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The Worlds of God by National Reference Library Committee

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THE WORLDS OF GOD

BASIC CLASSIFICATIONS OF EXISTENCE AS DEFINED IN THE BAHÁ’Í WRITINGS: A COMPILATION

Prepared by The National Reference Library Committee of The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States [Page ii]

THE WORLDS OF GOD

‎A COMPILATTON A COMPILATION‎

The references used herein were compiled some time ago after a two-year research to determine the Basic Classifications of existence that the Bahá’í Revelation establishes. Subsequently the National Spiritual Assembly approved these Classifications as Basic Subjects to be used in preparing a Master Index and other reference material for the future National Reference Library. This Compilation is offered now as Authority and aid in that method of indexing. Therefore the words representing the BASIC CLASSIFICATIONS are capitalized and the Subheading words are underlined, making them different, in this respect, from the book texts from which they were chosen. These liberties were taken, and references were placed in this arrangement, with symbol pictures ‎added. in added in‎ the effort to present, as simply, systematically and graphically as possible, the reality or over-all view of existence that Bahá’u’lláh has unveiled and made available to man, with emphasis on how Bahá’u’lláh classifies and explains everything in existence. But obviously the value of such Enlightenment is not limited to those participating in the indexing project.

Prepared by

THE NATIONAL REFERENCE LIBRARY COMMITTEE of

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States

1965-66 [Page iii]

CONTENTS

		Page
I.	Introduction: reality may now be seen for the first time	1
II.	Two views of LIFE, two ways of seeing things: the over-all and personal	2-5
III.	A reality is the sum total of the "phases" of its being	6-7
IV.	The over-all picture of existence begins with its purpose and origin	8-11
V.	The three basic conditions of existence (DEITY, Prophethood, Servitude)	12-15
VI.	The only connection between the three basic conditions of existence is REVELATION	16-19
VII.	We should KNOW what elements of the Greater World affect us, for they are real	20-25
VIII.	Let’s face the reality of God’s MANIFESTATION, part of the KINGDOM MANIFESTED	26-29
IX.	Let’s face the reality of our world, CREATION, the condition of servitude	30-31
X.	A close-up of CREATION as a reality, the realm of HUMAN SOULS	32-33
XI.	We must see the SOUL as a reality, for YOU are really a SOUL	34-37
XII.	The first phase of the SOUL we must view is its power, which is called spirit	38-39
XIII.	We need a closer view of the power of your being, whose symbol is electricity	40-41
XIV.	The next phases of the SOUL we must view are its origin, pattern and objective	42-47
XV.	The last phase of the SOUL to be viewed is its immediate acts and attributes	48-49
XVI.	We need a closer view of your make-up, to understand your different natures	50-51
XVII.	The HUMAN being, personality or "Ego" must be viewed as a reality in itself	52-56
XVIII.	The "mind," mental being or RATIONAL-man is part of a HUMAN; a separate reality	57
XIX.	The body, physical being or MATERIAL-man is part of YOU, also a separate reality	58
XX.	Here we insert a few pages from experts on the HUMAN body and physical make-up	59-63

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XXI.	By viewing the part of YOU that’s not MATERIAL, RATIONAL or HUMAN, we see the SOUL
	The MATERIAL-man (body)	64
	The RATIONAL-man (body plus RATIONAL power)	65-67
	The HUMAN being (body plus RATIONAL power plus negative emotions)	68-69
XXII.	MANKIND combines HUMAN imperfections and what shows of the divine nature NOW	70-71
XXIII.	The level of your SOUL development is shown in your feelings	72-73
XXIV.	Every reaction is a step in LIVING, activates some degree of power or spirit	74-77
XXV.	Now a close-up of the SOUL’s growth pattern.	78-79
XXVI.	Different realms of being are generated by different degrees of SPIRIT:
	The "Greater World" is generated by God’s own SPIRIT (the HOLY SPIRIT)	80
	The "Lesser World" is generated by lesser degrees of SPIRIT	80
	The MATERIAL world is the beginning stage of CREATION	80
	The RATIONAL world	81
	The world of HUMANness	82
	The spiritual KINGDOM REVEALED	83-85
XXVII.	The WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH is spiritual, part of the KINGDOM REVEALED	86-87
XXVIII.	The ultimate in CREATION is the KINGDOM OF DEPARTED SOULS, once called heaven	88-89
XXIX.	We can look forward to an infinitude of glorious WORLDS beyond this one	90
XXX.	TIME is a phase of reality to be coped with in MATERIAL and HUMAN existence	91-93
XXXI.	Revealed RELIGION is what man accepts of REVELATION, part of the KINGDOM REVEALED	94-96
XXXII.	Each RELIGION and its REVELATION have in TIME become a HUMAN Religion with SCRIPTURES	97
XXXIII.	BAHÁ’U’LLÁH comes to renew RELIGION; His REVELATION, accepted, is the ‎BAHA'I BAHÁ’Í‎ FAITH	98-101
XXXIV.	"The proof of the pudding is in the eating"; God invites us to taste and KNOW	102-104
XXXV.	Two-way communication with God may now be ours; He calls - do we respond?	105

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INTRODUCTION: REALITY MAY NOW BE "FACED" FOR THE FIRST TIME

Nearly two thousand years ago Jesus Christ spoke to US:

(a) "These things have I told you, that when the TIME shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.... I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.... And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

NOW the "Spirit of truth" HAS come, and we may face reality and be "free"

(b) "Praise be to God! the mediaeval ages of darkness have passed away and this century of radiance has dawned - this century wherein the reality of things is becoming evident."

(c) "This is clearly the century of a new LIFE, the century of the REVELATION of the reality, and therefore the greatest of all centuries."

(d) "The Sun of Truth appears again on the horizon of the world shining into the eyes of those who sleep, awakening them to behold the glory of a new dawn."

(e) "O friends of God! Strive ye so that this darkness may be utterly dispelled and the Hidden Mystery may be revealed and the realities of things made evident and manifest."

(f) "For, in the existing KNOWLEDGE of the reality of things there is MATERIAL advantage, and through it outward civilization progresses; but the KNOWLEDGE of God is the cause of spiritual progress and attraction, and through it the perception of truth, the exaltation of humanity, divine civilization, rightness of morals and illumination, are obtained."

(g) "Heavenly teachings applicable to the advancement in HUMAN conditions have been revealed in this merciful age."

(h) "It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written, into reality and action." [Page 2] (a) "Open Thou, O my Lord, mine eyes and the eyes of all them that have sought Thee, that we may recognize Thee with Thine own eyes. This is Thy bidding given us in the Book sent down by Thee"

II. TWO VIEWS OF LIFE

OVER ALL

God’s-Eye ‎vi ew view‎ that encompasses all

Personal RATIONAL view [Page 3]

II. TWO VIEWS OF LIFE, TWO WAYS OF VIEWING THINGS: THE OVER-ALL AND PERSONAL

There are two kinds of "seeing" or KNOWING: DIVINE and HUMAN

(b) "KNOW that there are two kinds of KNOWLEDGE: the KNOWLEDGE of the essence of a thing (its ‘reality’?), and the KNOWLEDGE of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities, otherwise it is unknown and hidden.... Our KNOWLEDGE of things, even of created and limited things, is KNOWLEDGE of their qualities and not of their essence.... The substance of the essence of man is unknown and not evident, but by its qualities it is characterized and KNOWN.... Then...as things can only be KNOWN by their qualities and not by their essence, it is certain that the Divine Reality is unknown with regard to its essence, and is KNOWN with regard to its attributes. Besides, how can the phenomenal reality embrace the Pre-existent Reality? For comprehension is the result of encompassing, ...and the Essence of Unity surrounds all, and is not surrounded."

(c) "KNOW verily that KNOWLEDGE is of two kinds: Divine and Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God Himself; the motive-force of the latter the whisperings of selfish desire."

God’s MANIFESTATION, with superhuman vision, sees Reality and a God’s-eye view of LIFE

(d) "The universal mind which is beyond nature, is the bounty of the Pre-existent 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 share of this power comes to them through the Holy MANIFESTATIONS.

(e) ""’No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision.’""

HUMAN vision is egocentric, limited to what the senses and rational powers perceive

(f) "All that the sages and mystics have said or written have never exceeded, nor can they ever hope to exceed, the limitations to which man’s finite mind hath been strictly subjected.... The meditations of the profoundest thinker ...are but a reflection of that which hath been created within themselves, through the REVELATION of the Lord, their God. Whoever pondereth this truth in his heart will readily admit that there are certain limits which no HUMAN being can possibly transgress."

(g) " The HUMAN spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the ‎RA-TICNAL RATIONAL‎ SOUL; and these two names - the HUMAN spirit and the RATIONAL SOUL - designate one thing.... The RATIONAL SOUL...discovers the realities of things.... But the HUMAN spirit does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and heavenly realities, unless assisted by the spirit of faith." [Page 4]

Vain imaginings, idle fancies and untrue ideas cause wrong feelings and actions

(h) "The outward powers (of the RATIONAL SOUL) are five: the power of sight, of hearing, of taste, of smell, and of feeling. The inner powers are also five: the common faculty, and the powers of imagination, thought, comprehension, and memory."

(i) "Idle fancies have debarred men from the Horizon of Certitude, and vain imaginings withheld them from the Choice Sealed Wine."

(j) "So great is the folly and perversity of the people, that they have turned their face toward their own thoughts and desires, and have turned their back upon the KNOWLEDGE and WILL of God....¹⁴"

(k) "Because man has stopped his ears to the Voice of Truth and shut his eyes to the Sacred Light, neglecting the LAW of God, for this reason has the darkness of war and tumult, unrest and misery, desolated the earth."

(l) Leaders "have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices.... They have conceived the straight to be crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy."

(m) "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. The bestowals of God are all and always manifest....but should the conscious eye of the SOUL of man remain veiled and darkened, he will be led to deny these universal signs and remain deprived of these manifestations of divine bounty."

Release from these HUMAN evils and limitations is within our reach

(n) "Shouldst thou rend asunder the grievous veil that blindeth thy vision, thou wouldst behold such a bounty as naught...can either resemble or equal."

(o) "Turn your faces away from the contemplation of your own finite selves and fix your eyes upon the Everlasting Radiance; then will your SOULS receive in full measure the Divine Power of the SPIRIT....This is the meaning of the power of the HOLY SPIRIT."

(p) "It is incumbent upon thee, by the permission of God, to cleanse the eye of thine heart from the things of the world, that thou mayest realize the infinitude of divine KNOWLEDGE, and mayest behold Truth so clearly that thou wilt need no proof to demonstrate His reality, nor any evidence to bear witness unto His testimony."

(q) "Well is it with him who, aided by the living waters of the utterance of Him Who is the Desire of all men, hath purified himself from idle fancies and vain imaginings."

(r) "God has conferred upon man the gift of guidance.... To express his gratitude for the favors of God, man must show forth praiseworthy actions. ... Whatsoever he wishes to do must be in harmony with the good-pleasure of God. He must see what is the WILL of God, and act accordingly." [Page 5] Aided by faith, we can see LIFE in the light of divine REVELATION and face reality

(s) "The...LOVE that flows from man to God...is faith,...receiving the bounties of God, illumination with the lights of the KINGDOM."

(t) "Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings."

(u) "KNOW thou that he...who hath acknowledged My REVELATION, and drunk from the Ocean of My KNOWLEDGE....is even as an eye unto MANKIND."

(v) "The essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly - their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth..... Then will they be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun of divine KNOWLEDGE and understanding, and become the recipients of a grace that is infinite and unseen."

Let us strive for the God's-eye view of LIFE by grasping what BAHÁ’U’LLÁH reveals

(w) "Is there any man of insight, O my God, that can behold Thee with Thine own eye...?"

(x) "I entreat Thee, O Thou Who art my Companion and my Best Beloved, to lift the veil that hath come in between Thee and Thy servants, that they may recognize Thee with Thine own eye."

(y) "Behold Me, not with your eyes but with Mine. Thus admonisheth you He Who is the Gracious, the All-Knowing."

(z) "Enter thou My presence, that thou mayest behold what the eye of the universe hath never beheld, and hear that which the ear of the whole CREATION hath never heard, that haply thou mayest free thyself from the mire of vague fancies, and set thy face towards the Most Sublime Station."

(aa) "After passing through the Valley of KNOWLEDGE, which is the last plane of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to the Valley of Unity and... with the eve of God, he beholdeth the mysteries of divine CREATION."

(bb) "Were you to ponder,...you would surely find the portals of understanding unlocked before your face, and would behold all KNOWLEDGE and the mysteries thereof unveiled before your eyes."

(cc) "Then will the manifold favors and outpouring grace of the HOLY and everlasting SPIRIT confer such new LIFE upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will contemplate the manifest signs of the universe, and will penetrate the hidden mysteries of the SOUL. Gazing with the eve of God, he will perceive within every atom a door that leadeth to the stations of absolute certitude."

(dd) With fixed and steady gaze, born of the unerring eve of God, scan for a while the horizon of divine KNOWLEDGE, and contemplate those words of perfection which the Eternal hath revealed, that haply the mysteries of divine wisdom, hidden ere now beneath the veil of glory..., may be made manifest unto you. [Page 6]

III. A REALITY IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE "PHASES" OF ITS BEING

This presentation includes symbol-pictures to explain "sensibly" divine realities

(a) "HUMAN KNOWLEDGE is of two kinds. One is KNOWLEDGE of things perceptible to the senses - that is to say, things which the eye, or ear, or smell, or taste, or touch can perceive, which are called objective or sensible. ...The other kind of HUMAN KNOWLEDGE is intellectual - that is to say, it is a reality of the intellect, it has no outward form and no place, and is not perceptible to the senses....(Even) nature...in its essence is an intellectual reality, and is not sensible; the HUMAN spirit is an intellectual, not sensible reality. In explaining these intellectual realities, one is obliged to express them by sensible figures....Therefore to explain the reality of the spirit, its condition, its station, one is obliged to give explanations under the forms of sensible things."

"For example...you say, ’such an individual made great progress,’ though he is remaining in the same place; or again, ’such an one’s position was exalted,’ although, like everyone else, he walks upon the earth. This exaltation and this progress are spiritual states and intellectual realities; but to explain them you are obliged to have recourse to sensible figures."

"So the symbol of KNOWLEDGE is light, and of ignorance, darkness.... NOW that light of KNOWLEDGE, and that darkness of ignorance, are intellectual realities, not sensible ones; but when we seek for explanations in the external world, we are obliged to give them sensible form."

In "sensible form," this is what constitutes a reality - the real Y-O-U, for example:

R E A L I T Y

Perceived by FAITH and INTUITION via inspiration ("eyes of the heart") in the light of Divine REVELATION	Purpose, motive power animating principle, ’spirit’ (explains relation to other existence)	viewed in REALITY (the TIMELESS, Spaceless or "Spiritual" World)
Perceived by REASON and IMAGINATION (RATIONAL faculties)	beginning       patterns of       achieved or origin       action,       objective behavior or being	viewed in TIME (HUMAN Thought World)
Perceived by SENSES and MEMORY (body powers)	physical            "sensible" action            attributes n a m e	viewed NOW in Space (MATERIAL world)

Underlined words in blocks above indicate PHASES of a ‎reality.next reality, next‎ to be defined [Page 7]

PURPOSE, MOTIVE POWER and SPIRIT are like a 5th dimension that every REALITY has

(b) "As we...reflect...upon this infinite universe, we observe that motion without a motive force, and an effect without a cause are both impossible."

(c) "All things must needs have a cause, a motive power, an animating principle."

To view REALITY we must see the ORIGIN and OBJECTIVE of each life PATTERN

(d) "The wise and reflecting SOUL will know of a certainty that this finite universe with all its grandeur and order could not have come to exist by itself."

(e) "Magnified be the name of Him Who hath created, and is the Cause of, these causes, Who hath ordained that every change and variation in the world of being be made dependent upon them."

(f) "The wisdom and policy" (Patterns) "of God are reality and truth, whereas HUMAN policy is accidental and limited to our finite understanding."

(g) "All things are subject to re-formation."

(h) "In this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End."

(i) "The TIME is at hand when whatsoever lieth hid in the SOULS and hearts of men will be disclosed."

