Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi/Ix.—Discourses

Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi Ix.—Discourses

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[Page 149]

CHAPTER IX

DISCOURSES

THE STANDARDS OF TRUTH

MAN has four standards to which he refers in the ascertainment of truth — the report of the senses, the verdict of reason, tradition or testimony, and inspiration. The ancient philosophers generally regarded reason as the highest of these ; for the best means by which to reach an understanding of the essence of things, they said, is the mind. But the philosophers of the present day place their chief reliance upon the senses. Whatever these declare to be the truth of the matter, that they accept as final. Followers of the various religions believe that the declarations of their Holy Writs are the ultimate verities. Mystics and spiritualists find final truth only in the revelations of inspiration.

Men are generally agreed that there are only these four standards for the [Page 150]determination of truth ; and yet the inadequacy of each of them is quite clear.

First, as to the report of the senses, now generally accepted as the most reliable of the four. Of the five senses, sight ranks as the highest. It is most certain that the faculty of sight is liable to error — that it may mislead — and that therefore it is not a perfect standard. For example, the eye is deceived by the mirage, seeing it as water. It mistakes the image in the mirror for the real object. The great and brilliant stars are seen by it as points. The pulsating light of the sun appears to it to be without motion. A point of light moving rapidly is to it a continuous line. On a moving ship the shore seems to it to move. The eye ascribes the motion of the earth to the sun, and to it all the stars seem to circle about this globe.

It is therefore clear that sight is not a certain standard.

Though by the ancient philosophers the reasoning mind was regarded as the highest authority, these philosophers do not agree. Some declare that the universe had a beginning, others that it had no beginning. Their various opinions are so numerous that one cannot count them. But if the verdict of [Page 151]man’s reason was a norm of final and absolute verity, the philosophers of the world would agree.

The third standard of truth to which men have recourse is the testimony of others, as found, for example, in tradition and sacred books. But testimony can only be considered by the mind ; and if the mind itself is not a trustworthy instrument, how can the evidence which it offers us from these sources be so ? Great error may result from the misinterpretation of a single word or expression of the sacred books.

The inspiration of God is a revelation to the heart : but temptations of the devil are also addressed to the heart. If to the hearts of men is revealed a command,— “ Do ye thus and thus,”— how are we to know whether this is a revelation from God, or a temptation from Satan ?

Our conclusion must, therefore, be that none of these standards for the determination of truth is worthy of implicit confidence ; and man has no other means for reaching a true understanding.

Yet if the conclusion declared by all four of these standards be the same, it is worthy of confidence. Then we may be assured that [Page 152]the common report is correct. Otherwise we cannot be sure.

The rule, then, which we should adopt in our investigations, is this : In determining every question we should refer it to these four standards, and a conclusion which is supported by the verdict of all we should accept ; any other we should regard as uncertain.

Yet there is another standard which is the peculiar possession of the Chosen of God. This standard is the breathings of the Holy Spirit. By that power assurance is produced, man becomes certain, and the consciousness is satisfied. [Page 153]

NATURE OF GOD AND THE UNIVERSE¹

God is Love and Peace. God is Truth. God is Omniscience. God is without beginning and without end. God is uncreated and uncreating, yet the Source, the Causeless Cause. God is pure Essence, and cannot be said to be anywhere or in any place.

God is infinite, and as terms are finite the nature of God cannot be expressed in terms ; but as man desires to express God in some way, he calls God “ Love ” and “ Truth,” because these are the highest things he knows. Life is eternal ; so man, in order to express God’s infinity, calls God “ Life.” But these things in themselves are not God. God is the Source of all, and all things that are, are mirrors reflecting His Glory.

But, while God does not create, the first principle of God, Love, is the creative principle. Love is an outpour from God, and is

¹ This exposition, and that in Chapter XI. on “ Reincarnation,” were compiled from a number of discourses and conversations, and submitted to Abbas Effendi and approved by him. [Page 154]pure spirit. It is one aspect of the Logos, the Holy Spirit. It is the immediate cause of the laws which govern nature, the endless verities of nature which science has uncovered. In short, it is Divine Law and a Manifestation of God. This Manifestation of God is active, creative, spiritual. It reflects the positive aspect of God.

There is another Manifestation of God which is characterised by passivity, quiescence, inactivity. In itself it is without creative power. It reflects the negative aspect of God. This manifestation is matter.

