The Third Purpose: Advancing Civilization

Whoso ariseth, in this Day, to aid Our Cause, and summoneth to his assistance the hosts of a praiseworthy character and upright conduct, the influence flowing from such an action will, most certainly, be diffused throughout the whole world.

(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah: 287)

Another individual purpose is to “carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” (Gleanings: 214)  Here I don’t wish to get into a sociological discussion of this purpose, because that strays too far into examining social institutions.  At this juncture, suffice it to say that social institutions everywhere and at every level will no doubt evolve and become more humane as they buckle, then crumble, then are rebuilt in new global form by wise leaders of humankind under the imperative of manifesting the oneness of humanity. 

             However, before that civilization becomes the reality that we live within and not just dream about, every individual has still an important role to play in advancing civilization toward that goal.  While most individuals can only negligibly advance material civilization, every person can play a central role in advancing spiritual civilization by acting as a catalyst and model of virtuous behavior.  In this we are following the example of humanity’s great Spiritual Lights.  The power of example lies in its effect of raising the general consciousness of humanity’s spiritual nature.  Uplifting human consciousness subtly influences society and people toward ends that benefit everybody.

Virtues are powers not verbal platitudes.  They are not set-in-stone gems, mere adornments to a pious life.  Virtues are gem-like potentials of “inestimable value” that have been deposited within every human being.  They are fields of inner power: radiant divine energies with vibrating influence.  Virtues are talismanic powers that attract whatever is needed from the spiritual realm.  But, in the practical world, virtues are the right and proper way for human beings to behave toward each other.  They are templates of moral action.  By beholding their expression in some people, others can recognize their own divine nature.  Virtues attract the divinity of others and evoke a spiritual response from them.

We are created rich in such potentials.  Educing and practicing our virtues releases their powers and aids humanity to create prosperity.  How?  We know how to create material wealth by investing capital and organizing work production, and with the technological revolution of the last two hundred years we have the means at hand to produce wealth beyond the dreams of past kings.  But the earth does not contain the non-renewable natural resources to produce unlimited material plenty for all.  One of the revolutions spawned by the industrial revolution was a psychological transformation in economics from supply to demand as the drive of material production.  For millennia supply limited demand, but the early promise of a universal cornucopia from industrial production was that we no longer need have any limit on desire.  Demand now drives supply and a continuous revolution in science and technology is supposed to deliver on that promise.  But the promise is false when it is made to all who want a share in a global consumer economy based upon non-renewal, finite commodities. 

Now we must learn to create ever-renewable wealth by investing through service our innate moral capital in each other, and organize the creation and distribution of material wealth upon spiritual principles.  The proper distribution of wealth will further augment collective human spirituality as it does individual spirituality, and this collective spiritual advance will lead to even better social productivity and the sharing of wealth and opportunity.  Having realized material prosperity for some, we must now go into a higher realm of virtue to obtain true wealth and real prosperity for all. 

Virtues transmute the base metal of ego thoughts and selfish actions into the pure gold of selfless moral behavior.  They act to overcome and redirect a materialist value system revolving around me-first into a spiritual one based on you-before-me.  They replace the lies, injustice, faithlessness, greed, irresponsibility, pride, discontent, and the passive/predatory attitude characteristic of that me-first way of life with truth,  justice, faith, and with responsible actions and altruistic attitudes that “enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”  There is no doubt that if we nurture even some of our innate virtue a new kind of civilization will emerge whose people look out first for each other rather than for "number one".  But again, knowledge of these virtues is not enough.  They must be put into practice. They must be manifested.  The Master said: “We know that to help the poor and to be merciful is good and pleases God, but knowledge alone does not feed the starving man, nor can the poor be warmed by knowledge or words in the bitter winter; we must give the practical help of Loving-kindness.” (‘Abdu'l-Baha in London: 60)

            No one can deny the difficulty of believing that just “being good” will do much good.  We live in a world where unconscionable amounts of poverty, inequity, exploitation, discrimination, and prejudice are allowed to exist.  The situation seems utterly hopeless to many.  But that is because we are bucking hundreds of years of conditioning that has, frankly, delayed our understanding of the powers of spirit, warped our thinking and blinded our insight, though we are, generally, unaware of this.  And it has filled our minds with unmanageable levels of anxiety, fear, and insecurity—and we are acutely aware of this! 