Behind apparent ACTS and ATTRIBUTES we should see the PATTERNS, PURPOSE and SPIRIT

(j) "For results depend upon means."

(k) "Absolute repose does not exist in nature. All things either make progress or lose ground.... Thus it is evident that movement is essential to all existence."

(l) And "outward conduct is but a reflection of...inward LIFE."

(m) "If a man reflects he will understand the spiritual significance of the LAW of progress;...all moves from the inferior to the superior degree."

(n) "Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have afflicted the earth... Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the CAUSE or source of that may be."

(o) "Do not allow your minds to dwell on the present, but with eyes of faith look into the future, for in truth the SPIRIT of God is working in your midst."

The PURPOSE and nature of a REALITY define its RELATION to the rest of existence

(p) "By nature is meant those inherent properties and necessary relations derived from the realities of things. And these realities of things, though in the utmost diversity, are yet intimately connected one with the other.... An all-unifying agency is needed (too) that shall LINK them all one to the other." Each reality, though "utterly unconscious of that all-unifying agency...yet acteth with regularity and discharges its functions according to its WILL" (that is, the will of the unifying agency). [Page 8]

GOD

---Heaven

---

earth

"The beginning" indicates the SOURCE, and not the TIME of CREATION

(a) * KNOW that it is one of the most abstruse spiritual truths that the world of existence, that is to say this endless universe, has no beginning."

(b) "There are two kinds of priorities: one is essential...not preceded by a cause....As, for example, the sun has light in itself...; therefore the sun, with regard to light, is the cause...the precedent, the antecedent..." (Thus "in the beginning" was the sun; it "created" the light.) "The second sort of pre-existence is the pre-existence of TIME, and that has no beginning.... The past, the present, the future, all, in relation to God, are equal. Yesterday, today, tomorrow do not exist in the sun."

(c) "For God the end is the same thing as the beginning." [Page 9]

IV. THE OVER-ALL PICTURE OF EXISTENCE BEGINS WITH ITS PURPOSE AND ORIGIN

God is single and alone: the only Absolute Reality; Divine; bevond personal KNOWING

(d) "Cn the throne of eternity, from the inaccessible heights of His station, His tongue proclaimeth that there is none other God but Him."

(e) "Absolute existence is strictly confined to God."

(f) "Immeasurably exalted is He above the strivings of HUMAN mind to grasp His Essence of HUMAN tongue to describe His Mystery.... He is and hath ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His own exalted and indivisible Essence, and will everlastingly continue to remain concealed in His inaccessible majesty and glory."

(g) "To every discerning and illumined heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every HUMAN attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egrees and regress. Far be it from His glory that HUMAN tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that HUMAN heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is, and hath ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of man. No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the All-perceiving."

(h) "KNOW thou of a certainty that the Unseen DEITY can in no wise incarnate His Essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived."

(i) "The attempt of the evanescent to conceive the signs of the Uncre-ated is as the stirring of the drop before the tumult of Thy billowing oceans..,O my God."

(j) "That ideal King hath, throughout eternity, been in His Essence independent of the comprehension of all beings, and will continue, for ever, in His own Being to be exalted above the adoration of every SOUL."

(k) "Having recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of HUMAN understanding, and marketh the culmination of man’s development.

(1) "Thou hast ordained that the utmost limit to which they who lift their hearts to Thee can rise is the confession of their powerlessness to enter the realms of Thy holy and transcendent unity, and that the highest station which they who aspire to KNOW Thee can reach is the acknowledgement of their impotence to attain the retreats of Thy sublime KNOWLEDGE....This very powerlessness...is beloved of Thee, and...Thou hast decreed (it) as the goal of them that have reached and attained Thy court."

(m) "All that man is able to understand are the attributes of Divinity, the radiance of which appears and is visible in worlds and SOULS." [Page 10]

The personal view of God, formed by imagination, feeling and environment, is untrue

(n) "That Essence of the Divine Entity and the Unseen of the unseen is holy above imagination and is beyond thought. Consciousness doth not reach It."

(o) "The mystery of Divinity is sanctified and purified from the comprehension of the beings, for all that comes to the imagination is that which man understands, and the power of the understanding of man does not embrace the Reality of the Divine Essence."

(p) "That which we imagine, is not the Reality of God; He, the Unknowable, the Unthinkable, is far beyond the highest conception of man.'

(q) "Some worship the product of their own imagination: they make for themselves an imaginary God and adore this."

(r) "They that are the worshippers of the idol which their imaginations have carved, and who call it Inner Reality, such men are in truth accounted among the heathen."

With an untrue concept of LIFE'S Inner Reality, we see nothing as it is in REALITY

(s) "Thus hath He (Muhammed) revealed: ...Blind is the eye which doth not perceive Thee..... No thing have I perceived, except that I perceived God within it, God before it, or God after it.".

(t) "The source of error is to disbelieve in the one true God, rely upon aught else but Him, and flee from His decree."

(u) KNOW thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is neither trustworthy nor truthful....Nothing whatever can deter such a man from evil..., nothing can induce him to walk uprightly.'

(v) "If you should ask a thousand persons, 'What are the proofs of the reality of Divinity?' perhaps not one would be able to answer. If you should ask further, 'What proofs have you regarding the essence of God?' 'How do you explain inspiration and REVELATION?'...you would receive very little real KNOWLEDGE and enlightenment upon these questions... This is in reality the science of Divinity. Divinity is not what is set forth in dogmas and sermons of the church. Ordinarily when the word divinity is mentioned it is associated in the minds of the hearers with certain formulae and doctrines, whereas it essentially means the wisdom and KNOWLEDGE of God,...the REVELATION of reality."

(w) The creator of man must be more perfect and powerful than man. If the creative cause of man be simply on the same level with man, then man himself should be able to create....Therefore the creator of man must be endowed with superlative intelligence and power. In other words...all virtues have a center and source. That source is God."

(x) *Cleave ye to your own devices, and cast behind your backs the precepts of God? Ye, indeed, have wronged your own selves and others."

(y) With fixed and steady gaze, born of the unerring eye of God, scan for a while the horizon of divine KNOWLEDGE, and contemplate those words of perfection which the Eternal hath revealed, that haply the mysteries of divine wisdom, hidden ere now beneath the veil of glory and treasured within the tabernacle of His grace, may be made manifest unto you." [Page 11]

Existence emanates from DEITY eternally. without God nothing could exist

(z) "Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! I testify that Thou wast a hidden Treasure wrapped within Thine immemorial Being and an impenetrable Mystery enshrined in Thine own Essence. Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, O Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Compassionate!"

The Greater World is MANIFESTED by DEITY, which is a unique process

(aa) "KNOW that proceeding (lit. dependence) is of two kinds:... through emanation, and...through manifestation. The proceeding... through manifestation is the manifestation of the reality of a thing" (in this case, of DEITY) "in other forms: like the coming forth of this tree from the seed of the tree, or the coming forth of the flower from the seed of the flower; for it is the seed itself which appears in the form of the branches, leaves and flowers. This is called the proceeding through manifestation."

Our Lesser World emanates from DEITY as a CREATION. reflecting a Divine Purpose

(bb) This "proceeding...is like the coming forth of the writing from the writer. Now the writing emanates from the writer,...and in the same way the HUMAN spirit emanates from God. It is not that it manifests God."

(cc) "The dependence through the creatures upon God is a dependence of emanation; that is to say, creatures emanate from God, they do not manifest Him."

Not only is DEITY infinite, timeless: so are the Worlds He manifests and creates

(dd) "KNOW thou of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."

(ee) "Out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have outpoured."

(ff) Cne realm of being is called "The Absolute,...the worlds of authority and command...the sea of the spirit..the holy air of light."

(sg) The highest plane of the MANIFESTATION of God "is...the splendor of the Pre-existent Beauty, and the radiance of the light of the Almighty."

(hh) "Consider the endless phenomena of His creation. They are infinite; the universe is infinite. Who shall declare its height, its depth and length? It is absolutely infinite."

(ii) "KNOW thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute."

(jj) "How great, O my God is this Thy most excellent handiwork, and how consummate Thy CREATION, which hath caused every understanding heart and mind to marvel!"

(kk) "The Kingdoms of earth and heaven are Thine, O Lord of the worlds ...Who holdest in Thy grasp the empire of whatever hath been created in heaven and on earth!" [Page 12]

V. THE THREE BASIC CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE

Since all worlds are infinite, the circles representing them would be infinite in size, and their circumferences would show as straight lines.

(a) *DEITY is 'the 'Beginning' and the 'End,' the 'First' and the 'Last, ...the Innermost SPIRIT of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences."

Always see God as the Source-Center of all being, the INNER REALITY and HIGHEST CONDITION of existence. "Inward" and "upward" both indicate nearness to DEITY.

DEITY (God)

Greater World KINGDOM OF MANIFESTATION

Lesser World CREATION

Since all conditions are infinite in range, relative sizes shown are meaningless [Page 13] With the INNER REALITY as the first, we see three distinct conditions or worlds

(b) "KNOW that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of Prophethood, and of DEITY."

We should be aware of DEITY though this is a world or condition forever beyond Us

(c) "The habitation wherein the Divine Being dwelleth is far above the reach and ken of any one besides Him."

(d) "Man all over the world is seeking for God. All that exists is God; but the Reality of Divinity is holy above all understanding. The pictures of Divinity that come to our mind are the product of our fancy; they exist in the realm of our imagination. They are not adequate to the Truth; truth in its essence cannot be put into words. Divinity cannot be comprehended because it is comprehending. Man, who has also a real existence, is comprehended by God; therefore, the Divinity which man can understand is partial...not complete. Divinity is actual Truth...not any representation of it...contains All, and is not contained."

(e) "Within the capacity of comprehension of a produced reality that Ancient Reality cannot be contained. It is a different world; from it there is no information%; arrival thereat is impossible; attainment thereto is prohibited and inaccessible. This much is KNOWN: It exists and Its existence is certain and proven - but the condition is unknown."

(f) "All superior kingdoms are incomprehensible to the inferior; how therefor could it be possible that the creature, man, should understand the almighty Creator of all?"

(g) Yet "Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the REVELATION within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the REVELATION of that Most Great Light."

(h) "The Divine Reality is Unthinkable, Limitless, Eternal, Immortal and Invisible.....It is beyond the understanding of man, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the created world."

(i) "All that man is able to understand are the attributes of Divinity, the radiance of which appears and is visible in worlds and SOULS."

(j) "Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds.... Thou didst raise Him" (capital letter, indicating the Perfect or Divine Man) to occupy Thy throne before all the people’ (small letter, indicating man, the imperfect creature) "of Thy CREATION. Thou didst enable Him to unravel Thy mysteries, and to shine with the lights of Thine inspiration and Thy REVELATION, and to manifest Thy names and Thine attributes. Through Him Thou didst adorn the preamble of the book of Thy CREATION, O Thou Who art the Ruler of the universe Thou hast fashioned. "

This explains the two lower "conditions" of existence, seen in the over-all picture [Page 14]

The condition of Prophethood is the Greater World, the KINGDOM of MANIFESTATION

(k) "The first thing which emanated from God is that universal reality, which the ancient philosophers termed 'First Mind'.... This emanation... is not limited by TIME or place; it is without beginning or end..... Though the 'First Mind' is without beginning, it does not become a sharer in the pre-existence of God, for the existence of the universal reality in relation to the existence of God is nothingness, and it has not the power to become an associate of God and like unto Him in pre-existence."

(1) 'Before all else, God created the mind.' From the dawn of CREATION, it was made to be revealed in the temple of man."

(m) "The reality of Prophethood which is the WORD of God and the perfect state of MANIFESTATION, did not have any beginning...;B its rising (origin, beginning?) is different from all others, and is like that of the sun."

(n) "The Holy Reality...has neither beginning nor end. When beginning" (or 'First' or 'before' ?) "is spoken of, it signifies the state of manifesting."

The "sign" of the Greater World is the Perfect or Divine Man. God's MANIFESTATION

(o) "Man is the sum of CREATION, and the Perfect Man is the expression of the complete thought of the Creator the WORD of God."

(p) "The Perfect Man is as a polished mirror reflecting the Sun of Truth, manifesting the attributes of God."

(q) "In the MANIFESTATION of God, the perfectly polished mirror, appear the qualities of the Divine in a form that man is capable of comprehending."

Only the Sun of Truth can bring out MANKIND'S - YOUR - divine potentialities

(r) The function of the sun is the revelation of the mysteries and creative purposes hidden within the phenomenal world. The outer sun is the sign or symbol of the inner and ideal Sun of Truth, the WORD of God."

(s) As the sun is the center of lights, and the cause of the LIFE of the beings of the solar system... (so) the Holy MANIFESTATIONS of God are the centers of the light of Reality, of the source of Mysteries, and of the bounties of LOVE."

(t) As "the sun is the LIFE-giver to the physical bodies of all creatures upon earth...so do the SOULS of men need the Sun of Truth to shed its rays upon their SOULS, to develop them, to educate and encourage them. As the sun is to the body of man so is the Sun of Truth to his SOUL."

But the Condition of Prophethood or the Perfect Man can never attain that of DEITY

(u) "Ten thousand Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of Their search at His forbidding voice, 'Thou shalt never behold Me!'; whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus, stand dismayed upon Their heavenly thrones by the interdiction, 'Mine Essence Thou shalt never apprehend!' From TIME immemorial He (God) hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Self, and will everlastingly continue to be wrapt in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence." [Page 15]

The condition of servitude to DEITY is all and more than we can possibly desire.

(v) “The tie of servitude established between the worshipper and the Adored One, between the creature and the Creator, should in itself be regarded as a token of His gracious favor unto men, and not as an indication of any merit they may possess.”

(w) “I KNOW not what is in their hearts, O my God, nor can tell the thoughts they think of Thee. Methinks that they imagine that Thy purpose in calling them to Thine all-highest horizon is to heighten the glory of Thy majesty and power. For had they been satisfied that Thou summonest them to that which will recreate their hearts and immortalize their SOULS, they would never have fled from Thy governance.”

(x) “’Servitude is a” (spiritual?) “substance, the essence of which is Divinity.’”

(y) “This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that hath refused to seek it - verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of His creatures.”

(z) May the friends of God “be assisted to become servants of the heavenly KINGDOM, captives in the service of the WILL of God. This captivity is freedom, this sacrifice is glorification, this labor is reward, this need bestowal. For service in LOVE for MANKIND is unity with God. He who serves has already entered the KINGDOM and is seated at the right hand of his Lord.”

How and why is the Lesser World or CREATION concerned with the Greater World?

(aa) “And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His CREATION, and no resemblance whatever can exist between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless SOUL be made manifest in the Kingdoms of earth and heaven.”

Our realm of being is dependent on the Greater World for its very LIFE and being

(bb) “The Holy MANIFESTATIONS of God are the centers of the light of Reality, of the source of Mysteries, and of the bounties of LOVE. They are resplendent in the worlds of hearts and thoughts, and shower eternal graces upon the world of spirits; they give spiritual LIFE, and are shining with the light of realities and meanings. The enlightenment of the world of thought comes from these centers of light and sources of mysteries. Without the bounty of the splendor, and the instructions of these Holy Beings, the world of SOULS and thoughts would be opaque darkness. Without the irrefutable teachings of those Sources of mysteries, the HUMAN world would become the pasture of animal appetites and qualities, the existence of everything would be unreal, and there would be no true LIFE.”

(cc) For “the world of CREATION is bound by natural LAW, finite and mortal.... Man, then, is in extreme need of the only power by which he is able to receive help from the divine Reality, that power alone bringing him into contact with the source of all LIFE.”

