All Knowledge is Already There

It is in Our power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendour, to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages. This, in truth, is a matter simple of accomplishment.

(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: 39-40)

I wrote last post: “If knowledge is attracted then it is an existing reality awaiting discovery and revelation.   It is an inherent part of the creation, even, in the form of love, the power binding all the aspects and parts of creation together.” For me, knowledge, like love and light, is a manifestation of Spiritual Reality and, therefore, a characteristic in all reality.  In this view, all knowledge is already there, both in the world and within the intelligence.  That means to me that humans don’t generate knowledge, except for each other after attracting or discovering what is revealed.  To attain a state of knowledge, then, is to become conscious of something that was there but hidden, either in Word, in the world, or in the pre-conscious.

I need now to put forth some evidence for this point of view.  But such support can never be demonstrated in human experience, for, unlike God or His Manifestations, no human being has always been eternal.  Nor can it be a philosophical assumption upholding a logically-driven argument, for it cannot be logically proven. Neither is it a scientific hypothesis to be verified or not by experiment, for science so far, has nothing to do with eternal things.  Rather it is an intuitive assertion which can only confirmed or denied by an infallible Source of knowledge.

In the opening quote above Baha’u’llah provides for me such confirmation.  He asserts that He possesses the power to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages. What could the knowledge of future ages be except something that already exists, enfolded in the very fabric of creation?  He goes on to state, rather unapologetically: “This, in truth, is a matter simple of accomplishment. Such have been the evidences of My power from the beginning that hath no beginning until the end that hath no end. My creatures, however, have been oblivious of My power, have repudiated My sovereignty, and contended with Mine own Self, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: 39-40)

Knowledge is already there because all knowledge is with God.  He knows past, present, and future, not as tenses, but as a singularity of knowledge unfolding organically, in this world at least, in temporal sequence.  It unfolds organically because there are different levels and planes of meaning enfolded within creation that are unfolded by the Word, with the simpler and less profound unfolding first.  Thus, while all knowledge is already an existing reality, what can be known at any one time is a result of necessary limitations of all kinds.  The greatest of these is progressive Revelation, that series of expanding spiritual contexts created by the succession of divine Revelators bringing specific messages to humankind. On this point, Baha’u’llah remarks:  “Knowledge is all that is knowable; and might and power, all creation.” (The Kitab-i-Iqan: 185)

Yet, since all knowledge always exists, the limits of any Revelation—i.e. the knowable--is not necessarily an absolute limitation placed upon what can be known during Its time. For example, Baha’u’llah wrote about Socrates: “What a penetrating vision into philosophy this eminent man had! He is the most distinguished of all philosophers and was highly versed in wisdom. We testify that he is one of the heroes in this field and an outstanding champion dedicated unto it. He had a profound knowledge of such sciences as were current amongst men as well as of those which were veiled from their minds. Methinks he drank one draught when the Most Great Ocean overflowed with gleaming and life-giving waters.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 146)  So, how did Socrates, and others down through the ages, do this?

In one of His talks in Paris, ‘Abdu’l-Baha spoke of three kinds of light.  The first kind is physical light, which enables the eyes to see the physical world.   The second kind of light He called the light of the intellect.  Of this inborn light He says: “It is the light of the intellect which gives us knowledge and understanding, and without this light the physical eyes would be useless.”

But the third light He named the Divine Light.  Its relation to the light of the human intellect is as follows: “This light of the intellect is the highest light that exists, for it is born of the Light Divine.  The light of the intellect enables us to understand and realize all that exists, but it is only the Divine Light that can give us sight for the invisible things, and which enables us to see truths that will only be visible to the world thousands of years hence.  It was the Divine Light which enabled the prophets to see two thousand years in advance what was going to take place and today we see the realization of their vision. Thus it is this Light which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other.