            The House of Justice pointed to a way out: “The light of the Revelation is destined to illumine every sphere of endeavor; in each, the relationships that sustain society are to be recast; in each, the world seeks examples of how human beings should be to one another.  We offer for your consideration, given its conspicuous part in generating ferment in which so many people have recently been embroiled, the economic life of humanity, where injustice is tolerated with indifference and disproportionate gain is regarded as the emblem of success.  So deeply entrenched are such pernicious attitudes that it is hard to imagine how any one individual can alone alter the prevailing standards by which the relationships in this domain are governed.  Nevertheless, there are certainly practices a Bahá’í would eschew, such as dishonesty in one’s transactions or the economic exploitation of others.  Faithful adherence to the divine admonitions demands there be no contradiction between one’s economic conduct and one’s beliefs as a Baha’i.  By applying in one’s life those principles of the Faith that relate to fairness and equity, a single soul can uphold a standard far above the low threshold by which the world measures itself.  Humanity is weary for want of a pattern of life to which to aspire.” (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2012)    

            In sum, we can say that every individual has three main purposes: first, to acquire virtues, which means to express innate powers; secondly, to attain a share of the grace of God, which is also connected with developing innate talents and abilities and finding a calling; and, finally, to advance civilization by striving to achieve the first two purposes.  These are not separate purposes, but, rather, intimately connected purposes that flow out naturally from true self-knowledge.  Now that we know something of human purpose and how it is intimately linked with knowledge of our true and inmost self we can go to the third question and discuss how we should act toward one another.  In the next few posts I will present what I call the ten personal virtues of prosperity, and indicate how they can actually impact our daily economic life.

A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a

Human Purpose: Acquiring The Grace of God

The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him.  Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle.

(Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. p. 8)

We have many purposes.  Last post I discussed one purpose of life is to acquire virtues.  Another purpose of human life, because it is a spiritual duty, is stated by Bahá’u’lláh above.  What does the grace of God mean in the context of prosperity?

In its broadest sense the grace of God is His Message, the revelation of the eternal and temporal truth.  Baha’u’llah writes that the Word of God “is God’s all-pervasive grace, from which all grace doth emanate.” (Tablets of Baha’u’llah:144)  But this all-pervasive grace gets particularized in each person.  St. Paul helps us understand this when he writes: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us…” (The Book of Romans 12:6)  Regardless of circumstances, grace as unfolding innate talents becomes active in our lives when we exert ourselves to receive the grace of spiritual empowerment and divine confirmation.  What does that mean in a concrete sense?

Baha'u'llah wrote: “Please God, the poor may exert themselves and strive to earn the means of livelihood. This is a duty which, in this most great Revelation, hath been prescribed unto every one, and is accounted in the sight of God as a goodly deed. Whoso observeth this duty, the help of the invisible One shall most certainly aid him. He can enrich, through His grace, whomsoever He pleaseth. He, verily, hath power over all things....” (Gleanings:202

Of course, this counsel, as He says, is not just for the poor, but for everyone.  To achieve individual wealth: “(I)t is incumbent on every one to engage in crafts and professions, for therein lies the secret of wealth, O men of understanding!” (The Hidden Words #80 Persian)  And in relation to the path to take to achieve wealth, He admonished an individual: “Concerning the means of livelihood, thou shouldst, while placing thy whole trust in God, engage in some occupation. He will assuredly send down upon thee from the heaven of His favour that which is destined for thee. He is in truth the God of might and power.” (Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh: 267)  Another aspect of this purpose can be seen when we recall that “grace” is the root of “gratitude”, so that we should be grateful for the grace given to us in the form of innate talents and abilities, and that our gratitude is best expressed in our livelihood and in the services we perform for others or the common good. 

Let's look more closely at these statements.  Although Baha’u’llah states: "It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some form of occupation, such as crafts, trades and the like” (Tablets of Baha’u’llah: 26) it should be clear that we are not simply being told to go find a job in order to pay the bills, though that may be necessary for a while.  We are counselled to put work in a more comprehensive context of personal spiritual development, service to others, and divine confirmation and guidance. We should first strive to know ourselves and our purpose, to work to realize these, trust that God will assist us, and be grateful for all trials and victories.  This attitude is of grace/gratitude is easier to manifest when we remember Baha'u'llah's promise that: “We have graciously exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship unto God, the True One.  Ponder ye in your hearts the grace and the blessings of God and render thanks unto Him at eventide and at dawn.” (Tablets of Baha’u’llah: 26)  As grace and gratitude are linguistically connected, so, to, are work and worship from the same root word, thus work is worship in their proper context.  But we are also being told to look for something else, and this last aspect closes the circle to make a truly unified conception and execution. 

Though all work is good and can even be a form of worship when undertaken with sincere intent to grow and serve, there is a specific kind of work each person should try to engage in.  This work is the inner secret of the secret of wealth, so to speak.  This purpose is explicitly stated by Bahá’u’lláh: “The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of all worlds.” (Hidden Words #82 Persian) And: “True reliance is for the servant to pursue his profession and calling in this world, to hold fast unto the Lord, to seek naught but His grace, inasmuch as in His Hands is the destiny of all His servants.” (Tablets of Baha’u’llah: 155)   We are not just created, but created to fulfill a destined purpose in some Great Plan.  Every individual has his or her own natural abilities, interests and inclinations in, say, athletics, art, science, scholarship, or trade skills, which education must bring out.  These are demonstrated in one’s instinctual aptitudes, often in what one daydreams about.  Such abilities and dreams are indicators of a life path:  What do you like to do?;  What are you almost instinctively good at?  The poet, Rumi, said it well: “Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”  Knowing this desire is also part of self-knowledge.