What this POWER is and how it functions in your LIFE is vitally important to KNOW

[Page 16]

VI. THE ONLY CONNECTION BETWEEN THE THREE BASIC CONDITIONS OF BEING IS REVELATION

This is our Creator’s greatest gift to His creatures; and it is eternal, ever-renewed

Condition of DEITY ————————

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Condition of Prophethood

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Condition of servitude (CREATION)

(a) "KNOW thou that, according to what thy Lord...hath decreed..., the favors vouchsafed by Him unto MANKIND have been, and will ever remain, limitless in their range. First and foremost among these favors...is the gift of understanding. His purpose in conferring such a gift is none other except to enable His creature to KNOW and recognize the one true God.... This gift giveth man the power to discern the truth in all things....That which is preeminent above all other gifts, is incorruptible in nature, and pertaineth to God Himself, is the gift of Divine REVELATION. Every bounty conferred by the Creator upon man, be it MATERIAL or spiritual, is subservient unto this. It is, in its essence, and will ever so remain, the Bread which cometh down from Heaven. It is God’s supreme testimony, the clearest evidence of His truth...the proof of His most loving providence."

(b) "Thou hast inspired the Pen with the mysteries of Thine eternity, and bidden it teach man that which he KNOWETH not, and caused him to partake of the living waters of truth from the cup of Thy REVELATION and Thine inspiration."

(c) "Thou art surely aware of the... idle contention, that all REVELATION is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are closed, that from the day-springs of eternal holiness no Sun shall rise again, that the Ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled, and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers of God have ceased to be made manifest. Such is the measure of the understanding of...small-minded contemptible people."

(d) "From the beginning that hath no beginning the portals of Divine mercy have been flung open to the face of all created things, and the clouds of Truth will continue to the end that hath no end to rain on the soil of human capacity, reality and personality, their favors and bounties. Such hath been God’s method continued from everlasting to everlasting." [Page 17]

Of the reality of Divinity, man-in-CREATION can ‎pnly only‎ see what Man-the-Prophet reveals

(e) "Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man (the Perfect Man or MANIFESTATION) above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, O Thou Who art our Lord ...; Thou didst raise Him up to occupy Thy throne before all the people of Thy CREATION. Thou didst enable Him to unravel Thy mysteries, and to shine with the lights of Thine inspiration and Thy ‎REVELATICN REVELATION‎....I testify, O my God, that through Him...the hearts of men were set towards the scene of Thy most transcendent glory."

(f) "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."

(g) "Man then is the perfect mirror facing the Sun of Truth, and is the center of radiation: the Sun of Truth shines in this mirror."

(h) "The Perfect Man, the Prophet, is One...Who has the purity and clearness of a perfect mirror - One Who reflects the Sun of Truth. Of such a One we can say that the Light of Divinity with the heavenly Perfections dwells in Him."

REVELATION is food and drink to the SOUL, so man becomes spiritually ill without it.

(i) "The existence of the world may be compared to that of man, and the Prophets and Messengers of God to skillful doctors."

(j) NOW for instance, "the vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of HUMAN society; what else but the Elixir of His potent REVELATION can cleanse and revive it?...The WORD of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change."

(k) "The Prophets of God, the universal MANIFESTATIONS, are like skilled physicians, and the contingent world is like the body of man: the divine LAWS are the remedy and treatment. Consequently the doctor must be aware of, and KNOW, all the members and parts, as well as the constitutions and state of the patient, so that he can prescribe a medicine which will be beneficial against the...poison of the disease...; and as the universal MANIFESTATIONS of God are aware of the mysteries of beings, therefore They...by this KNOWLEDGE establish the LAW of God."

(l) "In every instance They have voiced an utterance that would conform to the requirements of the occasion."

(m) "They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples. He that turneth away from them, is accounted among the abject and foolish."

(n) "The Divine Food is descending from heaven, but...only those can enjoy it who are endowed with a sound taste.... Every diseased SOUL disliketh the delicious and merciful food and this is because of the sickness which hath seized him." [Page 18]

How do we KNOW there is a ‘Greater World’ or ‘condition of Prophethood?’

(o) "The MANIFESTATIONS of universal Prophethood....are, for example, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Báb and BAHÁ’U’LLÁH....for the independent Prophets are Founders; They establish a new RELIGION and make new creatures of men; They change the general morals, promote new customs and rules, renew the cycle and the LAW. Their appearance is like the season of Spring, which arrays all earthly beings in a new garment, and gives them new LIFE."

(p) "The proof of the sun is the light thereof, which shineth and envelopeth all things."

Each new REVELATION is a divine Prescription: it renews man’s spiritual vitality, and LIFE

(q) "The object of every Revelation is to effect a transformation in the whole character of MANKIND, a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner LIFE and external conditions."

(r) "Furthermore...the Bearers of the trust of God are made manifest unto the peoples of the earth as the Exponents of a new CAUSE and the Bearers of a new Message...(but) all are sent down from the heaven of the WILL of God, and...all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith."

(s) They are sent periodically. "‘And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy SPIRIT into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire CREATION shook to its very foundations, unveiling to MANKIND such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him...the Possessor of all created things.’"

The greatest mistake people make is to accept one REVELATION and reject all others

(t) "He, Who is the Object of all KNOWLEDGE, shineth as the sun. They see the sun with their own eyes, and yet question that brilliant Orb as to the proof of its light. They behold the vernal showers descending upon them and yet seek an evidence of that bounty."

(u) "‘No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers!’ For They one and all summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the Unity of God. ...They are all invested with the robe of Prophethood, and honored with the mantle of glory."

(v) "All Their utterances are in reality but the expression of one Truth."

(w) "Truth is a sun that rises from different points on the horizon.... Truth is one, although its manifestations may be very different.... We must adore the sun itself and not merely the place of its appearance."

(x) But "people have rejected the immaculate Essence of KNOWLEDGE and of holy utterance, and have turned unto the exponents of rebellion and error. ...And should the Essence of Truth reveal that which is contrary to their inclinations and desires, they will straightway denounce Him as an infidel."

(y) "I have,...with the hand of divine power, unsealed the choice wine of My ‎REVELATICN REVELATION‎, and have wafted its holy, its hidden, and musk-laden fragrance upon all created things. Who else but yourselves is to be blamed if ye choose to remain unendowed with so great an outpouring of God’s transcendent and all-encompassing grace, with so bright a REVELATION of His resplendent mercy?" [Page 19]

God reveals reality through His MANIFESTATION; His REVELATION answers our every need

(z) God still assists and confirms us.... Divine wisdom and providence have encircled all and spread the heavenly table before us. We must take a bountiful share of this generous favor."

(aa) "Consider the mercy of God and His gifts. He enjoineth upon you that which shall profit you."

(bb) "For all that has flowed from the Supreme Pen has been and is conducive to the elevation, exaltation and training of all the people of the world, and is the greatest antidote for all diseases."

(cc) Whoso hath tasted of this Fountain hath attained unto everlasting LIFE, and whoso hath refused to drink therefrom is even as the dead."

(dd) "Weigh not the Book of God with such standards...as are current amongst you, for the Book itself is the unerring balance established amongst men."

(ee) The Prophets of God have been the servants of reality; Their teachings constitute the science of reality.' (science: "systematic and formulated KNOWLEDGE" - Oxford Dictionary)

(ff) "All the holy MANIFESTATIONS of God have proclaimed and promulgated the same reality. They have summoned MANKIND to reality itself and reality is one."

(gg) "It can be truly declared of Him Who is the Last and of Him Who was the First that They are one and the same, inasmuch as both are the Exponents of one and the same CAUSE."

(hh) The reality is always the same, and one. The Reality is the Truth, and...Truth is God’s guidance, it is the light of the world, it is LOVE, it is mercy. These (are) the attributes of truth."

(ii) The constellation of LOVE and wisdom and power is once more shining from the Divine Horizon to give joy to all who turn their faces to the Light of God."

(jj) "Let all strive to grow in the light of the Sun of Truth,"

(kk) "Come out of doubt into certitude, and turn from the darkness of illusion to the guiding light of the fear of God." (ll) For "the essence of wisdom is the fear of God."

(mm) "The KNOWLEDGE of the Reality of the Divinity is impossible and unattainable, but the KNOWLEDGE of the MANIFESTATIONS of God is the KNOWLEDGE of God....Blessed are those who receive the light of the divine bounties from the enlightened Dawning-points!"

(nn) Praise be to God, the Eternal..., the Everlasting..., the Self-Subsisting....He...is manifest through His signs, and is hidden through His mysteries. He it is at Whose bidding the standard of the Most exalted WORD hath been lifted up in the world of CREATION.... He it is Who hath revealed His CAUSE for the guidance of His creatures, and sent down His verses to demonstrate His Proof and His Testimony."

The only way to face reality is to view LIFE in the light of God’s latest REVELATION [Page 20]

DEITY

God's CAUSE

HOLY SPIRIT

God's MANIFESTATION

God's WILL

God's WORD

"Greater World" -- of MANIFESTATION

DIVINE and PERFECT MIRROR

"Lesser World" -- of CREATION

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VII. WE SHOULD KNOW WHAT ELEMENTS OF THE GREATER WORLD AFFECT US. FOR THEY ARE REAL [Page 21]

God’s CAUSING is divine and we’re its result, part of His heavenly CAUSE for CREATION

(a) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.” (b) “Ponder in thine heart the REVELATION of the SOUL of God that pervadeth all His LAWS, and contrast it with that base and appetitive nature (of man).”

(c) “The domain of His decree is too vast for the tongue of mortals to describe, or for the birds of the HUMAN mind to traverse; and the dispensations of His providence are too mysterious for the mind of man to comprehend.”

(d) “Couldst thou but know the things sent ‎downby down by‎ My Pen, and discover the treasures of My CAUSE, and the pearls of My mysteries which lie hid in the seas of My names and in the goblets of My WORDS, thou wouldst for longing after His glorious and sublime KINGDOM, lay down thy LIFE in the path of God.”

In revealing His divine CAUSE, God calls us to consciously share in its fulfilment

(e) “Thus We reveal unto thee the mysteries of the CAUSE of God, and bestow upon thee the gems of divine wisdom, that haply thou mayest soar on the wings of renunciation to those heights that are veiled from the eyes of men.”

(f) “Recite: ‘O God, my God, and my Desire, and my Adored One, and my Master...and my supreme Aspiration!... Thou didst call me into being...to manifest Thy CAUSE. My heedlessness, however, hath deterred me.”

(g) “ ‘O God, my God! Thou hast lighted the lamp of Thy CAUSE with the oil of wisdom; protect it from contrary winds. The lamp is Thine, and the glass is Thine, and all things in the heavens and on earth are in the grasp of Thy power...Thou art the All-Powerful, Who, through the motion of Thy Pen, hast aided Thine irresistible CAUSE, and guided aright Thy loved ones.’”

(h) “People (who) have imagined that the flow of God’s all encompassing grace...has been halted...have been deprived of the recognition of the essential Purpose and the KNOWLEDGE of the Mystery and Substance of the CAUSE of God.”

(i) “Divines...are still oblivious of the fact that all the signs foretold have come to pass, that the way of God’s CAUSE hath been revealed.”

(j) “Peace be upon him whom the light of truth guideth unto all truth, and who, in the name of God, standeth in the path of His CAUSE, upon the shore of true understanding.”

(k) “The CAUSE of God is like unto a college. The believers are like unto the students....The students must show the results of their study in their deportment and deeds; otherwise they have wasted their LIVES.... To them the CAUSE of God must be a dynamic force transforming the LIVES of men.”

(l) “There is a power in this CAUSE, a mysterious power, far, far, far away from the ken of men and angels. That invisible power is the cause of all these outward activities. It moves the hearts. It rends the mountains. It administers the complicated affairs of the CAUSE. It inspires the friends. It dashes into a thousand pieces all the forces of opposition. It creates new spiritual worlds. This is a mystery of the KINGDOM of Abhá.”

In this Day it is our greatest privilege and joy to understand and work for His CAUSE

[Page 22]

The HOLY SPIRIT is God's SPIRIT, breathed into Man to make Him a MANIFESTATION

(m) "And when...Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest..., Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy SPIRIT into Thy Pen...unveiling to MANKIND such mysteries as lay hidden."

(n) "An intermediary is needed to bring two extremes in relation with each other (phenomenal existence and the Source of all LIFE).... The HOLY SPIRIT... brings the created earth into relation with the 'Unthinkable One,' the Divine Reality. The Divine Reality may be likened to the sun and the HOLY SPIRIT to the rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring the light and warmth of the sun to the earth, giving LIFE to all created beings, so do the MANIFESTATIONS bring the power of the HOLY SPIRIT from the Divine Sun of Reality to give light and LIFE to the SOULS of men.... The HOLY SPIRIT is the Light from the Sun of Truth bringing, by its infinite power, LIFE and illumination to all MANKIND, flooding all SOULS with Divine Radiance, conveying the blessings of God's Mercy to the whole world."

(o) "The HOLY SPIRIT is the Bounty of God, and luminous rays which emanate from the MANIFESTATION."

The HOLY SPIRIT has a dynamic effect on humanity. individually and collectively

(p) "Just as the HUMAN spirit is the cause of coordination among the various parts of the HUMAN organism, the HOLY SPIRIT is the controlling CAUSE of the unity and coordination of MANKIND.... The world of humanity is a composite body and the HOLY SPIRIT is the animating principle of its LIFE." (q). "The HOLY SPIRIT...teaches spiritual virtues to man and... quickens the SOULS of men."

(r) "Without the HOLY SPIRIT he (man) would have no intellect, he would be unable to acquire his scientific KNOWLEDGE.... The illumination of the HOLY SPIRIT gives to man the power of thought, and, through the mediation of the Prophets of God, teaches spiritual virtues to man."

(s) "The power of the HOLY SPIRIT, enlightening man's intelligence, has enabled him to discover means of bending many natural LAWS to his will. He flies through the air, floats on the sea, and even moves under the waters. ...The HOLY SPIRIT will give to man greater powers than these, if only he will strive after the things of the spirit and endeavor to attune his heart to the Divine infinite LOVE."

(t) "LOVE is the breath of the HOLY SPIRIT in man."" (u) "It is only by the breath of the HOLY SPIRIT (LOVE) that spiritual development can come about." (v) "Divine virtues are the breathings of the HOLY SPIRIT itself."

(w) "By the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, working through his SOUL, man is able to perceive the Divine reality of things."

(x) "If the spiritual qualities of the SOUL, open to the breath of the Divine SPIRIT, are never used, they become atrophied, enfeebled, and at last incapable; whilst the SOUL'S MATERIAL qualities alone being exercised, they become terribly powerful - and the unhappy, misguided man becomes more savage,... than the lower animals." (y) "Man cannot free himself from the rage of the carnal passions except by the help of the HOLY SPIRIT." (z) "By the Power of the HOLY SPIRIT alone is man able to progress," so limited and dependent is he. [Page 23]

The WILL of God is the LAW of reality: it’s reflected to us through the divine Mind

(aa) "The first thing which emanated from God is that universal reality which the ancient philosophers termed the 'First Mind' and which the people of Bahá call the 'First WILL.' This emanation....is not limited by TIME or place; it is without beginning or end." (bb) "For the WILL of God can in no wise be revealed except through His WILL, nor His wish be manifested save through His wish."

(cc) "Powerful is He (God) to manifest His CAUSE, and to exalt His testimony, and to establish whatsoever is His WILL, and to elevate it to so eminent a position that neither thine own hands, nor the hands of them that have turned away from Him can ever touch or harm it."

(dd) "Be ye assured...that the works and acts of each and every one of these MANIFESTATIONS of God...are all ordained by God and are a reflection of His WILL and Purpose." (ee) These "Well Springs of wisdom have themselves been generated through the operation of Thy WILL."

(ff) "Their WILL is absolutely submissive." Listen, as One affirms:

(gg) "Thou art He, O my God, Who hath raised me up at Thy behest, and bidden me...to summon all men to the court of Thy mercy.... Thou...hast commanded me to tell out the things Thou didst destine for them in... Thy decree." (hh) "Thou KNOWEST, O my God, that I have wished only what Thou hast wished, and desire what Thou dost desire."

Though man is free to choose, his glory is in accepting God’s WILL, denying his own

(ii) "The beginning of all things is the KNOWLEDGE of God, and the end of all things is strict observance of whatsoever hath been sent down from the empyrean of the Divine WILL that pervadeth all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth." (jj) "All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and most exalted WILL, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose."

(kk) "The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all MANKIND...to resignation and submissiveness to the WILL of God."

(ll) "None can escape the snares He setteth, and no SOUL can find release except through submission to His WILL." (mm) "The source of all good is trust in God, submission unto His command and contentment in His holy WILL."

