baha’i – Hear The Writings

Help Support High Quality Baha’i Audio Books

Jon Rezin — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 00:16:05 +0000

HearTheWritings.com has been a passion of ours for years. That passion for high quality audio books has driven our efforts to create titles as our resources permit… but it is time to ramp it up! If you love quality Baha’i audio books, we need your help!

Manufacturing CD sets of our audio books has been a stumbling block in our production process for some time now. Generating the funds to make it available in CD format comes with large upfront costs which, quite frankly, we have had to find work-arounds for because we are putting our resources into creating definitive and timeless audio book versions of the Sacred writings. So.. we had an idea… Why not allow our community of supporters help us bring these books into reality!

We decided to launch a crowd funding campaign to help us raise the funds needed to manufacture physical copies of our audio books.. We can focus on creating it and you can help us bring it out into the world! Its siple and powerful.. but it requires your participation!

Here is where we are at with our Crowdfunding Goal for the ‘Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh’ audio book..

We have just a few days left to hit our crowdfunding goal, so we need your help! Please share this post with your friends, family and community!

Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh 103%

Here is some basic info about what we are doing:

Q: What is Crowdfunding?

A: Crowdfunding is a way that we can empower our family of supporters to contribute to making what they want become reality. By supporting the crowdfunding campaign you are helping raise funds that would otherwise be very difficult for us to come up with. This also acts as a sort of ‘Pre-Order’ of the physical CD sets… As people support the effort they are actually pre-ordering the CD sets at a significant discount from the retail.

Q: Why don’t you just sell downloads?

A: We do… they are available on the website here. But not everyone around the world has access to MP3 players or portable players. CDs are ubiquitous. Every car has a CD player, DVD players can play CDs, most people know how to use CD’s at this point (think “Grandma and Grandpa”) and in many developing countries around the world CD is still the media format of choice. Making the audio CD sets available enables more people to have access to the writings than we could possibly do through downloads alone… but there is a significant cost to producing physical copies.. hence, the crowd funding campaign.

Q: Which audio book title are you trying to manufacture?

A: The first title we are trying to manufacture through the participation of our supporters is ‘Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas’. This particular title is nearly 8 hours in length and will span 7 CDs! To manufacture a 7 CD set costs a lot of money ($4500) so it seemed the perfect title to get our community involved directly in supporting its creation.

Q: If I support the crowdfunding campaign can I get the download while I wait for the CDs to be manufactured?

A: Yes! There are many different levels at which our friends can contribute and each level comes with its own special gifts. Anyone who contributes $25 or more gets the download for free… contribute at the next level up and you get the CDs as well!

Q: What if you don’t get all the money you need to manufacture.. will you still be able to make the CD sets?

A: Yes we will… we are considering all pre-orders of the CD set as a contribution to the manufacturing fund.. so that will help us reach the goal.. But, if we still fall short of the goal even with all the combined orders and contributions, we will need to look into other forms of funding to make up the difference. We are working on possibilities to still get it out to our community as quickly as possible without compromising quality.

Q: What if you surpass your goal?

A: The surplus money will go into manufacturing our other titles. We are working at creating a library of the finest audio books of the Sacred, Historical and secondary texts of the Faith… so we will be pouring our resources into making those available in physical formats as well.

That’s it! A simple concept, but incredibly powerful at enabling our community to participate and help bring ideas to reality by supporting with their contributions. Do you want to be a part of helping bring the writings to life? Click here to contribute…

Help Us Record History!

Jon Rezin — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:15:42 +0000

As you can probably tell, here at HearTheWritings.com we have been focusing on making audio books of the sacred writings (several yet to be released) and the most recent guidance from The Universal House of Justice… but our thirst for an audio book of the history of the Faith is quite insatiable! So… we want to begin the process of producing some audio books about the history of the Faith… focused around the lives of either the 3 Central Figures and/or The Guardian.