Any job, craft or profession can bring renumeration, and at any time one can serve humanity from any place in the work force.  But there seems to be a special magic in pursuing one’s calling, an affirmative response to the divine call to occupation “put in every heart.” Fulfilling one’s calling is a powerful way to shape an uncertain destiny into a more certain future.

Now we clearly understand that individual purpose as what one feels one is created to do, and social purpose as what one is created to give, are two sides of the same coin.  That is, the created to do and created to serve purposes should be inseparable.  Each individual is created to do something, which he or she feels called to do, but that individual is, from a spiritual point of view, then required to contribute that something to the common wealth through service.  In a nutshell, our first goal is to find our calling, but our goal after that is to serve via our calling.  Hence the full purpose in knowing ourselves is to understand how we can serve most effectively.

The lucky among us learn that a good way to find wealth is through using our innate gifts to pursue a calling.  But the best of us know that wealth is not for hoarding or for self-indulgence, but to help humankind.  The spiritually mature person could never use personal wealth only for himself while others were in deprivation.  Rather, he would see the possession of material wealth as a gift to use responsibly to alleviate to whatever extent possible the distress of those in need.  To him it is inconceivable that those who have plenty would not provide for those who have naught.  That is, he would act as the grace of God for others. 

A direct link to purchase Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a

To What Purpose Do We Exist?

We cherish the hope that through the loving-kindness of the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, the 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.

(Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 35)

Regarding economic prosperity, recall that the House of Justice said: “It is not merely material well-being that people need. What they desperately need is to know how to live their lives — they need to know who they are, to what purpose they exist, and how they should act towards one another; and, once they know the answers to these questions they need to be helped to gradually apply these answers to everyday behaviour.”  (Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986: 283.)   My last few posts have been devoted to a discussion of the topic of human nature—who we are.  We turn now to a discussion of purpose, the second thing that people desperately need to know.  The next few posts will explore this topic.  

            The Bahá’í Writings state several purposes for why we exist.  One purpose is to individually acquire virtues, such as love, justice, compassion, and forgiveness.  But “acquire” means, I believe, to gain the ability to constructively express these divine gems already latent within our essential reality. In a proper education we acquire or learn the skills, knowledge, techniques and practices that enable us to “bring forth” or manifest these inner gems from the mine of the human spirit “so that mankind may benefit therefrom.”  The outcome of this learning process is called spiritual transformation.  But real spiritual transformation can not occur, according to Bahá’í teachings, absent the soul’s labor to “translate that which hath been written into reality and action.” (Tablets of Baha’u’llah:166)  Service is a key word here, and inculcating a positive attitude toward it is a central purpose of all spiritual education.

            To acquire virtues connects directly with God's purpose in creating human beings and relating them to Himself (i.e. His Manifestation).  Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves.” (Gleanings: 287)  We must neither squander nor bury these gifts, as the Biblical parable of the talents warns.  Bahá’u’lláh also admonishes: “Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny.” (Gleanings:196)  But we must no longer allow an “improper education” to deprive us of them, either.

            Every soul is endowed with various moral potentials of which that individual may be unaware, but which can be made manifest by personal volition in response to wishes, tests, and circumstances, or under the tutelage of spiritual principles.  One way to manifest a virtue is by following a model.  For followers of every religion their Founder, whether Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus or Muhammad, is their supreme model of virtue, and the Teachings each leaves behind is the source of human moral and social development, the educing forms that draw forth human potential by giving them resonant principles to respond to.  Following spiritual principle translates a spiritual potential into an actuality, a behavior.   

            For example, faith is one inherent power that can be brought out by a model.  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “Man is endowed with ideal virtues, for example intellection, volition–among them faith, confession and acknowledgment of God...” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:51)   The faith that human beings express is a reflection or likeness of the faithfulness that God through His Messengers shows us.  That is, we know and express our innate potential for faith because God and His Messengers are first faithful towards us.  But we also know faith by perceiving how another is faithful to principle, to belief, or to conviction. 