(nn) "The essence of understanding is to testify to one’s poverty and submit to the WILL of the Lord, the Sovereign, the Gracious, the All-Powerful."

(oo) "O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures...sent down from the heaven of the WILL of your Lord, the Lord of REVELATION."

(pp) "Recognize God as 'Him that doeth whatsoever He pleaseth'."

(qq) "Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs, and recognized that 'He shall not be asked of His doings.'...Such is the teaching which God bestoweth on you, a teaching that will deliver you from all manner of doubt and perplexity." [Page 24]

God’s WORD is an out-pressing of infinite meanings; we can never grasp it direct

(rr) "How could there be conceived any existing relationship or possible connection between His WORD and they that are created of it?" (ss) "Praise be to God...at Whose bidding the standard of the Most Exalted WORD hath been lifted up in the world of CREATION." (tt) "Behold how, in this Day,...out of Stillness Motion hath been engendered. This motion hath been generated by the potent energies which the WORDS of the Almighty have released throughout the entire CREATION." (uu) "Every WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new LIFE into every HUMAN frame." (vv) "Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every WORD uttered by Him Who is the Well-Spring of Divine REVELATION is a mother WORD, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet." (ww) "O my friend,....the penetration of the WORD of God in...all the regions is similar to the pervasion of the SOUL in a sound body." (xx) "The WORD of God hath set the heart of the world afire; how regrettable if ye fail to be enkindled with its flame!"

But a MANIFESTATION is the WORD "made flesh." God’s Voice with an inexorable impact

(yy) "In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God’; then the HOLY SPIRIT and the WORD are the appearance of God. The SPIRIT and the WORD mean the divine perfections that appeared in the Reality of Christ." (zz) The MANIFESTATION of God "incarnateth in Himself the kingdom of utterance." (aaa) "Thus...the accents of God Himself have been heard uttered by these MANIFESTATIONS of the Divine Being." (bbb) "The Book of God is wide open, and His WORD is summoning MANKIND unto Him..... The Divine Elixir...can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world." (ccc) Through "Thy WORD...they who have believed ...have soared up into the atmosphere of Thy KNOWLEDGE." (ddd) Through "Thy most exalted WORD...the heavens of men’s idle fancies and vain imaginings have been split asunder." (eee) "The...task of converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been empowered to accomplish..... The WORD of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change." (fff) May "we avoid the land of denial, and advance into the ocean of acceptance, so that we may...wing our flight unto the highest and innermost sanctuary of the inner meaning of the WORD of God." (ggg) "Number me not with them who read Thy WORDS and fail to find Thy hidden gift which... quickeneth the SOULS of Thy creatures and the hearts of Thy servants." (hhh) "Open your ears that ye may hearken unto the WORD of God." (iii) "Thine ear is a sign of My bounty, let not the tumult of unseemly motives turn it away from My WORD that encompasseth all CREATION." (jjj) "KNOW ye from what heights your Lord, the All-Glorious is calling?.... Nay, by My LIFE: Did ye but KNOW it,...your spirits would be so transported by His WORD as to throw into commotion the Greater World - how much more this small and petty one! Thus have the showers of My bounty been poured down from the heaven of My loving-kindness, as a token of My grace. [Page 25]

He KNOW the KINGDOM MANIFESTED only by what God REVEALS to us of the Greater World

(kkk) "And when Thou didst purpose to unveil Thy sovereignty, and to glorify Thy WORD, and to reveal Thy bounteousness and mercy, Thou didst raise up one of Thy servants, and didst choose Him above all Thy creatures...and didst bid Him to cry out before all that are in heaven and on earth, and summon the multitudes to the MANIFESTATION of Thy Self and the Revealer of Thy signs."

(lll) "Thou hast inspired the Pen with the mysteries of Thine eternity, and bidden it teach man that which he KNOWETH not, and caused him to partake of the living waters of truth from the cup of Thy REVELATION and Thine inspiration."

(mmm) "Thou art He Who by a WORD of His mouth hath revolutionized the entire CREATION, and by a stroke of His pen hath divided Thy servants one from another.... Thou hast caused them to be born again, by reason of the living waters which have flowed down out of the mouth of Thy WILL."

(nnn.) "The WORD of God and all the potentialities thereof shall be manifested unto men in strict conformity with such conditions as have been fore-ordained by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.... No sooner had MANKIND attained the stage of maturity, than the WORD revealed to men’s eyes the latent energies with which it had been endowed."

(ooo) "The mysteries of the WORD of God...have been unveiled and made manifest, that haply thou mayest apprehend the morning light of divine guidance,...and mayest kindle, in the inmost chamber of thine heart, the new-born light of divine KNOWLEDGE and certitude."

We should see, react to these divine Forces that alone can activate us spiritually

(ppp) "Behold how the generality of MANKIND hath been endued with the capacity to hearken unto God’s most exalted WORD - the WORD upon which must depend the gathering together and spiritual resurrection of all men."

(qqq) "The understanding of His (God’s) WORDS and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise dependent upon HUMAN learning. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of SOUL, and freedom of spirit."

(rrr) "By ’oppression’ (mentioned in Bible prophecies) is meant the want of capacity to acquire spiritual KNOWLEDGE and apprehend the WORD of God."

(sss) "Such a condition as this is witnessed in this day when the reins of every community have fallen into the grasp of foolish leaders, who lead after their own whims and desire. On their tongue the mention of God hath become an empty name; in their midst His holy WORD a dead letter."

(ttt) "When the channel of the HUMAN SOUL is cleansed of all worldly and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive the breath of the Beloved" (HOLY SPIRIT?) "across the immeasurable distance, and will, led by its perfume, attain and enter the City of Certitude.... Once in about a thousand years shall this City be renewed and re-adorned...That City is none other than the WORD of God revealed in every age and dispensation."

(uuu) "Thank God for...manifesting unto thee the Evident Light.... Thou shalt advance unto the Lofty Station, acquire heavenly qualities and attain KNOWLEDGE of the significances of the WORDS of God in this glorious day." [Page 26]

VIILTS FACE THE REALITY OF THE PROPHET WHO BELONGS TO THE KINGDOM MANIFESTED

We see Him in the over-all picture as Intermediary, Mirror and MANIFESTATION of God

DEITY GREATER WORLD LESSER WORLD -HUMAN- awareness divine awareness

(a) O my God, the God of bounty and mercy! Thou art that King by Whose commanding WORD the whole CREATION hath been called into being; and Thou art that All-Bountiful One the doings of Whose servants have never ...frustrated the REVELATIONS of His bounty.

(b) "How supreme is Thy grandeur - a grandeur which He Who is Thy MANIFESTATION hath made known and wherewith Thou hast invested Him."

(c) The Divine Nature is seen in the MANIFESTATIONS and its Light and Splendor are visible....

(d) "They are like the glass globe which receives light from the lamp. Although the light appears to emanate from the glass, in reality it is shining from the lamp."

(e) "The proceeding through MANIFESTATION...is the proceeding and the appearance of the HOLY SPIRIT and the WORD which is from God."

(f) These Countenances are the recipients of the Divine Command, and the day-springs of His REVELATION. ...Inasmuch as the CAUSE is one and the same, the Exponents thereof also must needs be one and the same."

(g) "He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His MANIFESTATIONS."

(h) "Were They to say, 'We are the Servants of God,' this...is a manifest and indisputable fact....In this state, They have considered Themselves utterly effaced and non-existent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible....They have regarded Themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed Their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy."

They translate awareness of Divinity into HUMAN experience

(i) "Their WORD is the WORD of God, Their commandment is the commandment of God, Their prohibition is the prohibition of God.....Their movement and repose come from divine inspiration, not from HUMAN passions."

spiritual awareness (man) PROPHET (man)

(j) In all the Divine Books the promise of the Divine Presence hath been explicitly recorded. By this Presence is meant the Presence of Him Who is...the MANIFESTATION of...God.... God in His Essence and in His own Self hath ever been unseen, inaccessible, and UNKNOWABLE. By Presence, therefore, is meant Presence of the One Who is His Viceregent.* 1

(k) "The Lord Christ said, 'He that hath seen ME hath seen the Father' - God MANIFESTED in man." [Page 27]

The effect of the MANIFESTATION on CREATION is perceptible, undeniable, inescapable

(1) "At the time of the appearance of each MANIFESTATION of God, extraordinary progress has occurred in the world of minds, thoughts and spirits. For example, in this divine age see what development has been attained in the world of minds and thoughts, and it is now only the beginning of its dawn."

(m) "Through His potency the Trees of Divine REVELATION have yielded their fruits, every one of which hath been sent down in the form of a PROPHET, bearing a Message to God’s creatures in each of the worlds whose number God, alone, in His all-encompassing KNOWLEDGE, can reckon. This He hath accomplished through the agency of but one Letter of His WORD, revealed by His Pena Pen moved by His directing Finger His Finger itself sustained by the power of God’s Truth."

The MANIFESTATION is the Source of MANKIND’s spirituality, wisdom and even KNOWLEDGE

(n) "The solar system is dark and obscure, and in it the sun is the center of light, and all the planets of the system revolve around its might and are partakers of its bounty. The sun is the cause of LIFE and illumination, and the means of the growth and development of all the beings of the solar system....In like manner, the Holy MANIFESTATIONS of God are the centers of the light of reality.... They are splendent in the world of hearts and thoughts, and shower eternal graces upon the world...; they give spiritual LIFE, and are shining with the light of realities and meanings. The enlightenment of the world of thought comes from these centers of LIGHT.... Without the bounty of the splendor and the instructions of these Holy Beings, the world of SCULS and thoughts would be opaque darkness. Without the irrefutable teachings of those Sources of mysteries, the HUMAN world would become the pasture of animal appetites and qualities, the existence of everything would be unreal, and there would be no true LIFE."

The HOLY SPIRIT, WILL, WORD, CAUSE of God, embodied in each MANIFESTATION: effective!

(o) "The Reality of Christ, that is to say the WORD of God, is the CAUSE of spiritual LIFE. It is a quickening spirit."

(p) "If we look into the mirror we see the sun, and we say: it is the sun. Therefore the WORD and the HOLY SPIRIT, which signify the perfections of God, are the divine appearance. This is the meaning of the verse in the Gospel which says: 'The WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.'... The perfections of Christ have the power of the WORD, because a complete meaning can be inferred from a WORD. As the Reality of Christ was the MANIFESTATION of the divine perfections, therefore it was like the WORD. Why? Because He is the sum of perfect meanings. This is why He is called the WORD."

(q) "Wert thou to say that this sun is the former sun, thou speakest the truth, and if thou sayest that this sun is the 'return' of that sun, thou also speakest the truth."

(r) "Unlock, O people, the gates of the hearts of men with the keys of the remembrance of Him Who is...the Source of wisdom amongst you."

(s) "Let your ears be attentive unto His WCRD, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the..waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and unmovable as the mountain in His CAUSE." [Page 28]

To face the reality of the MANIFESTATION, we must see His Purpose and powers

(t) "God has purposed that the darkness of the world of nature shall be dispelled and the imperfect attributes of the natal self be effaced in the effulgent reflection of the Sun... The mission of the Prophets of God has been to train the SOULS...and free them from the thraldom of natural instincts and physical tendencies." (u) He hath caused those luminous Gems...to appear...that They may impart unto the world the mysteries of the unchangeable Being, and tell of the subtleties of His...Essence." (v) "God has sent forth the Prophets for the purpose of quickening the SCUL of man into higher and divine recognitions." (w) "It was in order to bring this spiritual LIFE and light into the world that all the great Teachers have appeared. They came so that the Sun of Truth might be manifested, and shine in the hearts of men." (x) "He must...impart spiritual education%;B so that intelligence and comprehension may penetrate the metaphysical world, and may receive benefit from the sanctifying breeze of the HOLY SPIRIT, and may enter into relationship with the Supreme Concourse" (Greater World). (y) "Single-handed and alone They faced the world and all its peoples, and promulgated the LAW of God!" (z) "We (MANIFESTATIONS) had no other purpose except to edify the SOULS of men, and to exalt the blessed WORD." (aa) "Through that WORD the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing...entities of a new CREATION. (bb) "These Essences of Detachment, these resplendent Realities are the channels of God's all-pervasive grace. Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and invested with supreme sovereignty, They are commissioned to use the inspiration of Their WORDS...and the sanctifying breeze of Their R5VELATION for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations." (cc) "How great, O my God, is this Thy most excellent handiwork...! Thou didst unloose His tongue...to lay bare Thy mysteries before all Thy CREATION...! Through Him all created things were made to glorify Thee,...and every SOUL was directed towards the KINGDOM of Thy REVELATION.

Thus Their Purpose is God's Purpose in relation to man: Their power: Divine vision

(dd) "None of the Prophets of God were famous men, but They were unique in spiritual power. LOVE is the eternal sovereignty. LOVE is the divine power." (ee) "The Holy MANIFESTATIONS are the sources of miracles.... For through a supernatural power wonders appear from Them, and by this power, which is beyond nature, They influence the world of nature." (ff) "These visible arts and present implements are from the results of His KNOWLEDGE and wisdom, which have been revealed from the Supreme Pen." (gg) "Would that ye had the power to perceive the things your Lord...doth see...!" (hh) "Whatever emanates from Them is identical with the truth." [Page 29]

The origin, life-pattern, objective and nature of the MANIFESTATION are now clear

Origin: From the KINGDOM MANIFESTED or Greater World ("heaven"): (ii) God "has caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of spirit, in the noble form of the HUMAN temple." (jj) "Christ... came from heaven, though apparently from the womb; in the same way also, at His second coming, He will come from heaven, though apparently from the womb."

Life pattern: (kk) "Every one of Them...connecteth this world with the realms above." (ll) "He brings down into the world of action His spiritual conception and ideals." (mm) He radiates "the light...(that is) responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples." He has "provided, and will continue to provide, the supreme moving impulse in the world of being." (nn) "Out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have outpoured."

(oo) "Jesus Christ...accepted every calamity and suffering in order to guide men to the truth." (pp) BAHÁ’U’LLÁH "consented to be bound with chains that MANKIND may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner...that the whole world may attain unto true liberty."

Objective: Theirs is God’s Purpose for Them. (qq) "They have no aim except the exaltation of the WORD of God,...the improvement of the masses, spiritual progress, the promulgation of universal peace, goodwill...and kindness."

Nature of the MANIFESTATION: "We KNOW Him as the Perfect or Divine Man, (rr) in the condition of a clear mirror, in which the Sun of Reality becomes visible and manifest with all its qualities and perfections. So the Reality of Christ was a clear and polished mirror of the greatest purity and fineness." (ss) The Perfect Man, the Prophet, is One Who is transfigured... One Who reflects the Sun of Truth (DEITY).... If we claim that the sun is seen in the mirror, we do not mean that the sun itself has descended from the holy heights of his heaven and entered the mirror! This is impossible. The Divine Nature is seen in the MANIFESTATIONS...."

(tt) "He hath ordained that in every age...a pure and stainless SOUL be manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold nature: the physical, pertaining to the world of MATTER, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself.... The first..., which is related to His inmost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself.... The second station is the HUMAN station, exemplified by...: 'I am but a man like you.'"

Look at the picture on p.26, noting that (uu) "The MANIFESTATIONS have three planes:- First, the physical reality, which depends upon the body; secondly, the individual (HUMAN) reality, ...the RATIONAL SOUL; thirdly, the divine appearance, which is the divine perfections, the cause of His LIFE of existence and the education of SOULS, of the guidance of people, and of the enlightenment of the contingent world."

(vv) "All that HUMAN reality KNOWS, discovers, and understands of the names, the attributes, and the perfections of God, refer to these Holy MANIFESTATIONS. There is no access to anything else: 'the way is closed.'"

In the MANIFESTATION Whose KINGDOM is the Greater World but Who takes the form periodically of a HUMAN creature, we face all we KNOW of Divinity and DEITY [Page 30]

IX. LET’S FACE THE REALITY OF OUR WORLD. CREATION, THE CONDITION OF SERVITUDE

Dependence on DEITY, servitude to Him is our inexorable destiny and eternal glory

(a) "KNCW that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of Prophethood, and of DEITY." Please reread page 15 here.

