Intellect and Wisdom

Praise and thanksgiving be unto Providence that out of all the realities in existence He has chosen the reality of man and has honored it with intellect and wisdom, the two most luminous lights in either world. Through the agency of this great endowment, He has in every epoch cast on the mirror of creation new and wonderful configurations. If we look objectively upon the world of being, it will become apparent that from age to age, the temple of existence has continually been embellished with a fresh grace, and distinguished with an ever-varying splendor, deriving from wisdom and the power of thought.

This supreme emblem of God stands first in the order of creation and first in rank, taking precedence over all created things. Witness to it is the Holy Tradition, "Before all else, God created the mind." From the dawn of creation, it was made to be revealed in the temple of man.

(Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 1)

While ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s statement above is clearly a statement of cosmology, (i.e. the way that the universe has come into existence and is regenerated and reformed) it is also about the means by which that occurs.  I mean that there are two powers at work, intellect and wisdom, the two most luminous lights in either world.  For me intellect is, as He says later, “the power of thought”, while wisdom is the knowledge residing in the heart.  We can turn to one of Baha’u’llah’s Hidden Words for corroboration: “Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.” (Arabic Hidden Words #3)

While divine intellect and wisdom is the way that God creates the universe, the Master also states: “He has chosen the reality of man and has honored it with intellect and wisdom.”  This“endowment”—not endowments—is part of what is meant by the human reality being made in the image and after the likeness of God and His Manifestations.  Intellect and wisdom work together in full consciousness, and thus: This supreme emblem of God stands first in the order of creation and first in rank, taking precedence over all created things. Witness to it is the Holy Tradition, "Before all else, God created the mind." From the dawn of creation, it was made to be revealed in the temple of man.  That is, wisdom and intellect, the power of thought and wisdom together, are “mind” in its complete sense.  Now  this endowment is to be revealed in its full splendor.

In other places Baha’u’llah calls mind “the power of understanding” or “the rational faculty.”  All these designations point, I believe, to these twin powers operating in unity.  Mind precedes all other creation.  From it comes all else in creation.  

Today the heart emerges to its rightful place.  Hence, this Day is to be distinguished from past days.  Baha’u’llah states, for example: “The Eternal Truth has now come.” (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in World Order of Baha’u’llah: 167)  This is different from, say, the time of Christ, Who told His disciples: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (King James Bible, John 16:12-13)  Baha’is identify “the Spirit of truth” as Baha’u’llah. (See World Order of Baha’u’llah:103)

That the heart is the intelligence that receives the eternal truths does not contradict, in my opinion, the statement of ‘Abdu’l-Baha that: “The reality of man is his thought.”  For me, the heart is our divine aspect, a higher part than mere “ thinking man.”  The heart is our spiritual intelligence that enlightens the intellect. 

 In another statement of the uniqueness of this day, Baha’u’llah says: “Man, himself, hath been invested with the gifts of understanding and knowledge.” (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in World Order of Baha’u’llah: 167)

The heart’s knowledge is wisdom and understanding, the deep running streams of eternal principle which it alone taps into, the basic building blocks or archetypal figures of knowledge which the power of thought expressed by the Manifestation reconfigures with every Revelation.  Revelation reconfigures the universal relationships that govern the creation and configuration of the forms of things—and it is instantaneous.  The heart’s wisdom, being the organ directly connected with Revelation, is the proper application of these eternal principles to temporal, contingent existence.

The intellect’s power of thought is a learning, discovering power that generates ideas and the mental forms of things, giving them shape and essence which is captured in a name.  It is what has grown into our sciences.  The heart is a recipient power and is the power of love and the foundation of religion.

Either can connect with Revelation.  “It is clear and evident, therefore, that the first bestowal of God is the Word, and its discoverer and recipient is the power of understanding.” (Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity:3)

In this quote, for me “discoverer” is the intellect, while “recipient” is the heart.  Again both are mentioned.  Either intellect or heart is effective to know spiritual reality, but neither alone is sufficient to fully grasp and use it.  Both are needed for that.

The heart’s station as an organ of knowing is as yet mostly unknown to science. But the Baha’i Writings have this to say about it: “That the heart is the throne, in which the Revelation of God the All-Merciful is centered, is attested by the holy utterances which We have formerly revealed.

Among them is this saying: "Earth and heaven cannot contain Me; what can alone contain Me is the heart of him that believeth in Me, and is faithful to My Cause."   

But having such an innate power for good, the heart can also, if improperly used, bring great evil and sickness to human society.  Baha’u’llah continues in the same passage: “How often hath the human heart, which is the recipient of the light of God and the seat of the revelation of the All-Merciful, erred from Him Who is the Source of that light and the Well Spring of that revelation. It is the waywardness of the heart that removeth it far from God, and condemneth it to remoteness from Him. Those hearts, however, that are aware of His Presence, are close to Him, and are to be regarded as having drawn nigh unto His throne.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 185)  In another passage Baha’u’llah declares, quoting an Islamic Hadith or tradition: Therefore, hath it been said: "Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth." (The Kitab-i-Iqan: 46)

For the heart to properly exercise its inherent power to know it must be pure and spiritual.   Baha’u’llah admonishes: “Hearken thou unto the Words of thy Lord and purify thy heart from every illusion so that the effulgent light of the remembrance of thy Lord may shed its radiance upon it, and it may attain the station of certitude.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 182)

If we ask: What truly stimulates the heart to unfold the knowledge already within it, and who teaches it?, Baha’u’llah states: The spirit that animateth the human heart is the knowledge of God, and its truest adorning is the recognition of the truth that "He doeth whatsoever He willeth, and ordaineth that which He pleaseth." Its raiment is the fear of God, and its perfection steadfastness in His Faith. Thus God instructeth whosoever seeketh Him. He, verily, loveth the one that turneth towards Him.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 290)