All Knowledge is Already There

It is in Our power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendour, to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages. This, in truth, is a matter simple of accomplishment.

(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: 39-40)

I wrote last post: “If knowledge is attracted then it is an existing reality awaiting discovery and revelation.   It is an inherent part of the creation, even, in the form of love, the power binding all the aspects and parts of creation together.” For me, knowledge, like love and light, is a manifestation of Spiritual Reality and, therefore, a characteristic in all reality.  In this view, all knowledge is already there, both in the world and within the intelligence.  That means to me that humans don’t generate knowledge, except for each other after attracting or discovering what is revealed.  To attain a state of knowledge, then, is to become conscious of something that was there but hidden, either in Word, in the world, or in the pre-conscious.

I need now to put forth some evidence for this point of view.  But such support can never be demonstrated in human experience, for, unlike God or His Manifestations, no human being has always been eternal.  Nor can it be a philosophical assumption upholding a logically-driven argument, for it cannot be logically proven. Neither is it a scientific hypothesis to be verified or not by experiment, for science so far, has nothing to do with eternal things.  Rather it is an intuitive assertion which can only confirmed or denied by an infallible Source of knowledge.

In the opening quote above Baha’u’llah provides for me such confirmation.  He asserts that He possesses the power to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages. What could the knowledge of future ages be except something that already exists, enfolded in the very fabric of creation?  He goes on to state, rather unapologetically: “This, in truth, is a matter simple of accomplishment. Such have been the evidences of My power from the beginning that hath no beginning until the end that hath no end. My creatures, however, have been oblivious of My power, have repudiated My sovereignty, and contended with Mine own Self, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts: 39-40)

Knowledge is already there because all knowledge is with God.  He knows past, present, and future, not as tenses, but as a singularity of knowledge unfolding organically, in this world at least, in temporal sequence.  It unfolds organically because there are different levels and planes of meaning enfolded within creation that are unfolded by the Word, with the simpler and less profound unfolding first.  Thus, while all knowledge is already an existing reality, what can be known at any one time is a result of necessary limitations of all kinds.  The greatest of these is progressive Revelation, that series of expanding spiritual contexts created by the succession of divine Revelators bringing specific messages to humankind. On this point, Baha’u’llah remarks:  “Knowledge is all that is knowable; and might and power, all creation.” (The Kitab-i-Iqan: 185)

Yet, since all knowledge always exists, the limits of any Revelation—i.e. the knowable--is not necessarily an absolute limitation placed upon what can be known during Its time. For example, Baha’u’llah wrote about Socrates: “What a penetrating vision into philosophy this eminent man had! He is the most distinguished of all philosophers and was highly versed in wisdom. We testify that he is one of the heroes in this field and an outstanding champion dedicated unto it. He had a profound knowledge of such sciences as were current amongst men as well as of those which were veiled from their minds. Methinks he drank one draught when the Most Great Ocean overflowed with gleaming and life-giving waters.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah: 146)  So, how did Socrates, and others down through the ages, do this?

In one of His talks in Paris, ‘Abdu’l-Baha spoke of three kinds of light.  The first kind is physical light, which enables the eyes to see the physical world.   The second kind of light He called the light of the intellect.  Of this inborn light He says: “It is the light of the intellect which gives us knowledge and understanding, and without this light the physical eyes would be useless.”

But the third light He named the Divine Light.  Its relation to the light of the human intellect is as follows: “This light of the intellect is the highest light that exists, for it is born of the Light Divine.  The light of the intellect enables us to understand and realize all that exists, but it is only the Divine Light that can give us sight for the invisible things, and which enables us to see truths that will only be visible to the world thousands of years hence.  It was the Divine Light which enabled the prophets to see two thousand years in advance what was going to take place and today we see the realization of their vision. Thus it is this Light which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other.

Seek with all your hearts this Heavenly Light, so that you may be enabled to understand the realities, that you may know the secret things of God, that the hidden ways may be made plain before your eyes.” (Paris Talks: 69-70)

As the Master makes clear, the divine Light becomes manifest in the human reality when the heart opens to it.  Recall, too, Baha’u’llah’s statement that the heart is the “recipient of the light of God.”  (Gleanings: 186)  It is in this same context that we can consider His quoting an Islamic Hadith: "Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth." (Baha'u'llah, The Four Valleys: 53)

Similarly, three realities compose the human reality.  Two of these, the physical body and the intellect, are universally active.  But ‘Abdu’l-Baha elucidates a third reality: “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: 51)  I believe this celestial faculty is another name for the spirit of faith.

It is worth noting that He says the “celestial faculty” is “infinite as regards the intellectual as well as physical realms”.  It is so because this celestial faculty—the spirit of faith latent in the heart—is what receives the Divine Light.  The Divine Light awakens the celestial faculty, the spirit of faith.  Knowledge is there, intelligence attains to it at every state through different modalities: senses, intellect, celestial faculty.  Each great leap—from senses to natural intellect to celestial faculty—is infinite as regards the stages below and prior to it.