Seek with all your hearts this Heavenly Light, so that you may be enabled to understand the realities, that you may know the secret things of God, that the hidden ways may be made plain before your eyes.” (Paris Talks: 69-70)

As the Master makes clear, the divine Light becomes manifest in the human reality when the heart opens to it.  Recall, too, Baha’u’llah’s statement that the heart is the “recipient of the light of God.”  (Gleanings: 186)  It is in this same context that we can consider His quoting an Islamic Hadith: "Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth." (Baha'u'llah, The Four Valleys: 53)

Similarly, three realities compose the human reality.  Two of these, the physical body and the intellect, are universally active.  But ‘Abdu’l-Baha elucidates a third reality: “Yet there is a third reality in man, the spiritual reality. Through its medium one discovers spiritual revelations, a celestial faculty which is infinite as regards the intellectual as well as physical realms. That power is conferred upon man through the breath of the Holy Spirit. It is an eternal reality, an indestructible reality, a reality belonging to the divine, supernatural kingdom; a reality whereby the world is illumined, a reality which grants unto man eternal life. This third, spiritual reality it is which discovers past events and looks along the vistas of the future. It is the ray of the Sun of Reality. The spiritual world is enlightened through it, the whole of the Kingdom is being illumined by it. It enjoys the world of beatitude, a world which had not beginning and which shall have no end.”

“That celestial reality, the third reality of the microcosm, delivers man from the material world. Its power causes man to escape from nature's world. Escaping, he will find an illuminating reality, transcending the limited reality of man and causing him to attain to the infinitude of God, abstracting him from the world of superstitions and imaginations, and submerging him in the sea of the rays of the Sun of Reality.” (Foundations of World Unity: 51)  I believe this celestial faculty is another name for the spirit of faith.

It is worth noting that He says the “celestial faculty” is “infinite as regards the intellectual as well as physical realms”.  It is so because this celestial faculty—the spirit of faith latent in the heart—is what receives the Divine Light.  The Divine Light awakens the celestial faculty, the spirit of faith.  Knowledge is there, intelligence attains to it at every state through different modalities: senses, intellect, celestial faculty.  Each great leap—from senses to natural intellect to celestial faculty—is infinite as regards the stages below and prior to it.

Attracting Knowledge

When your hearts are wholly attracted to the one true God you will acquire divine knowledge, will become attentive to the proofs and testimonies and will commit to memory the glad-tidings concerning the Manifestation of the Beauty of the All-Merciful, as mentioned in the heavenly Scriptures. Then ye shall behold how wondrous are His confirmations and how gracious is His assistance.

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 194)

Last post presented the theme that there are three types and modes of knowledge: knowledge of things gained from perception and evidence, effort and striving; intuitive knowledge, which is simply given, an endowment, a gift deposited in the soul; and divine knowledge which is the special attribute of the Manifestations of God. 

The circle of knowledge gained from effort and study is very limited, due to constraints of time, energy, opportunity, and inborn mental acuity of the individual’s natural intellect, but attainment can be reached.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha says of this knowledge: “The knowledge of things which men universally have is gained by reflection or by evidence—that is to say, either by the power of the mind the conception of an object is formed, or from beholding an object the form is produced in the mirror of the heart.” (Some Answered Questions: 157)  That is, through various forms of inquiry and trial and error, knowledge of the world and of ourselves is built up.

Intuitive knowledge as self-knowledge is the real foundation of human knowledge and learning, especially of human nature and self-consciousness.  Though there is no attainment to this knowledge in the sense that no amount of knowledge gained by effort and striving results in intuitive self-understanding—we are simply born with this capacity—achievements of deeper understanding are, of course, possible as self-awareness awakens and unfolds as a natural result of maturing.

Divine knowledge is given to humanity in the form of a Revelation. Attaining to it is a consequence of opening the heart in a spirit of faith. While divine knowledge can be “acquired”, this is so in a different sense from what we ordinarily mean when we speak of acquiring knowledge.  Acquiring divine knowledge does not start in a separation from mind and what it wants to know objectively “out there” and move toward incorporation or assimilation, like the knowledge of the world gained from effort and perseverance.  Rather it starts within the union of heart and what it wants to love.  The heart does this by acquiring knowledge of what it loves.

Now the heart can love all things.  Knowledge of all creation is in the soul.   In a statement I have often used, Baha’u’llah quotes the Imam Ali: “Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form, when within thee the universe is folded?” (The Seven Valleys: 34)  The first and fundamental question, then, is not how is knowledge acquired or generated, but, rather, how is it released to become conscious?  Acquiring knowledge connotes the stage of achieving consciousness of knowledge.  Once attaining any stage of knowing further knowledge can be generated from discoveries made with knowledge.

Likewise, knowledge of God, along with love of God, is “infused” into the human reality, (See Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah: 177).  Thus, there is a built in attraction of the heart for God.  This allows the heart to reciprocate the love He had for us. Baha’u’llah wrote, using the Voice of God: “I loved thy creation, hence I created thee.” (The Arabic Hidden Words #4)  This reciprocal and innate attraction and connection can be likened to that of the seed to the light it feels above it.