(b) "Glory be to Thee, O my God! The power of Thy might beareth me witness! I can have no doubt that should the holy breaths of Thy loving-kindness and the breeze of Thy bountiful favor cease, for less than the twinkling of an eye, to breathe over all created things, the entire CREATION would perish, and all that are in heaven and on earth would be reduced to utter nothingness." (c) "Thou didst wish to make Thyself known unto men; therefore Thou didst, through a WORD of Thy mouth, bring CREATION into being and fashion the universe."

(d) "Bear thou witness...that there is none other God but Him, that all else besides Him have been created by His behest, have been fashioned by His leave, are subject to His LAW, are as a thing forgotten when compared to the glorious evidences of His oneness, and are as nothing when brought face to face with the mighty REVELATIONS of His unity."

CREATION depends on DEITY as the sun’s rays depend on the sun: it emanates therefrom

(e) "The connection between God and the creatures is that of the creator to the CREATION; it is like the connection between the sun and the dark bodies of contingent beings, and is the connection between the maker and the things..he has made." (f) "Such an existence is a contingent and not an absolute existence, inasmuch as...(it) is preceeded by a cause." (g) "The dependence...is a dependence of emanation.... The relation is that of emanation.... The light of the sun emanates from the sun,...the globe of the sun does not become divided and does not descend to the earth.... (Thus) all creatures emanate from God;...it is by God that all things are realized" (made REAL), "and by Him that all beings have attained existence." (h) Through Him all things live, move, and have their being."

All CREATION. including man. is under the Absolute Rule and Dominion of DEITY

DEITY MANIFESTATION 可 0 A Compare picture p.12

(1) "Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His WILL, to hinder Him from executing His judgment, or to deter Him from exercising His sovereignty? ...Nothing whatsoever in the whole of CREATION can thwart His Purpose. Cast away, therefore, the mere conceits thou dost follow, for mere conceit can never take the place of truth."

(j) "Verily He Who is the Day-Star of Truth and Revealer of the Supreme Being holdeth, for all TIME, undisputed sovereignty over all that is in heaven and on earth, though no man be found on earth to obey Him." (k) He "holdeth in His grasp the KINGDOM of the entire CREATION." (1) "Divine WILL pervadeth all that is in the heavens and...on the earth."

(m & n) "O God of Mercy, Thou Whose power pervadeth all created things,...in Thy grasp are the reins of all that are in heaven and on earth." [Page 31] But to face the REALITY of CREATION we must see every phase of its being

Purpose and power

(o) "God...hath called into being His creatures that they may KNOW Him....He hath sent His Messengers, Whom He hath commissioned to announce unto men tidings of the Paradise of His good pleasure, and to draw them nigh unto the Haven of abiding security, the Seat of eternal holiness and transcendent glory." (p) "By a word of His command all that are in heaven and on earth have come to exist, and by His wish, which is the Primal WILL itself, all have stepped out of utter nothinghess into the realm of being, the world of the visible." (q) "Say: the essence of all power is God’s, the highest and the last End of all CREATION."

Origin

(r) "God...out of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things...and...rescuing His creatures from the abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into His KINGDOM of incorruptible glory." (s) "From Him is derived the source of the sustenance of all things."

Obiective

(t) "Divine unity and understanding - the essential and highest purpose in CREATION." (u) "The process of His CREATION hath had no beginning, and can have no end." But (v) "I swear by My LIFE! Nothing save that which profiteth them can befall My loved ones."

Pattern

(w) "All beings...were created perfect and complete from the first, but their perfections appear in them by degrees....Not one of the beings ...at its coming into existence has reached the limit of perfection. No, they gradually grow and develop, and then attain the degree of perfection." (x) "All divine philosophers and men of wisdom and understanding, when observing these endless beings, have considered that in this great and infinite universe all things end in the mineral kingdom, that the outcome of the mineral kingdom is the vegetable kingdom, the outcome of the vegetable kingdom is the animal kingdom and the outcome of the animal kingdom the world of man. The consummation of this limitless universe with all its grandeur and glory hath been man himself."

But earthly life, man’s existence in "this Great Workshop with all its power, its bewildering magnificence and endless perfections, cannot eventually come to naught. That still another LIFE should exist is thus certain, and, just as the vegetable kingdom is unaware of the world of man, so we, too, KNOW not of the Great LIFE hereafter that followeth the LIFE of man here below. Our non-comprehension of that LIFE, however, is no proof of its non-existence....Numerous and conclusive proofs exist... that this infinite world cannot end with this HUMAN LIFE."

Nature

(y) "The wonders of His boundless grace... have pervaded the whole of CREATION. Such is their virtue that not a single atom in the entire universe can be found which doth not declare the evidences of His might. ...So perfect and comprehensive is His CREATION that no mind nor heart, however keen, or pure, can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures." (z) His "image is reflected in the mirror of...CREATION." (aa) "Consider the relation between the craftsman and his handiwork, between the painter and his painting. Can it ever be maintained that the work their hands have produced is the same as themselves?...They can be regarded in no other light except as evidences that proclaim the excellence and perfection of their author." (bb) "However perfect the picture may be, in comparison with the painter it is in the utmost degree of imperfection." [Page 32]

A CLOSE-UP OF CREATION AS A REALITY

CREATION is YOUR KINGDOM - the Kingdom of man: its reality is YOUR reality

CREATION

(a) "Man...is the Book of CREATION because all the mysteries of beings exist in him."

(b) "The reality of man is the collective reality, the general reality, and is...where the glory of all the perfections of God shine forth."

(c) "He has chosen the reality of man and has honored it with the intellect and wisdom, the two most luminous lights in either world."

(d) "Man becomes the collective center of spiritual as well as MATERIAL forces, so that divine spirit may manifest itself in his being." (e) "God has opened the doors of ideal virtues and attainments before the face of man. He has created in his being the mysteries of the divine kingdom. He has bestowed upon him the power of intellect so that through the attribute of reason, when fortified by the HOLY SPIRIT, he may penetrate and discover ideal realities."

(f) "Man is the highest species because he is the possessor of the perfections of all the classes....As well as having the perfections of the mineral, of the vegetable, and of the animal, he also possesses an especial excellence which the other beings are without%3 that is, the intellectual perfections. Therefore man is the most noble of beings."

(g) "The All-loving God created man to radiate the Divine Light and to illumine the world by his words, action and LIFE." (h) "Only the reality of man can become the mirror wherein the lights of God are revealed."

We face the REALITY of both CREATION and man by viewing each phase of their being

Purpose and power: (i) "Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, O Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Compassionate!"

(j) "Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He... chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to KNOW Him and to LOVE Him a capacity that must needs be regarded as...the primary purpose underlying the whole of CREATION....Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of his...attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self."

To KNOW and to LOVE Divinity is both the Purpose and power of CREATION and of man [Page 33]

Origin of man and of CREATION is DEITY

(k) "He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His KNOWLEDGE, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this KNOWLEDGE. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of CREATION." (l) "Consequently the Divinity of God, which is the sum of all perfections, reflects itself in the reality of man....Man then is the perfect mirror facing the Sun of Truth, and is the center of radiation: the Sun of Truth shines in this mirror."

Power, pattern and objective of man and of CREATION are seen to be: to KNOW and to LOVE Divinity

(m) "These energies with which... (He) hath endowed the reality of man lie, however at within him... (and) may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be concealed beneath the dust...which covers the mirror.... Unless.. (the dust) is blotted out from the face of the mirror, it can never represent the image of the sun nor reflect its light and glory.".

This brings us to the activity and attributes of man and of CREATION:

(n) "Every created thing in the whole universe is but a door leading into His KNOWLEDGE, a sign of His sovereignty, a REVELATION of His names, a symbol of His majesty, a token of His power, a means of admittance into His straight Path." (o) "All things, in their inmost reality, testify to the REVELATION of the names and attributes of God within them." (p) "If there were no man, the perfections of the spirit would not appear, and the light of the mind would not be resplendent in this world."

In a divine CREATION and kingdom of heavenly origin and objective, how can evil be?

(q) "Briefly, the intellectual realities, such as all the qualities and admirable perfections of man, are purely good, and exist. Evil is simply their non-existence.... In the same way, the sensible realities are absolutely good, and evil is due to their non-existence.... Nevertheless,... it is possible that one thing in relation to another may be evil, and at the same TIME within the limits of its proper being it may not be evil."

(r) "In CREATION there is no evil; all is good.... In CREATION and nature evil does not exist at all; but when the natural qualities of man are used in an unlawful way, they are blameworthy." (s) "Man...is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of light.... He has the animal side as well as the angelic side."

(t) "O SON OF DESIRE!... Wings have I bestowed upon thee, that thou mayest fly to the realms of mystic holiness and not the regions of satanic fancy. The comb, too, have I given thee that thou mayest dress.... My hair, and not lacerate (or cut) My throat. (u) "Be fair in your judgment. Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is from yourselves.".

CREATION is classified according to the two kinds of vision by which we perceive it

the (v) "HUMAN KNOWLEDGE is of two kinds. One is KNOWLEDGE of things perceptible to the senses.... The other kind of HUMAN KNOWLEDGE is intellectual.... A reality of the intellect...is not perceptible to the senses."

(w) KNOW that beings are of two kinds: MATERIAL and spiritual; those perceptible to the senses and those intellectual." (x) "Man is in the highest degree of MATERIALITY, and at the beginning of spirituality." [Page 34]

XI. WE MUST SEE THE SOUL AS A REALITY: FOR Y-O-U REALLY ARE A SOUL

The WORD of God is our only source of KNOWLEDGE of this mysterious reality, a SOUL

(a) "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over...all the earth.... So God created man in His own image."

(b) "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of LIFE; and man became a living SOUL."

We can only picture the SOUL as being composed of: Spiritual Substance, which includes KNOWING power that shows in what goes on in O, the head, whose symbol is: and LOVE power. These together generate the reality, following a LIFE pattern that originates and moves out of this world, symbolized by U.

These powers, which we learn, constitute spirit, show perceptibly as dynamic LIFE and LOVE.

Isn't the shape of a heart the most suitable form for combining these elements?

And NOW we have much new Light on this fascinating reality, the SOUL

(d) "Man the true man - is SOUL, not body; though physically man belongs to the animal kingdom, yet his SOUL lifts him above the rest of CREATION. The SOUL it is which makes the HUMAN creature a celestial entity."

(e) "Verily I say, the HUMAN SOUL is, in its essence, one of the signs of God, a mystery among His mysteries. It is one of the mighty signs of the Almighty, the harbinger that proclaimeth the reality of all the worlds of God. Within it lie concealed that which the world is NOW utterly in- capable of apprehending."

(f) "KNOW, verily, that the SOUL is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adora- tion before Him."

(g) "The superiority of man over the rest of the created world is seen ...in this, that man has a SOUL in which dwells the divine spirit;B the SOULS of the lower creatures are inferior in their essence. There is no doubt then, that of all created beings man is the nearest to the nature of God, and therefore receives a greater gift of the Divine Bounty." [Page 35]

There is no doubt that YOU are much more than just a physical organism or animal

(h) "In man there is a reality which is not the physical body....This other and inner reality is called the heavenly body....This is the conscious reality....the inner reality which comprehends things, throws light upon the mysteries of LIFE and being, discovers the heavenly KINGDOM unseals the mysteries of God, and differentiates man from the brute."

On the opposite page is the symbol-reality of this "heavenly body" - the SOUL. The fact that it is your "inner reality" means that it is closer in toward DEITY, or "above" the body. If you will turn to p.32 and draw, in pencil, this symbol in such a position in the picture there, you will see the relative position of the SOUL in CREATION. How high up should it be placed? No one can answer that. The important point is that the SOUL is created in higher (inner) condition of being.

A KNOWING power higher than the animal’s sets the SOUL above the MATERIAL world

(i) "The lowest degree of intelligence is that of the animals.., the natural feeling which appears through the powers of the senses, and which is called sensation. In this, men and animals are sharers.....

(j) "Man is like the animal in physical structure, but otherwise immeasurably separated and superior." (k) "Just as the animal is more noble than the vegetable and mineral so man is superior to the animal."

(l) "What difference is there between the animal and man? The difference is this: that the animal is not capable of apprehending the divine teachings, whereas man is worthy of them and possesses the capacity to understand. In the animal kingdom there is no such bestowal."

By what goes on above your ears. YOU enter the "spiritual" condition of existence

(m) "First and foremost among...favors which the Almighty hath conferred upon man, is the gift of understanding. His purpose in conferring such a gift is none other except to enable His creature to KNOW and recognize the one true God." (n) With "the RATIONAL faculty...God hath endowed the essence of man." (o) "God’s greatest gift to man is that of intellect, or understanding. The understanding is the power by which man acquires his KNOWLEDGE of the several kingdoms of CREATION, and of various stages of existence, as well as of much which is invisible."

Sensation & Animal Intelligence HUMAN Consciousness

We’ve learned that (p) "beings are of two kinds: MATERIAL and spiritual, those perceptible to the senses and those intellectual," so we see that your body is a MATERIAL being whereas your SOUL is not perceptible to the senses; and we see where the line is drawn between the two levels of existence.

The SOUL has a KNOWING power that makes us aware of more than the senses perceive

(q) "Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your SOULS, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true KNOWLEDGE of your own selves." [Page 36]

God could have created us KNOWING and LOVING Him: but that was NOT His purpose

(r) "If God had pleased He had surely made all men one people." His purpose, however, is to enable the pure in spirit and the detached in heart to ascend, by virture of their own innate powers,...that thereby they who seek the Beauty of the All-Glorious may be distinguished and separated from the wayward and perverse."

Instead, He gives man a choice and a responsibility about fulfilling His Purpose

(s) "Some things are subject to the free will of man...(and) there are certain things to which man is forced and compelled; such as sleep, death, sickness, decline of power, injuries and misfortunes....But in the choice of good and bad actions he is free, and he commits them according to his own will....Also the inaction, or the movement of man, depends upon the assistance of God....but the choice of good or evil belongs to man himself."

YOUR SOUL’S Purpose WILL be fulfilled, but when and to what degree is up to YOU

(t) ’Can ye imagine that...the potency of My WILL and purpose hath been deterred from directing the destinies of MANKIND?"

(u) "The essence of LOVE is for man to turn his heart to the Beloved One, and sewer himself from all else but God, and desire naught save that which is the desire of his Lord....

The essence of understanding is to testify to one’s poverty, and submit to the WILL of the Lord, the Sovereign...

The source of all learning is the KNOWLEDGE of God."

Though man was created to have "dominion over the earth" he has to gain it himself

(v) "All created things except man are captives of nature and the sense world, but in man there has been created an ideal power by which he may perceive intellectual or spiritual realities."

man.

(w) "The animal CREATION is captive to MATTER: God has given freedom to man. The animal cannot escape the LAW of nature, whereas man may control it, for he, containing nature, can rise above it. The power of the HOLY SPIRIT, enlightening man’s intelligence, has enabled him to discover means of bending many natural LAWS to his will. He flies through the air, floats on the sea, and even moves under the waters. All this proves how man’s intelligence has been enabled to free him from the limitations of nature, and...to a certain extent, (he) has broken the chains of MATTER."

(x) "Man alone, by this spiritual power, has been able to free himself, to soar above the world of MATTER and to make it his servant."

So too he must build his own KNOWLEDGE and LOVE and "image of God" within himself

(y) "While possessing physical LIFE, he should lay hold of the LIFE spiritual, and together with bodily comforts and happiness, he should enjoy divine pleasures and content. Then is man worthy of the title man; then will he be after the image and likeness of God,’ for the image of the Merciful consists of the attributes of the heavenly KINGDOM."

(z) "O SON OF SPIRIT: Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created....Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden.... Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self." [Page 37]

CREATION is the KINGDOM of SOULS, but includes a sub-HUMAN existence, too: "nature"

(aa) "The servant of His threshold ruleth over all created things!"

(bb) "All phenomenal beings – the plants in their kingdom, even the animals with their intelligence – are nature’s subjects and captives. All live within the bounds of natural LAW, and nature is the ruler of all except man. Man is not the captive of nature...he has overcome natural LAW and made it subservient to his wishes.... Man has intelligence; nature has not. Man has volition; nature is minus. Man has memory;..nature is deprived. Man has the perceptive faculty; nature cannot perceive. It is therefore proved and evident that man is nobler than nature."

