The Resonating Human Reality: The Supreme Resonant Interval

Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty. We have, then, called into being a new creation, as a token of Our grace unto men.

(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 29-30)

The human reality is the supreme resonant structure because the three levels of creation (physical, mental, spiritual) are all together within it.  It is the microcosm that reflects the entire macrocosm.  The human soul is the locus of creation and the nexus of all its relations.  The Master says that: “When we ponder over the reality of the microcosm, we discover that in the microcosm there are deposited three realities.  Man is endowed with an outer or physical reality.”  There is, too, “a second reality, the rational or intellectual reality; and the intellectual reality of man predominates over nature.  All these sciences which we enjoy were the hidden and recondite secrets of nature, unknowable to nature, but man was enabled to discover these mysteries, and out of the plane of the unseen he brought them into the plane of the seen.

“Yet there is a third reality in man, the spiritual reality. Through its medium one discovers spiritual revelations, a celestial faculty which is infinite as regards the intellectual as well as physical realms. That power is conferred upon man through the breath of the Holy Spirit. It is an eternal reality, an indestructible reality, a reality belonging to the divine, supernatural kingdom; a reality whereby the world is illumined, a reality which grants unto man eternal life. This third, spiritual reality it is which discovers past events and looks along the vistas of the future. It is the ray of the Sun of Reality. The spiritual world is enlightened through it, the whole of the Kingdom is being illumined by it. It enjoys the world of beatitude, a world which had not beginning and which shall have no end.

“That celestial reality, the third reality of the microcosm, delivers man from the material world. Its power causes man to escape from nature's world. Escaping, he will find an illuminating reality, transcending the limited reality of man and causing him to attain to the infinitude of God, abstracting him from the world of superstitions and imaginations, and submerging him in the sea of the rays of the Sun of Reality.” (Foundations of World Unity: 50)

This greatest of all resonant structures is also replete with all resonant intervals.  It is the nexus vibrationally linking the spiritual and the material worlds.  The locus of the human reality, its essential resonant structure and intervals, is the double-chambered human heart, where divine spiritual impulse gets transmuted into human life.  For though end states and extreme states are resonant intervals, as intervals in themselves they are hearts and centers.

Recall, a resonating interval is the interfacial gap between vibrational orders or frequency domains where new creation is “called into being”, where myriad recombinations in creative interplay reconfigure creation in new forms.  But in this recreation there is also both continuity and progress.

I mean that all things that appear in the world of being are the return of its prior state and the origin of its next state.  That is, new things emerge, but these are not creations ex nihilo, “out of nothing”, but new forms from older ones.   “That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today.”(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 140) Not in the form thou seest today, but resonant with what came before.

The Master gives a clear example: “The world of the Kingdom is one world. The only difference is that spring returneth over and over again, and setteth up a great new commotion throughout all created things. Then plain and hillside come alive, and trees turn delicately green, and leaves, blossoms and fruits come forth in beauty, infinite and tender. Wherefore the dispensations of past ages are intimately connected with those that follow them: indeed, they are one and the same, but as the world groweth, so doth the light, so doth the downpour of heavenly grace, and then the Day-Star shineth out in noonday splendour.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 58)

Within the interactions of the three realities composing the human reality are also the characteristics of end states and extreme states, the end of time and development and the eclipse of distance.  Indeed, the human reality is the supreme example of these in the world of creation.

The eclipse of distance and the extreme state that characterizes it occur when a terminus a quo—the first point in time, a point of origin—coincides with the terminus ad quem—the final limiting point, the terminal point; the B and E joined and knit together.  Thus are the gaps of time bridged.  For time is not a limpid, linear flow, but rather terrific pulsations of radiating rhythms that mix and collide within the resonating interval to harmonize levels of being.

In regards to the end/extreme state of the macrocosm of the entire creation Baha’u’llah states: “Praise be unto Thee, O my God! Thou art He Who by a word of His mouth hath revolutionized the entire creation, and by a stroke of His pen hath divided Thy servants one from another. I bear witness, O my God, that through a word spoken by Thee in this Revelation all created things were made to expire, and through yet another word all such as Thou didst wish were, by Thy grace and bounty, endued with new life.” (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah: 42)

‘Abdu’l-Baha probes deeply into the microcosm of the human reality to explain why this is especially true for it: “Man,” says ‘Abdu’l-Baha, “is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of spirituality—that is to say, he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection. He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of light; that is why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of the night and the beginning of day, meaning that he is the sum of all the degrees of imperfection, and that he possesses the degrees of perfection. He has the animal side as well as the angelic side, and the aim of an educator is to so train human souls that their angelic aspect may overcome their animal side. Then if the divine power in man, which is his essential perfection, overcomes the satanic power, which is absolute imperfection, he becomes the most excellent among the creatures; but if the satanic power overcomes the divine power, he becomes the lowest of the creatures. That is why he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection. Not in any other of the species in the world of existence is there such a difference, contrast, contradiction and opposition as in the species of man.” (Some Answered Questions: 235-236)

