Spiritual Foundations of Human Society

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

(King James Bible, Matthew 24:34)

Last post discussed Wisdom as the eternal, pre-existent, universal, foundational law configured into universal relations of the universe. This post will explore Wisdom as the eternal foundation creating, when revealed by every Manifestation, the universal relations governing human society

In regards to the eternal laws pre-existing the human world and creating its universal relations Baha’u’llah wrote: “Above all else, the greatest gift and the most wondrous blessing hath ever been and will continue to be Wisdom. It is man's unfailing Protector. It aideth him and strengtheneth him. Wisdom is God's Emissary and the Revealer of His Name the Omniscient…. And it was this peerless Source of wisdom that at the beginning of the foundation of the world ascended the stair of inner meaning and when enthroned upon the pulpit of utterance, through the operation of the divine Will, proclaimed two words. The first heralded the promise of reward, while the second voiced the ominous warning of punishment. The promise gave rise to hope and the warning begat fear. Thus the basis of world order hath been firmly established upon these twin principles. Exalted is the Lord of Wisdom, the Possessor of Great Bounty. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 66)

Notice that both Christ and Baha’u’llah state that the essentials of human society were prepared at the beginning of the foundation of the world, with Baha’u’llah telling us what actually composes that foundation. 

Framing the dimension of universal governance in human society, Baha’u’llah claims: “The beginning of Wisdom and the origin thereof is to acknowledge whatsoever God hath clearly set forth, for through its potency the foundation of statesmanship, which is a shield for the preservation of the body of mankind, hath been firmly established.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 151)

This admonition is both a personal dictum for rulers to govern themselves and their realms, and a more general principle for people to govern themselves and their rulers.  Regarding the rulers He wrote: “The Great Being saith: The heaven of statesmanship is made luminous and resplendent by the brightness of the light of these blessed words which hath dawned from the dayspring of the Will of God: It behoveth every ruler to weigh his own being every day in the balance of equity and justice and then to judge between men and counsel them to do that which would direct their steps unto the path of wisdom and understanding. This is the cornerstone of statesmanship and the essence thereof.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 166)

And about the people He stated: “God grant that the people of the world may be graciously aided to preserve the light of His loving counsels within the globe of wisdom. We cherish the hope that everyone may be adorned with the vesture of true wisdom, the basis of the government of the world.”  (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 166)

He continues: “From these words every enlightened man of wisdom will readily perceive that which will foster such aims as the welfare, security and protection of mankind and the safety of human lives. Were men of insight to quaff their fill from the ocean of inner meanings which lie enshrined in these words and become acquainted therewith, they would bear witness to the sublimity and the excellence of this utterance. If this lowly one were to set forth that which he perceiveth, all would testify unto God's consummate wisdom. The secrets of statesmanship and that of which the people are in need lie enfolded within these words. This lowly servant earnestly entreateth the One true God—exalted be His glory —to illumine the eyes of the people of the world with the splendour of the light of wisdom that they, one and all, may recognize that which is indispensable in this day.

That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 166)

In like manner ‘Abdu’l-Baha explained: “Similarly, with regard to the peoples who clamour for freedom: the moderate freedom which guarantees the welfare of the world of mankind and maintains and preserves the universal relationships, is found in its fullest power and extension in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha: 305)

The principle of moderation is not some lukewarm condition of never too much, but an active ethical principle that sustains and preserves life. It hearkens back to the Buddhist Middle Way, and reinforces Baha’u’llah’s warning: “The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Knowing. If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation. Meditate on this, O people, and be not of them that wander distraught in the wilderness of error.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 342-343)

For Baha’is, humankind should live according to the Wisdom revealed by God and build their societies around His Message, because, as the Master explained: “… the real Collective Center is the body of the divine teachings, which include all the degrees and embrace all the universal relations and necessary laws of humanity.”  (Tablets of the Divine Plan: 102)

One part of the “universal relations and necessary laws of humanity” are eternal, the pre-existent unity that unfolds into a progressive union of manifestation.  Shoghi Effendi called Baha’is to this dimension, which renews and restores the primal oneness of the original foundation, when he wrote: “One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh.” (Baha'i Administration: 66)

‘Abdu’l-Baha often spoke of two kinds of laws, material and spiritual, explaining that the material law changes to fit changing circumstances, but, that: “The spiritual part never changes. All the Manifestations of God and His Prophets have taught the same truths and given the same spiritual law. They all teach the one code of morality. There is no division in the truth. The Sun has sent forth many rays to illumine human intelligence, the light is always the same.” (Paris Talks: 143)  In another place He called these spiritual ordinances “essential or fundamental, one and the same in all religions, changeless and eternal—reality not subject to transformation.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:106)

Again, though the spiritual law never changes in its eternal essence, it grows in manifestation until it reaches universality.  Baha’u’llah, for example, wrote: “Of old it hath been revealed: ‘Love of one's country is an element of the Faith of God.’ The Tongue of Grandeur hath, however, in the day of His manifestation proclaimed: "It is not his to boast who loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world." Through the power released by these exalted words He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new direction, to the birds of men's hearts, and hath obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation from God's holy Book.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 95-96) 

The universal divine law and the universal relations are two essential requirements of the world of creation, even for creation to exist.  These are the gradual manifestation in human society of something that existed from the beginning of time. 