Attracting Knowledge

When your hearts are wholly attracted to the one true God you will acquire divine knowledge, will become attentive to the proofs and testimonies and will commit to memory the glad-tidings concerning the Manifestation of the Beauty of the All-Merciful, as mentioned in the heavenly Scriptures. Then ye shall behold how wondrous are His confirmations and how gracious is His assistance.

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 194)

Last post presented the theme that there are three types and modes of knowledge: knowledge of things gained from perception and evidence, effort and striving; intuitive knowledge, which is simply given, an endowment, a gift deposited in the soul; and divine knowledge which is the special attribute of the Manifestations of God. 

The circle of knowledge gained from effort and study is very limited, due to constraints of time, energy, opportunity, and inborn mental acuity of the individual’s natural intellect, but attainment can be reached.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha says of this knowledge: “The knowledge of things which men universally have is gained by reflection or by evidence—that is to say, either by the power of the mind the conception of an object is formed, or from beholding an object the form is produced in the mirror of the heart.” (Some Answered Questions: 157)  That is, through various forms of inquiry and trial and error, knowledge of the world and of ourselves is built up.

Intuitive knowledge as self-knowledge is the real foundation of human knowledge and learning, especially of human nature and self-consciousness.  Though there is no attainment to this knowledge in the sense that no amount of knowledge gained by effort and striving results in intuitive self-understanding—we are simply born with this capacity—achievements of deeper understanding are, of course, possible as self-awareness awakens and unfolds as a natural result of maturing.

Divine knowledge is given to humanity in the form of a Revelation. Attaining to it is a consequence of opening the heart in a spirit of faith. While divine knowledge can be “acquired”, this is so in a different sense from what we ordinarily mean when we speak of acquiring knowledge.  Acquiring divine knowledge does not start in a separation from mind and what it wants to know objectively “out there” and move toward incorporation or assimilation, like the knowledge of the world gained from effort and perseverance.  Rather it starts within the union of heart and what it wants to love.  The heart does this by acquiring knowledge of what it loves.

Now the heart can love all things.  Knowledge of all creation is in the soul.   In a statement I have often used, Baha’u’llah quotes the Imam Ali: “Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form, when within thee the universe is folded?” (The Seven Valleys: 34)  The first and fundamental question, then, is not how is knowledge acquired or generated, but, rather, how is it released to become conscious?  Acquiring knowledge connotes the stage of achieving consciousness of knowledge.  Once attaining any stage of knowing further knowledge can be generated from discoveries made with knowledge.

Likewise, knowledge of God, along with love of God, is “infused” into the human reality, (See Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah: 177).  Thus, there is a built in attraction of the heart for God.  This allows the heart to reciprocate the love He had for us. Baha’u’llah wrote, using the Voice of God: “I loved thy creation, hence I created thee.” (The Arabic Hidden Words #4)  This reciprocal and innate attraction and connection can be likened to that of the seed to the light it feels above it.

The heart, then, attracts knowledge of any sort.  It attracts spiritual knowledge when attracted to the divine realm, which means that when the heart and Spirit are connected the divine knowledge already within the heart gushes forth, like the water flowing from the rock when Moses tapped His rod on it. (Book of Numbers 20:8-11) ‘Abdu’l-Baha uses the analogy of the sun and mirror and the requirements of the relation that binds them together, saying “for the connection which exists between the reality of things, whether they be spiritual or material, requires that when the mirror is clear and faces the sun, the light of the sun must become apparent in it.” (Some Answered Questions: 201)  Let us examine the conditions of this relation, which the Master calls in other places “direct connection”.

First, divine knowledge can only be acquired through the power of attraction to the supernal realm.  It is founded in love and thus the heart is the central organ of intelligence that operates here, not the natural intellect which pursues knowledge.  Remember, ‘Abdu’l-Baha stated that “by effort and perseverance, knowledge, science and other perfections can be acquired; but only the light of the Divine Beauty can transport and move the spirits through the force of attraction.” (Some Answered Questions: 130)

If knowledge is attracted then it is an existing reality awaiting discovery and revelation.   It is an inherent part of the creation, even, in the form of love, the power binding all the aspects and parts of creation together.  The Master wrote: “Love is the cause of God's revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things…. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 27)

Knowledge, especially divine or sacred knowledge, appears in the heart via “direct connection”.  Divine knowledge is attained only by one in the spirit of faith.  Again the Master tells us: “The human spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the rational soul, and these two names—the human spirit and the rational soul—designate one thing. This spirit, which in the terminology of the philosophers is the rational soul, embraces all beings, and as far as human ability permits discovers the realities of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities and effects, and of the qualities and properties of beings. But the human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover the heavenly secrets.” (Some Answered Questions: 2018-209)

The spirit of faith operates through a special faculty of knowing in the heart.  But this is the heart in its higher aspect, not that heart mentioned earlier that operates as one of the natural modes of knowing operating to acquire the knowledge of things through thought and evidence that humans universally have.  This is a consciousness that ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls objective or “discerning faith.” (Baha'i World Faith: 364)

In its higher aspect, the heart is the seat of the spirit.  Through it the human intelligence receives divine knowledge.   Next post will discuss why all knowledge has always existed.

