Ruhi Institute

The Ruhi Institute (Spanish: Instituto Ruhí) is an educational institution, initially operating under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼí Faith in Colombia.

History

The format of group adult learning such as that in a Baháʼí study circle, the normal setting of a Ruhi Institute meeting, has occurred in previous contexts, such as in the United States Chautauqua developments in the 1870s, using "ideals of democracy, participation, and equality."

Moreover, the Baháʼí community has used the term "institute" in various ways over time. A 1927 report in Baháʼí News refers to an "institute", the "Institute of World Unity" held at Green Acre. A 1935 letter of Leroy Ioas noted a reason to promote small group meetings, "firesides", as a central method to promote the religion was to overcome the community's relative introversion that he believed came from thinking that only special Baháʼís could "teach". A 1950 reference to "Conference Institutes" was reported at the US Baháʼí national convention. There was also a 1958 reference to institutes being held on college campuses. In 1961 a conference in American Samoa was called a "training institute" and another in Korea in 1963. The term was adopted with the beginning of the Nine Year Plan (starting in 1964) designated by the Universal House of Justice, the international governing institution of the Faith. The institute or training institute served the needs of the thousands who began entering the religion in areas where large-scale expansion was taking place. Such places needed a physical facility to which group after group of newly enrolled believers would be invited to attend courses that helped them deepen their knowledge of the principles of the Faith.