Wisdom: The Eternal Foundation

Every universal cause is divine and every particular one is temporal. The principles of the divine Manifestations of God were, therefore, all-universal and all-inclusive.

(‘Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu'l-Baha: 68-69)

Should we consult the dictionary to get some definitions of wisdom we are likely to read things like: knowledge gained by having many experiences in life; the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand; knowledge of what is proper or reasonable; good sense or judgment; accumulated philosophic or scientific learning; the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships.  While all these definitions are, of course, valid for human life, none of them are the kind of idea we are after in our inquiry into divine Wisdom.

While the universal intellect of the Manifestation of God is, I believe, the configuring power of the universe, Wisdom is the foundational laws of God which the Mind of the Manifestation configures.  These foundational laws being divine archetypes are universal.  Hence another name for Wisdom is the universal relations inherent to the different levels of reality.  This post will examine the eternal law of Wisdom of the physical universe.  Next post will discuss Wisdom in the human world.

Let’s first examine the possibility that there is a Source of Wisdom, a maker of universal law.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha, for example, says: “…look into this endless universe: a universal power inevitably existeth, which encompasseth all, directing and regulating all the parts of this infinite creation; and were it not for this Director, this Co-ordinator, the universe would be flawed and deficient. It would be even as a madman; whereas ye can see that this endless creation carrieth out its functions in perfect order, every separate part of it performing its own task with complete reliability, nor is there any flaw to be found in all its workings. Thus it is clear that a Universal Power existeth, directing and regulating this infinite universe. Every rational mind can grasp this fact.”  (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 48-49)

  But to be foundational, these archetypal and eternal laws must Themselves be outside the universe.  The universal relations operating within the universe which express them would be their reflection in the contingent world.  Baha’u’llah tells us: “Every thing must needs have an origin and every building a builder. Verily, the Word of God is the Cause which hath preceded the contingent world—a world which is adorned with the splendours of the Ancient of Days, yet is being renewed and regenerated at all times. Immeasurably exalted is the God of Wisdom Who hath raised this sublime structure.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 141)

The Manifestations or Prophets of God are the bearers of this Wisdom and reconfigure the relations to progress all things and to fit changing circumstances.  We can ask: Where do They get their wisdom?  They are created with it and bring it into the world.

Shoghi Effendi explains: “The Prophets, unlike us, are pre-existent. The soul of Christ existed in the spiritual world before His birth in this world. We cannot imagine what that world is like, so words are inadequate to picture His state of being.”  (Shoghi Effendi, High Endeavours: Messages to Alaska: 71)

Because They, like the foundational laws themselves, are pre-existent and, metaphorically, surround the universe, each One is, as Christ called Himself, the Alpha and Omega. Baha’u’llah writes in this regard: “Even as in the "Beginning that hath no beginnings" the term "last" is truly applicable unto Him who is the Educator of the visible and of the invisible, in like manner, are the terms "first" and "last" applicable unto His Manifestations. They are at the same time the Exponents of both the "first" and the "last." Whilst established upon the seat of the "first," they occupy the throne of the "last." Were a discerning eye to be found, it will readily perceive that the exponents of the "first" and the "last," of the "manifest" and the "hidden," of the "beginning" and the "seal" are none other than these holy Beings, these Essences of Detachment, these divine Souls.” (The Kitab-i-Iqan: 163)

These pre-existent Beings are the Manifestations of the Essential Pre-existent One and each speaks an all-inclusive Message that recreates the world in its image.  They exist before creation.  Thus when He says that “the Word hath preceded the contingent world” He is speaking a double metaphor:  He, Himself, is the Word and the Word He speaks is the creator.  Metaphysically, the Kingdom of Revelation precedes in rank and order the contingent world—i.e. the contingent world comes out of Revelation, is changed by It, and is sustained by It.  But, also, historically, every Revelation reconfigures the physical creation, unfolding its powers and virtues and restoring its energies.