            The Founder’s life and teachings provide exemplars for human thought and action.  But more than this: Their Words and deeds are creative. They educe our higher nature.  The Bahá’í Teachings assert: “The Messengers of God are not merely teachers, although this is one of their primary functions. Rather, the spirit of their words, together with the example of their lives, has the capacity to tap the roots of human motivation and to induce fundamental and lasting change. Their influence opens new realms of understanding and achievement.” (Baha'i International Community, 1992 May 29, Statement on Baha'u'llah:10)

All human qualities are pale reflections of the luminous qualities of God that are manifested for us by humanity’s great Spiritual Luminaries.  The image of God which is our higher self is the God within us recognizing its true Reality in the more perfect likeness of itself demonstrated by the life and teachings of the Prophet, and responding to it.  But such recognition only occurs on condition that the inner “faculty” for recognizing Him has been developed.  Obscuring this faculty so that we can not recognize either the Image or the Voice of God is exactly what an “improper education” does.  It does this by defining “God” as merely a psychological projection of our own best image, and thus thick clouds of spiritual uncertainty form that obscure the radiant Light of the Sun.  The person becomes enclosed within himself, locked up within his own subjectivity.  

This obscuring of our innate spirituality has occurred, I believe, because in the last few hundred years’ humankind has lived from primarily a material point of view.  One positive result of this style of life and thought has been an unprecedented material productivity.  But we have lost the ability to perceive spiritually, settling instead for perceiving rationally.  Too, the very success of our economic productivity has generated a thinking that gives undue importance to material life and the values that justify selfishness and greed.  We think money or more material goods can solve our economic problems.  We are wrong. 

            Baha’u’llah asks: “What advantage is there in a life that can be overtaken by death, or in an existence that is doomed to extinction, or in a prosperity that is subject to change?” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts:87)

            Many of us have ridden this merry-go-round of anxiety and frustration in pursuit of material wealth many times, yet will still pretty consistently try it again.  Why such a slow learning curve? 

            The answer for me is, simply stated, an improper education which provides no proper guidance or real connection between who we are, what is our purpose, and what we want.  The person who really needs something to accomplish his work is never unhappy when he receives it.  The carpenter who needs a hammer to pound a nail will not be unhappy if somebody hands him the one he needs.  He knows what he wants and needs because it flows out from his purpose.

            But if we never stop to think who we are, we never start “being”, we just know that we want things.  At best, we may vaguely hope that the thing we want will help us to find who we are and fulfill some purpose.  But this thinking boils down to: I am only what I am pursuing and purpose lies in getting it: then on to the next pursuit.  The Christian Bible warns: “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom….For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Book of Proverbs 23: 4, 7)  Pursuing happiness by pursuing material wealth is to reverse the sequence of thoughts that brings happiness. Being the reverse of what is right and true such thoughts can only lead to what is wrong and false.  About such people Bahá’u’lláh asked: “I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty?  Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself?” (The Hidden Words, Arabic #13)

A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a

Maturity: The Great Divide

The first Taraz and the first effulgence which hath dawned from the horizon of the Mother Book is that man should know his own self and recognize that which leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty. Having attained the stage of fulfillment and reached his maturity, man standeth in need of wealth, and such wealth as he acquireth through crafts or professions is commendable and praiseworthy in the estimation of men of wisdom, and especially in the eyes of servants who dedicate themselves to the education of the world and to the edification of its peoples.

(Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas: 34)

Should we ask: what does all this discussion of human nature in the last posts have to do with prosperity?, the answer lies in the above statement.

The key phrase of the quote for me is “having attained the stage of fulfillment and reached his maturity, man standeth in need of wealth.”  Why after maturity is wealth needed?  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answers: “Provided they behave moderately, the more people advance in the material realm, the more their capacity for spirituality is augmented.  The sounder the body, the greater the resplendency and manifestation of the spirit.” (Mahmud’s Diary:122)  Again, the inner spiritual quality needs some material and social support to be properly manifest and to augment its power.  This support, like the body is to the spirit, is not a passive receptacle of energies, but the means of extending the influence of the inner quality, of giving it force and power to transform, and to call forth ever greater pulsations of those inner powers from the inexhaustible Source.  It is the condition of light reflected in the mirror, of “light upon light.”  But at maturity one kind of growth is left off so another may really commence.  That is, developing the bodily support is finished at physical maturity, so that manifesting inherent spiritual power can take precedence.

            At maturity there should occur a great but almost indefinable transformation in one’s purpose.  There should be a turn of life from self-centered to self-sacrificing, and a change from seeing wealth as the means to enrich “me first” to a means for the development and security of “you-before-me”.  Good parents know this.  This change itself is perhaps the true definition of the state of maturity.  It is no less true for individuals possessing wealth, than it is for the whole class of the wealthy, and great are the heavenly rewards for those who achieve this kind of maturity.  Baha’u’llah admonished: "They who are possessed of riches, however, must have the utmost regard for the poor, for great is the honor destined by God for those poor who are steadfast in patience. By My life! There is no honor, except what God may please to bestow, that can compare to this honor. Great is the blessedness awaiting the poor that endure patiently and conceal their sufferings, and well is it with the rich who bestow their riches on the needy and prefer them before themselves." (Gleanings:202)