A traditional metaphor often used by ’Abdu’l-Baha to capture this relation between spirit and mater is the circle of existence, composed of an arc of descent and an arc of ascent.  He stated: “Now, this is an established and deep theological proposition, that the material worlds are terminated at the end of the arc of descent, and that the condition of man is at the end of the arc of descent, and at the beginning of the arc of ascent, which is opposite to the Supreme Center. Also, from the beginning to the end of the arc of ascent, there are numerous spiritual degrees.” (Some Answered Questions: 285)

In another place He explains: “For the inner reality of man is a demarcation line between the shadow and the light, a place where the two seas meet; it is the lowest point on the arc of descent, and therefore is it capable of gaining all the grades above. With education it can achieve all excellence; devoid of education it will stay on, at the lowest point of imperfection.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 130)

Now it should be remembered that "He hath let loose the two seas, that they meet each other: Between them is a barrier which they overpass not. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye deny? From each He bringeth up greater and lesser pearls." (Compilations, Baha'i Prayers: 105)

The experience of the second birth is the greatest experience of all.  It upsets and resets all relations and all equilibrium, throwing into commotion all the worlds of God.  Baha’u’llah wrote: “Know ye from what heights your Lord, the All-Glorious is calling? Think ye that ye have recognized the Pen wherewith your Lord, the Lord of all names, commandeth you? Nay, by My life! Did ye but know it, ye would renounce the world, and would hasten with your whole hearts to the presence of the Well-Beloved. Your spirits would be so transported by His Word as to throw into commotion the Greater World—how much more this small and petty one!” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:139-140)

Emerging Models of Spiritual Sciences

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)

Last post presented some general conditions for grasping what a spiritual science is, as I see them.  Such sciences will, in some cases, be entirely new sciences, but in others they will be established sciences put upon a new foundation of spiritual principle, or cast within an entirely new light.  It makes sense that in these still early days of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation, emerging spiritual sciences would, by and large, be established sciences put upon new spiritual foundations or recast within the light of spiritual principle.  New sciences will develop later.

It is fair to ask: Are there any emerging spiritual sciences?  I believe there are.  Part of the growth and development of the global Bahá’i community is the bringing forth of such sciences, however embryonic they might be.  Three spiritual sciences which I see emerging are a spiritual science of education, especially for children and youth that is the Ruhi Institute.  Another is the emerging spiritual science of sociology developing in the efforts of community building going on world-wide by the global Bahá’i community. Thirdly, is a spiritual science of economics and prosperity evolving in such organizations as The Institute for the Study of Global Prosperity.

In each case, building upon the adamantine spiritual foundation of Baha’u’llah’s Revelation, and explicated, elaborated in broad outline by ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi in such works as The Secret of Divine Civilization, The Promised Day is Come, The Advent of Divine Justice, and The World Order of Baha’u’llah—works which  discerned the initial stages of the impact and interplay of divine powers and forces upsetting the inert equilibrium of a moribund human order—the global Baha’i community, under the ongoing guidance of the Universal House of Justice, is rapidly discovering, learning and refining the practical and scientifically tested principles of spiritual  knowledge and social growth through moral action.

In both the case of the Ruhi Institute materials and in the social action of grassroots community-building, using guidance obtained from such documents as Social Action, A paper prepared by the Office of Social and Economic Development at the Bahá’í World Centre 26 November 2012, curricula and social lines of activity and initiative are conceived and field-tested.  Changes and refinements in materials and actions are made through earnest and deep reflection upon initial results, both positive and negative.  The launching of new initiatives based upon the results of these consultations are then made, and the process is repeated.  Through this process a systematic body of knowledge of spiritual education based explicitly upon the Word of God, and the dynamics of spiritually and morally driven social action, is built up that can be shared and applied in communities around the globe, taking into full consideration the unique features characterizing every situation. It is not rigid formulae and cookie-cutter community action, but a truly creative process where a solid unity of spiritual principles encountered in deep study of the Word of God transforms souls who then transform the infinite diversity of cultural, social, ethnic and religious qualities and attributes that is human communities into unique spiritual communities.  In this way, the pivotal principle of the entire Bahá’i Revelation, namely, the oneness of humanity, is brought out and develops intellectual and social complexity.

The House of Justice described the process and proper sequence of spiritual and social transformation as: “Souls must be transformed, communities thereby consolidated, new models of life thus attained. Transformation is the essential purpose of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, but it lies in the will and effort of the individual to achieve it in obedience to the Covenant.” (Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated Ridvan, 1989, to the Bahá'ís of the World)  This is the proper sequence because: “It is the soul of man that has first to be fed….Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá'u'lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed.” (Letter on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 8 December 1935 to an individual believer, The Compilation of Compilations vol. II: 238)  This quote lends further support to the statement made in the last post that spiritual sciences will only come from spiritually transformed souls. 