The Manifestations are not bound by the limitations of the material-organic world of creation, though they of course use them whenever it is wisdom to do so, so that the universal relationships are respected and maintained.  But “Be and it is” is the power to reconfigure these relationships. 

The universal, foundational laws and their reconfigurations can also be inferred from the Master’s statement: “All beings, whether large or small, were created perfect and complete from the first, but their perfections appear in them by degrees. The organization of God is one; the evolution of existence is one; the divine system is one….For the supreme organization of God, and the universal natural system, surround all beings, and all are subject to this rule. When you consider this universal system, you see that there is not one of the beings which at its coming into existence has reached the limit of perfection. No, they gradually grow and develop, and then attain the degree of perfection.   (Some Answered Questions: 199)

The universal relations and connections are first created and last embodied, or manifested.  We can see universal relations operating only when we achieve a universal perspective on creation. 

Universal relations structure and operate the creational world.  There is an eternal relation between spirit, mind, and matter which should be maintained for life to be sustained and all things to progress.  The universal relations exist not only within the world, but also in the relations between the material and the spiritual worlds.  As the Master said, in a statement I have often quoted: “The spiritual world is like unto the phenomenal world. They are the exact counterpart of each other. Whatever objects appear in this world of existence are the outer pictures of the world of heaven.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 10)

His statement is, of course, a restatement of the ancient hermetic principle of: “As below, so above”.  Universal relationships between created things were referred to by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when He wrote: “And just as the composition, the formation, and growth and development of the physical body have come about by degrees, so too must its decomposition and dispersal be gradual. If the disintegration be rapid, this will cause an overlapping and a slackening in the chain of transferences, and this discontinuity will impair the universal relationships within the chain of created things.” (Abdu’l-Baha, Wisdom of Burying the Dead)

He advised us to: “Reflect upon the inner realities of the universe, the secret wisdoms involved, the enigmas, the inter-relationships, the rules that govern all. For every part of the universe is connected with every other part by ties that are very powerful and admit of no imbalance, nor any slackening whatever. (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 157)

Next post will explore the foundations and universal relationships governing the human world.

The Two States of Nature

Nature is that condition, that reality, which in appearance consists in life and death, or, in other words, in the composition and decomposition of all things.

Briefly, the world of existence is progressive. It is subject to development and growth.

This Nature is subjected to an absolute organization, to determined laws, to a complete order and a finished design, from which it will never depart—to such a degree, indeed, that if you look carefully and with keen sight, from the smallest invisible atom up to such large bodies of the world of existence as the globe of the sun or the other great stars and luminous spheres, whether you regard their arrangement, their composition, their form or their movement, you will find that all are in the highest degree of organization and are under one law from which they will never depart.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions: 3)

Examining with care ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s statement above gives us the two states of Nature, the world of being.  First, it is a reality which in appearance consists in life and death, or, in other words, in the composition and decomposition of all things. That is, the appearance and disappearance of things in Nature is because they compose and decompose.  But, composition and decomposition is not a mindless ricorso, or return to the beginning, to start the same cycle.  For the other condition of appearance is that the world of existence is progressive. It is subject to development and growth. These two conditions make the state of appearance.

The other and more fundamental state of Nature, the underlying condition of the condition of appearance, is that: This Nature is subjected to an absolute organization, to determined laws, to a complete order and a finished design, from which it will never depart….  Thus, there are not only laws of regulation, i.e. of composition and decomposition, and of progression, of growth and development, but also an unchanging foundational law making all things under one law from which they will never depart.

Further: "(W)hen you look at Nature itself, you see that it has no intelligence, no will. For instance, the nature of fire is to burn; it burns without will or intelligence. The nature of water is fluidity; it flows without will or intelligence. The nature of the sun is radiance; it shines without will or intelligence.” (Some Answered Questions: 4)  How are recurring cycles which nevertheless progress possible if the foundational law never varies, and if Nature is without intelligence and will?

This takes us back to wisdom and intellect, the creative powers of the universe.  Wisdom is the underlying laws from which all things appear, are composed and decompose, yet progress.  Wisdom is the unchanging archetypes of existence, the “one law” of all things.  Intellect is the configuring power of these archetypes and their power of progression. The configuration of the foundational laws when done by the Manifestation, the “universal intellect”, is in comformity with wisdom, yet never makes the same arrangement.  Everything in Nature is unique. But, also remember Baha’u’llah’s statement: “That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 140)  That is, it is an unique expression of an archetypal pattern.