How we use our material wealth is one indicator of how spiritually mature we really are.  If we wish to decide our actions from our lower or ego nature, our activities we will be given over almost exclusively to pursuing privilege, money, personal influence or other means of private gain and advantage.  Many never outgrow these pursuits.  It can even be said that materialistic civilization in general is stuck at this level.  Though there is nothing inherently wrong with most ego desires at their proper level of development, the danger is that there can be no end to them, and so one never gets to the business of spiritual growth and never really matures.  Ego desires cannot harmonize the conflicts raging in the human soul, but only increase them, for they come out of the multiple identities of the lower self squabbling among themselves.  On the ego level, too, one will encounter others with their own self-interested goals and these might counteract, overcome, or neutralize your own.  In other words, they might get there first, leaving you alone in a “me-first” world with nothing but shattered dreams and empty hopes, and thoughts of revenge or despair.  It is at those times that ‘Abdu’l-Baha's gentle warning can have effect: “It is indeed a good and praiseworthy thing to progress materially, but in so doing, let us not neglect the more important spiritual progress, and close our eyes to the Divine light shining in our midst.” (Paris Talks:63)

Maturity in a spiritual sense is neither reaching one’s full physical stature, nor achieving intellectual brilliance.  It is a hard-won experiential understanding and expression of our spiritual nature.  Maturity is, for many, the great divide of human consciousness.  It is when the spiritual essence is supposed to come forth and be expressed in noble moral deeds.  It is when narrow self-interest turns to wide selfless interest.  Maturity is that state when one knows not only who one is but what he or she should be doing and how to accomplish it.  Further, in relation to wealth, at maturity one knows that real wealth is whatever one contributes to the common good, whether in the form of philanthropy, opportunity, knowledge, experience, service or a shoulder to cry on.  “For, it is by contributing to the common good that an individual acquires true spiritual maturity.” (Valuing Spirituality in Development: 13)

The spiritual influence of the materially wealthy can be immense, for he or she can do far more good with his or her wealth than those not so blessed.  The altruistic person can, through philanthropic and charitable acts, found schools and hospitals, aid in the relief of the poor and needy, or finance small businesses.   Baha’u’llah wrote: “Charity is pleasing and praiseworthy in the sight of God and is regarded as a prince among goodly deeds….Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself. Verily, such a man is reckoned, by virtue of the Will of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, with the people of Baha who dwell in the Crimson Ark.” (Tablets of Baha’u’llah:71)

Enough has been said of human nature in the last posts.  While there is much, much more to know of this topic, we will understand more of human nature as we answer the other questions we need to focus upon.  For these questions can not be fully answered independently of each other.  I mean that we can no more really know ourselves independently of knowing our purpose, or even prior to knowing something of how to act towards others, than we can know our purpose and decide our actions independently of knowing who or what we really are.  Nevertheless, there is a certain priority.  That is, we are something before we can do anything, and we can act more effectively if we know who we are.  Knowing this, then what we should do and why is better determined.  The careful reader will not have missed the only half-submerged views about purpose and action that appeared in the just completed discussion about human nature.  Next post will start a discussion of human purpose, the second question that the House of justice said that people desperately needed to know. 

A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a

Contradictions into Complements

However, until material achievements, physical accomplishments and human virtues are reinforced by spiritual perfections, luminous qualities and characteristics of mercy, no fruit or result shall issue therefrom, nor will the happiness of the world of humanity, which is the ultimate aim, be attained.

(Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha: 282)

Every individual must learn to bring the antagonistic inclinations of his two natures into one harmonious flow of productive energy to exemplify the general principle: “Progress is the expression of spirit in the world of matter.” (Paris Talks:90)  The proper union of the spiritual and material, far from being a static, inert state, is one of powerful energies in dynamic yet progressive equilibrium.  When accomplished, it creates a win/win situation from seemingly win/lose principles, what Baha’u’llah described as: “converting satanic strength into heavenly power.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah:200)

Collectively, too, the harmonizing of opposing notions of progress creates a dynamic of growth that can become prosperity.  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá  stated: “I want to make you understand that material progress and spiritual progress are two very different things, and that only if material progress goes hand in hand with spirituality can any real progress come about, and the Most Great Peace reign in the world.” (Paris Talks:107  )

Spiritual purpose and material purpose can be harmonized, as the natures can.  But resolving the inner contradiction of humanity cannot be achieved through the material nature whose forms are legion, whose powers are finite, but whose appetites are infinite.  For the ego always sees itself on the good side of a polarity that it set up, or as the victim of some evil toward itself.  To the ego whatever is opposite is the enemy and is to be destroyed, because the ego’s world is a morally reversed one built upon an inversion of spiritual values, so that spiritual light is called dark, the spiritually low is named high.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha said about the trumpet-blowers of modern-day material civilization, whether of east or west: “They have imagined themselves as having attained a glorious pinnacle of achievement and prosperity, when in reality they have touched the innermost depths of heedlessness and deprived themselves wholly of God's bounteous gifts." (Christ and Bahá’u’lláh: 88) 