Two Ways to Open Capacity for Learning: Knowledge Gained by Effort

It is from the bounty of God that man is selected for the highest degree; and the differences which exist between men in regard to spiritual progress and heavenly perfections are also due to the choice of the Compassionate One. For faith, which is life eternal, is the sign of bounty, and not the result of justice. The flame of the fire of love, in this world of earth and water, comes through the power of attraction and not by effort and striving. Nevertheless, by effort and perseverance, knowledge, science and other perfections can be acquired; but only the light of the Divine Beauty can transport and move the spirits through the force of attraction.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions: 130)

There are two ways to enlarge one’s capacity for learning, effort and attraction.  This post will concentrate on what ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls effort and perseverance.

The rational faculty (i.e. the power of understanding) is a power of discovery.  I have said that for human beings Reality presents itself in three levels: matter, mind, and spirit.  These correspond to the three central modalities of knowing: senses, intellect, and heart, each of which has a direct connection with Reality on its own level.

For the rational soul shared by all individuals, to say that knowledge is a state attained to by the intelligence means to me that these different states of knowledge are enfolded within the human reality as different kinds of knowing.  Basically, acquiring knowledge means some faculty of the broad range of human faculties moves from potential to actual, from unconscious to conscious.  It is a movement from potentiality (capacity) to actuality (capability).   

Humanity started and every human child starts with knowledge gained from the senses.  Later the intellectual powers awaken.  The intellect discovers things and principles that the senses cannot discover on their own.  One cannot acquire knowledge of mental realities absent the intellectual faculties.  Intellect is what separates us from animals.  By intellect I mean all the mental faculties inclusive of the powers to imagine and to reason to a conclusion.  The mind sees that, for example, the sun is stationary while the earth moves, a conclusion that the senses alone would not perceive.  But the heart, when inspired by the spirit if faith, discovers realms of divine knowledge that the uninformed intellect cannot know about.

The difference between sensory and intellectual knowledge also roughly corresponds to the difference between organic versus abstract planes of knowledge, which are built up by the mental faculties of art and science.  Art grasps and presents phenomena sensuously, reason grasps them conceptually and presents them in abstract symbols such as words and numbers.  By abstract I mean something along the lines of perceiving the inner architecture of things, their hidden structures, the funda-mental archetypes. Art can do this, too, but its presentation remains organic and sensual.  To see and present artistically the inner structure of things and not just represent them is the kind of thing that Cezanne was attempting to paint in his quest for the fundamental geometrical shapes of things. Later abstract painters went further to simply paint a formal arrangement of harmonious lines and colors, less and less the representation of natural things.

To return to the individual; a baby’s state of knowledge is almost entirely instinctual and sensory-motor.  As the child matures into adulthood it passes through various states of knowledge, from concrete operational to symbolic to abstract conceptual—other states have been determined by psychology.  (See for example the works of Piaget and Gardner)  But, except for the extraordinary individual, a small child cannot comprehend abstract mathematical or philosophical concepts, because those logical powers that can manipulate symbol-systems such as numbers have not yet blossomed.  He cannot acquire this sort of knowledge until these powers awaken—until, that is, he attains that state. The awakening of these powers is a delicate interplay between nature and nurture.

I mean that these states of knowledge are knowable by the human reality, because the means of knowing them are within the innate potentialities of the common human intelligence.  They are formed into consciousness when the means of apprehending and comprehending awaken. 

But this natural intelligence only apprehends sensible impressions and logical ideas built up figuratively from physical experience into abstract concepts.  These are obtained, the Master says in our opening quote, through effort and perseverance.  There are great limitations, such as time, energy and opportunity, on what can be learned in this manner.

There is another kind of knowledge which the human reality innately possesses.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha calls it intuitive.  He said, discussing the two kinds of knowledge named so far:  “Knowledge is of two kinds. One is subjective and the other objective knowledge—that is to say, an intuitive knowledge and a knowledge derived from perception.

The knowledge of things which men universally have is gained by reflection or by evidence—that is to say, either by the power of the mind the conception of an object is formed, or from beholding an object the form is produced in the mirror of the heart. The circle of this knowledge is very limited because it depends upon effort and attainment.

But the second sort of knowledge, which is the knowledge of being, is intuitive; it is like the cognizance and consciousness that man has of himself.