Matter, reflecting the negative aspect of God, is self-existent, eternal, and fills all space. Spirit, flowing out from God, permeates all matter. This spirit, Love, reflecting the positive and active aspect of God, impresses its nature upon the atoms and elements. By its power they are attracted to each other under certain ordered relations, and thus, uniting and continuing to unite, give birth to worlds and systems of worlds. The same laws working under developed conditions bring into existence living beings. Spirit is the life of the form, and the form is shaped by the spirit. The evolution of life and form proceeds hand in hand. The powers of spirit [Page 155]are evolved by the experiences of the form, and the plasticity of the matter of the form is developed by the activity of the spirit. Working up through the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, sense-perception is reached in the animal, and the perfection of form is attained in man.

The forms or bodies of component parts, infinite in variety, which in the course of evolution spirit builds as the vehicles of its expression, are, because of the instability of matter, subject to dissolution. As they disappear, others are built following the same patterns, carrying on the characteristics of each.

Sense-perception gives rise to desire, desire to will, will to action, and action again to sense-perception. This chain ever repeats itself, and so the powers of thought, memory, reason, and the emotional capacities are evolved in spirit. These powers and capacities of spirit, expressed in individual human beings, constitute human characters.

Through these successive evolutionary steps spirit develops characters having many Divine attributes. The positive, creative aspect of God is reflected in them. Individuality is derived from expression in individual form. Self-consciousness accompanies individualised [Page 156]character, and the being thus endowed has the potentiality of rising to the knowledge of God.

Characters inspired by the universal human spirit continue in lines of specific developing types, as did species in the vegetable and animal kingdoms.

Similar types recur again and again, but without a continuing individual life from one human being to another. This recurrence may be likened to that of the seasons. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter return in succession, each season the counterpart of the like season in the previous year—the same yet not the same. So flowers and fruits come this year from like seed or from the same bush or tree as those of last year, each in the line of succession of its kind, the same in essence, but differing in substance.

In the latter case the power which causes the seed to rot in the ground and a new growth to spring from it, or the bush or tree to put forth again leaves and fruit, is the power of the Spirit, the active aspect of God as Life.

So in the case of man. Life is eternal, but the individual human consciousness is not inherently so. It can only gain immortality by [Page 157]uniting with the pure Divine Essence. This union man may reach by a pure life and love for God and his fellows.

When in the course of evolution the stage of thought and reason has been reached, the human mind acts as a mirror reflecting the glory of God.

The face of nature is illumined, the grass, the stones, the hills, and valleys shine ; but they shine not of themselves, but because they reflect the rays of the sun. It is the sun which shines. In the same way, our minds reflect God. Those who live thinking good thoughts, doing good deeds, and with love in their hearts — the minds of these become ever clearer, reflecting more and more perfectly the love of God, while the minds of those who live in ignorance and desire are clouded and obscured and give forth His light but meagrely.

A stone reflects but slightly the rays of the sun ; but if a mirror be held up, though it be small, the whole of the sun will be reflected in it, because the mirror is clear and bright. Just so is it with the minds of men and the Sun of Reality. The great Masters and Teachers so purified their minds by the love of God and of men that they became like polished mirrors, reflecting faithfully the Glory of God. [Page 158]

PERSISTENCE OF NATURAL QUALITIES

We come now to the subject of transformation in the nature of matter ; and we wish to show you that that which is temporal is essentially different from that which is eternal, and that neither can change its nature for that of the other.

As an example of matter we may take the metal, iron. Its nature is such that when heated it may become hot, red, and fluid. But though it continue a thousand years in the fire, its nature will not be changed into that of fire ; its nature as iron will still remain. It will indeed receive certain qualities from the fire ; but whatever the extent to which it acquires these qualities, its mineral nature will endure and cannot be changed. It continues to be a mineral. The simple elements always retain their nature as simple elements.

So, if iron be alloyed with some other metal, it will display qualities which it did not have before ; but on the dissolution of the alloy it will return to its original state and display the ordinary qualities of the metal.

Again, substances of the mineral kingdom may become constituents of vegetable forms ; but they do not thereby lose their mineral nature. They become, not a growing power, [Page 159]but part of a growing form. These substances may in like manner come to animal bodies, but, as before, without leaving behind their peculiar nature as minerals, although they take on certain qualities from the animal. And, finally, they may go to make up bodies and receive the impress of the character of man—may reflect the perfections of human nature ; still they do not lose their identity as minerals.

A light shines forth from a crystal globe. For a thousand years it may radiate through the crystal, and still the crystal will remain crystal and the light light. The crystal serves only to make manifest the beauty of the light.

