But, O my brother, when a true seeker
determineth to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of
the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart,
which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the
obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments
of satanic fancy.
(Baha'u'llah,
The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 192)
Divine
knowledge enters the human world through a “celestial faculty”, whose seat is
the heart. This faculty puts humanity in touch with a sacred dimension of
the creation, but only if it is cleansed and purified. But by putting in touch I don’t mean that divine
knowledge is sitting “out there” beyond some mental horizon passively waiting
for some heart to get in touch with it.
Quite the contrary. Baha’u’llah writes, quoting an Islamic Tradition:
“Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth.”
(The Kitab-i-Iqan: 46)
Nonetheless, we do have to work for it. But working for sacred or divine knowledge is
not like doggedly pursuing a subject of study, such as mathematics or language, but rather
working to open or, figuratively, clean the perceptual faculty that can receive
the “light” being cast, so that it appears in its fullest brilliance in the polished mirror of the heart. Hence, perhaps the most important aspect of working
for divine knowledge is to recognize that divine knowledge is not like human
knowledge and is not “obtained” in the same manner. Divine knowledge is not “acquired
knowledge”, which is what must be cleansed and purified from off the mirror of
the heart. It is received, as a gift. The proper attitude to receive it is
humility, so that one may understand it—which, of course, means “to stand
under.”
Baha’u’llah points to the limitations of
acquired knowledge or human learning and the dangers that taking acquired human
knowledge as the highest knowledge presents to the unwary: “We beseech God to
strengthen thee with His power, and enable thee to recognize Him Who is the
Source of all knowledge, that thou mayest detach thyself from all human
learning, for, "what would it profit any man to strive after learning when
he hath already found and recognized Him Who is the Object of all
knowledge?" Cleave to the Root of Knowledge, and to Him Who is the
Fountain thereof, that thou mayest find thyself independent of all who claim to
be well versed in human learning, and whose claim no clear proof, nor the
testimony of any enlightening book, can support.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 176)
In
another place He warns an inquirer: “Beware lest human learning debar thee from Him
Who is the Supreme Object of all knowledge, or lest the world deter thee from
the One Who created it and set it upon its course….Tear asunder the veils of
human learning lest they hinder thee from Him Who is My name, the
Self-Subsisting.” (The Summons of the
Lord of Hosts: 56)
Divine
or spiritual knowledge is the essence of all knowledge. Of this kind of knowledge there is precious
little learned in any age, but it is the quickest way to grasp the core of all
things. According to Baha’u’llah: “It
hath already been abundantly demonstrated that in that divinely-appointed Day
the majority of them that have sought and attained His holy court have revealed
such knowledge and wisdom, a drop of which none else besides these holy and
sanctified souls, however long he may have taught or studied, hath grasped or
will ever comprehend. It is by virtue of this power that the beloved of God
have, in the days of the Manifestation of the Day Star of Truth, been exalted above,
and made independent of, all human learning. Nay, from their hearts and the
springs of their innate powers hath gushed out unceasingly the inmost essence
of human learning and wisdom.” (Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 263)
But the criteria for comprehending this knowledge is deceptively simple
to the unaware, and here we return to the metaphor of cleanliness and purity to
get a better idea of it: “The understanding of His words and the comprehension
of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise dependent upon human
learning. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and
freedom of spirit.” (Baha'u'llah, The
Kitab-i-Iqan: 210)
His dismissive references to acquired knowledge and human learning should not be confounded with true knowledge possessed by humans. He is not arguing against accurate scientific
conclusions and established facts, but rather rebuking passively received opinions,
prejudicial beliefs, unchallenged dogmas and rigid ideologies, whether religious or scientific, that are taken to
be true—and which may have been generally agreed upon at one time—that inhibit or interdict further investigations into
Reality. He means, for example, such rigid
attitudes as dogmatic materialism and thoughts that are pure imaginations, as
much of new age writings seem to be. He
calls upon His followers to be protectors of divine knowledge: “These souls are
the protectors of the Cause of God on earth, who shall preserve its beauty from
the obscuring dust of idle fancies and vain imaginings.” (Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: 10)
And
what is the ultimate purpose of learning of any kind? “We have decreed, O
people, that the highest and last end of all learning be the recognition of Him
Who is the Object of all knowledge; and yet, behold how ye have allowed your
learning to shut you out, as by a veil, from Him Who is the Day Spring of this
Light, through Whom every hidden thing hath been revealed. (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:
198)
As
I have been exploring, one part of the switch from human to divine knowledge is
to pass from cognition to recognition as the primary means of knowing spiritual reality. Recognition is wholistic not reductionist. Its knowledge is, first, reflexive not objective. It sees the “other” as oneself in
other form, for it grounds all perception in the principle that there is a “primal oneness deposited at the heart of all
created things.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:
263)
Yet, it also simultaneously sees the
differences of form and station. It is
again the “B” and the “E” joined and knit together in the original unity of
“these two are the same, yet they are different.” The archetype of this relation is that
between God and His Manifestations, as explained by Baha’u’llah: “Men have
failed to perceive Our purpose in the references We have made to Divinity and
Godhood. Were they to apprehend it, they would arise from their places, and cry
out: "We, verily, ask pardon of God!" The Seal of the Prophets—may
the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake—saith: "Manifold
are Our relationships with God. At one time, We are He Himself, and He is We
Ourself. At another He is that He is, and We are that We are." (Baha'u'llah,
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf: 41)
This same relation binds
the fundamental faculty of the human reality with all its powers and
attributes: “Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the
essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and
stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing,
thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or
transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from,
and owe their existence to, this same faculty. So closely are they related unto
it, that if in less than the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the human
body be severed, each and every one of these senses will cease immediately to exercise
its function, and will be deprived of the power to manifest the evidences of
its activity. It is indubitably clear and evident that each of these
afore-mentioned instruments has depended, and will ever continue to depend, for
its proper functioning on this rational faculty, which should be regarded as a
sign of the revelation of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all. Through its
manifestation all these names and attributes have been revealed, and by the
suspension of its action they are all destroyed and perish.”
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:
163) The same relation can be
said to exist between white light and all the colors of light, as shown through
a prism, that compose it.
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