For example, the mind and the spirit of man are cognizant of the conditions and states of the members and component parts of the body, and are aware of all the physical sensations; in the same way, they are aware of their power, of their feelings, and of their spiritual conditions. This is the knowledge of being which man realizes and perceives, for the spirit surrounds the body and is aware of its sensations and powers. This knowledge is not the outcome of effort and study. It is an existing thing; it is an absolute gift.” (Some Answered Questions: 157-158)

The knowledge that can be attained through effort and study, He says, is very limited.  Intuitive knowledge, however, is “an absolute gift”.  It is the basis of human self-knowledge. It is simply given, is an endowment, and not the result of effort.  Therefore there is no attainment to it, though we can always know more of ourselves through greater effort.  This is learning the knowledge of self and, in its higher aspects, transformation.

The third kind of knowledge briefly presented by ‘Abdu’l-Baha He named divine knowledge.  This knowledge is bestowed upon the divine Manifestations.  He said: “Since the Sanctified Realities, the supreme Manifestations of God, surround the essence and qualities of the creatures, transcend and contain existing realities and understand all things, therefore, Their knowledge is divine knowledge, and not acquired—that is to say, it is a holy bounty; it is a divine revelation.” (Some Answered Questions: 157-158)

 What of this knowledge?  Is it, too, a state to which the intelligence may attain?  Is there a faculty of knowing this knowledge?  For if the intelligence does not possess the proper faculty it cannot attain that state of knowledge.

I will argue that those in the spirit of faith have the capacity, via the power of attraction, to receive this knowledge in the heart.  That is the topic of the next post.  This knowledge is the real knowledge, but the other knowledges when connected with it make a condition of light upon light that comprehends dimensions of Reality hidden from the senses and intellect.  Consider this statement from ‘Abdu’l-Baha: “It is incumbent upon thee to acquire the various branches of knowledge, and to turn thy face toward the beauty of the Manifest Beauty, that thou mayest be a sign of saving guidance amongst the peoples of the world, and a focal centre of understanding in this sphere from which the wise and their wisdom are shut out, except for those who set foot in the Kingdom of lights and become informed of the veiled and hidden mystery, the well-guarded secret.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 110)

Knowledge is a State

Moreover, entrance and exit, descent and ascent, are characteristics of bodies and not of spirits—that is to say, sensible realities enter and come forth, but intellectual subtleties and mental realities, such as intelligence, love, knowledge, imagination and thought, do not enter, nor come forth, nor descend, but rather they have direct connection.  For example, knowledge, which is a state attained to by the intelligence, is an intellectual condition; and entering and coming out of the mind are imaginary conditions; but the mind is connected with the acquisition of knowledge, like images reflected in a mirror.

(Some Answered Questions, p. 106)

It is often believed that knowledge is something that human beings generate and acquire, because that is how we frame it. When we speak of “acquiring” knowledge we are saying knowledge is like some sort of material commodity that the mind can accumulate, a position reflecting a now common commercial way of looking at things where human beings start out poor and empty and must be filled and enriched.  “Acquiring” is an acceptable way to view gains in knowledge, of course, but acquiring has to do with learning, with moving from a condition of ignorance to one of knowing, not with knowledge itself.  Both Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha speak of “acquiring” the sciences, the arts and knowledge.  But Baha’u’llah countered the poor and empty view by asking: “I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty?” (Arabic Hidden Words #13)

Maybe we need a new set of images and metaphors to understand what knowledge is and how it is attained, and not just figuratively describe how it is gotten or obtained—again physical words to describe something material and sensible.  For, according to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s quote above, neither knowledge nor the intelligence is a sensible reality.  Knowledge has no material properties.  It cannot enter, nor come forth, nor descend.  It has a direct connection with the mind—an image which we will explore.  It is a state attained to by the intelligence, is an intellectual condition.

The phrase “acquiring knowledge”, then, really describes the holding and accessing of larger “volumes” of learning, which is a function of memory.  But attaining to any state of knowledge comes from improving the innate faculties of perception and reception and bettering the intellectual instruments of science and art, so that deeper penetration into the realms of knowledge results, so that greater insight occurs—perceiving behind the coverings of the world—and insight leads to knowledge. One purpose of knowledge is to generate more knowledge through its application to novel situations.  The foundation of new knowledge is insight. Leaps into new states are not logically connected with what came before, but are something higher or greater, i.e. of another order.  The difference is not quantitative, but qualitative.  Attaining a qualitatively new understanding of reality is to attain a new state of knowledge, and once in that new state the mind and heart may acquire, by effort and striving, greater knowledge of that state.

I frame the discussion this way because, if knowledge is a state attained to by the intelligence, then both knowledge and the inner potential state of intelligence that goes with that state of knowledge already exist.  Attaining the state of knowledge is to bring knowledge and intelligence together in a conscious union of some kind. It is another example of the “B” and the “E” being joined and knit together. The appearance of new knowledge in the mind is the proof that the intelligence has attained that state of knowledge.