Nature’s Purpose: – the Workshop where SOULS learn to LIVE, and to KNOW and LOVE God

(dd) "Out of the wastes of nothingness, with the clay of My command I made thee to appear, and have ordained for thy training every atom in existence and the essence of all created things."

"Nature" has its own reality: its Purpose, power and origin are divine. See p.6

(ee) "Thou didst, through a WORD of Thy mouth, bring CREATION into being and fashion the universe."

(ff) "Inasmuch as He, the sovereign Lord of all, hath willed to reveal His sovereignty in the kingdom of names and attributes, each and every created thing hath, through the act of the Divine WILL, been made a sign of His glory. So pervasive and general is this REVELATION that nothing whatsoever in the whole universe can be discovered that doth not reflect His splendor....Were the Hand of Divine power to divest of this high endowment all created things, the entire universe would become desolate and void."

(gg) "Every created thing in the whole universe is but a door leading into His KNOWLEDGE, a sign of His sovereignty, a REVELATION of His names, a symbol of His majesty, a token of His power, a means of admittance into His straight Path."

But nature NOW lacks divinity that man reflects; is limited, relatively imperfect

(hh) "As to thy question whether the physical world is subject to any limitations, KNOW that the comprehension of this matter dependeth upon the observer himself. In one sense, it is limited; in another, it is exalted...beyond all limitations.... His CREATION, likewise, hath had no beginning, and will have no end."

(ii) "The world of things is the world of imperfection.... When imperfections reach the station of perfection, they become eternal." [Page 38]

XII: THE FIRST PHASE OF THE SOUL WE MUST VIEW IS ITS POWER WHICH IS CALLED SPIRIT

God’s Purpose in creating the SOUL is the Purpose of its being, defines its powers

POWER SOURCE	(a) “He (God)...chose to confer...the unique ...capacity to KNOW Him and to LOVE Him - a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and primary purpose underlying the whole of CREATION.”	Power House
MANIFESTATION	Thus the power of CREATION - its SPIRIT - is the dual power to KNOW and to LOVE Divinity. Spirit defined (Oxford Dictionary): “animating principle or influence” The MANIFESTATION has the highest degree of spirit: (b) “The greatest power...the HOLY SPIRIT, exists in the Divine MANIFESTATIONS.”	TRANSFORMER
New Truth begins	(c) “The greatest power in the realm and range of HUMAN existence is SPIRIT - the divine breath which animates and pervades all things.” (d) “The phenomena of the universe find realization through the one power animating and dominating all things; and all things are but manifestations of its energy and bounty.”
Immortality begins	“’LOVE is the breath of the HOLY SPIRIT in the heart of man” (e) SPIRIT “is manifested throughout CREATION in different degrees” (as electricity is) “or kingdoms.” (f)	INSTITUTION
	(g) “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.” (h) “Man is the sum of every previous CREATION, for he contains them all. To man is given the special gift of the intellect.”	LARGE STORE
	(i) “The animal spirit is the power of all the senses, which is realized from the composition and mingling of elements; when this composition decomposes, the power also perishes and becomes annihilated.”	ELECTRIC HOME
	(j) “The vegetable spirit is the power of growth which is brought about in the seed through the influence of other existences.” (k) Thus “the plant has the power of existing and growing.”	COTTAGE
Cell LIFE begins	(l) “Certain atoms are bound together by chemical affinity....” (m) ‎W here Where‎ “there is the power of growth...that power of growth is the spirit.”	ROOM
min	(m) “Minerals are endowed with a spirit and LIFE according to the requirements of that stage.”	LAMP

[Page 39]

SPIRIT is a REALITY; its origin and Purpose are YOUR origin and Purpose, invincible

(n) "When it is said in the Bible that God breathed His SPIRIT into man, this SPIRIT is that which, like the discourse, emanates from the Real Speaker, taking effect in the reality of man."

(o) "The spirit of man must acquire its bounties from the KINGDOM of God in order that it may become the mirror and manifestation of lights and the dawning-point of divine traces."

The HOLY SPIRIT, the MANIFESTATIONS’s, is absolute KNOWLEDGE, selfless LOVE, of God

(p) Theirs is the "sort of KNOWLEDGE which is the KNOWLEDGE of being,... intuitive,...like the cognizance and consciousness that man has of himself ... The universal MANIFESTATIONS of God...understand all things, therefore Their KNOWLEDGE is divine KNOWLEDGE, and not acquired...it is a holy bounty, it is a divine REVELATION."

(q) "The greatest bestowal of God is LOVE. LOVE is the source of all the bestowals of God."

"The HOLY SPIRIT is the energizing factor in the LIFE of man." (r)

(s) "The HOLY SPIRIT is the Bounty of God, and the luminous rays which emanate from the MANIFESTATIONS." (t) "The SPIRIT of Christ is a heavenly grace which descends from heaven; whosoever receives light from that SPIRIT,...the heavenly Teachings, finds everlasting LIFE." .

(u) "As the sun is to the body of a man, so is the Sun of Truth to his ‎SCUL SOUL‎." (v) "The LOVE of God...means LIFE to our SOULS.... There is nothing greater or more blessed than the LOVE of God!"

Below the HOLY SPIRIT is the degree called faith, the spirit of an immortal SOUL.

(w) "The fifth" (highest) degree of "spirit is the HOLY SPIRIT...(which) is the Mediator between God and His creatures." (x) "The fourth degree of spirit is..the spirit of faith...; 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 ignorant wise." (y) "The HUMAN spirit, unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities."

(z) "When we speak of the SOUL we mean the motive power of..(the) physical body.... If the SOUL identifies itself with the MATERIAL world it remains dark...; but if it becomes the recipient of the graces of the world of mind, its darkness will be transformed into light,...its ignorance into wisdom, its aggression into loving kindness."

(aa) "Spirit cannot be perceived by the MATERIAL senses of the physical body, excepting as it is expressed in outward signs and works. The HUMAN body is visible, the SOUL is invisible. It is the SOUL nevertheless that directs a man’s faculties, that governs his humanity."

(bb) "In the world of existence there is nothing so important as spirit; nothing so essential as the spirit of man. The spirit of man is the most noble of phenomena. The spirit of man is the meeting between man and God. The spirit of man is the animus of HUMAN LIFE and the collective center of all HUMAN virtues. The spirit of man is the illumination..of this world." [Page 40]

XIII. WE NEED A CLOSER VIEW OF THE POWER OF YOUR BEING WHOSE SYMBOL IS ELECTRICITY

Spirit is one dynamic energy or LIFE force showing at different levels of being

(a) "It has been before explained that spirit is universally divided into five categories: the vegetable spirit, the animal spirit, the HUMAN spirit, the spirit of faith, and the HOLY SPIRIT." (b) The HOLY SPIRIT is the bounty of God, and the luminous rays which emanate from the MANIFESTATIONS."

A SOUL is vitalized by the HOLY SPIRIT, LIVES by the lesser degrees of that Energy

(c) "Whoso hath been quickened by its vitalizing power, will find himself impelled to attain the court of the Beloved; and whoso hath deprived himself therefrom, will sink into irretrievable despondency."

(d) "A man sees, hears or speaks - seeing, hearing and speaking being the different functions of the same power or reality that animates him....The one invisible primal essence had various names."

(e) "There is still another power which is differentiated from that of the SOUL and mind" (though the SOUL has access to it). "This...power is the spirit which is an emanation from the divine Bestower...., the spirit of faith, the spirit...Christ refers to when He says, ’Those that are born of the flesh are flesh, and those that are born of the spirit are spirit.’" Faith "is the axis round which the eternal LIFE revolves."

(f) "The reality of man is the collective reality, the general reality, and is the center where the glory of all the perfections of God shine forth."

In man, spirit, like electricity, is a 2-line circuit whose positive energy is LOVE, limited by its KNOWING power

(g) "O SON OF THE WONDROUS VISION! I have breathed within thee a breath of My own SPIRIT, that thou mayest be My lover. Why hast thou forsaken Me and sought a beloved other than Me?"

(h) "The breeze of holiness, laden with the LOVE of Thy Lord, (hath) stirred thy spirit within thee, and the waters of understanding have washed from thee the stains of remoteness and ungodliness."

(i) "The first sign of faith is LOVE."

LOVE power shows in sub-HUMAN levels, conditions or kingdoms as LIFE, LAW, or LINKING

(j) "The LIFE of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the LIFE of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude."

(k) "The spirit in the SOUL is the very essence of LIFE."

(l) "When the power of attraction (LINKING), which holds...atoms together, is withdrawn, the body, as such, ceases to exist."

(m) "This limitless universe is like the HUMAN body, all the members of which are connected and LINKED with one another with the greatest strength ..., and influence one another spiritually and MATERIALLY." [Page 41]

In space NOW, acts and attributes show the spirit of "Nature": LINKING as God wills

(n) “'God...hath reared the heavens without pillars thou canst behold; ...and imposed LAWS on the sun and moon: each traveleth to ‎i+s its‎ appointed goal. He ordereth all things. He maketh His signs clear.'”

(o) “Nature is subjected to an absolute organization, to determined LAWS, to a complete order and finished design, from which it will never depart. ...Thus it is clear that the natural movements of all things are compelled. ...Nature...is in the grasp of Almighty God Who is the Ruler of the world of Nature: whatever He wishes He causes Nature to manifest.”

(p) “The animal possesses no power of ideation or conscious intelligence; it is a captive of the senses....But that which is beyond the range of the senses, that realm of phenomena through which the conscious pathway to the KINGDOM of God leads, the world of spiritual susceptibilities and divine RELIGION - of these the animal is completely unaware.”

Feeling and KNOWING begin to show as two powers in animals, and continue to, in SOULS

(q) “The physical sensibilities and instincts are common to animal and man.”

(r) “The power of the understanding (KNOWING power) differs in degree in the various kingdoms of CREATION. The mineral, vegetable, and animal realms are each incapable of understanding any CREATION beyond their own....The animal cannot realize the intelligence of the HUMAN being, he only KNOWS that which is perceived by his animal senses, he cannot imagine anything in the abstract....All superior kingdoms are incomprehensible to the inferior.”

(s) “Man is not man simply because of bodily attributes. The standard of divine measure and judgment is his intelligence and spirit.” (t) “To man is given the special gift of the intellect by which he is able to receive a larger share of the light Divine. The Perfect Man is as a polished mirror reflecting the Sun of Truth, manifesting the attributes of God.”

(u) “The animal...is a captive of the senses and deprived of that which lies beyond them. It is subject to what the eye sees, the ear hears, the nostrils sense, the taste detects and touch reveals. These sensations are acceptable and sufficient for the animal.” (v) But in man “mind is the perfection of the spirit, and is its essential quality.”

KNOWING power shows in each kingdom as the intelligence to be and do as God wills

(w) “Yea, these mentionings that have been made of the grades of KNOWLEDGE relate to the KNOWLEDGE of the MANIFESTATIONS of that Sun of Reality, which casteth Its light upon the Mirrors. And the splendor of that light is in the hearts, yet it is hidden under the veilings of sense and the conditions of this earth, even as a candle within a lantern of iron, and only when the lantern is removed doth the light of the candle shine out.”

(x) “Every one who partakes of this bounty and receives these perfections...will be freed from the darkness of error, and will be illuminated by the light of His guidance.” (y) “The foundation of success and salvation is the KNOWLEDGE of God, and...the results of the KNOWLEDGE of God are the good actions which are the fruits of faith. If man has not this KNOWLEDGE, he will be separated from God, and when this separation exists, good actions have not complete effect.” [Page 42]

XIV. THE NEXT PHASES OF THE SOUL WE MUST VIEW ARE ITS ORIGIN, PATTERN AND OBJECTIVE

The REAL YOU, the SOUL, has a divine origin, not a MATERIAL one; God created YOU

DEITY KINGDOM OF MANIFESTATION Spiritual Condition of ‎CREATICN CREATION‎

(a) "The Creator of all is One God. From this same God all CREATION sprang into existence." (b) "Interaction, cooperation and interrelation amongst beings are under the direction and WILL of a motive Power which is the origin, the motive force and pivot of all ‎interractions interactions‎ in the universe." (c) "Such forces as have their origin in this world of dust are, by their very nature, unworthy of consideration."

---

The spiritual substance of the SOUL is intelligence and LOVE

(d) "Out of the essence of KNOWLEDGE I gave thee being....Out of the clay of LOVE I molded thee."

(e) "The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest of His creatures."

(f) "Unto each one hath been prescribed a pre-ordained measure, as decreed in God's...Tablets."

(g) "Difference in capacity in HUMAN individuals is fundamental."

(h) "Some think that the body is the substance and exists by itself, and that the spirit is accidental and depends upon the substance of the body...On the contrary, the RATIONAL SOUL is the substance, and the body depends upon it. If...the body be destroyed, the substance, the spirit remains."

The essence of a SOUL is spirit; in English the two words are used interchangeably:

(i) "Spirit, n. Intelligent or immaterial part of man, soul" (Oxford Dict'ry)

(j) "These two names - the HUMAN spirit and the RATIONAL SOUL - designate one thing."

SPECIAL NOTE: But Bahá’í Writings define SOUL as the entity God creates, the HUMAN reality; where-as spirit is the power that activates a being or entity. We shall put SOUL in parentheses ‎therefcre therefore‎ to make the meaning clear as in (k) "Beloved, believe not every spirit (SOUL); and (l) "Descent and ascent are characteristics of bodies not of spirits (SOULS)."

The SOUL, being created of spiritual substance, lives in the spiritual world

(m) "Man - the true man - is SOUL, not body; though physically man belongs to the animal kingdom, yet his SOUL lifts him above the rest of ‎CREATICN CREATION‎. ...The ‎SCUL SOUL‎...makes the HUMAN creature a celestial entity." (n) "The SOUL can live without a body, but the body without a SOUL dies." [Page 43]

The SOUL, being created of spiritual substance, LIVES in the spiritual world (cont'd)

(o) Part of YOU "is...not subject to sensations;...the spirit (SOUL, see SPECIAL NOTE p.42) of man is not affected by the change or condition of the body. Even though the MATERIAL body should die, the spirit (SOUL) continues eternally alive.... (It) exists and functions in the inert body in the realm of dreams," also.

(p) "If the spirit (SOUL) of man belonged to the elemental existence, the eye could see it, the ear hear it, the hand touch. As long as these five senses cannot perceive it, the proof is unquestioned that it does not belong to the elemental (MATERIAL) world."

(q) "The whole physical ‎CREATICN CREATION‎ is perishable.... The composition of atoms, which constitutes the body or mortal element of any created being, is temporary. When the power of attraction, which holds these atoms together, is withdrawn, the body, as such, ceases to exist. With the SOUL it is different. The SOUL is not a combination of elements, it is not composed of many atoms, it is of one indivisible substance and therefore eternal. It is..out of the order of the physical ‎CREATICN CREATION‎; it is immortal!"

The SOUL comes into existence at the TIME of conception: it has a beginning, no end

(r) "‘Abdu’l-Bahá (when asked) in what state the SOUL exists before it enters the body...answered: 'In a state of potentiality. It has no ‎CONSCICUSNESS CONSCIOUSNESS‎ in the sense in which we comprehend this term. Individual CONSCIOUSNESS is not born until conception takes place...The WILL of God is the determining factor. When God wills it, the SOUL steps into the arena of HUMAN LIFE.... Yes, every SOUL has a beginning, but once created, is eternal!"

(s) "The physical condition will certainly become decomposed, but the condition of the RATIONAL SOUL, though it has a beginning, has no end."

(t) "KNOW that although the HUMAN SOUL has existed on the earth for prolonged TIMES and ages, yet it is phenomenal (at its birth). As it is a divine sign, when once it has come into existence it is eternal. The spirit of man has a beginning, but it has no end; it continues eternally."

(u) "As the spirit (SOUL) of man is not composed of MATERIAL elements, it is not subject to decomposition and therefore has no death."

