Cleansing the Doors of Perception

If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.

(William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell)

At this point, in determining in broad outline what might be some of the conditions of the appearance of “the science of the love of God”, a science which, according to ‘Abdu’l-Baha, will renovate all the conditions of existence, it is to be understood that the work may be mostly about, as Blake stated above, clearing away obstacles blocking the way to true and greater vision, what Baha’u’llah often called giving up the murky maze of  illusory “idle fancies and vain imaginings” of a too narrow view of Reality to, instead, “follow the Straight Path.”

“The straight path,” He says, “is the one which guideth man to the dayspring of perception and to the dawning-place of true understanding and leadeth him to that which will redound to glory, honour and greatness.

We cherish the hope that through the loving-kindness of the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, obscuring dust may be dispelled and the power of perception enhanced, that the people may discover the purpose for which they have been called into being. In this Day whatsoever serveth to reduce blindness and to increase vision is worthy of consideration. This vision acteth as the agent and guide for true knowledge. Indeed in the estimation of men of wisdom keenness of understanding is due to keenness of vision.“ (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 34)

He lamented: “The world is illumined with the effulgent glory of His countenance. And yet, behold how far its peoples have strayed from His path! None have believed in Him except them who, through the power of the Lord of Names, have shattered the idols of their vain imaginings and corrupt desires and entered the city of certitude.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 12)

Vain imaginings and corrupt desires are idols of Reality that we create and form attachments to, but which actually limit vision by limiting the scope of Reality, like looking with a blindfold and calling it real sight.  The perceptual faculties must then, as Blake said, be cleansed and opened.   Baha’u’llah exhorts humanity: “Arise, O people, and, by the power of God's might, resolve to gain the victory over your own selves, that haply the whole earth may be freed and sanctified from its servitude to the gods of its idle fancies—gods that have inflicted such loss upon, and are responsible for the misery of, their wretched worshipers. These idols form the obstacle that impedeth man in his efforts to advance in the path of perfection.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 93)

Entering into a new spiritual Reality depends upon us learning the signs and symbols of it that are promulgated by Revelation, the creator both of Reality and of the effective means to investigate it.  “Unveiled and unconcealed, this Wronged One hath, at all times, proclaimed before the face of all the peoples of the world that which will serve as the key for unlocking the doors of sciences, of arts, of knowledge, of well-being, of prosperity and wealth”  . (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 96) 

The science of the love of God will probably not look like any current science, any more than the intellectual mansions of conceptual thought that humanity has erected and experimentally verified look like the myths and tales of old that grew from the raw data of life given to the mind by the senses.  The science of the love of God will be the true gnosis, the knowledge of revelation, the knowledge of faith and vision and salvation, the knowledge of the heart and the laws of its structure, the knowledge of the hidden, higher levels of creation in operation from the foundation of the world.  The great religious Founders have been at great pains to bestow the keys of understanding of these dimensions upon humanity, but we for the most part steadfastly refuse them.

But let us not go too far.  We are erecting the science of the love of God, not building a science of God.  At best we understand a glimmer of His attributes and qualities, and these through the heart.  Yet, Baha’u’llah asserts: "The birds of men’s hearts, however high they soar, can never hope to attain the heights of His unknowable Essence….Far be it from His glory that human pen or tongue should hint at His mystery, or that human heart conceive His Essence." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 193)

To build a science of the love of God we must try to perceive the world around us as a divine creation, and explicate in some manner the nature of divine knowledge and bring forth the faculties within the human reality that enable that knowledge to be known.  None of this is science proper, as we know and practice it.  That is not a bad thing, for, again, we do not want to clog our doors of perception.  We want to be open to new ways of knowing Reality.

We read in a recent post that one of the innate endowments of the human reality is, according to ‘Abdu’l-Baha, a love of Reality.  Perhaps another name for the science of the love of God is science of the love of Reality.

But Reality is something of a slippery term, often meaning anything to each and nothing to all.  What does ‘Abdu’l-Baha means by it?  Perhaps we can start with something that He said while in America: “The foundation of the divine religions is reality; were there no reality, there would be no religions. Abraham heralded reality. Moses promulgated reality. Christ established reality. Muhammad was the Messenger of reality. The Báb was the door of reality. Bahá'u'lláh was the splendor of reality. Reality is one; it does not admit multiplicity or division. Reality is as the sun, which shines forth from different dawning points; it is as the light, which has illumined many lanterns.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 124)

It is worth noting that Reality is prior even to religion, in His mind, since Reality is the foundation of religion.  But it is this direct relationship between Reality and religion established by the universal Mind of the Great Luminaries mentioned above which generates, in each case and for its time, the first knowable (i.e. revealed) form of Reality.  The Master explains: “Briefly, the supreme Manifestations of God are aware of the reality of the mysteries of beings. Therefore, They establish laws which are suitable and adapted to the state of the world of man, for religion is the essential connection which proceeds from the realities of things. The Manifestation—that is, the Holy Lawgiver—unless He is aware of the realities of beings, will not comprehend the essential connection which proceeds from the realities of things, and He will certainly not be able to establish a religion conformable to the facts and suited to the conditions.” (Some Answered Questions:158)

But our discussion also points to the very real, but these days mostly forgotten, truth that religion is one on the most powerful means of investigating reality, the other two being science and art.  Reality is the foundation of all of them.  So when we investigate reality through religion, science, or art, we are investigating the same Reality and should, therefore, come up with the same truths, however differently they may be formed and expressed. Cleansing the doors of perception makes this truth radiantly clear, and forces us to discard outworn prejudices and to demolish those false limitations we impose on our vision.