We need your help! Please vote below and tell us which history books we should focus on converting into audio books first.

Please choose up to 3 titles… if the one you want is not listed please write that answer in on the blank option provided. Once again, this is about the history surrounding the 3 Central Figures of the Faith and/or Shoghi Effendi… other history books and biographies will happen in due time.

Looking forward to getting started.. thanks for helping us narrow it down!

***UPDATE: Congratulations to Sara Simon for being our randomly chosen winning participant. Her Audio Books are on the way. Thanks to everyone else for participating in the giveaway and to continue to support the work we are doing. And though the giveaway is over please do not stop filling out the poll.. we still need your votes!”

And as an added bonus, everyone who (1) takes the poll, (2) ‘likes’ this post on Facebook AND (3) adds a comment about which history book(s) they find most moving and would love to have as audio will be entered into a drawing to win A free Audio CD Set of Tablets of The Divine Plan revealed by Abdu’l-Bahá AND The Advent of Divine Justice by Shoghi Effendi. We will announce the winner on September 17th 2012!

[polldaddy poll=6506651]

NOTE: No purchase necessary to participate in the drawing.

The 2011 Ridván Message

Jon Rezin — Sat, 14 May 2011 01:03:30 +0000

http://hearthewritings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2011-Ridvan-Message-Snippit.mp3

“let every believer look to ‘Abdu’l-Baha… Tirelessly, He expounded the teachings in every social space… Uncompromising in defence of the truth, yet infinitely gentle in manner, He brought the universal divine principles to bear on the exigencies of the age. To all without distinction… He imparted love, wisdom, comfort, whatever the particular need. While elevating their souls, He challenged their assumptions, reoriented their perspectives, expanded their consciousness, and focused their energies. He demonstrated by word and deed such compassion and generosity that hearts were utterly transformed. No one was turned awaY…. Set His example before your eyes and fix your gaze upon it; let it be your instinctive guide in your pursuit of the aim of the Plan.”
~The Universal House of Justice

We have received such overwhelming feedback over the last several months, since the release of the 2010 Ridván Message and the December 28th Message to the Continental Boards of Counsellors, it has become clear that this guidance available in audio format is something the community thirst for. So, it is with great pleasure, that we present the 2011 Ridván Message from The Universal House of Justice.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NOW

The Universal House of Justice welcomes in this most joyous Ridván season with this message of love. Addressing the Bahá’í world they encourage and prepare the believers to meet the challenges and opportunities present in this current and newly inaugurated Five Year Plan.

The House of Justice addresses the turmoil present in the political, social, and economic affairs of humanity. It directs the community of the Greatest Name to play its part in combatting these ills by “building capacity for effective action amongst the diverse populations of the planet”.

The beloved House of Justice offers the framework, goals and confirmations that, over the course of the next five years, will steer the community as it strives to fulfill the sacred obligation to “convey to others the spark of faith.”

The December 28th Message

Jon Rezin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:00:09 +0000

http://hearthewritings.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Dec_28th_Message_Snippit.mp3

“Conscious of their high calling, confident in the society-building power which their Faith possesses, they press forward, undeterred and undismayed, in their efforts to fashion and perfect the necessary instruments wherein the embryonic World Order of Bahá’u’lláh can mature and develop. It is this building process, slow and unobtrusive, to which the life of the world-wide Bahá’í Community is wholly consecrated, that constitutes the one hope of a stricken society.” ~Shoghi Effendi

HearTheWritings.com is pleased to present The December 28th 2010 Message from The Universal House of Justice. Just as we had finished and released our version of The 2010 Ridván Message The House of Justice released this powerful message addressing the key features of the next five year plan. Naturally, with its significant implications to the work of the Cause, we had to release an audio version of it as well. We are pleased to offer it to you here, now, for Free.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IT NOW

Welcome to HearTheWritings.com

Jon Rezin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:57:46 +0000

“Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.” ~ Bahá’u-lláh

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