’m a tech entrepreneur, and I’ve been building and operating businesses online since the mid-1990s. More than a decade ago, my wife Gouya and I were discussing how we can best serve. It was natural to draw on my many years of professional experience and put that expertise to work by building a website. We wanted to make it easy for people to find the teachings of the Baha’i Faith through web searches and on social media.

The first version of the site was simply one page that enabled people who wanted to learn more about the Baha’i Faith to easily connect with Baha’is — folks who could answer their questions and share more information. Since then, the website has gone through a few significant revisions and rebranding and now features over 6,600 articles, videos, and podcasts from over 300 contributors.

This updated design represents the work of the One Planet Group team in Armenia, Canada, Ukraine, and the United States. Over 20 people have played a role in the design, programming, and launch of the new website. We also wanted to ensure that through the design, disclaimers, and the presentation of the site, it’s abundantly clear that BahaiTeachings.org is a personal initiative and is in no shape or form an official website of the institutions of the Baha’i Faith.

When considering the design, we looked to the Baha’i Writings, particularly quotations from Abdu’l-Baha, the son of Baha’u’llah and his designated successor, for inspiration on how beauty and symbolism would be woven throughout. 

Abdu’l Baha said that “When you enter a rose-garden, the wealth of color and variety of floral forms spread before you a picture of wonder and beauty,” and that “The diversity of colors in a rose-garden adds to the charm and beauty of the scene as variety enhances unity.”

We took to heart those references to the “wealth of color” found in gardens. We looked at the colors found in the Baha’i gardens in both Haifa and Akka, Israel — we took a bit of creative license to ensure a full “spectrum” that works with the theme of the colorful threads. The two gradient applications are references to the earth — the orange pathways on the garden terraces in Haifa — and the sky.

We also likened the “variety of floral forms” and diversity overall to the many author voices and perspectives that make up the content on the site. With this symbolism, we began to form our color palette and the use of “threads.”

The ‘threads’ in the branding are a reference to the multiple perspectives of the Bahai Teachings. On the site, there is something for everyone, wherever you are on your spiritual path — the website is intended to be a place where you can find what you need. 

Through this refresh of the design, Gouya and I, along with the entire team at BahaiTeachings.org, continue to offer this humble service as a way to share with everyone the teachings of the Baha’i Faith.

Spend time on the website, share it with your friends, and please, give us your feedback. We hope that we can continue to make BahaiTeachings.org a more valuable resource for all those who visit it.

With love, 

payam zamani