Study circles · Free · Open to everyone
Build the skills to serve your community
A structured path for developing spiritual capacities and learning to contribute to the life of your neighborhood.
About study circles
Small groups meet regularly for months. They study the writings together, and each person finds their own way to serve.
The format
What is a study circle?
A small group of people, led by a tutor, meets regularly for about an hour or two, studying materials prepared by the training institute. The materials draw from the Baha'i writings and are organized around a specific theme. Each course runs for several weeks. You start and finish with the same group.
A tutor facilitates the group, but they're not a teacher in the traditional sense. They're someone who's been through the material before. The relationship is peer to peer. Everyone reads, reflects, and contributes together, so that every participant benefits from each other's insights.
Between sessions, you practice what you've studied. If you're studying a course on prayer, you might help host a prayer gathering, or if you're studying a course on children's education, you start helping with a class. Study and action go hand in hand.
The courses
Each course develops the capacities for action
Book 1: Prayer and Identity
Who am I? Why am I here?
The first book in the sequence of courses is largely concerned with the question of identity. What is the real identity of the “I” in the sentence “I walk a path of service”? Passages from the Baha'i writings address topics related to the soul, the nature and importance of prayer, and the meaning of life and death.
By the end of studying this first book, participants are encouraged to take a first step on the path of service by hosting a meeting for prayer and worship in their home.
Book 2: Service and Conversation
How do you talk about what you believe?
The second book of the training institute considers what it means to walk a path of service. This course develops the ability to have genuine, uplifting conversations about spiritual life with friends, neighbors, and strangers.
It consists of three units. The first explores the nature of the joy one derives from serving others, while the next two focus on the knowledge, abilities and qualities needed to enter into conversations that are uplifting to the mind and spirit. The ability to elevate day-to-day conversations by introducing spiritual principles, when the occasion calls for it, is addressed in the second unit. The third turns to community life. Visiting friends and neighbors in their homes to discuss themes central to spiritual and social existence strengthens ties of unity and fellowship, so essential to collective life.
Book 3: Children's Education
How do you build character in a child?
The education of children is essential to the transformation of society. Book 3 focuses on some of the knowledge, skills and qualities necessary for those wishing to enter this important field of service. It consists of two units, “Some Principles of Baha’i Education” and “Lessons for Children’s Classes, Grade 1”. The first unit examines certain principles and concepts inherent to education from a Baha’i point of view. It also discusses how a teacher can manage a class with a great deal of love and understanding and, at the same time, with the discipline necessary to create a proper learning environment. The second unit offers a set of twenty-four lessons intended to foster the development of spiritual qualities in small children — qualities like honesty, generosity, and trustworthiness.
After completing this course, you'll be ready to start or assist with a class in your neighborhood. Many of the children's classes running across Greater Boston today are led by people who began with this course. It's one of the most tangible ways study leads directly to service.
Book 4: The Central Figures
Who was Baha'u'llah? What did He teach?
Book 4 returns to the question of identity, the “I” in the statement “I walk a path of service.” History shapes much of the identity of individuals, as well as entire peoples. The second and third units in the book are dedicated to the study of the life history of Baha’u’llah, the Author of the Baha'i Faith, and His Forerunner, the Bab.
Seeing clearly the elements that characterize the past helps us to contribute more effectively to shaping the future.
Book 5: Youth Mentorship
How do you walk alongside a teenager?
According to the Baha'i teachings, an individual reaches the age of maturity at 15, when spiritual and moral obligations become binding. The years immediately before this age, then, take on special significance. This is the time when fundamental concepts about individual and collective life are formulated in the mind of an adolescent struggling to leave behind the habits of childhood. Youth between the ages of 12 and 15 have much to say, and whoever treats them as children misses the opportunity to help them form a proper identity.
The three units that make up Book 5 focus on some of the concepts, skills, qualities, and attitudes that experience has shown are required by those wishing to implement a program for the spiritual empowerment of junior youth. After this course, you'll be equipped to serve as a mentor (called an "animator") for a junior youth group. The teen programs running across Greater Boston are sustained by people who went through this course and choose to give their time to the next generation.
Book 6: Teaching the Cause
How do you share something you love?
People from every background are welcome to explore the teachings of Baha’u’llah and learn how they can apply them to better their lives. All Baha'is share liberally and unconditionally the teachings and precepts of their Faith. Although the sharing of Baha’u’llah’s message is one of the most essential services to be rendered, teaching is also a natural expression of a state of being, a state in which one is moved to share with others the knowledge and joy one finds in His Revelation.