Sociologically, the House of Justice asserts: “A Bahá'í community which is consistent in its fundamental life-giving, life sustaining activities will at its heart be serene and confident; it will resonate with spiritual dynamism, will exert irresistible influence, will set a new course in social evolution, enabling it to win the respect and eventually the allegiance of admirers and critics alike.” (Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated Ridvan, 1984, to a National Spiritual Assembly) 

Now, besides the intrinsic interest of such studies and disciplines, and in addition to their obvious relevance to the social conditions of today, there may be another reason that these three spiritual sciences are among the first to emerge.

The visionary mind of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, pointed out decades ago a reciprocal relation between the knowledge in three disciplines and the Bahá’í Teachings.  He, for example, “advised young people to study deeply such subjects as History, Economics and Sociology as they are all related to the teachings and aid in understanding the Faith.” (Lights of Guidance: 629)  Another letter on his behalf advised a youth to study: “History, Economics or Sociology, as these are not only fields in which Bahá'ís take a great interest but also cover subjects which our teachings cast an entirely new light upon.” (13 March 1944 to an individual believer) (Compilations, Scholarship: 12)  Finally: “Shoghi Effendi has for years urged the Bahá'ís (who asked his advice, and in general also) to study history, economics, sociology, etc., in order to be au courant with all the progressive movements and thoughts being put forth today, and so that they could correlate these to the Bahá'í teachings.” (Compilations, Scholarship: 18)

Scholarship of all kinds has a high place in the Bahá’i Revelation, and Bahá’i scholars have done amazing work in articulating new spiritual principle as applied to their home disciplines, in making spiritually-driven inquiries, both theoretical and practical, into the whole domain of human knowledge. As regards History, the third field that the Guardian urged youth to study, studies ranging all the way from the history of the development of specific Bahá’i communities up to the broad outlines of the spiritual history of the whole of humanity have been published.  Notable in this regard is Shoghi Effendi’s own magisterial survey of the first century of Bahá’i history, God Passes By, and Century of Light—a document prepared under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice and published in 2001.  It reviews, in the context of the Bahá’í Teachings, the profound changes that the world underwent during the 20^th century and their relationship with the emergence of the Bahá’í Cause during the same period.  These, again with other works of Shoghi Effendi mentioned above, lay the foundations of a whole new context of historical inquiry and understanding.

If I may, my first three books, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education; Gettin’ Through Hard Times Together: Creating Prosperity Through Sharing, Service and Sacrifice; and, Terra in Cognita: Voyages and Discoveries on the Ocean of Knowledge, deal, respectively, with education, economics, and sociology.  Especially, the long final essay in Terra in Cognita, titled “The Revolt Against Materialism”, a companion piece to another essay of the book, “The Disorder of Knowledge and the Reconfiguration of the Human Intelligence”, is a first extended examination of a topic that I call “sociology of the spirit”, the replacing of the human order by a divine one, the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth.

As I discussed in a previous post, What Am I Doing?, (December 24, 2016) my goal is to write five more volumes on cosmology, spiritual causality, spiritual history and sociology, and education,  Hopefully, these books can be a small contribution to these much larger conversations. 

What is a Spiritual Science?

Scientific knowledge is the highest attainment upon the human plane, for science is the discoverer of realities. It is of two kinds: material and spiritual. Material science is the investigation of natural phenomena; divine science is the discovery and realization of spiritual verities. The world of humanity must acquire both. A bird has two wings; it cannot fly with one. Material and spiritual science are the two wings of human uplift and attainment. Both are necessary—one the natural, the other supernatural; one material, the other divine. By the divine we mean the discovery of the mysteries of God, the comprehension of spiritual realities, the wisdom of God, inner significances of the heavenly religions and foundation of the law.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 138)

I want to return in this post to a further examination of the science of the love of God as the foundational spiritual science.  Specifically, I want to try and explicate something of the idea of “spiritual science.”

If we read closely the quote from ‘Abdu’l-Baha about the two kinds of science He calls one the natural, the other supernatural; one material, the other divine.  For me this indicates that spiritual science itself is supernatural and not just what it is investigating.

What is a supernatural science?  It could be merely mental, for the mind is, strictly speaking, a supernatural phenomenon.  But I believe it is more than mental, for He further defines supernatural science as divine.  What is a divine science?  He goes on: divine science is the discovery and realization of spiritual verities…By the divine we mean the discovery of the mysteries of God, the comprehension of spiritual realities, the wisdom of God, inner significances of the heavenly religions and foundation of the law.
OK, so how does the human intelligence reach this level of perception?  Strictly speaking, the human intelligence doesn’t.  The divine intelligence within the human reality does.  The awakening of this superior intelligence is tied to the experience of what the Holy Books call “the second birth.”  But second birth has its own forms and stages.  Modes of knowing flow from and are part of modes of being.