 Knowledge does not move, neither does the inner state, but some change occurs in intelligence, as wave pulses of energy move across the ocean.  It is, to employ the final image in our opening quote, like the sun appearing in a mirror.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha says in another place: “…the rational soul, meaning the human spirit, does not descend into the body—that is to say, it does not enter it, for descent and entrance are characteristics of bodies, and the rational soul is exempt from this. The spirit never entered this body, so in quitting it, it will not be in need of an abiding-place: no, the spirit is connected with the body, as this light is with this mirror. When the mirror is clear and perfect, the light of the lamp will be apparent in it, and when the mirror becomes covered with dust or breaks, the light will disappear.” (Some Answered Questions: 239)

I said that one purpose of knowledge is to discover more knowledge. New knowledge is generated in this way. But if all knowledge already exists, what is being generated?  We will take this question up in the next post. 

The ultimate purpose of knowledge is to understand truth. Knowledge is not necessarily truth.  We can be in state of knowledge but not be in the truth of it.  One can say, for example, that 2+2=5.  While this is a mistake of calculation, it is not a mistake of logical reasoning with numbers.  There is knowledge of that state, but not truth of it.  On more profound questions this is where metaphors of becoming free from the dust of misconceptions and the clay of illusions so one can perceive clearly come in.

We are trying to grasp spiritual realities here and the spiritual dynamics of life and existence are different from material realities of movement, place, and time.  While the intelligence moves in understanding from the concrete to the abstract, the abstract in itself has, nevertheless, a different kind of reality.  The concrete is as a scaffolding.  At some point the scaffolding can be kicked away.  

The understanding of the spiritual dynamic is, to me, the uncovering with greater clarity and understanding of pre-existent relations and essential, universal connections between the material and spiritual.  The pre-existent relation is known by “direct connection” and the movement toward understanding is removing the veils that are interposed in that relation that make realities seem more loosely connected than they really are.  About the connection between spiritual and material realities, the Master explains: “The mind which is in man, the existence of which is recognized—where is it in him? If you examine the body with the eye, the ear or the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless, it exists. Therefore, the mind has no place, but it is connected with the brain. The Kingdom is also like this. In the same way love has no place, but it is connected with the heart; so the Kingdom has no place, but is connected with man. (Some Answered Questions: 242)

We know that ‘Abdu’l-Baha speaks of the human intelligence "attaining" a state, not a quantity, of knowledge, and that this state or states are attained by understanding the direct connection between the condition of intelligence that connects with that state of knowledge.  What are the parameters of states of knowledge?  Baha’u’llah, quoting an Islamic tradition, wrote: "Knowledge is all that is knowable.” (Kitab-i-Iqan:185)  From the human side, all that is knowable depends upon how wide one draws the circle of real knowledge.  I mean that there are different states of knowledge—sensory, intellectual and spiritual—and different means one goes about attaining them—senses, intellectual faculties, spiritual faculties.  Within each state of knowing the knowledge manifested is of that state.  One “acquires” that knowledge because one is in that state, has attained unto it.  The knowledge is a manifestation of that state; is the state itself.  Higher states are unknowable to one in a lower state and thus its knowledge is not knowable to him.

Higher levels of spiritual knowledge are due to an increased fidelity of the mirror of the heart, much like, I suppose, the kind of increased power of vision that comes to astronomers when the mirror of their telescope is larger and better polished.  Here, however, we are not looking outwardly into stellar space but inwardly into what ‘Abdu’l-Baha called the “supernal sky.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 259)

There are two ways to acquire capacity for knowledge.  These two ways are effort and attraction.  But we must also combine these ways and say we exert the best effort when we are most attracted. The question then becomes: toward what domain of knowledge are we most attracted?  That is the next post.

The Center of the Spirit of Faith

When man is not endowed with inner perception, he is not informed of these important mysteries. The retina of outer vision, though sensitive and delicate, may, nevertheless, be a hindrance to the inner eye which alone can perceive. The bestowals of God which are manifest in all phenomenal life are sometimes hidden by intervening veils of mental and mortal vision which render man spiritually blind and incapable, but when those scales are removed and the veils rent asunder, then the great signs of God will become visible, and he will witness the eternal light filling the world.

(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 88)

We read in the last post that the soul and mind common to all people is an outcome of Nature.  It is able to understand the hidden mental mysteries of nature, because “nature, also, in its essence is an intellectual reality and is not sensible; the human spirit is an intellectual, not sensible reality.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions: 83)

But, I also intimated, there is a level of spirit greater than intellect lying latent within the human reality. This greater spirit within puts us in touch with objective realms of being obscured by the natural or intellectual.  It is called the spirit of faith.  Awakening this spirit enables us to perceive, recognize and understand spiritual realities. 