The heart, then, attracts knowledge of any sort.  It attracts spiritual knowledge when attracted to the divine realm, which means that when the heart and Spirit are connected the divine knowledge already within the heart gushes forth, like the water flowing from the rock when Moses tapped His rod on it. (Book of Numbers 20:8-11) ‘Abdu’l-Baha uses the analogy of the sun and mirror and the requirements of the relation that binds them together, saying “for the connection which exists between the reality of things, whether they be spiritual or material, requires that when the mirror is clear and faces the sun, the light of the sun must become apparent in it.” (Some Answered Questions: 201)  Let us examine the conditions of this relation, which the Master calls in other places “direct connection”.

First, divine knowledge can only be acquired through the power of attraction to the supernal realm.  It is founded in love and thus the heart is the central organ of intelligence that operates here, not the natural intellect which pursues knowledge.  Remember, ‘Abdu’l-Baha stated that “by effort and perseverance, knowledge, science and other perfections can be acquired; but only the light of the Divine Beauty can transport and move the spirits through the force of attraction.” (Some Answered Questions: 130)

If knowledge is attracted then it is an existing reality awaiting discovery and revelation.   It is an inherent part of the creation, even, in the form of love, the power binding all the aspects and parts of creation together.  The Master wrote: “Love is the cause of God's revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things…. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 27)

Knowledge, especially divine or sacred knowledge, appears in the heart via “direct connection”.  Divine knowledge is attained only by one in the spirit of faith.  Again the Master tells us: “The human spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the rational soul, and these two names—the human spirit and the rational soul—designate one thing. This spirit, which in the terminology of the philosophers is the rational soul, embraces all beings, and as far as human ability permits discovers the realities of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities and effects, and of the qualities and properties of beings. But the human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover the heavenly secrets.” (Some Answered Questions: 2018-209)

The spirit of faith operates through a special faculty of knowing in the heart.  But this is the heart in its higher aspect, not that heart mentioned earlier that operates as one of the natural modes of knowing operating to acquire the knowledge of things through thought and evidence that humans universally have.  This is a consciousness that ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls objective or “discerning faith.” (Baha'i World Faith: 364)

In its higher aspect, the heart is the seat of the spirit.  Through it the human intelligence receives divine knowledge.   Next post will discuss why all knowledge has always existed.

Two Ways to Open Capacity for Learning: Knowledge Gained by Effort

It is from the bounty of God that man is selected for the highest degree; and the differences which exist between men in regard to spiritual progress and heavenly perfections are also due to the choice of the Compassionate One. For faith, which is life eternal, is the sign of bounty, and not the result of justice. The flame of the fire of love, in this world of earth and water, comes through the power of attraction and not by effort and striving. Nevertheless, by effort and perseverance, knowledge, science and other perfections can be acquired; but only the light of the Divine Beauty can transport and move the spirits through the force of attraction.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions: 130)

There are two ways to enlarge one’s capacity for learning, effort and attraction.  This post will concentrate on what ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls effort and perseverance.

The rational faculty (i.e. the power of understanding) is a power of discovery.  I have said that for human beings Reality presents itself in three levels: matter, mind, and spirit.  These correspond to the three central modalities of knowing: senses, intellect, and heart, each of which has a direct connection with Reality on its own level.

For the rational soul shared by all individuals, to say that knowledge is a state attained to by the intelligence means to me that these different states of knowledge are enfolded within the human reality as different kinds of knowing.  Basically, acquiring knowledge means some faculty of the broad range of human faculties moves from potential to actual, from unconscious to conscious.  It is a movement from potentiality (capacity) to actuality (capability).   

Humanity started and every human child starts with knowledge gained from the senses.  Later the intellectual powers awaken.  The intellect discovers things and principles that the senses cannot discover on their own.  One cannot acquire knowledge of mental realities absent the intellectual faculties.  Intellect is what separates us from animals.  By intellect I mean all the mental faculties inclusive of the powers to imagine and to reason to a conclusion.  The mind sees that, for example, the sun is stationary while the earth moves, a conclusion that the senses alone would not perceive.  But the heart, when inspired by the spirit if faith, discovers realms of divine knowledge that the uninformed intellect cannot know about.