There is the second birth that is the birthright of every soul.  That is the individual is born, dies, and upon his death he is granted a certain immortality in the heavenly realms for he is, in essence, an immortal soul.  Baha’u’llah writes, quoting the Qur’an, Sura 20: “He said, and He, verily, speaketh the truth: "From it (earth) have We created you, and unto it will We return you, and out of it will We bring you forth a second time." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 231)

But the real second birth is reserved for those who undergo a radical spiritual transformation, who are reborn in heavenly form while living upon the earth, who through faith and vision and the confirmations of God and the Holy Spirit achieve the second birth.  This is the true prize.

‘Abdu’l-Baha explains: “Man is first born from a world of darkness, the matrix of the mother, into this physical world of light. In the dark world from whence he came he had no knowledge of the virtues of this existence. He has been liberated from a condition of darkness and brought into a new and spacious realm where there is sunlight, the stars are shining, the moon sheds its radiance, there are beautiful views, gardens of roses, fruits and all the blessings of the present world. How did he attain these blessings? Through the agency of birth from the mother. Just as man has been physically born into this world, he may be reborn from the realm and matrix of nature, for the realm of nature is a condition of animalism, darkness and defect. In this second birth he attains the world of the Kingdom. There he witnesses and realizes that the world of nature is a world of gloom, whereas the Kingdom is a world of radiance; the world of nature is a world of defects, the Kingdom is a realm of perfection; the world of nature is a world without enlightenment, the Kingdom of spiritual humanity is a heaven of illumination. Great discoveries and revelations are now possible for him; he has attained the reality of perception; his circle of understanding is illimitably widened; he views the realities of creation, comprehends the divine bounties and unseals the mystery of phenomena. This is the station which Christ has interpreted as the second birth. He says that just as ye were physically born from the mother into this world, ye must be born again from the mother world of nature into the life of the divine Kingdom. May you all attain this second, spiritual birth. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 332-333)

Thus the process of change in spiritual condition that is the real second birth parallels that of the first rebirth.  In the first rebirth the individual is born in the mother’s womb, lives his life on earth until he dies, (returns to earth).  The soul is then brought forth again, as it enters the immortal world.  In the spiritual rebirth, the life on earth itself is the womb in which the soul lives.  Upon his conscious entering of the spiritual worlds in a spiritual transformation, his former soul condition dies—i.e. returns to the earth of the human condition.  But from this earth is brought forth the soul again in its divine form. 

This change of spiritual condition called the second birth is a requisite for knowing and building spiritual sciences.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha, remember, says that for such reborn souls: “Great discoveries and revelations are now possible for him; he has attained the reality of perception; his circle of understanding is illimitably widened; he views the realities of creation, comprehends the divine bounties and unseals the mystery of phenomena.”    Hence spiritual sciences cannot be known except by those with awakened spiritual faculties. 

Now, the process of going from material and human science available to anyone with sufficient intelligence and opportunity to spiritual science parallels that of going from the human soul to the reborn soul.  Consider this statement from Baha’u’llah forming part of His Surih-i-Haykal: O Inmost Heart of this Temple! We have made thee the dawning-place of Our knowledge and the dayspring of Our wisdom unto all who are in heaven and on earth. From thee have We caused all sciences to appear, and unto thee shall We cause them to return. And from thee shall We bring them forth a second time. (Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: 36

Spiritual sciences will be born from the womb of material science, but they will not be other material sciences, but something entirely new.  The power to spiritually transform is available to any soul which encounters the Word of God.  Transformed souls who will discover and build the science of the love of God and regenerate all creation.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha said: “In this century of the latter times Bahá'u'lláh has appeared and so resuscitated spirits that they have manifested powers more than human….Therefore, the question arises: How is this resuscitation to be accomplished?

“There are certain means for its accomplishment by which mankind is regenerated and quickened with a new birth. This is the second birth mentioned in the heavenly Books. Its accomplishment is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The resuscitation or rebirth of the spirit of man is through the science of the love of God. It is through the efficacy of the water of life. This life and quickening is the regeneration of the phenomenal world.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace: 277)

What will such people be able to perceive from which those who have not undergone transformation are barred?  I believe that they will see the creation as a reflection of the Divine.  They will see the sign of God in every created thing.  They will look past all material coverings and intellectual notions to see Reality.

Baha’u’llah wrote: “He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this knowledge. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of creation.” (Gleanings: 262)   “It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay of all created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder, nothing except the Sign of God will remain—a sign which He, Himself, hath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is the wish of the Lord thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 140)

 To see the supernatural sign of God in every created thing is the content of spiritual sciences, which all flow from the science of the love of God.