The SOUL is created in seed form; its perfections (KNOWLEDGE and LOVE) must develop

(v) "All beings, whether large or small, were created perfect and complete from the first, but their perfections appear in them by degrees. ...For example, in the seed all the vegetable perfections exist from the beginning, but not visibly; afterwards little by little they appear.... In the same way, the embryo possesses from the first all perfections such as the spirit, the mind, the sight, the smell, the taste...but they are not visible, and become so only by degrees."

(w) "In the physical CREATION, evolution is from one degree of perfection to another.... (But) the SOUL does not evolve from degree to degree as a LAW - it only evolves nearer to God, by the Mercy and Bounty of God."

(x) The journey of the SOUL is necessary. The pathway of LIFE is the road which leads to divine KNOWLEDGE and attainment." [Page 44]

The pattern of SOUL-growth starts by using the body to gain KNOWLEDGE and LOVE

(y) "Man...has a body which grows and which feels."

(z) "At the beginning of the amalgamation of the elements and natures in the womb, the power of the spirit begins... to appear in the body gradually and successively according to the preparation and capacity to receive that everlasting abundance."

(aa) "The wisdom of the appearance of the spirit in the body is this: the HUMAN spirit is a Divine Trust, and it (the SOUL, see NOTE p.42) must traverse all conditions; for its passage and movement through the conditions of existence will be the means of its acquiring perfections.... When the HUMAN spirit (SCUL) passes through the conditions of existence...it will become the possessor of each degree and station. Even in the condition of the body it will surely acquire perfections."

The SOUL has a mysterious connection with the body, and has complete control over it

(bb) "The connection of the spirit (SOUL, see NOTE p.42) with the body is like that of the sun with the mirror.... The spirit (SOUL) with the utmost greatness rules in the world of the body, and its power and influence, like the bounty of the sun in the mirror, are apparent and visible."

(cc) "This physical body...lives under its entire control" (the SOUL’s) and "in accordance with its dictates. If the SOUL identifies itself with the MATERIAL world... (and) remains in this station...it (the SOUL) will be the recipient of this darkness; but if it (the SOUL) becomes the recipient of the graces of the world of the mind, its darkness will be transformed into light...until it reach the apex."

YOUR earthly LIFE-TIME is the TIME of your SOUL’s embryonic development and forming

(dd) "In the beginning of his HUMAN LIFE man was embryonic in the world of the matrix. There he received capacity and endowment for the reality of HUMAN existence. The forces and powers necessary for this world were bestowed upon him in that limited condition. In this world he needed eyes; he received them potentially in the other. He needed ears; he obtained them there in readiness for his new existence. The powers requisite in this world were conferred upon him in the world of the matrix, so that when he entered this realm of real existence he not only possessed all necessary functions and powers but found provision for his MATERIAL sustenance awaiting him. Therefore in this world he must prepare himself for the LIFE beyond. That which he needs in the world of the KINGDOM must be obtained here. Just as he prepared himself in the world of the matrix by acquiring forces necessary in this sphere of existence, so likewise the indispensable forces of the divine existence must be potentially attained in this world."

(ee) "Had the LIFE of man...been only confined to his LIFE in this world, the creation would have proved useless,...abortive.... Had the LIFE and growth of the child in the womb been confined to that condition, then the existence of the child in the womb would have proved utterly...unintelligible; as would the LIFE of this world, were its deeds, actions and their results not to appear in the world to come." [Page 45]

YOU have two LIFE-patterns: MATERIAL and spiritual; only the first ends at death

(ff) "If ye be seekers after this LIFE and the vanities thereof, ye should have sought them while ye were still..in your mothers’ wombs, for at that TIME ye were continually approaching them... Ye have, on the other hand, ever since ye were born and attained maturity, been all the while receding from the world and drawing closer to dust."

Death ends the ‎SCUL’s SOUL’s‎ prenatal LIFE, but its LIFE-pattern goes on gloriously forever

(gg) "Both before and after putting off...MATERIAL form, there is progress in perfection.... Hence as the perfections of humanity are endless, man can also make progress in perfections after leaving this world."

(hh) "As to the SOUL of man after death, it remains in the degree of purity to which it has evolved during LIFE in the physical body, and after it is freed from the body...its evolution is spiritual, and that evolution is: The approaching unto God."

At the TIME of death YOU are still Y-O-U - whatever YOU have developed and become

growth of ‎KNCWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE‎ & LOVE

physical LIFE pattern

(ii) "ALL the SOULS are created according to the nature of God and all are in the state of purity at the TIME of their births. But afterwards they differ from one another insofar as they acquire excellencies or defects."

(jj) "Movement is essential to all existence. All MATERIAL things progress to a certain point, then begin to decline. This is the LAW which governs the whole physical CREATION.... Nothing that has LIFE is without motion. ALL CREATION, whether of the mineral, vegetable or animal kingdom, is compelled to ...either ascend or descend. But with the HUMAN SOUL, there is no decline. Its only movement is towards perfection; growth and progress alone constitute the motion of the SOUL."

(kk) "If his morals become spiritual in character, his aspirations heavenly and his actions conformable to the WILL of God, man has attained the image and likeness of his Creator; otherwise he is the image and likeness of satan."

(ll) "Make known this Thy station, O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made aware that the excellence of all things is dependent upon Thy bidding and Thy WORD, and the virtue of every act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good-pleasure of Thy WILL, and may recognize that the reins of men’s doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and Thy commandment." [Page 46]

Progress by choice is limited to this earthly LIFE-TIME: take advantage of it!

(mm) Man's station is great...were he to cling to truth and righteousness and be firm and steadfast in the CAUSE.

(nn) "The progress of man's spirit (SCUL, see SPECIAL NOTE p.42) in the divine world, after the severance of its connection with the body of dust, is through the bounty and grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and the sincere prayers of other HUMAN SOULS, or through the charities and important good works which are performed in its name."

At death YOUR REALITY will show its full power and worth

(oo) "The SOUL of man is exalted above, and is independent of all infirmities of body or mind.... The SOUL itself remaineth unaffected by any bodily ailments. Consider the light of the lamp. Though an external object may interfere with its radiance, the light itself continueth to shine with undiminished power. In like manner, every malady afflicting the body of man...preventeth the SOUL from manifesting its inherent might and power. When it leaveth the body...it will evince such ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no force on earth can equal."

(pp) "In the next world man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours: their work of the KINGDOM is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call TIME and place.... Those who have ascended have different attributes (conditions) from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation."

The SOUL's relation to the body should be clearly understood, and can be NOW

(qq) "In the TIME of sleep this body is as though dead;...but the spirit (SOUL, see SPECIAL NOTE p.42) lives and subsists. Nay, its penetration is increased, its flight is higher, and its intelligence is greater.... Our body is like the cage, and the spirit (SOUL) is like the bird. We see that without the cage this bird flies in the world of sleep; therefore if the cage becomes broken, the bird will continue and exist: its feelings will be even more powerful, its perceptions greater, and its happiness increased."

(rr) "it is the SOUL that animates the body; the body alone has no real significance. Deprived of the blessings of the HOLY SPIRIT, the MATERIAL body would be inert."

(ss) Speaking "of the SOUL.... this physical body...lives under its entire control in accordance with its dictates."

(tt) "The SOUL of man should be likened unto this sun, and all things on earth should be regarded as his body. So long as no external impediment interveneth between them, the body will... continue to reflect the light of the SOUL, and to be sustained by its power. As soon as, however a veil interposeth itself between them, the brightness of that light seemeth to lessen."

(uu) "The spirit is changeless, indestructible. The progress and development of the SCUL, the joy and sorrow of the SOUL, are independent of the physical body... (though) the grief or trouble of the SOUL may react on the body. [Page 47]

Your body is a perfect creation and a divine gift; use it wisely and as intended

(vv) "The body of man, which is composed from the elements, is combined and mingled in the most perfect form; it is...the noblest combination, the most perfect existence." (ww) "Moreover, these members, these elements, this composition, which are found in the organism of man, are an attraction and magnet for the spirit.... Under these conditions...when the elements are arranged and combined in the most glorious system, organization and manner, the HUMAN spirit will appear and be manifest in them. This is the decree of the Powerful, the Wise."

(xx) "Immeasurably exalted is the Almighty Who hath created these powers, and revealed them in the body of man."

But your SOUL lives and develops in its own KINGDOM independently of your body, too

(yy) "The power and comprehension of the HUMAN spirit...perceive and act in two different modes. One is through instruments and organs...The other ...is without instruments and organs."

(zz) "The SOUL has two main faculties: (a) As outer circumstances are communicated to the SOUL by the eyes, ears, and brain of a man, so does the SOUL communicate its desires and purposes through the brain to the hands and tongue of the physical body, thereby expressing itself.... (b) The second faculty of the SOUL expresses itself...and functions without the help of the MATERIAL bodily senses...This proves...the superiority of the SOUL of man over his body, the superiority of spirit over MATTER."

(aaa) "In wakefulness the eye of man sees at the utmost...about four miles, because through the instrumentality of the body, the power of the spirit is thus determined; but with the inner sight and the mental eye it sees America, and it can perceive that which is there, and discover the conditions of things.... Therefore it is evident that this spirit (SOUL) is different from the body, and that the bird is different from the cage, and that the power and penetration of the spirit (SOUL) is stronger without the intermediary of the body." (See SPECIAL NOTE p.42)

(bbb) "The spirit (SOUL) may be likened to the light within the lantern. The body is simply the outer lantern... The HUMAN SOUL by means of this body can perform its operations, and without the body it can likewise have its control.... This HUMAN body is purely animal in type and, like the animal, it is subject only to the grosser sensibilities." (ccc) "It is divinely intended that the spiritual susceptibilities of man should gain precedence and over-rule his physical forces. In this way he becomes fitted to dominate the HUMAN world by his nobility and stand forth fearless and free, endowed with the attributes of eternal LIFE."

Like your body, your reality or SOUL is a divine creation, perfect for its PURPOSE

(ddd) The ‎SCUL SOUL‎ is "an attractable body, to be drawn to the Magnet of the KINGDOM of God."

(eee) "If it (the ‎SCUL SOUL‎) be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their depths." [Page 48]

XV. THE LAST PHASE OF THE SOUL TO BE VIEWED IS ITS IMMEDIATE ACTS AND ATTRIBUTES

Body and SOUL: these are YOUR 2 natures NOW: their acts and attributes NOW are YCURS

(a) "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."

(b) "Man has the animal side as well as the angelic side; and the tim of an Educator is to so train HUMAN SOULS, that their angelic aspect may (ver-come their animal side." (c) Signs of both of 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 If a man's divine nature dominates his HUMAN nature, we have a saint."

(d) "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. If a man's divine nature dominates his HUMAN nature, we have a saint.... But if, on the contrary, he rejects the things of God and allows his evil passions to conquer him, then he is no better than a mere animal.

The 2 natures of man are activated by different degrees of spirit: HUMAN & animal (see page 38)

(e) "Man being the culmination of all that went before and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower world within himself."

(f) But "man has a gift which the animal does not possess.... The animal is captive of the senses and bound by them; all that is beyond the senses, ...the animal can never understand.... Hence...in man there is a power of discovery by which he is distinguished from the animals, and this is the spirit of man."

(g) "Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the SOUL, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of CREATION."

This means man has 2 kinds of power: spiritual and MATERIAL: they show in his LIVING

(h) "Man has two powers, and his development two aspects. One power is connected with the MATERIAL world and by it he is capable of MATERIAL advancement. The other power is spiritual and through its development his inner, potential nature is awakened. These powers are like two wings, both must be developed, for flight is impossible with one wing. Praise be to God! MATERIAL advancement has been evident in the world; but there is need of spiritual advancement in like proportion. We must strive unceasingly... to accomplish the development of the spiritual nature in man."

The power or spirit YOU use NOW determines the kind of BEING YOU are becoming

(i) "The spirit of man has two aspects: one divine, one satanic; ...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 existing beings; and if it acquires vices, it becomes the most degraded existence."

(j) "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. [Page 49]

Man must be taught what Divinity is, what good and evil actions and attributes are

(k) "The animal is a captive of nature.... It has no consideration or CONSCIOUSNESS of good and evil. It simply follows its natural instinct and inclination. The Prophets of God have come to show man the way of righteousness in order that he may not follow his own natural impulse, but govern his actions by the light of Their precept and example."

(l) "That which is pre-eminent above all other gifts...is the gift of Divine REVELATION.... It is God's supreme testimony,..the token of His all-encompassing mercy, the proof of His most loving providence, the symbol of His most perfect grace. He hath, indeed, partaken of this highest gift of God who hath recognized His MANIFESTATION in this Day."

Man must see both Divinity and the evils of what's "natural." choose between them

(m) "The heart which receives a portion of the bounty of the SPIRIT becomes... purified and sanctified from the impurities of the world of nature. These natural impurities are evil qualities: anger, passion, worldliness, pride, lying, hypocrisy, fraud, self-love, etc. Man cannot free himself from the rage of the carnal passions except by the help of the HOLY SPIRIT."

(n) "An humble man without learning, but filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, is more powerful than the most nobly-born..scholar without that inspiration. He who is educated by the Divine SPIRIT, can, in his TIME, lead others to receive the same SPIRIT." (o) "Verily, I say unto thee, every SOUL which ariseth today to guide others..., the HOLY SPIRIT will inspire...with evidences, proofs and facts, and the lights will shine upon...from the KINGDOM of God."

(p) "But on the other hand, when man does not open his mind and heart to the blessing of the SPIRIT...all his aspirations and desires being strengthened by the lower side of the SOUL's nature, he becomes more and more brutal, until his whole being is in no way superior to that of the beasts that perish."

(q) "To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man." (r) "They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations have erred and dissipated their efforts. They are indeed of the lost." (s) "The pursuit of passion and desire will wrap the eyes in a thousand veils that rise out of the heart to blind the sight and..insight as well."

(t) "This physical world of man is subject to the power of the lusts, and sin is the consequence of this power of the lusts.... The body of man is a captive of nature; it will act in accordance with whatever nature orders ....A man who has not had a spiritual education is a brute."

God, through RELIGION and His MANIFESTATION, enlightens, warns us to choose wisely

(u) "O MOVING FORM OF DUST!...The sword of thy rebellion hath felled the tree of thy hope.... Imperishable glory I have chosen for thee, yet boundless shame thou hast chosen for thyself."

(v) "Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people. They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations, have erred and dissipated their efforts. They, indeed, are of the lost."

(w) "Let God be sufficient for thee. Commune intimately with His SPIRIT." [Page 50]

XVI. WE NEED A CLOSER VIEW OF YOUR MAKE-UP TO UNDERSTAND YOUR DIFFERENT NATURES

The HUMAN spirit generates HUMAN thoughts and feelings, a cumulative CONSCIOUSNESS

(a) "The thought force and the animal force are partners. Although men is part of the animal CREATION" (in body), "he possesses a power of thought superior to all other created beings. If a man’s thought is constantly aspiring towards heavenly subjects, then does he become saintly; if, on the other hand, his thought does not soar, but is directed downwards to center itself upon the things of this world, he grows more.. MATERIAL until he arrives at a state little better than that of a mere animal."

SYMBOL PICTURE of different levels of HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS (What goes on above the ears develops HUMAN thoughts and feelings) Эс

Thus YOU are not only body and SOUL, but a HUMAN being with a HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS

(b) "It is evident that the HUMAN personality appears in two aspects the image and likeness of God and the aspect of satan. The HUMAN REALITY stands between these two." (c) "He has CONSCIOUSNESS, volition, memory, intelligent power, divine attributes and virtues of which nature is completely deprived, bereft."

So in addition to your animal nature and spiritual nature YOU have a HUMAN nature

(d) "Therefore we say that man is a reality which stands between light and darkness. From this standpoint...his nature is threefold: animal. HUMAN and divine. The animal nature is darkness; the heavenly, is light in light."