The difference between sensory and intellectual knowledge also roughly corresponds to the difference between organic versus abstract planes of knowledge, which are built up by the mental faculties of art and science.  Art grasps and presents phenomena sensuously, reason grasps them conceptually and presents them in abstract symbols such as words and numbers.  By abstract I mean something along the lines of perceiving the inner architecture of things, their hidden structures, the funda-mental archetypes. Art can do this, too, but its presentation remains organic and sensual.  To see and present artistically the inner structure of things and not just represent them is the kind of thing that Cezanne was attempting to paint in his quest for the fundamental geometrical shapes of things. Later abstract painters went further to simply paint a formal arrangement of harmonious lines and colors, less and less the representation of natural things.

To return to the individual; a baby’s state of knowledge is almost entirely instinctual and sensory-motor.  As the child matures into adulthood it passes through various states of knowledge, from concrete operational to symbolic to abstract conceptual—other states have been determined by psychology.  (See for example the works of Piaget and Gardner)  But, except for the extraordinary individual, a small child cannot comprehend abstract mathematical or philosophical concepts, because those logical powers that can manipulate symbol-systems such as numbers have not yet blossomed.  He cannot acquire this sort of knowledge until these powers awaken—until, that is, he attains that state. The awakening of these powers is a delicate interplay between nature and nurture.

I mean that these states of knowledge are knowable by the human reality, because the means of knowing them are within the innate potentialities of the common human intelligence.  They are formed into consciousness when the means of apprehending and comprehending awaken. 

But this natural intelligence only apprehends sensible impressions and logical ideas built up figuratively from physical experience into abstract concepts.  These are obtained, the Master says in our opening quote, through effort and perseverance.  There are great limitations, such as time, energy and opportunity, on what can be learned in this manner.

There is another kind of knowledge which the human reality innately possesses.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls it intuitive.  He said, discussing the two kinds of knowledge named so far:  “Knowledge is of two kinds. One is subjective and the other objective knowledge—that is to say, an intuitive knowledge and a knowledge derived from perception.

The knowledge of things which men universally have is gained by reflection or by evidence—that is to say, either by the power of the mind the conception of an object is formed, or from beholding an object the form is produced in the mirror of the heart. The circle of this knowledge is very limited because it depends upon effort and attainment.

But the second sort of knowledge, which is the knowledge of being, is intuitive; it is like the cognizance and consciousness that man has of himself.

For example, the mind and the spirit of man are cognizant of the conditions and states of the members and component parts of the body, and are aware of all the physical sensations; in the same way, they are aware of their power, of their feelings, and of their spiritual conditions. This is the knowledge of being which man realizes and perceives, for the spirit surrounds the body and is aware of its sensations and powers. This knowledge is not the outcome of effort and study. It is an existing thing; it is an absolute gift.” (Some Answered Questions: 157-158)

The knowledge that can be attained through effort and study, He says, is very limited.  Intuitive knowledge, however, is “an absolute gift”.  It is the basis of human self-knowledge. It is simply given, is an endowment, and not the result of effort.  Therefore there is no attainment to it, though we can always know more of ourselves through greater effort.  This is learning the knowledge of self and, in its higher aspects, transformation.

The third kind of knowledge briefly presented by ‘Abdu’l-Baha He named divine knowledge.  This knowledge is bestowed upon the divine Manifestations.  He said: “Since the Sanctified Realities, the supreme Manifestations of God, surround the essence and qualities of the creatures, transcend and contain existing realities and understand all things, therefore, Their knowledge is divine knowledge, and not acquired—that is to say, it is a holy bounty; it is a divine revelation.” (Some Answered Questions: 157-158)

 What of this knowledge?  Is it, too, a state to which the intelligence may attain?  Is there a faculty of knowing this knowledge?  For if the intelligence does not possess the proper faculty it cannot attain that state of knowledge.

I will argue that those in the spirit of faith have the capacity, via the power of attraction, to receive this knowledge in the heart.  That is the topic of the next post.  This knowledge is the real knowledge, but the other knowledges when connected with it make a condition of light upon light that comprehends dimensions of Reality hidden from the senses and intellect.  Consider this statement from ‘Abdu’l-Baha: “It is incumbent upon thee to acquire the various branches of knowledge, and to turn thy face toward the beauty of the Manifest Beauty, that thou mayest be a sign of saving guidance amongst the peoples of the world, and a focal centre of understanding in this sphere from which the wise and their wisdom are shut out, except for those who set foot in the Kingdom of lights and become informed of the veiled and hidden mystery, the well-guarded secret.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 110)