Baha’u’llah declares about these relations: “Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise. Were anyone to affirm that it is the Will of God as manifested in the world of being, no one should question this assertion.  It is endowed with a power whose reality men of learning fail to grasp. Indeed a man of insight can perceive naught therein save the effulgent splendour of Our Name, the Creator. Say: This is an existence which knoweth no decay, and Nature itself is lost in bewilderment before its revelations, its compelling evidences and its effulgent glory which have encompassed the universe.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah:142)

Again, He first talks about the state of the essence of Nature, then He discusses the “manifestations” of the appearance of natural things which “are diversified by varying causes.”  Nature itself “knows no decay”, (i.e. it is eternal as a level of reality) because it is “the Will of God as manifested in the world of being.”  Indeed, so wonderful is the creative power of the Will of God upon Nature that “Nature itself is lost in bewilderment before its revelations.”

Though Nature is without intelligence and will, the perfections latent within it evolve and develop through the Will of God.  For certain, Nature evolved on its own to a certain degree, because it itself is one of the diversity of causes mentioned by Baha’u’llah.  There are purely material causes.  But only by the instrumentality of human thought and work does Nature reach true perfection, do weeds become crops, thistles change to flowers, the barren tree is cultivated into a fruitful one, and the bitter fruit becomes sweet. 

On the purely physical plane, composing the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, these perfections are all physical, the minerals evolving to produce great gems of beauty and lustre, the vegetable kingdom evolving to produce flowers and trees of surpassing loveliness and fruit, and the animal kingdom evolving to produce all the perfections of the sensory world, plus the strength and grace of muscle and sinew.

But the world of existence includes the human world, and our perfections are intellectual and cultural, building the great civilizations, developing law, the sciences and the arts.  In short, human education perfects Nature when properly applied. 

It may seem strange that human education is necessary for nature to be complete, but ‘Abdu’l-Baha asserts: “It is evident, therefore, that the world of nature is incomplete, imperfect until awakened and illumined by the light and stimulus of education.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:309)   In another talk, He pointed out, in response to certain philosophies that say all humans need is Nature, because Nature is perfect: “If the world of nature were perfect and complete in itself, there would be no need of such training and cultivation in the human world—no need of teachers, schools and universities, arts and crafts. The revelations of the Prophets of God would not have been necessary, and the heavenly Books would have been superfluous.  If the world of nature were perfect and sufficient for mankind, we would have no need of God and our belief in Him. Therefore, the bestowal of all these great helps and accessories to the attainment of divine life is because the world of nature is incomplete and imperfect.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:310)

All development is through the power of Revelation educating human beings, and through the progressive bringing forth (i.e. educing) of the inexhaustible power of the names of God latent within every create thing.  These names and attributes are signs of God.  These are the spiritual foundation to Nature, underneath even that of Mind.  They are the foundational level of archetypes which the Manifestations renew, regenerate and reconfigure by Revelation, according to Wisdom, to make Nature and the world of existence progress. Baha’u’llah states: "Know thou that every created thing is a sign of the revelation of God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever remain, a token of the Almighty. Inasmuch as He, the sovereign Lord of all, hath willed to reveal His sovereignty in the kingdom of names and attributes, each and every created thing hath, through the act of the Divine Will, been made a sign of His glory. So pervasive and general is this revelation that nothing whatsoever in the whole universe can be discovered that doth not reflect His splendor." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 184)

We will explore more about wisdom in the next post.

Universal Mind

All that we see around us is the work of mind. It is mind in the herb and in the mineral that acts on the human body, and changes its condition.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London: 95)

That there is a mental foundation to the physical universe is not just a rediscovery of modern physics, but is also part of the Baha’i Teachings. This subtle mental level of the physical universe is what many ancient philosophers called, and an increasing number of modern researchers are calling, the ether.  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “Even ethereal matter, the forces of which are said in physics to be heat, light, electricity and magnetism, is an intellectual reality, and is not sensible. In the same way, nature, also, in its essence is an intellectual reality, and is not sensible.” (Some Answered Questions:83)  In another place, he stated: “For example, ethereal matter is not sensible, though it has an undoubted existence. The power of attraction is not sensible, though it certainly exists. From what do we affirm these existences? From their signs. Thus this light is the vibration of that ethereal matter, and from this vibration we infer the existence of ether.” (Some Answered Questions:189)

Now this foundational intellectual level of physical reality is not a passive presence, but an active power.  Baha’u’llah tells us that: “The entire creation hath been called into being through the Will of God, magnified be His glory, and peerless Adam hath been fashioned through the agency of His all-compelling Word, a Word which is the source, the wellspring, the repository, and the dawning-place of the intellect. From it all creation hath proceeded, and it is the channel of God's primal grace.” (Tabernacle of Unity 141-142)

