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View submission: Religion teacher trying to understand the Baha'i Faith.
I really like what u/jwiegley had to say I wanted to add a few of my own thoughts.
I wanted to add that this Baha'i library piece talks about the direct connections between the Baha'i Faith and Budhism in a good point by point way: https://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_buddhism[1] (or google Bahai faith vs budhism and find the bahai-library.com reference). I think that answers your question nicely and better than I could.
1: https://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_buddhism
On the Christian perspective of Jesus declaring himself the son of God, Bahá'u'lláh tells us many times in the writings (as do others) that when we read the spiritual texts, we must view them through a spiritual lens and that one of the times we will struggle most with spiritual writings is when we try to take them literally.
Because the Bible has been passed down, converted from oral to written language, translated, and then revised throughout its history, I believe there's been plenty of time for Jesus' words to be shifted in what he said versus what we're understanding today. (Bible scholars have a very different and deeper understanding of the Bible than the general public). So when I hear Jesus proclaiming himself the Son of God, I see it as his way of making an analogy to those people at that time that he has a divine connection with God and is bringing a renewal/update of God's message to the world for his day. Similarly we are all children of God and all have divine connections (our souls) that make us special in comparison to the mineral, plant, and animal realms.
If you look carefully at the Christian community, there are many denominations that fight over the station of Christ and what exactly he is (son of God, God himself, the trinity, etc). Because not even the Christian community itself can come to a consensus, I see this as a spiritual issue to be resolved by the individual. Personally, for me, I recognize that Christ is a manifestation of God, he's special, and my limited understanding tops out there. Personally I have a hard time believing that everything that is "the unknowable essence of God" would fit all of itself into a mortal form for a few decades and let the universe run itself. I prefer to believe that he was much more like Bahá'u'lláh, a mortal, sent from God with a special connection, that was able to be a conduit in helping us continue to grow and evolve. It sounds like you connect more with the idea that Jesus was more than that. If that works for you, Awesome! The thing I love about the Baha'i Faith is that it's all about your own spiritual journey and it's up to you to deepen your understanding and connection with God.
The Baha'i Faith is fortunate that Bahá'u'lláh came at a time when recorded history was prevalent. I'm excited to know that in the future, more messengers will be sent and we'll have video and audio recordings, heck, we'll probably have 3D virtual reality recordings of them and people in the future will probably be picking apart that manifestation's gestures, heart rate, blood pressure, and micro expressions to try to gain some insight into what can only be interpreted spiritually.
I would encourage you to keep asking these kinds of questions, keep asking for quotes and references and books to read. While others can lend you insight, ultimately it's up to you to find your truth and understanding. Abdul'baha said that we go through three stages of being able to teach our faiths: 1, we are excited but know nothing, so we tell general ideas without detail. 2, we study the writings but have not memorized them, so while we can elaborate on our understanding, we also communicate through our own filter (like a game of telephone). 3, we memorize the writings and in response to questions are able to give direct quotes, allowing the questioner to interpret the writings themselves. I'm at a 2, but I'm working on #3. I hope you continue to teach this class and do what you can to encourage its growth in your school system, state, country and the rest of the world.
These links may also help with the part about Christ: http://bahaiblog.net/site/2013/12/the-station-of-jesus-christ-in-the-bahai-faith/[2] https://bahai-library.com/stockman_jesus_bahai_writings[3]
2: http://bahaiblog.net/site/2013/12/the-station-of-jesus-christ-in-the-bahai-faith/
3: https://bahai-library.com/stockman_jesus_bahai_writings
There's nothing here!