Recall that ‘Abdu’l-Baha said the spirit of faith “comes from the breath of the Holy Spirit, and by the divine power it becomes the cause of eternal life. It is the power which makes the earthly man heavenly, and the imperfect man perfect.  It makes the impure to be pure, the silent eloquent; it purifies and sanctifies those made captive by carnal desires; it makes the ignorant wise.” (Some Answered Questions: 143) 

The center and special receptive faculty of the spirit of faith is the heart.  The heart, too, is a power of the rational faculty.  Remember Baha’u’llah’s statement: “Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:163)

In the perception of spiritual realities, understanding flows from the Holy Spirit, which reveals the Will of God.  The Holy Spirit arouses the spirit of faith in receptive souls, and the spirit of faith enables the rational faculty to make divine knowledge into human knowledge.

‘Abdu’l-Baha explains how the human heart attains to the spirit of faith: “But the universal divine mind, which is beyond nature, is the bounty of the Preexistent Power. This universal mind is divine; it embraces existing realities, and it receives the light of the mysteries of God. It is a conscious power, not a power of investigation and of research. The intellectual power of the world of nature is a power of investigation, and by its researches it discovers the realities of beings and the properties of existences; but the heavenly intellectual power, which is beyond nature, embraces things and is cognizant of things, knows them, understands them, is aware of mysteries, realities and divine significations, and is the discoverer of the concealed verities of the Kingdom. This divine intellectual power is the special attribute of the Holy Manifestations and the Dawning-places of prophethood; a ray of this light falls upon the mirrors of the hearts of the righteous, and a portion and a share of this power comes to them through the Holy Manifestations.” (Some Answered Questions: 217-218).

To understand divine realities the heart must be awakened to the spirit of faith lying dormant within it. These realities cannot be perceived or proved incontrovertibly to exist by reason alone, though reason can point to them.  But there is a way to be certain of them.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains: “…if the inner perception be open, a hundred thousand clear proofs become visible. Thus, when man feels the indwelling spirit, he is in no need of arguments for its existence; but for those who are deprived of the bounty of the spirit, it is necessary to establish external arguments.” (Some Answered Questions: 6)

But every Holy Book also warns of the heart going astray: “How often hath the human heart, which is the recipient of the light of God and the seat of the revelation of the All-Merciful, erred from Him Who is the Source of that light and the Well Spring of that revelation. It is the waywardness of the heart that removeth it far from God, and condemneth it to remoteness from Him. Those hearts, however, that are aware of His Presence, are close to Him, and are to be regarded as having drawn nigh unto His throne.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 185)

In The Seven Valleys, Baha’u’llah describes the mystical path back to God.  He says at the end of the final and seventh valley, the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness: “They who soar in the heaven of singleness and reach to the sea of the Absolute, reckon this city—which is the station of life in God—as the furthermost state of mystic knowers, and the farthest homeland of the lovers. But to this evanescent One of the mystic ocean, this station is the first gate of the heart's citadel, that is, man's first entrance to the city of the heart; and the heart is endowed with four stages, which would be recounted should a kindred soul be found.” (The Seven Valleys: 41)

In His explication of these four stages of the heart, named The Four Valleys, in the second of the four valleys Baha’u’llah wrote: “This station conferreth the true standard of knowledge, and freeth man from tests. In this realm, to search after knowledge is irrelevant, for He hath said concerning the guidance of travelers on this plane, "Fear God, and God will instruct thee."  And again: "Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth."

Wherefore, a man should make ready his heart that it be worthy of the descent of heavenly grace…” (The Four Valleys: 53)

Attainment to this spirit of faith is to perceive behind the coverings of this world to the spiritual realities within.  It puts one in touch with eternal verities and grants the soul eternal life.  Baha’u’llah refers to all these attainments in one paragraph.

“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. If such be the blessings conferred on all created things, how superior must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence and life are to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation. Just as the conception of faith hath existed from the beginning that hath no beginning, and will endure till the end that hath no end, in like manner will the true believer eternally live and endure. His spirit will everlastingly circle round the Will of God. He will last as long as God, Himself, will last.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 140-141)

What may come after the heart’s levels of understanding, is anybody’s guess.

Up From Human: The Rational Soul and the Spirit of Faith

Do thou ponder these momentous happenings in thy heart, so that thou mayest apprehend the greatness of this Revelation, and perceive its stupendous glory. Then shall the spirit of faith, through the grace of the Merciful, be breathed into thy being, and thou shalt be established and abide upon the seat of certitude.

(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan: 236)

Spirit, the Master states, may be divided into five categories: vegetable, animal, the human spirit, the spirit of faith, and the Holy Spirit. (Some Answered Questions: 138)  In this post and the next, we will be looking at the relation between the human spirit and the spirit of faith.  But that relation cannot happen except that a higher Spirit, the Holy Spirit, works.  Let’s see what the Masters says about these three levels of spirit.

 “The human spirit may be likened to the bounty of the sun shining on a mirror. The body of man, which is composed from the elements, is combined and mingled in the most perfect form; it is the most solid construction, the noblest combination, the most perfect existence. It grows and develops through the animal spirit….This (human) spirit has the power of discovery; it encompasses all things. All these wonderful signs, these scientific discoveries, great enterprises and important historical events which you know are due to it. From the realm of the invisible and hidden, through spiritual power, it brought them to the plane of the visible. So man is upon the earth, yet he makes discoveries in the heavens. From known realities—that is to say, from the things which are known and visible—he discovers unknown things…Briefly, this power embraces all things.