Now, by intellect Baha’u’llah means, I believe, the “universal intellect” of the Manifestation.  This universal intellect is the mind that ‘Abdu’l-Baha said was created before all else, as we read in a previous post.  It is the mind working in “all that we see around us”, that is present also in “the herb and in the mineral.”  It is the power that reconfigures the creation. (See Secret of Divine Civilization:1)  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains the relation between this Mind and other minds: “But the universal divine mind, which is beyond nature, is the bounty of the Preexistent Power. This universal mind is divine; it embraces existing realities, and it receives the light of the mysteries of God. It is a conscious power, not a power of investigation and of research. The intellectual power of the world of nature is a power of investigation, and by its researches it discovers the realities of beings and the properties of existences; but the heavenly intellectual power, which is beyond nature, embraces things and is cognizant of things, knows them, understands them, is aware of mysteries, realities and divine significations, and is the discoverer of the concealed verities of the Kingdom. This divine intellectual power is the special attribute of the Holy Manifestations and the Dawning-places of prophethood; a ray of this light falls upon the mirrors of the hearts of the righteous, and a portion and a share of this power comes to them through the Holy Manifestations.” (Some Answered Questions: 217)

Baha’u’llah confirms this understanding of universal Mind when He writes: “If the wayfarer's goal be the dwelling of the Praiseworthy One (Mahmud), this is the station of primal reason which is known as the Prophet and the Most Great Pillar.  Here reason signifieth the divine, universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all created things—nor doth it refer to every feeble brain.” (The Four Valleys:52)

The power of the universal Mind penetrates every level of creation.  In one place Baha’u’llah asserts: “The breeze of the bounty of the King of creation hath caused even the physical earth to be changed, were ye to ponder in your hearts the mysteries of divine Revelation.” (The Kitab-i-Iqan: 47)

 In another place He states that His Revelation is “all-encompassing”; its “virtues have pervaded the whole of creation. Such is their virtue that not a single atom in the entire universe can be found which doth not declare the evidences of His might, which doth not glorify His holy Name, or is not expressive of the effulgent light of His unity.” (Gleanings: 62) In still another place He asserts that “the revelations of My grace and bounty have permeated every atom of the universe.” (Gleanings: 325)

Let’s now look at this from the other, the created and contingent, side.  We know that the Word is the first emanation of God and that the power of understanding is the discoverer of the Word.  So far I have limited discussion of the power of understanding to the human world whose members are endowed with a conscious rational faculty.  However, the Master says: “The power of the understanding differs in degree in the various kingdoms of creation.”  ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks: 24)  Thus Mind is from this perspective, too, present in all the kingdoms of creation.  Given that “the reality of man is his thought”, then, using the terminology of quantum mechanics, every thought of each person is a participation in the interrelations of the universe of realities.  There are, then, no passive observers, strictly speaking, only active participants at various levels and kinds of interactions.

Eastern thought, too, has the idea of one universal Mind creating and coordinating the universe, and all beings partaking of that Mind.  In Buddhist thought we can read: “All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but One Mind, besides which nothing exists.  This Mind, which is without beginning, is unborn and indestructible…for it transcends all limits, measures, names, traces, and comparisons.  Only awake to the One Mind.” (Zen master Huang Po, quoted in The Tao of Physics)  Human beings can tap into the creative power of this One Mind, and so the Buddha is reported to have said: ‘We are what we think.  All that we are arises with our thoughts.  With our thoughts we make the world.” (Dhammapada)

And, given that the universe is an emergent reality, and that revelation is progressive, then all is evolving—i.e. new and ever more wonderful configurations are cast on the mirror of creation with every revelation.  This means, too, that every atom in the universe is evolving in its capacity to express revealed reality.  The Master again: “Therefore, each atom of the innumerable elemental atoms, during its ceaseless motion through the kingdoms of existence as a constituent of organic composition, not only becomes imbued with the powers and virtues of the kingdoms it traverses but also reflects the attributes and qualities of the forms and organisms of those kingdoms. As each of these forms has its individual and particular virtue, therefore, each elemental atom of the universe has the opportunity of expressing an infinite variety of those individual virtues. No atom is bereft or deprived of this opportunity or right of expression….It is evident, then, that each elemental atom of the universe is possessed of a capacity to express all the virtues of the universe. This is a subtle and abstract realization.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace: 286)

Our power of mind connects us with the other kingdoms of creation and allows us to understand them—and them us—and to unravel the secrets of Nature, which are some of the secrets of ourselves.  As the Manifestation, the possessor of the universal Mind, communicates with us, so we, possessors of an infinitely larger amount of understanding than the plants, animals and minerals can, nonetheless, share in the same power with all sentient beings.