The human spirit
consists of the rational, or logical, reasoning faculty, which apprehends
general ideas and things intelligible and perceptible.
(Abdu'l-Baha,
Baha'i World Faith: 370)
The
rational faculty is one of the manifestations of the soul. We know this from a letter written on behalf
of Shoghi Effendi which states: “Regarding your questions: the rational faculty
is a manifestation of the power of the soul.” (Compilations, Lights of Guidance: 509) The soul is the essence of the human reality
and Baha’u’llah says the rational faculty is a gift “with which God hath
endowed the essence of man,” (Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 163), a power “which should be regarded
as a sign of the revelation of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:
163) So overarching is this faculty that
Baha’u’llah states: “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.” (Gleanings from the
Writings of Baha'u'llah:163) Here we
want to especially focus upon it’s the phrase “spiritual perceptions.” Even
these “proceed from and owe their existence to this same faculty.
In
another place, Baha’u’llah describes the relation of the rational faculty to
other powers and faculties as follows : “Say:
Spirit, mind, soul, and the powers of sight and hearing are but one single
reality which hath manifold expressions owing to the diversity of its
instruments. As thou dost observe, man's power to comprehend, move, speak,
hear, and see all derive from this sign of his Lord within him. It is single in
its essence, yet manifold through the diversity of its instruments. This,
verily, is a certain truth. For example, if it directeth its attention to the
means of hearing, then hearing and its attributes become manifest. Likewise, if
it directeth itself to the means of vision, a different effect and attribute
appear. Reflect upon this subject that thou mayest comprehend the true meaning
of what hath been intended, find thyself independent of the sayings of the
people, and be of them that are well assured. In like manner, when this sign of
God turneth towards the brain, the head, and such means, the powers of the mind
and the soul are manifested. Thy Lord, verily, is potent to do whatsoever He
pleaseth.” (Baha'u'llah, The Summons of
the Lord of Hosts: 153)
‘Abdu’l-Baha
echoes His Father: “Know that the human spirit is one, but it manifests itself in various
members of the body in a certain (measure or) form. The human spirit is
existent in the sight; it is also existent in the brain, which is the location
of great functions and powers; it is also existent in the heart, which organ is
largely connected with the brain or the center of the mind; and the heart, or
that center which is connected with the brain, has a distinct and separate function,
effect and appearance.” (Compilations, Baha'i
Scriptures: 476)
Now we know something of the manifold powers,
whether physical, mental, or spiritual, that proceed from the rational
faculty. But there are a few we want to
focus upon to answer the question: what is the purpose and the powers of the
gift of understanding and their relation to the building of peace?
Baha’u’llah
explicitly states the main purposes of the rational faculty, and the spiritual
and intellectual powers this faculty gives the intelligence: “Know thou that,
according to what thy Lord, the Lord of all men, hath decreed in His Book, the
favors vouchsafed by Him unto mankind have been, and will ever remain,
limitless in their range. First and foremost among these favors, which the
Almighty hath conferred upon man, is the gift of understanding. His purpose in
conferring such a gift is none other except to enable His creature to know and
recognize the one true God—exalted be His glory. This gift giveth man the power
to discern the truth in all things, leadeth him to that which is right, and
helpeth him to discover the secrets of creation.’ (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 193)
God’s
main purpose in endowing the soul with the power of understanding is to know
and recognize Him in both His Manifestation, the “word made flesh”, and to
recognize His Words as distinct from all other messages and words, as the Voice
of God. Yet Baha’u’llah laments: “Gracious
God! It was intended that at the time of the manifestation of the One true God
the faculty of recognizing Him would have been developed and matured and would
have reached its culmination. However, it is now clearly demonstrated that in
the disbelievers this faculty hath remained undeveloped and hath, indeed,
degenerated.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah:
52-53)
Now
recognition of God is not the same thing as belief in God. One can believe in
God, but fail to recognize Him. Indeed,
this theme characterizes much of the strife of religious history. To recognize God is to know that God has
manifested Himself in a particular human Being and to recognize God in that
Being, and not hold to belief, however sincere, in a prior Manifestation. Belief is often either a product of an
inherited form of religion, or a creation of our own imagination, but
recognition is to see God in His current Manifestation, something far removed from His old form as found in a
traditional religion, and quite different from the human-made creations of the
imagination.
‘Abdu’l-Baha
explained to an inquiring Japanese: “All the people have formed a god in the
world of thought, and that form of their own imagination they worship; when the
fact is that the imagined form is finite and the human mind is infinite. Surely
the infinite is greater than the finite, for imagination is accidental (or
non-essential) while the mind is essential; surely the essential is greater
than the accidental.” (Japan Will Turn
Ablaze: 22)
Regarding
the degeneration of this faculty, ‘Abdu’l-Baha, speaking in one of the centers
of materialism admonished: “Consider
what it is that singles man out from among created beings, and makes of him a
creature apart. Is it not his reasoning power, his intelligence? Shall he not
make use of these in his study of religion? I say unto you: weigh carefully in
the balance of reason and science everything that is presented to you as
religion. If it passes this test, then accept it, for it is truth! If, however,
it does not so conform, then reject it, for it is ignorance!” (Paris Talks: 145) In another place He
asked somewhat rhetorically “When
religion is upheld by science and reason we can believe with assurance and act
with conviction, for this rational faculty is the greatest power in the world.
Through it industries are established, the past and present are laid bare and
the underlying realities are brought to light. Let us make nature our captive,
break through all laws of limitation and with deep penetration bring to light
that which is hidden. The power to do this is the greatest of divine
benefits. Why treat with indifference such a divine spark? Why ignore a faculty
so beneficial, a sun so powerful?” (Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy: 102)
The
degeneration of the faculty of recognizing Him, which is the central purpose of
God in bestowing the gift of understanding upon humanity, would then cause a
similar degeneration in the other discriminating powers of the individual: dampening
the power to discern the truth in all things ends with people not knowing how
to find the truth; failing to accurately discriminate between right and wrong
leads to a general lack of will and aspiration to do the right thing; and being
unwilling to have religion help discover the higher secrets of creation results
in narrowing of the field of intelligent inquiry to material phenomena. What specific faculties, then, compose the
general rational faculty or power of understanding, which, as the senses
translate one sense into another to form perception, so the mental powers work
together to create consciousness?
Consciousness in any real inclusive sense is not one power or a separate
thing, but the result of the interaction of mental powers through the rational
faculty.
I
am going to concentrate on five specific powers of the rational faculty: the
spiritual instinct, or religious faculty, which we use to recognize and know
God; the faculty of justice that enables us to discern the truth in all things:
the moral sense, which leads us to that which is right; the faculty or power of
intellect, used for scientific investigation into the mysteries of creation and
for grasping and articulating spiritual principles; and will, or volition,
which enables us to act. Though these are separate faculties, dimensions of
experience and states of mind, we know from the above statements that they are
inseparable from each other, functioning together in their highest aspect in mutual
support and harmony as an inner equilibrium of forces. But also as a progression the last four all
come forth from the first, the spiritual instinct or religious faculty.
Too
often we fail to trace humanity’s lack of social peace back to its real cause,
the lack of this inner condition of unity stemming from the degeneration of an
inner faculty that enables the soul to recognize the Word of God. The awakening, training and developing of
this spiritual faculty would then cure this spiritual disease. What is that
faculty, that inherent mental
power?
Let us turn to a rational inquiry into
religion, starting with a good definition of it.
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