The fourth degree of spirit is the heavenly spirit; it is the spirit of faith and the bounty of God; it comes from the breath of the Holy Spirit, and by the divine power it becomes the cause of eternal life. It is the power which makes the earthly man heavenly, and the imperfect man perfect.  It makes the impure to be pure, the silent eloquent; it purifies and sanctifies those made captive by carnal desires; it makes the ignorant wise.

The fifth spirit is the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is the mediator between God and His creatures. It is like a mirror facing the sun. As the pure mirror receives light from the sun and transmits this bounty to others, so the Holy Spirit is the mediator of the Holy Light from the Sun of Reality, which it gives to the sanctified realities. It is adorned with all the divine perfections. Every time it appears, the world is renewed, and a new cycle is founded. The body of the world of humanity puts on a new garment. It can be compared to the spring; whenever it comes, the world passes from one condition to another. Through the advent of the season of spring the black earth and the fields and wildernesses will become verdant and blooming, and all sorts of flowers and sweet-scented herbs will grow; the trees will have new life, and new fruits will appear, and a new cycle is founded. The appearance of the Holy Spirit is like this. Whenever it appears, it renews the world of humanity and gives a new spirit to the human realities: it arrays the world of existence in a praiseworthy garment, dispels the darkness of ignorance, and causes the radiation of the light of perfections.” (Some Answered Questions: 143)

Now this seems a simple enough progression.  But here is the twist.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains that: “the spirit of man has two aspects: one divine, one satanic—that is to say, it is capable of the utmost perfection, or it is capable of the utmost imperfection. If it acquires virtues, it is the most noble of the existing beings; and if it acquires vices, it becomes the most degraded existence." (Some Answered Questions: 144)

It is necessary for the human reality to be in two aspects if we are to have self-consciousness and moral choice—all consciousness being awareness of difference and the ability to reason.  Thus, the essence of the human soul is what is known as the rational faculty.  Baha’u’llah stated: “Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah:163)

But while the rational soul is a creation of God common to all human beings, a level of spirit endowed with reasoning power, which is a “power of discovery” that “encompasses all things”, this soul is an outcome of the processes of the natural creation, and is limited in what it can comprehend by itself.  That is, its reason only comprehends the created things of this world in either their intellectual or sensible forms.  He says, in brief: “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 Master elaborate further in another place, saying: “The first condition of perception in the world of nature is the perception of the rational soul. In this perception and in this power all men are sharers, whether they be neglectful or vigilant, believers or deniers. This human rational soul is God's creation; it encompasses and excels other creatures; as it is more noble and distinguished, it encompasses things. The power of the rational soul can discover the realities of things, comprehend the peculiarities of beings, and penetrate the mysteries of existence. All sciences, knowledge, arts, wonders, institutions, discoveries and enterprises come from the exercised intelligence of the rational soul. There was a time when they were unknown, preserved mysteries and hidden secrets; the rational soul gradually discovered them and brought them out from the plane of the invisible and the hidden into the realm of the visible. This is the greatest power of perception in the world of nature, which in its highest flight and soaring comprehends the realities, the properties and the effects of the contingent beings.” (Some Answered Questions: 215)

Possessing this “greatest power of perception in the world of nature” is not, however, the highest level of spirit that human beings may attain.  There is a higher level which when the soul attains opens new vistas to this power of discovery: “But the human spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover the heavenly secrets.” (Some Answered Questions: 208-209)  What separates the natural intellect, however brilliant, from a divinely-inspired one is attainment to the spirit of faith.

To summarize: The human soul is in two aspects, a natural or human one that is the outcome of the natural processes of creation, and a divine aspect that lies latent within the reality of the soul awaiting the breath of God to bring it to life.  The divine aspect is the spirit of faith.  The spirit of faith is felt in the heart.  That is the topic of the next post.

The Spiritual Foundations of the Self: The Search for God

Likewise, reflect upon the perfection of man's creation, and that all these planes and states are folded up and hidden away within him.  Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form, when within thee the universe is folded?

(Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys: 33)

I want to employ the structuring metaphors of interiority/exteriority and higher/lower, to describe the changing but unchanging relation between the human soul and its search for God, which is the eternal Self.  Progression through levels of interiority is the process of self-discovery—i.e. discovering those “planes and states folded up within.”  This means that every stage of interiority that is passed becomes an exterior, i.e. an object of consciousness becomes a plane or state of self-consciousness. That which is interior in one relation is exterior in another.  Thus it is not a simple two-term polarity, but a shifting relation or process, a dynamic structure unfolding from an enfolding. 

