Behind the scenes we have been hard at work on upgrading the site. (still a work in progress) The original site, which you may be familiar with, was simply put up as a placeholder to get the audio books out there… but as we developed more titles and saw how our users (you) were interacting with the site it became apparent that the time for a major facelift had come.. and in fact, the changes are throughout the entire structure.. I wont bore you with details… but the process of coding has taken months. It is with this new site and some other new changes that will take place over the next couple months that you will see a vastly improved user experience on our site.

You will already notice several changes to our content… one such change was our ‘About Us’ page:

• We wanted to profile those people who are devoting their talents to bringing the writings to life through the creation of these audio books so we dedicated the top of the about-us page to sharing them and their talents.
• If you scroll further down the page you will see that we have also included some testimonials… So many people have written in to share encouragement for what we are doing as well as to tell us stories about how they are using the audio books in their own lives.. we wanted to share at least a few excerpts from these.. they touched our hearts.. now they can touch yours.

Right along side of the website construction, we have been hard at work recording and editing several new audio books. We were thrilled to announce Tablets of The Divine Plan revealed by `Abdú’l-Bahá read by the incomparable Phillip Hinton… as well as The 2012 Ridván Message from The Universal House of Justice read by the amazing actress Aria Bruss!

Two titles at once may seem like a big deal for us.. but we have much more in store for you. In addition to those two titles we still have four more titles in the works! (yes… 4!) We have been doing Skype recording sessions with Talent around the world. Linking our Pasadena CA studio to studios such as this world class studio in China, a modest home voiceover studio in Australia, and of course face-to-face sessions here in Pasadena CA. The scope of work has been daunting, but the results are amazing. We are thrilled that we will be releasing these next four titles over the next four months. Those of you who are on the Email Newsletter will get first notification and subscriber only offers. (sign up.. its easy!)

There isn’t much more to say about the changes you will be seeing over the coming months… except that they are going to be exciting… and if you have any friends who might be interested in Bahá’í Audio Books.. or who laments that they cannot find time to study the sacred word as much as they would like, please take a moment and introduce them to HearTheWritings.com… they’ll be happy you did.

Feel free to get in touch and LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! Your feedback is what helps keep the momentum going….and please forgive the virtual dust as we get everything ship-shape.

The world at large has realized the power in audio versions of books, evidenced by the ever expanding aisles of audio books in the few remaining booksellers. It seems that it is just a matter of time before the Bahá’í community, thirsting for ways to deepen their knowledge and develop a closer relationship with Bahá’u’lláh, recognizes that audio books of the sacred, historical and secondary texts are an amazing resource for their personal and collective deepening efforts.

HearTheWritings.com is in the transformation business. Transforming time which is under used, and where the individual is mentally available into an opportunity to deepen in the writings. In LA, the average person spends two hours stuck in traffic each day.. . can you imagine how consecrated and knowledgable the friends would be if even a fraction of that time was devoted to listening to Bahá’í audio books over the course of a year? The examples go on, and on… and the stories keep coming in and in… of people who have used the audio books to heighten their deepening experience, who hadn’t previously been able to study the guidance, but were now listening to it over and over, to those who are using moments of mental availability to create an extraordinary deepening experience.

With all this passion we feel about the importance of audio books of the Faith, you can imagine how thrilled we were to be contacted with an interview request by the editor of the American Bahá’í. We shared numerous stories and experiences.. only a handful made it into the article.. but we were grateful for the opportunity to share what we are doing.

You can find those interviews in The American Bahá’í News as well as on the Official Website of the Bahá’is of the United States.

Please click over and read through the article. Please share it with your friends and community.

http://www.bahai.us/2011/07/26/hear-hear-bahai-audio-books-talks-promote-understanding/

Thank you for supporting the work we are lovingly pursuing.

I grew up in a Baha’i family in Westerville, Ohio and spent many of my formative years in the Baha’i youth workshop and attending youth conferences. It was during these teaching trips, conferences, and workshop events that I began to deepen on the writings and through service develop an understanding of my Baha’i identity. After completing high school I spent my year of service in Ohio serving the national Teaching Comittee. It gave me loads of opportunities to create deepening materials and share them with the other youth around the region. The power of the writings is something which became tangible to me. After completing my term of service I moved to New York City to pursue my passion for music production and jazz studies. During my ten years in the City of the Covenant, with its long commutes and bustling energy, I developed a love for audio books. Long subway rides gave me ample time to listen to books I would otherwise have had trouble reading in hard copy. My appetite for “reading” was voracious. I read dozens of books this way… but none of them were the sacred texts. I knew that reading the texts everyday was a mandate in the writings… but it was difficult for me to find the time to sit down and read… but the time to pop in a CD or listen to something while in transit was always there.

I was already working in the audio industry as a mildly successful recording engineer and knew that if this resource were going to come into existence that I was going to have to create it. This would be my service to the community.  With the intention of learning how to create powerful audio versions of the sacred and historical texts of the faith I began work at three of the top audio book production houses in NYC. During the year that I worked at these production houses I learned the ins and outs of the audio book industry and what it takes to create great audio books. I was fortunate to work with some of the top directors and voice over talent in the industry. I worked on projects for Random House, Harper-Collins, Penguin Audio, Highbridge, Houghton Mifflin, Renaissance Audio, and on and on. Here are a few of the titles I was privileged to work on:

I used each project as an opportunity to pick the brains of the world class talent that was in the room and build my skills. With my foundation firmly rooted in the audio book industry I began to formulate my plan to execute my vision… business plan, investor, the whole nine yards… but I couldn’t find anyone to invest… so the project sat waiting for me to find the time. With all things, change is inevitable, and I was blessed by meeting and marrying my beautiful and loving wife Auntieclare. We settled in LA and she became my greatest source of encouragement. Together we revived this project and began to pursue translating this vision into reality. Through sheer dedication we set aside the time and resources necessary to create our first audio book. The book (The Advent of Divine Justice – By Shoghi Effendi) is our first offering to the community. Many more are in the works.. it is our intention to translate all the sacred and historical texts of the Baha’i faith into audio format. With your encouragement, support and assistance we will be able to create this resource and help encourage Baha’i scholarship in our community.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to HearTheWritings.com – Your Daily Dose of the Sacred Word. If you want to share a thought, offer a suggestion or just lend your support (as a reader, technically, financially or otherwise) please drop me a note through the form on the contact page. I look forward to hearing from each of you and how, in some small way, these audio books have aided you to draw closer to Baha’u’llah.

~ Jon Rezin

You can view my other sites here:

9StarMedia.com

jonrezin.com

Welcome to Hear The Writings.com.  This site is the beginning of the realization of a long term mission… to convert the Sacred writings of the Faith into a high quality audio format. Until now those wishing to study the Sacred writings as well as historical accounts had to find periods of time where they could sit and read from the Holy writings. In our modern society this time, unfortunately, is often sacrificed to other seemingly important pressures and time commitments such as long commutes to and from work. Now the time to immerse ourselves in the Sacred Word can be found anywhere… driving, riding the bus, taking a subway ride, on a flight. Becoming a scholar of the Sacred texts and history of the Faith begins with a first step. Hopefully the efforts we make at HearTheWritings.com to offer these materials in a common and accessable format will assist those loooking for such a step. Enjoy… please share this site with a friend… and happy listening!

~ Jon Rezin