Thus it may be known that the nature of things remains always the same — that inherent qualities can never be lost. The body of man always remains dust of the earth, returning on its dissolution to the elements from which it was compounded.

Therefore it will ever be the function of the visible world to reflect the perfections of God. This, then, is the purpose of the succession of forms ; and as the perfections of God are infinite, the succession of forms must be infinite also. [Page 160]

DIVINE AND EARTHLY NATURE

The ancient philosophers of Greece, Persia, and Egypt believed that God manifested in material things His final and supreme Reality. This supreme reality has been likened to the water of the sea, and material things to its waves. In this simile the water is considered to have two different modes of manifestation. In their form the waves are temporary, changing. In their substance they are eternal, unchanging.

Again, the single Reality has been likened to unity, material things being the manifestations of that Reality as numbers are the manifestations of unity. As one plus one equals two, one plus one plus one equals three, and thus from one all numbers come, so all things are made up from the one Reality.

This view of the universe is wrong. Why? Because the One is perfect, while all material things are imperfect. If this philosophy were true, there would be nothing except the temporal and changing. Light would be as darkness, life as death, wisdom as ignorance, sight as blindness, since all that exists in the material world is imperfect.

The Reality of God is the world of perfection. The Reality of God is as a light which [Page 161]shines upon all things ; all are illumined by it.

The rays of the sun cause objects to appear. Light is not substance ; it is that by virtue of which substances may be seen — it causes substances to appear. In the same way the illumination of God causes the essential reality of substance to become perceptible. Spirit is not the material of the body — it gives the body life.

God gives life ; He is not the reality of substance. Spirit is not matter. [Page 162]

SPIRIT

The word “spirit” has several different significations, or rather there are several degrees of spirit.

Spirit¹ in the vegetable world is the life of plants — the power by virtue of which they grow.

Spirit in animals confers the capacity of sensation upon physical bodies compounded of associated elements. By virtue of it animals see, hear, feel, and have other sensations.

Spirit in man is the perceiving soul, able to understand the realities of things and predominating over all things else.

The spirit of faith endows man with the capacity to love God and to know God. If the spirit of man, his perceiving soul, be confirmed by the spirit of faith so that it loves and knows God, and if it be guided by the guidance of God, and if the divine attributes

¹ The spirit in minerals, omitted in this enumeration, was frequently referred to by Abbas Effendi as a latent life-principle, furnishing the bond of union which builds up simple elements into inorganic forms. [Page 163]be manifested in it, then there is a living soul which attains to eternal life. Otherwise it may be considered to be dead.

That is why Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” One who is born of the flesh is flesh; one who is born of the spirit is spirit. Those men who have not been delivered from the darkness of the human estate and who have not been illumined by the effulgence of God, although they are human in form, are in reality but animals. Though they are living as regards the body, as regards the spirit they are dead.

The lamp which is extinguished and gives forth no light may be considered to be dead. When it has been relighted it is again alive. The spirit of faith is as the radiance of the lamp: and therefore those whose souls have not been led to the shadow of the wings of God are as though dead.

The spirit of faith is like the ether regarded as the vehicle of light. Etheric matter is found everywhere; but only where it is in undulation does light appear. The appearance of light is not caused by motions to and fro of the ether — by its goings or its comings — but by undulations in the ether everywhere present. Thus at night we have etheric [Page 164]matter, but without undulations, and therefore darkness prevails ; but by the power of the sun it is caused to undulate, and light appears.

The atmosphere is always present ; when it is disturbed sound is heard ; but this is not because the atmosphere, having gone away, has come again.

As touching the Spirit of God — which we call the Holy Spirit — this is eternal. It is the pure favour of God. It is the Divine virtues — the attributes of Divinity. It influences the essence of all things. It is that which infuses life into the soul. It is the teacher of minds. It is the creative power. It gives eternal life. It is the educator of men. It is the centre of the graces of the Merciful God. It is the pure effulgence which dissipates the darkness of the world of men.