This concept is explored in the first unit of Book 6, “The Spiritual Nature of Teaching”. It takes as its premise the understanding that “being” and “doing” are inseparable aspects of a spiritual life. The second and third units, “Qualities and Attitudes Essential for Teaching” and “The Act of Teaching”, take this premise further. The second unit considers how one’s inner state contributes to, and is strengthened by, one’s efforts in the field of service, while the third looks at how the act of teaching should be approached. The practice component involves real conversations in your community, learning to recognize when someone is searching for something and how to respond with honesty and warmth.
Book 7: Walking Together
How do you help others on this path?
Book 7 is dedicated to an act of service crucial to the capacity-building process envisioned in the materials of the training institute — namely, helping a group of individuals study its sequence of courses. That individuals accompany one another on a path of service to their communities is central to this capacity-building process.
The first unit of the book explores the spiritual dynamics of advancing on the path traced out by the courses and raises awareness of some of the forces at work. The second unit, “Serving as a Tutor of the Institute Courses,” examines those concepts, attitudes, qualities and skills that enable an individual to carry out this act of service, generally by acting as a tutor for study circles. The third unit, “Promoting the Arts at the Grassroots,” is designed to create an appreciation for the role that artistic endeavors can play in enhancing the educational process fostered by the courses and in strengthening the patterns of community life to which it gives rise.
Book 1 Prayer and Identity
Book 1: Prayer and Identity
Who am I? Why am I here?
The first book in the sequence of courses is largely concerned with the question of identity. What is the real identity of the “I” in the sentence “I walk a path of service”? Passages from the Baha'i writings address topics related to the soul, the nature and importance of prayer, and the meaning of life and death.
By the end of studying this first book, participants are encouraged to take a first step on the path of service by hosting a meeting for prayer and worship in their home.
Book 2 Service and Conversation
Book 2: Service and Conversation
How do you talk about what you believe?
The second book of the training institute considers what it means to walk a path of service. This course develops the ability to have genuine, uplifting conversations about spiritual life with friends, neighbors, and strangers.
It consists of three units. The first explores the nature of the joy one derives from serving others, while the next two focus on the knowledge, abilities and qualities needed to enter into conversations that are uplifting to the mind and spirit. The ability to elevate day-to-day conversations by introducing spiritual principles, when the occasion calls for it, is addressed in the second unit. The third turns to community life. Visiting friends and neighbors in their homes to discuss themes central to spiritual and social existence strengthens ties of unity and fellowship, so essential to collective life.
Book 3 Children's Education
Book 3: Children's Education
How do you build character in a child?
The education of children is essential to the transformation of society. Book 3 focuses on some of the knowledge, skills and qualities necessary for those wishing to enter this important field of service. It consists of two units, “Some Principles of Baha’i Education” and “Lessons for Children’s Classes, Grade 1”. The first unit examines certain principles and concepts inherent to education from a Baha’i point of view. It also discusses how a teacher can manage a class with a great deal of love and understanding and, at the same time, with the discipline necessary to create a proper learning environment. The second unit offers a set of twenty-four lessons intended to foster the development of spiritual qualities in small children — qualities like honesty, generosity, and trustworthiness.
After completing this course, you'll be ready to start or assist with a class in your neighborhood. Many of the children's classes running across Greater Boston today are led by people who began with this course. It's one of the most tangible ways study leads directly to service.
Book 4 The Central Figures
Book 4: The Central Figures
Who was Baha'u'llah? What did He teach?
Book 4 returns to the question of identity, the “I” in the statement “I walk a path of service.” History shapes much of the identity of individuals, as well as entire peoples. The second and third units in the book are dedicated to the study of the life history of Baha’u’llah, the Author of the Baha'i Faith, and His Forerunner, the Bab.
Seeing clearly the elements that characterize the past helps us to contribute more effectively to shaping the future.
Book 5 Youth Mentorship
Book 5: Youth Mentorship
How do you walk alongside a teenager?
According to the Baha'i teachings, an individual reaches the age of maturity at 15, when spiritual and moral obligations become binding. The years immediately before this age, then, take on special significance. This is the time when fundamental concepts about individual and collective life are formulated in the mind of an adolescent struggling to leave behind the habits of childhood. Youth between the ages of 12 and 15 have much to say, and whoever treats them as children misses the opportunity to help them form a proper identity.
The three units that make up Book 5 focus on some of the concepts, skills, qualities, and attitudes that experience has shown are required by those wishing to implement a program for the spiritual empowerment of junior youth. After this course, you'll be equipped to serve as a mentor (called an "animator") for a junior youth group. The teen programs running across Greater Boston are sustained by people who went through this course and choose to give their time to the next generation.
Book 6 Teaching the Cause
Book 6: Teaching the Cause
How do you share something you love?