Because of such distortions in thinking, the misguided person flees from his own best interests, which are identical to those of the common good, and clings to his material self-interest, which is not.  It is about unchaining such a self that Baha’u’llah wrote: “And amongst the realms of unity is the unity of rank and station…Ever since the seeking of preference and distinction came into play, the world hath been laid waste.  It hath become desolate.” (The Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963 to 1986:376)  

But neither can the spiritual self unaided bring material impulses into harmony with spiritual purposes, for, though the divine image is already in harmony, it exists in most people only as potential.  Spiritual potential must be actualized to be harmonized with the material. The harmony and reconciliation of spirit and matter is not the harmony of disparate rhythms, but their harmonization by a master rhythm.  While the lower nature works, at best, toward unity, because by “nature” the ego only separates, divides and isolates, the higher nature works from it.  But the lower nature works toward unity only when it is brought under the direction of higher impulses.  But these higher impulses only get actualized by the power of the Word of God.  “Abdu’l-Baha reminds us: “The spirit of man is not illumined and quickened through material sources. It is not resuscitated by investigating phenomena of the world of matter. The spirit of man is in need of the protection of the Holy Spirit. Just as he advances by progressive stages from the mere physical world of being into the intellectual realm, so must he develop upward in moral attributes and spiritual graces….Therefore, no matter how man may advance upon the physical and intellectual plane, he is ever in need of the boundless virtues of Divinity, the protection of the Holy Spirit and the face of God.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:288)

When the spiritual and material are in dynamic balance humanity prospers and develops in a sustainable way-this is the two-wings of the bird metaphor.  But we should be careful.  While both the spiritual and the material are necessary for growth, and while neither by itself is sufficient for prosperity, their harmony never makes spirit and matter equal aspects.  The spiritual must remain the more important.  If the material and the spiritual must walk hand-in-hand, it is the spiritual that is the guiding hand.  As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá aptly said about civilization: "True civilization is where the spiritual is expressed and carried out in the material." (Paris Talks: 22)  Again, reconciling the spiritual and the material is like the painter struggling to embody his vision on canvas.  Vision and execution must be in harmony with possibility before realization can occur.  No epic poem can be crammed into the sonnet form, and a sonnet stretched out to epic length is just wind.  But it is the artist’s inspiration that is primary. 

Achieving harmony out of conflict, making contradictions into complements, whether within the psyche of one individual or collectively among groups of people, or even between nations, is the nut for humanity to crack.  Here is where the character acquired from education exercises its influence upon the two natures.  I mean that the essential character and the acquired or material character exist, but which one dominates is usually based upon what education directs the mind to consider.  Among the most important statements from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about human nature is this: “The reality of man is his thought.” (Paris Talks:17)  This is both a description of our reality and a statement of how that reality is expressed.  If human reality is thought, then a human being, whether only a thinking animal or a thinking immortal soul, is what he is thinking about for as long as he is thinking about it.

Thought is our reality, but education directs thought to higher or lower planes of awareness, and volition carries out decision.  Thus in support of the need for a spiritual education ‘Abdu’l-Baha declares that: “The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we must therefore hold fast to the tools of perception and knowledge. Good character must be taught.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:136)  And Baha’u’llah asserts: “All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your own volition. Your own acts testify to this truth.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:149)

A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a

The Natures of Conflict

Man possesses two kinds of susceptibilities: the natural emotions, which are like dust upon the mirror, and spiritual susceptibilities, which are merciful and heavenly characteristics.

(‘Abdu’l-Baha: The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 244) 

The process of growth is one of conflict, of some urge to advance meeting some force of resistance.  This becomes clear when we move from discussing the polar structure of the natures of man, to a discussion that emphasizes the interaction between them, an interaction that can be either progressive or regressive, but is most often a mix of both.

At the light/dark level of the opposition of the natures, the human being often engages in a zero-sum game.  For the individual youth, the urge to be an adult clashes with the desire to remain an adolescent.  On the larger stage of society, every release of human power arouses a new threat of oppression from entrenched powers such as church and state, so that a new liberation also brings the possibility of a new servitude.  It is on this level that we get warnings like: “material progress alone does not tend to uplift man. On the contrary, the more he becomes immersed in material progress, the more does his spirituality become obscured.” (Paris Talks:107)   This statement doesn’t just mean that material progress obscures our understanding of moral principles, though it does that.  It means it cuts us off from the internal dynamo of progress itself, since “spirit in itself is progressive”.  That is, material progress alone deprives us of that which we inherently possess.  Obscured spirituality is the dark clouds of wrong assumptions about our nature that hide the sun of our true humanity from our perception.  It does not mean the spiritual nature is annihilated, anymore than the clouds kill the sun.  They just hide it from direct perception, so a competitive, immature, me-first morality prevails.