Human nature is like iron, of which the characteristics in its normal state are to be black, to be cold, and to be solid. The grace of the Holy Spirit is like fire which glows upon the iron and changes its blackness to redness, its coldness to heat, its solidity to fluidity. The iron has received the rays of the fire ; its characteristics have been changed by the heat of the fire. In the same way, the spirit of man, which is his perceiving soul, [Page 165]when it shall receive the rays of the Holy Spirit will become endowed with the attributes of the Holy Spirit. His imperfect qualities will be changed to perfect ones. He will reflect the attributes of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise he is esteemed to be dead — even below the animal. In the Koran it is said: “They are like animals — even lower than they.” [Page 166]

THE PERCEIVING SOUL

You have asked me for an explanation about soul. Man possesses a gift by which he is distinguished from all other creatures - a spiritual principle which is bodiless, pure, simple, or uncompounded, which is superior to place and time. Animals have sensations; they have the five physical senses and perceive those things which affect the senses. Man also, like animals, having the five senses, perceives the things which affect them; but, further, he possesses a spiritual power, in its nature original and essential, which encompasses the reality of all things and by which he perceives things which do not affect the senses.

Things which affect the senses are those which are physical, which have bodily form and shape. But the spiritual power of man perceives essential realities-realities which are unseen, without bodily form and shape. Animals perceive outward, objective things; they cannot perceive things which are hidden, [Page 167]subjective. Man, by means of his perception of the essential nature of things known to the senses, can find a way to understand things unknown to them.

In short, man has a power which encompasses and perceives things both seen and unseen, by which he is distinguished from the animals ; which enables him to perceive things which are purely intellectual realities.

The intellectual realities are those which are immaterial, as love, wisdom, spirit, character, knowledge, the divine powers ; these are the intellectual realities, these are the hidden communications, these are the divine virtues, these are the human perfections, these are the mysteries of nature.

All these are realities which pertain to the realm of the mind ; and there are also the insensible qualities of sensible things, as the roundness of the earth, which man is able to infer from that which his senses perceive.

The capacity for understanding these things animals do not possess ; it is for man only.

The power which perceives in the realm of mind, which penetrates to the essence of all things, is the intellectual power, the perceiving soul. All the arts, sciences, industries, and inventions were once in the invisible [Page 168]world—were hidden mysteries; but the intellectual power of man has revealed them—has brought them forth from the invisible to the visible world. The art of writing is an example. This was once a hidden mystery. No one had known it. But the intellectual power of man brought it forth, making known the possibility of such an art.

Another example of things brought forth from the invisible world is astronomical science, once unknown to men. The sky was thought to be a tent. The earth was supposed to be flat, and the sun to move over it. But now man’s intellectual power has revealed these hidden mysteries.

Therefore it is to be understood that in man there is a revealing power which encompasses the realities of all things, which is fitted for perceiving and understanding hidden mysteries. By means of it, from known or visible things he draws conclusions as to things which are unknown or invisible. By this power he is distinguished from the animal. This is the perceiving soul, or the spirit of man. It has different states or conditions, and about these I hope to speak to-morrow. [Page 169]The first state of the perceiving soul is that in which it is engrossed in the gratification of desire. In this state its nature is like that of animals : animal lusts predominate in it. Like the animal, it is unable to distinguish good from evil. Being overwhelmed by desires, it cannot discriminate between what is lawful and what is unlawful. It gives rein to desire, to the attractions of lust.

In this state it knows neither God nor the innocence of human nature (by which I mean human nature in its purity, untainted by desire and passion). It is far from the truth of all things.

This is the soul which has not been trained. Though outwardly — though from their speech — men in this state might be supposed to have the power of distinguishing good from evil, in reality they have no discrimination. Such are men in general, who have not been under the care of the Divine Teachers, and who have not known the pure impulses of [Page 170]man (unperverted by desire and passion). After a man has come under the care of the Teachers, after he has perceived and understood the nature of man in its purity, then, having gained discrimination, he learns what virtue is. Such a man realises his faults. He takes himself to task because of his unworthy and evil qualities. He is ever contrite — repentant for his evil deeds. He longs for goodness and virtue.

This is the second state or condition of the perceiving soul; it is the first stage of the progress of the soul to God. This repentance, this longing for the virtues of God, is the means whereby are acquired the inner sight of enlightenment. The man comes to know the qualities of truth and the qualities of untruth. His capacity to feel and to perceive increases; by the gift of God he gains insight and receives inspiration. These are the means of his development and progress — the means whereby his nature is changed and purified — the means whereby he is trained and educated to understand. Then he comprehends the mysteries of God; without instruction from any, he penetrates the real Divine mysteries; without a teacher he receives understanding and learns the realities of all things. [Page 171]When he has reached this stage he receives assurances and confirmations ; he attains steadfastness and constancy. His faith becomes unalterable, firmly established as a mountain. If the seas of superstition roll their waves over him, they move him no more than would a drop of water. If all tests and temptations assault him in unison, they have no influence upon him. He is so sure, so firm, so joyful, so steeped in faith, so intent upon the kingdom of God, so strong in his spiritual life, that he sings and dances under the sword of the foe. Though all the men of the world were gathered together, wishing to move him from his faith, they could not. Why? Because he receives light from the Source of all Gifts.