People from every background are welcome to explore the teachings of Baha’u’llah and learn how they can apply them to better their lives. All Baha'is share liberally and unconditionally the teachings and precepts of their Faith. Although the sharing of Baha’u’llah’s message is one of the most essential services to be rendered, teaching is also a natural expression of a state of being, a state in which one is moved to share with others the knowledge and joy one finds in His Revelation.
This concept is explored in the first unit of Book 6, “The Spiritual Nature of Teaching”. It takes as its premise the understanding that “being” and “doing” are inseparable aspects of a spiritual life. The second and third units, “Qualities and Attitudes Essential for Teaching” and “The Act of Teaching”, take this premise further. The second unit considers how one’s inner state contributes to, and is strengthened by, one’s efforts in the field of service, while the third looks at how the act of teaching should be approached. The practice component involves real conversations in your community, learning to recognize when someone is searching for something and how to respond with honesty and warmth.
Book 7 Walking Together
Book 7: Walking Together
How do you help others on this path?
Book 7 is dedicated to an act of service crucial to the capacity-building process envisioned in the materials of the training institute — namely, helping a group of individuals study its sequence of courses. That individuals accompany one another on a path of service to their communities is central to this capacity-building process.
The first unit of the book explores the spiritual dynamics of advancing on the path traced out by the courses and raises awareness of some of the forces at work. The second unit, “Serving as a Tutor of the Institute Courses,” examines those concepts, attitudes, qualities and skills that enable an individual to carry out this act of service, generally by acting as a tutor for study circles. The third unit, “Promoting the Arts at the Grassroots,” is designed to create an appreciation for the role that artistic endeavors can play in enhancing the educational process fostered by the courses and in strengthening the patterns of community life to which it gives rise.
From the page to the neighborhood
Study leads to action
You study for a few weeks. You put what you learn into practice. You come back and reflect on what happened. Then you go deeper.
People who started with a course on prayer are now hosting weekly gatherings in their living rooms. People who studied children's education are running classes every Saturday. People who went through the youth mentorship course are walking alongside teenagers in their neighborhoods.
This is how a community builds itself. Not from the top down. From the ground up, one person at a time, each developing the capacity to contribute something real.
Start a study circle
The study circle design
Not a drop-in. A commitment you choose.
Same group, start to finish
Discussion groups and prayer gatherings are open. You come when you can. Study circles are different. You commit to a group, you start a course together, and you finish it together. The consistency is what makes the learning stick.
Study paired with action
You don't just read about prayer. You host a prayer gathering. You don't just study children's education. You help teach a class. Every course has a practice component. That's where the real learning happens.
Peer-led, not top-down
There's no teacher standing at the front of the room. A tutor guides the group, but they're a peer who's been through the material. The learning is collaborative. Everyone reads, everyone reflects, everyone contributes.
Common questions
Questions people ask
Do I have to be Baha'i to join a study circle?
Study circles are open to everyone. Many participants are friends of the community who are curious about the Baha'i teachings and want to explore them in depth.
How long does each course take?
Most courses run for 6 to 10 weeks, meeting once a week for about two hours. Some groups move faster, some slower. It depends on the group.
Is this like a class I have to pass?
No grades, no tests, no pass/fail. We all walk a path of service together, building our own capacities and accompanying each other in a mutual process of learning. As more and more people become committed to the vision of individual and collective transformation fostered by the courses of the training institute, capacity is gradually built in the community as a whole to reflect a pattern of life that places service and worship at its heart.
What if I can only come sometimes?
While study circles flourish when participants are able to meet consistently and study materials together as a cohort, we all have different schedules and patterns of life. There are many ways to study the materials of the training institute and advance our understanding at different paces.
Is this the same as a discussion group?
Discussion groups are open and ad hoc. You come to a session, discuss a topic, and that session stands on its own. Study circles generally run for multiple weeks with the same group of people working through a complete course together.
Will I be expected to teach or serve afterwards?
No one will assign you a job. But the courses are designed to build your capacity for specific acts of service. If you want to work with junior youth, the program will equip you to do that. If you want to help with children's classes, there's a course for that. The expectation is not that you must serve, but that the program supports you if you want to.
What materials do you study?
The courses use materials developed by the Ruhi Institute, which draws from the Baha'i writings. The institute's curriculum is used by Baha'i communities in over 100 countries. The materials are structured, practical, and designed for group study rather than individual reading.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Completely free. No fees, no materials cost, no fundraising. The only thing you bring is yourself.
Where do study circles meet?
In homes and community spaces across Greater Boston. When you sign up, someone will connect you with a group near you.
What if I'm not sure I'm ready?
That's fine. You can attend a prayer gathering or discussion group first. Those are great ways to get to know the community and see if the teachings resonate before committing to a longer course.
Get started
Find a study circle near you
Tell us where you are and which course interests you. Someone from your area will follow up personally.
A real person will follow up within a few days.