However, though every individual seems composed of two natures, at a higher level of understanding and coordination of faculties and energies, every individual is, or should be, one person.  The spiritual nature is the divine image.  It is one identity of many attributes and qualities.  But the material nature is “multiple identities that were born of passion and desire.” (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha:76)   The real answer to the question, Who are you?, is this spiritual nature, for it is single and enduring, while the material nature is a shifting inner kaleidoscope of partisan interests.  Physical and social identities, like family, race, nationality, culture or DNA, are as various partial images of the one divine image that appear in the pieces of a fractured mirror.  While the spiritual nature is itself a complex unity, embracing, purposeful, integrated and cooperative, the material nature is a complex jumble of parts not in harmony even with each other, for its fractious passions are at war jockeying to be top dog.  The material nature, called the ego, is inherently divisive, separating, competitive, and atomistic.  If the material nature is passionate, the spiritual nature is com-passionate.  It is at the material level then that we are inherently conflict-driven creatures, continually striving to overcome ourselves and the limitations imposed by outer and inner constraints.  But the material nature is not our real nature, but is like a bad passport photo of our true self.

The second meaning of conflict is related to prosperity and the creation of wealth through the principle that we must labor to bring something into the world.  This is especially true of our inherent spiritual riches.  In His treatise on the stages of spiritual growth and transformation titled The Seven Valleys Baha’u’llah says that “we must labor to destroy the animal condition, till the meaning of humanity shall come to light.” (The Seven Valleys: 34)   Here he is making the clear point that the ego, the animal or material nature, is not the reality of human nature, no matter how much education may tell us that it is.  Bringing the meaning of humanity out requires labor and conflict to overcome this conditioning, to harmonize conflicting interests both within and without.  In a companion treatise on the same mystical subject of human spiritual development, titled The Four Valleys, He states: “If the travelers seek after the goal of the Intended One (maqsud), this station appertaineth to the self -- but that self which is "The Self of God standing within Him with laws. On this plane, the self is not rejected but beloved; it is well-pleasing and not to be shunned. Although at the beginning, this plane is the realm of conflict, yet it endeth in attainment to the throne of splendor.” (The Four Valleys:50)

It is necessary to engage in spiritual conflict if we are to subdue and train the impulses of the ego, or animal self.  But spiritual conflict is not violence, wrangling and partisan contention, but rather as 'Abdu'l-Baha’ explained: “When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.” (Paris Talks:29)

  The lower self must be destroyed, yes.  But destroying the lower nature does not mean annihilating it, but, rather, rebuilding it in a productive form.  It is like destroying nature by making it into a garden, training a weed into a flower or vegetable.  It means that any ego dominance over human thought and behavior is destroyed in favor of higher inner laws which emerge into clarity to the extent that the ego is subjugated, much as adolescence is gradually destroyed because absorbed by the larger powers of maturity.  Because of a natural resistance, conflict is unavoidable in this change, but that conflict is much like the artist’s struggle to realize a vision on canvas, in stone, or words.  The conflict in human moral perception is that of clearing away the dark clouds of the ego-nature so that the light of the higher one can shine forth on the earth of human possibility.

Hence the wisdom of being a self-contradictory creation is that the contradiction gives us the nut to crack of making warring energies into developmental powers.  The Bahá’í Writings refer to this process as spiritual transformation, by which is meant transformations in human consciousness, movements in thought and awareness toward greater integration of our faculties.  Spiritual transformations are all those realizations that change divine potential into intellectual, social and material actuality.  And the greatest power in this process is spiritual education. 

To illustrate this transformation in perception from a lower to a higher state we can look at competition.  Competition has two forms.  The one most familiar to us is selfish competition, where each one strives to maximize self-interest.  But the spiritual form of competition reverses the direction and purpose of moral effort.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha writes: “Happy the soul that shall forget his own good and, like the chosen ones of God, vie with his fellows in service to the good of all.” (The Secret of Divine Civilization:116)  The two forms of competition have their counterpart in the faculties of the two selves.  We’ll take that up next.

A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a

The Unity of Opposites

Know thou that the Kingdom is the real world, and this nether place is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow hath no life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but images reflected in water, and seeming as pictures to the eye.

(Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha:177)

Every person has some wonderful qualities, such as kindness and generosity, and some unsightly qualities, such as greed and selfishness.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha states: “…knowledge is a quality of man, and so is ignorance; truthfulness is a quality of man; so is falsehood; trustworthiness and treachery, justice and injustice, are qualities of man, and so forth. Briefly, all the perfections and virtues, and all the vices, are qualities of man.” (Some Answered Questions: 236)

From this viewpoint, human nature is two opposing natures composed of different qualities.  “In man there are two natures; his spiritual or higher nature and his material or lower nature. In one he approaches God, in the other he lives for the world alone. Signs of both these natures are to be found in men. In his material aspect he expresses untruth, cruelty and injustice; all these are the outcome of his lower nature. The attributes of his Divine nature are shown forth in love, mercy, kindness, truth and justice, one and all being expressions of his higher nature. Every good habit, every noble quality belongs to man's spiritual nature, whereas all his imperfections and sinful actions are born of his material nature.” (Paris Talks: 60)  

In another place he further elucidates this duality of human character calling the innate character man’s “essential perfection” and his other character his “absolute imperfection”. (Some Answered Questions:235) This imagery seems a bit apocalyptic, but the nature of the soul is apocalyptic, or revelatory.  For, the contrast between essential perfection and absolute imperfection forms a totality, a unity of opposites which is the structure of the human being in this world.  Such a structure of opposites is necessary for the flow of spiritual energy to occur, so that training, progress and the manifesting of potentials—which are the darkness and imperfection of the world of being--into actualities may take place within the imperfection, making it more perfect. 

Hence when we closely study ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s discussion of human nature we notice that he is not really speaking of two unconnected, separate and distinct orders of human nature and qualities, but of their reciprocal relations.  The polarity that makes up this complementary/contradictory creature is important to know if we are to appreciate the mediating and developmental effect of a proper education.  I mean that he is not defining human nature solely in terms of some essence, nor just in terms of human history and environment.  He is not taking sides in a false nature or nurture debate.  He is saying that both are required if  the human being is to grow through the process of education.  He wrote: “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)

It is true, in one sense, that each nature is defined by the qualities that manifest it.  But that is a static picture of contrasts.  When we, instead, concentrate upon their relations and on the process of education, then, we can see that each quality has two forms or states, its virtue or higher form and its vice or lower form; e.g. the states of knowledge and ignorance.  Virtue and vice form together a unity or, better, a unified whole, like light and shadow.  Virtues are attributes of the essential spiritual nature while vices are, metaphorically, the shadowy silhouettes forming the material nature, but which are gradually enlightened through the effects of spiritual education. 

To explain both the difference in the qualities and human moral development through education,  ‘Abdu’l-Baha states: “Certain qualities and natures innate in some men and apparently blameworthy are not so in reality. For example, from the beginning of his life you can see in a nursing child the signs of greed, of anger and of temper. Then, it may be said, good and evil are innate in the reality of man, and this is contrary to the pure goodness of nature and creation. The answer to this is that greed, which is to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality provided that it is used suitably. So if a man is greedy to acquire science and knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and just, it is most praiseworthy. If he exercises his anger and wrath against the bloodthirsty tyrants who are like ferocious beasts, it is very praiseworthy; but if he does not use these qualities in a right way, they are blameworthy.” (Some Answered Questions:215)  It is in this sense that he says: “Good character must be taught.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:136)

This leads to an important point of reason and rational proof of spirituality.  We say where there is smoke there is fire.  Likewise, where there is shadow or image there is object.  Hence the material aspect is the sign of a quality that proves the existence of the spiritual capacity.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha said of the Japanese: “That nation has achieved extraordinary progress in a short space of time--a progress and development which have astonished the world. Inasmuch as they have advanced in material civilization, they must assuredly possess the capacity for spiritual development.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace:343)  This reflects the two meanings of the word capacity: as ability or skill or power, and as empty space, like the capacious cavern.

In all these various metaphors, the spiritual or essential self is presented as the abundant self, the one “created rich”, the one in which a universe is enfolded to be unfolded, while the material self is the poverty self, ever needy and dependent, a mere likeness in darkness of the divine, the receptacle into which essential spiritual unfolding takes place, and out of which comes in manifest form material and intellectual unfolding of qualities.  The spiritual self is rich in itself; the material self can only acquire material wealth, for it is empty, or pure potential.  But it can also seek spiritual riches from the higher self.  That is, the material nature being, in truth, a non-entity, a shadowy absence of something real, it can either seek to become materially wealthy or spiritually enriched.  It can wish to become a colossus of wealth, a paradigm of virtue, or both. 

Now, these selves struggle for governance of the soul and trying to resolve their struggle creates contradictory impulses, ends and goals: “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) This “difference, contrast, contradiction and opposition” of our natures is the source of conflict.  What we can do about this conflict will be the topic of the next post. 

A direct link to purchase my book, Renewing the Sacred: A New Vision of Education, is: http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a