They are the Future of Humanity

Monday, August 26, 2013

Renovating the Conditions of Existence

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. 

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred is http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a It is also in Kindle