Editing Meditation (section)

====Baháʼí Faith====
In the teachings of the [[Baháʼí Faith]], which derives from an Islamic context but is universalist in orientation, meditation is a primary tool for spiritual development,<ref name="bahai-meditation">{{cite web | title=Meditation | access-date=2020-12-16 | url=https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/devotion/meditation | publisher=Baháʼí International Community | year=2015 | archive-date=2020-11-12 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112033221/https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit/devotion/meditation | url-status=live }}</ref> involving reflection on the words of God.<ref name="Smith-meditation">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Meditation |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-85168-184-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/243 243–44] |url=https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/243 }}</ref> While prayer and meditation are linked, where meditation happens generally in a prayerful attitude, prayer is seen specifically as turning toward God,<ref name="Smith-prayer">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |title=Prayer |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-85168-184-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/274 274] |url=https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/274 }}</ref> and meditation is seen as a communion with one's self where one focuses on the divine.<ref name="Smith-meditation"/>

In [[Baháʼí teachings]] the purpose of meditation is to strengthen one's understanding of the words of God, and to make one's soul more susceptible to their potentially transformative power,<ref name="Smith-meditation"/> more receptive to the need for both prayer and meditation to bring about and maintain a spiritual communion with God.<ref>Hatcher, William S. (1982). ''[https://bahai-library.com/hatcher_bw18_spirituality The Concept of Spirituality] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415020445/https://bahai-library.com/hatcher_bw18_spirituality |date=2021-04-15 }}''. Bahá'í Studies, volume 11. Association for Bahá'í Studies. Ottawa.</ref>

[[Bahá'u'lláh]], the founder of the religion, never specified any particular form of meditation, and thus each person is free to choose their own form.<ref name="bahai-meditation" /> However, he did state that Baháʼís should read a passage of the [[Baháʼí literature|Baháʼí writings]] twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening, and meditate on it. He also encouraged people to reflect on one's actions and worth at the end of each day.<ref name="Smith-meditation"/> During the [[Nineteen Day Fast]], a period of the year during which Baháʼís adhere to a sunrise-to-sunset fast, they meditate and pray to reinvigorate their spiritual forces.<ref name="directives">{{Cite book |first=Shoghi |last=Effendi |author-link=Shoghi Effendi |year=1973 |title=Directives from The Guardian |publisher=Hawaii Baháʼí Publishing Trust |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/DG/dg-71.html#pg28 |page=28 |access-date=2011-07-01 |archive-date=2008-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706191445/http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/DG/dg-71.html#pg28 |url-status=live }}</ref>