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-Bahรก 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.
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