To obtain a more complete grasp of the “dimension” of spiritual experience, however, the interiority/exteriority metaphor must be combined with the metaphor of higher/lower, so that, spiritually, the more interior one “descends” the “higher” one ascends, until the deepest interior finally opens out to the eternal “above” and beyond.  When we fuse interiority and exteriority with ascent and descent we begin to get a better handle on the language used to describe the terrain of spirit, where to go down into true self is to go up to God, and to search the outer world for God is to go down and away from the true object of search.  Thus the deepest within opens to the highest above, and the highest above is found at “the mid-most heart”.

English poet, William Blake, understood that if God is eternally within the self, God cannot be found outside the self.  As Augustine says in Book III of The Confessions: “But you were more inward than my own inwardness.”  If He is in the most inward place, in that deepest interiority which we, as Augustine says, can never reach, then we are always outside Him.  It is from God’s desire to be known that we search for Him.  It is God who initiates, motivates and guides the seeking soul to Him to be found, which is, again, finding oneself.  Not only is God within my interiority; it is from the God within that the power comes which draws me back inwardly to myself, and so to God.  God is, then, also within the searching and not just the object of it.
        What I am saying is that, in a profound sense, if to find God is to find one's true self, then to forget God is to forget one’s true self.  To forget oneself is to be lost because one is no longer centered, as if the earth thought it was the center of the solar system, as the ego thinks it is the center of the self.  I am “outside” or “beside myself”, i.e. alienated from myself, when in a state of spiritual self-ignorance and unrecognition. Baha’u’llah asks us to: “Consider, moreover, how frequently doth man become forgetful of his own self, whilst God remaineth, through His all-encompassing knowledge, aware of His creature, and continueth to shed upon him the manifest radiance of His glory.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 185)  God, being with us even when we are not with Him, is eternally “more friend to me than I am to myself.” (Compilations, Baha'i Prayers: 151)

The knowledge which God has of Himself is not the unknown essence of the human reality, but the unknowable essence of this self, and when we forget or are ignorant of this we forget where we are in relation to Him. Rather, we are in a wilderness of ignorance, thinking it knowledge.   His call to the deepest interiority of the human self is His call to that similitude of Himself existing there.  Baha’u’llah declares: “Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.” (The Arabic Hidden Words #13)

From the other side, His call to us recalls His relation to us in the form of a warning.  Baha’u’llah admonishes: “And yet again He revealeth: "And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves.' In this connection, He Who is the eternal King—may the souls of all that dwell within the mystic Tabernacle be a sacrifice unto Him—hath spoken: "He hath known God who hath known himself." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 178)

All desires are desires, however faint the echo, of our desire to recognize God, which is the basis of our reunion with God.  Reunion with God is the deepest longing of the human heart, and reunion is achieved when recognition occurs.  Bahá’u’lláh wrote to an inquirer: “The root of all principles and the cornerstone of all foundations hath ever been, and shall remain, the recognition of God.” (Tabernacle of Unity: 24-25)  To be unaware of that Interior Reality is to be unaware of the greatest part of oneself. 

The lack of real and lasting satisfaction with any answer but God to our quest for God-likeness drives spiritual growth to ever deeper levels of interiority.   Recognition often happens through what traditional theology called the via negativa, the way of negation.  That means that the frustration and dissatisfaction with any answer but God gradually sharpens the outline of the object of true desire.  Every failure to find God more clearly defines that desire and increases the desire for Him.  This negative knowledge is, of course, all we can have directly of God.  We cannot know God in His essence, and we know His attributes as positive knowledge through the Revelators. The negative knowledge is a counterpart to the positive and together they form a manifest union that reflects the primal unity of essence/attributes.

The recognition of God is of a knowledge that is already present within us.  In one of His prayers Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “I give Thee thanks inasmuch as Thou hast called me into being in Thy days, and infused into me Thy love and Thy knowledge.” (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah: 177) 

Here, at this recognition scene, which is the opening to eternity, we again come to what seems to be a paradox.  Namely, though knowledge of God is already present, when recognized it is not a memory, but the first and fundamental experience.  This is the “point” of juncture at which the deepest interiority intersects, as it were, the eternally objective.  The highest point spiritually is actually the center of radiant spirit.  Carmel, the mountain of God, was traditionally said to be the point on earth where the human and divine worlds intersect.  According to Bahá’i teachings, Carmel is, geographically, the center of the world, and, spiritually, the pivot of nine concentric circles encompassing the globe. (See Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith: 95)

The cause of recognition of God is the Revelation of God.  Recognition takes place in two separate but inseparable aspects.  One could say, then, that there are two kinds or even stages of spirituality—soul-searching and soul-making.  Bahá’u’lláh explains in The Kitab-i-Aqdas: “The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration.” (The Kitab-i-Aqdas: 19)

When the soul has recognized God it has recognized its own God-likeness and it will show forth God-like attributes.  It has found itself, because it is re-centered on God.  There is no higher/deeper stage.