When he has attained to this estate, he is satisfied ; he is content in God into whatsoever conditions he may be thrown. This is for him the state of contentment in God. He feels himself drawn into the ocean of grace.

At that time, also, God is content with him. The host of the Supreme Concourse is content with him. The angels of heaven (of course, when I say “angels,” I mean holy human souls) are content with him. He himself will be one of the angels, whether in or out of the body. [Page 172]In this estate he becomes a centre for receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. In this estate his spirit bears to the Holy Spirit the relation which, before, his body bore to his spirit. He becomes like a polished mirror. When he speaks, he gives forth the rays of the Sun of Reality. All the light which is reflected from this mirror is the light of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore was it that Jesus counselled his disciples to speak and teach without fear, since the Holy Spirit would come to them and put words into their mouths. When you have need to speak turn your hearts to God, and His Spirit will give you words. The Blessed Perfection has spoken to like effect: “The heart is My room; cleanse it, make it ready, that I may come and dwell in it. Thy spirit is My desire; purify it, that I may visit it.”

We hope, if it please God, that through the grace and instruction of the Blessed Perfection, and through the radiance of his testimonies, all of you may attain to this estate; for this is the estate of perfection, this is the estate of eternal life. [Page 173]

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The world of existence has two estates : the one is the Unconditioned, the Absolute, the Divine ; the other is that of submission to God. The one is the estate of God, the other of created beings.

That is to say, when we speak of God or Truth, we mean that which is endowed with the highest perfection, and when we speak of the created world, we mean that which is subject to utter imperfection. The one is eternal, the other temporal. The one is rich, the other poor. The one is powerful, the other impotent. The one is all-knowing, the other plunged in ignorance. The one is wholly impure, the other swayed by desire.

But the eternal flows out to, envelops, and permeates all things which are impermanent. God, or Truth which is the reality of God, gives life to mankind.

The earth in its own inherent condition is dark, while the sun is bright ; but the sun shines upon the earth, and the earth is bright by reason of the shining of the sun. [Page 174]So God has given His light to created beings. God is a perfection which flows out to, envelops, and permeates the world; and mankind should reflect the perfection of God as the earth reflects the rays of the sun.

The grace which is between the Creator and the created is Love. The intermediary of that grace of God is the Holy Spirit. If there were no love, there would be no communication between God and created beings. Were there no light, there would be no communication between the sun and the earth.

The rays of the sun shine forth from the mirror when it is exposed to the sun, although the mirror of itself is dark. The light which we see in the mirror is but the effect of the power and grace of the sun. In the same way, the visible world is altogether imperfect; all the virtues and all the perfections which appear in this world are the reflections of the perfections of God.

The efforts of all the Divine Teachers have been directed to the end of so educating mankind that the souls of men shall attain the capacity to reflect in their essence the rays sent forth from God — that the light of the Sun of Reality should shine in the mirror of the heart, giving forth radiance. [Page 175]The intermediary of these graces and benefits is the Holy Spirit.

Although the beings of the visible world have voluntary activity, and effects follow their activities, — that is to say, although all conditioned beings have powers and faculties, for every power has its corresponding faculty, — yet these powers are exercised by them under the law of nature. Conditioned beings are like mirrors, which have shape and form, and of which the faculty is to reflect light. In other words, the power of every conditioned being is according to its character, because it is under the law of nature.

But the Holy Spirit is other than these ; its power is beyond the control of nature, not under the law of nature. It is Eternal Life, Infinite Light, and Unconditioned Power. It transforms darkness into light. It transforms the hater into the lover. It transforms imperfection into perfection. It transforms poverty into wealth. It transforms ignorance into knowledge. It transforms weakness into strength. It transforms blindness into seeing. It transforms deafness into hearing. It transforms dulness into speech. From it the soul destitute of spirit, and therefore dead, receives everlasting life. [Page 176]This is why Jesus said that though men have eyes, they see not ; though they have ears, they hear not ; though they have tongues, they speak not ; and that he brought healing to them. By this he meant that although they have material ears they have not the power of spiritual hearing ; although they have material eyes they have not the power of spiritual sight — they perceive not the kingdom of God, and that the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit is the means of putting these spiritual faculties into operation.

I hope that the perfumed fragrance of the Holy Spirit will breathe upon you all.