The glorious
maturity of this world depends upon the realization of two things: the
establishment of Universal Peace, and the discovery, or appearance of that
hidden science which shall renovate all the conditions of existence.
(I Heard Him Say: Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha
as recorded by his Secretary Mirza Ahmad Sohrab: 38)
Last post (my,
my, a month ago!!!) examined the idea that the work of human beings is the
perfecting of Nature. Education helps
achieve that purpose by informing us of the laws of Nature, so that we may transform Nature into human form--i.e use
nature as raw material for human construction in all its form.
In the quote above ‘Abdu’l-Baha says there exists a science—seemingly hidden
or forgotten—that will renovate the conditions of existence. To renovate means not only to restore to a
former and better state, but also to impart new vigor. It is the process of creating and regenerating
the forms of existence, not just renewing, restoring or cleansing them. It is to bring more of the essence of a thing
out, so that it moves closer toward perfection.
Renovation is needed because creation is not complete materially, though
it is a perfect spiritual creation. Renovation
is the process of completing creation. It
is summed up in Baha’u’llah’s statement: “That which hath been in existence had
existed before but not in the form thou seest today.” (Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh:140)
This purpose of
renovating the conditions of existence goes back to the dawn of human
culture. Peoples of archaic cultures
believed that their end of year rituals and songs renovated the conditions of
existence by replenishing the spiritual power in the universe. The culture myths describe these songs and
rites, as noted, for example, by Mircea Eliade in such works as The Myth of the Eternal Return. But for those people every end of year, end of
cycle, epoch or era, or even, as today, a whole order of life, (i.e. the end of
time) must be periodically renovated to make the end and the beginning one.
This principle was
also the real purpose of the alchemists, whose teachings, known as Hermetic
literature, stem from Hermes the Manifestation. (See Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of Wisdom) It is commonly thought that the alchemists
were interested only in turning baser metals into gold—a process that
Baha’u’llah says can happen and which is one of the signs of the maturity of
the human race. They were not. They were carrying on in new form what was
even then an ages-old tradition of renovating the conditions of existence—work
which we are engaged in today.
The true
alchemist believed that the alchemical literature gave the symbols and
principles for transmuting the human soul, what Baha’u’llah calls transmuting
satanic energy into heavenly strength. That
is to say, true alchemy was a spiritual discipline, and its essential
principles are all traceable to Hermes and his Emerald Tablet—which was
probably actually chrysolite.
Alchemy sprung
up during the ages of metals—iron, bronze, etc.— with the ancient smiths, who
believed that metals were produced by the gestating of natural processes in the
womb of Nature. (Baha’u’llah alludes to this in His discussion of copper to
gold in the Kitab-i-Iqan.) The true alchemist saw his work as aiding and
perfecting the work of nature by accelerating and nurturing her processes of bringing
baser metals, symbolizing the natural human soul, into precious metals,
symbolizing the transformed soul. Alchemy
has a spiritual foundation, as do most of our arts and sciences.
All these are
examples of humans perfecting and completing Nature, for Nature is incomplete
and imperfect. The natural perfection of
any thing is its mature form, but the spiritual perfecting of all things comes
from them serving a higher purpose and being transformed in the process. For human beings, transformation cannot
happen independently of the Revelations, for, as we have seen, from the
remotest mists of history the revealers of perfection, the Perfect Beings, have
given the teachings to achieve that purpose for their time and invited humanity
into Their work.
Humanity in
nature and the Manifestation within humanity are the “representations” of
something higher within these realms, and the source of their advancement. The human soul is a supernatural entity and
the Manifestation is a superhuman Man. The
higher is required for the lower to progress, and the higher form of the lower
order is formed in response to the promptings of the higher principled energy
which was always renewed “but not in the form thou seest today.”
Now the same
principle, purpose and process hold for our relation with civilization. The Master tell us: “Bahá'u'lláh teaches that
material civilization is incomplete, insufficient and that divine civilization
must be established. Material civilization concerns the world of matter or
bodies, but divine civilization is the realm of ethics and moralities.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 375)
Divine civilization, too, cannot be accomplished
save through the application of the Divine Word and spiritual principle. Thus as our human work is the perfection of
nature, the bringing forth of garden from jungle, building structures from
stones, accelerating the processes of the maturation of metals, replacing
wilderness with pasture, so the work of the Manifestation is the perfection and
completion of human nature, that vast millennia-long process of bringing out
the best of humanity from the womb of nature.
This uplifting of humanity by the Manifestations drives the building of
civilizations and the encoding of laws, the establishment of education, science
and art, and the promulgation of government, so that humanity under the moral
and intellectual guidance and spiritual energy of the revealed Word builds on
earth in imitation of the divine order in “heaven”.
Thus,
as the essence of nature is the human soul, and the essence of humanity is the
Manifestation, or Perfect Man, so the essence of civilization is divine
civilization, and the essence of all things appears last to renovate the whole
of the preceding order. Baha’u’llah
remarked of His Revelation: “The highest essence and most perfect expression of
whatsoever the peoples of old have either said or written hath, through this
most potent Revelation, been sent down from the heaven of the Will of the
All-Possessing, the Ever-Abiding God.” (Tablets of
Bahá'u'lláh: 87)
A transformational process that began in and with Nature ends in civilization, for every created thing, every thing in this World of Being, is on the return trip to God. The Master said:
"From this same God all creation sprang into existence, and He is the one
goal, towards which everything in nature yearns. This conception was embodied in the words of
Christ, when He said, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end'—Man
is the sum of Creation, and the Perfect Man is the expression of the complete
thought of the Creator—the Word of God." (Paris Talks:51)
Radical changes
in society and thought are associated with radical changes in human
character. New qualities emerge that
redefine the true individual and humanity in general, for both the growing
person and society are always redefined according to those emergent qualities
that both create and reflect new moral and social environments and
choices. Today we are witnessing the
emergence of a new paradigm of human nature and human society. Thus the meaning in this new
statement of the age-old paradigm is deeper, its parameters wider, its implication
more far-reaching than any mere restoration of ancient thought might lead one
to believe. But we will be lead to the
deeper meanings.
For is it not often
true, whether in science, philosophy or art, that when trying only to extend
the resources of certain ideas or techniques the mind, in order to meet novelty,
is forced to introduce conceptions which lead to profound intellectual and
technical revolutions? Humanity must
build a civilization such as has never before been seen on earth. It will require the fully matured capacities
of all people to do so. We cannot
accomplish this task unaided; we cannot find our way along this dark and deep
road using the rapidly fading lights of the past. We must be lead by the light of greater
intelligence, by light up ahead not behind, from an above and a beyond that is
within. It is there that we will discover, or from there will appear that hidden science which shall renovate all the conditions of existence.