The HUMAN creature minus his divine nature is an educated animal; dies with the body

(e) "It is the SCUL...that directs a man’s faculties, that governs his humanity" or HUMAN nature. (See Oxford Dictionary, humanity)

(f) Speaking of the "decomposition of.. (the) body...how can any one imagine that man’s CONSCIOUSNESS and personality will be maintained, when the very instruments necessary to their existence and function will have completely disintegrated?" is asked. Answer is that "if the instrument is abandoned, the possessor of the instrument continues to act." (g) [Page 51]

RATIONALITY is the KNOWING POWER or, with emotion. is the spirit, of HUMAN nature

(See page 3, g)

(g) "The HUMAN spirit.. (and) the RATIONAL SOUL...designate one thing. This spirit,...as far as HUMAN ability permits, discovers the realities of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities and effects, and of the properties of beings."

(h) "Consider the RATIONAL faculty with which God has endowed the essence of men. 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."

(i) "God has created man and endowed him with the power of reason whereby he may arrive at valid conclusions. Therefore man must endeavor in all things to investigate the fundamental REALITY. If he does not independently investigate, he has failed to utilize the talent God has bestowed upon him."

RATIONALITY is generating the HUMAN "mind" and intellectual being that's part of YOU

(j) "In the HUMAN organism there is a center of intellection, a power of intellectual operation which is the discoverer of the realities of things. This power can unravel the mysteries of phenomena. It can comprehend that which is KNOWable; not alone the sensible. All the inventions are its products.... All the sciences which we now utilize are the products of that wondrous reality."

(k) "Assuredly one may learn to the end of one's LIFE!"

The HUMAN spirit or reason enables man to cope with the MATERIAL world intelligently

(l) "Man makes nature his servant, harnesses, electricity." (m) "Man although in body a part of nature, nevertheless in spirit possesses a power transcending nature.... God has conferred upon and added to man a distinctive power, the faculty of intellectual investigation into the secrets of CREATION, the acquisition of higher KNOWLEDGE."

(n) "Man..., by his understanding or intellect, has been able to gain control of and adapt some...natural LAWS to his own needs. By the power of his intellect he has discovered means by which he not only traverses great continents in express trains and crosses vast oceans in ships, but, like the fish, he travels under water in submarines, and, imitating the birds, he flies through the air in airships."

Intellectual effort promotes civilization, and this is a Purpose of MANKIND on earth

(o) "For, in the existing KNOWLEDGE of the reality of things there is MATERIAL advantage, and through it outward civilization progresses."

And (p) "All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization." We must remember, though, that (q) "Although MATERIAL civilization is one of the means for the progress of the world of MANKIND, yet until it becomes combined with Divine civilization, the desired result, which is the felicity of MANKIND, will not be attained." [Page 52]

XVII THE HUMAN BEING, PERSONALITY OR "EGO" MUST BE VIEWED AS A REALITY IN ITSELF

Its reality is the outer expression of the SOUL's intellectual and emotional growth

(a) "As we have before indicated, this HUMAN reality stands between the higher and lower in man, between the world of the animal and the world of divinity. When the animal proclivity in man becomes predominant, he sinks lower than the brute. When the heavenly powers are triumphant in his nature, he becomes the noblest and most superior being in the world."

It is REALLY the body with its built-up CONSCIOUSNESS imprinted on its brain cells

(b) "If the SOUL identifies itself with the MATERIAL world it remains dark, for in the natural world there is corruption, aggression, struggles for existence, greed, darkness, transgression and vice.... There is, however, a faculty in man which unfolds to his vision the secrets of existence ...the power of the mind; ...and still another power which is differentiated from that of the SOUL and mind.... This spirit of faith...inspires man to attain the virtues and perfections of the divine world."

Its powers are the intellectual (KNOWING) and emotional (LOVE) powers of the SOUL

(c) "Now concerning mental faculties, they are in truth of the inherent properties of the SOUL, even as the radiation of light is the essential property of the sun.... It is through the power of the SOUL that the mind comprehendeth, imagineth and exerteth its influence.... The mind comprehendeth the abstract by the aid of the concrete, but the SOUL hath limitless manifestations of its own. The mind is circumscribed, the SOUL limitless. It is the aid of such senses as those of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, that the mind comprehendeth, whereas the SOUL is free from all agencies."

Ceiling of HUMAN THOUGHT WORLD Intellectual, immediate RATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS faculties Animal Intelligence MATERIAL WORLD

But HUMAN vision is limited, can't see God's reality

(d) "All the people have formed a god in the world of thought, and that form of their own imagination they worship; when the fact is that the imagined form is finite....All the sects and peoples worship their own thought; they create a god in their own minds and acknowledge him to be the creator of all things, when that form is superstition - thus people adore and worship imagination."

(e) "It may be that a man who has every MATERIAL benefit, and who lives surrounded by all the greatest comfort modern civilization can give him, is denied the all important gift of the HOLY SPIRIT" (divine KNOWLEDGE and LOVE; see p.27 (n))

(f) "Unless man is released from the captivity of MATERIALism, and receiving a portion of the bounties of the spiritual world...the utmost we can say of him is that he is a perfect animal. No one can rightly call him a man." [Page 53]

In a HUMAN, the SOUL'S KNOWING power shows as his senses, intellect, personal ideas

(g) "The senses of hearing...and the like, are...to be reckoned among the gifts with which the HUMAN body is endowed." (h) "The (HUMAN) mind, moreover, understandeth not whilst the senses have ceased to function, and in the embryonic stage and in early infancy the reasoning power is totally absent."

(i) "God gave this power (the intellect) to man that it might be used for the advancement of civilization, for the good of humanity, to increase LOVE and concord and peace. But man prefers to use this gift to destroy instead of to build, for injustice and oppression, for hatred and discord and devastation, for the destruction of his fellow-creatures."

HUMAN beings are often "religious" but not spiritual; they believe only what is RATIONAL to them, and reject what it takes FAITH (a higher SOUL power) to see

(5) "Though immersed in the ocean of misbelief, yet with your lips ye profess the one true faith of God."

(k) "Inasmuch as HUMAN interpretations and blind imitations differ widely,...the light of true RELIGION has been extinguished....A man is a Jew because his father was a Jew. The Muhammadan follows implicitly the footsteps of his ancestors in belief.... That is to say they profess religious belief blindly and without investigation."

(1) "Therefore the realm of the RELIGIONist has gradually narrowed and darkened, and the sphere of the MATERIAList has widened and advanced; for the RELIGIONist has held the imitation and counterfeit, neglecting and discarding holiness and the sacred REALITY of RELIGION."

(m) "Thus have their superstitions become veils between them and their own hearts and kept them from the path of God."

RATIONALITY, a limited power. causes imperfect vision and a CONSCIOUSNESS of "evil"

(n) The spiritual and divine world is purely good and absolutely luminous, but in the HUMAN world light and darkness, good and evil, exist as opposite conditions.... When the SOUL and spirit of Adam entered the HUMAN world, he came out from the paradise of freedom and fell into the world of bondage. From the height of purity and absolute goodness, he entered into the world of good and evil."

(o) "This physical world of man is subject to the power of the lusts, and sin is the consequence of this power of the lusts, for it is not subject to the LAWS of justice and holiness." (p) "Without the help of God, man is even as the beasts that perish."

(q) "The imperfect eye beholds imperfections."

A HUMAN being sees things not as they are in REALITY but only as how they affect him

For (r) "All the trials and troubles come from this world of illusion. For instance, a merchant may lose his trade and depression ensues. A workman is dismissed and starvation stares him in the face. A farmer has a bad harvest, anxiety fills his mind. A man builds a house which is burnt to the ground and he is straightway homeless, ruined, and in despair." [Page 54]

LOVE power shows positively as LOVE of good, negatively as revulsion against "bad"

(s) "God has given man a heart and the heart must have some attachment. We have proved that nothing is completely worthy of our heart’s devotions save Reality, for all else is destined to perish. Therefore the heart is never at rest and never finds real joy and happiness until it attaches itself to the eternal....Man must attach himself to an Infinite Reality so that his glory, his joy, and his progress may be infinite."

Until one sees something more divine than self. his only positive LOVE is self-LOVE

(t) "Self-love is a strange trait and the means of destruction of many important SOULS in the world. If man be imbued with all good qualities but be selfish, all the other virtues will fade or pass away and eventually he will grow worse."

(u) "Wherefore must the veils of the satanic (HUMAN) self be burned away at the fire of LOVE, that the spirit (SCUL, see SPECIAL NOTE p 42) may be purified and cleansed and thus may KNOW the station of the Lord of the Worlds." (v) "If it fail...in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion."

(w) "If our chalice (CONSCIOUSNESS?) is full of self, there is no room in it for the water of LIFE (REVELATION?)"

It’s important to KNOW our own divinity; but the HUMAN self and desires aren’t divine

(x) "Alas! Alas! O lovers of worldly desire! Even as the swiftness of lightning ye passed by the Beloved One, and have set your hearts on satanic fancies. Ye bow the knee before your vain imagining, and call it truth."

(y) "The natural emotions are blameworthy and are like rust, and deprive the heart from the bounties of God.' (z) "Thou seest, O my Lord, how Thy servants are held captive by their own.selves and desires."

(aa) "Desire and passion, like two unmanageable horses, have wrested the reins of control from him and are galloping madly in the wilderness. This is the cause of the degradation of the world of humanity. This is the cause of its retrogression into the appetites and passions of the animal kingdom.... By devotion to the carnal mortal world, HUMAN susceptibilities sink to the level of animalism." (bb) "Despair, both here and hereafter, is all YCU will gain from self-indulgence."

(cc) "Suffer not yourselves to be wrapt in the dense veils of your selfish desires, inasmuch as I have perfected in every one of you My creation, so that the excellence of My handiwork may be fully revealed unto men.'

(dd) "See how nations have come and gone.... Some were mere captives of self and desire, engulfed in the passions of the lower nature.... And what was the final outcome? Utter evanescence and oblivion."

(ee) "God grant that your desires and unmortified passions may not hinder you from that which hath been ordained for you."

(ff) "Enrapture my SOUL, O my Lord, with Thy most mighty signs, and draw me out of the depths of my corrupt and evil desires." [Page 55]

In self-LOVE a HUMAN serves his own desires. pursues his selfish aims and pleasures

(gg) "Consider how difficult for man is the attainment of pleasures and happiness in this mortal world. How easy it is for the animal....Therefore consider how base a nature it reveals in man that...he should lower himself into the animal sphere....How debased the SOUL which can find enjoyment in this darkness, occupied with itself, captive of self and passion, wallowing in the mire of the MATERIAL world.... What ignorance this is!"

(hh) "O REBELLIOUS ONES! My forbearance hath emboldened you and My long-suffering hath made you negligent, in such wise that ye have spurred on the fiery charger of passion into perilous ways that lead unto destruction. Have ye thought Me heedless or that I was unaware?" (ii) "How long wilt thou soar in the realms of desire? Wings have I bestowed upon thee, that thou mayest fly to the realms of mystic holiness and not the regions of satanic fancy."

The SOUL LOVES; but the pattern of HUMAN LIFE is a struggle with what we see as bad

(jj) "Evil is imperfection. Sin is the state of man in the world of the baser nature, for in nature exist defects such as injustice, tyranny, hatred, hostility, strife: these are characteristics of the lower plane of nature. These are the sins of the world.... Through education we must free ourselves from these imperfections."

The HUMAN creature lives in imperfection: in his own, and in the evil that he sees

(kk) "The REALITY underlying this question is that the evil spirit, satan or whatever is interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature in man. This baser nature is symbolized in various ways. In man there are two expressions, one is the expression of nature, the other the expression of the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. God has never created an evil spirit; all such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere HUMAN or earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth that thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively speaking, this is evil; it is simply the lower state and baser product of nature."

(ll) "The majority of people are captives in the matrix of nature, submerged in the sea of MATERIALITY.... Today the world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of touch with the world of God...The power of the HOLY SPIRIT has no influence." (mm) "O SON OF SPIRIT! There is no peace for thee save by renouncing thyself and turning unto Me."

(nn) "All over the world one hears beautiful sayings extolled and noble precepts admired.... But...we see very few of them carried into the world of action."

(oo) "The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into ‎practise practice‎."

(pp) "Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. He will, ere-long, bring to naught all the things ye possess.... Forget not His covenant with you, and be not...shut out as by a veil from Him." [Page 56]

A HUMAN uses LOVE power negatively: his actions include fearing.. rebelling, hating

(pp) "‎KNCW KNOW‎ thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is neither trustworthy nor truthful.... He that acteth treacherously towards God will, also, act treacherously towards his king. Nothing whatever can deter such a man from evil, nothing can hinder him from betraying his neighbor, nothing can induce him to walk uprightly." (qq) "Alas! we see on all sides how cruel, prejudiced and unjust is man, and how slow he is to believe in God and follow His commandments....why is man so hard of heart? It is because he does not yet ‎KNCW KNOW‎ God....If he were spiritually minded such a line of conduct would not be possible to him."

Another HUMAN pattern is choosing: by it YOU "make up" your mind, grow as YOU WILL

(rr) "The choice of good and evil belongs to man." (ss) "We have shown thee two ways; walk thou the way thou choosest." (tt) "Whosoever desireth, let him choose the path to his Lord."

(uu) "Man...is the sum of all the degrees of imperfection,...(but) possesses the degrees of perfection.... Then, if the divine power in man which is his essential perfection, overcomes the satanic power which is absolute imperfection, he becomes the most excellent among the creatures; but if the satanic power overcomes the divine power, he becomes the lowest of the creatures."

And only through using your God-given volition can YOU bring out your own divinity

(vv) "All that which ye potentially possess can...be manifested only as a result of your own volition." (ww) "O SON OF SPIRIT! noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created."

But so-called evil and YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS of it have a divine Purpose in REALITY

(xx) "Limitation itself proveth the existence of the Unlimited,... Without wealth there would be no poverty, without KNOWLEDGE no ignorance, without light no darkness. Darkness itself is a proof of the existence of light, for darkness is the absence of light."

(yy) "He...(God) is, no doubt, fully capable of rescuing from remoteness wayward SOULS, and of causing them to draw nigh unto His court and attain His Presence....His purpose, however, is...that they who seek the Beauty of the All-Glorious may be distinguished and separated from the wayward and perverse."

(zz) "If none be found to stray from Thy path, how, then, can the ensign of Thy mercy be unfurled, or the banner of Thy bountiful favor be hoisted? And if iniquity be not committed, what is it that can proclaim Thee to be the Concealer of men’s sins, the Ever-Forgiving, the ‎Cmniscient Omniscient‎...?"

(aaa) "Through suffering he will attain to eternal happiness which nothing can take from him.... To attain eternal happiness one must suffer."

SUMMING UP: YOUR HUMAN "self" or nature ("Ego") is your MATERIAL being (body), PLUS the "mind" YOU have "made up" (‎RATICNAL RATIONAL‎ being) PLUS your negative emotional attitudes that reacting to "evil" has formed. Your attributes and actions of positive LOVE are all part of your spiritual being or SOUL. [Page 57]

XVIII. THE "MIND". MENTAL BEING OR RATIONAL MAN IS PART OF YOU, A REALITY IN ITSELF

Its power is the KNOWING power of the SOUL; its purpose, to create a HUMAN ‎CONSCICUSNESS CONSCIOUSNESS‎; note from p. 50, picture, that this SOUL power is self-operating

(a) "Mental faculties...are in truth of the inherent properties of the SOUL, even as the radiation of light is the essential property of the sun."

The term, "mind," is used in 2 ways; 1st, as the KNOWLEDGE or KNOWING part of a SOUL

(b) "‘KNOWLEDGE is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth.’ It is this kind of KNOWLEDGE which is and hath ever been praiseworthy, and not the limited KNOWLEDGE that hath sprung forth from veiled and obscured minds.... Would that the hearts of men could be cleansed from these man-made limitations and obscure thoughts imposed upon them!"

(c) "The mind is the (KNOWING?) power of the HUMAN spirit (or RATIONAL SOUL). Spirit (SOUL, see NOTE p. 42) is the lamp; mind is the light which shines from the lamp.... Mind is the perfection of the spirit (SOUL), and its essential quality, as the sun’s rays are the essential necessity of the sun."

A 2nd meaning of "mind" is the outer CONSCIOUSNESS, generated by KNOWING faculties

(d) "In man five outer powers exist, which are the agents of perception, that is to say, through these five powers man perceives MATERIAL beings. These are sight, which perceives visible forms; hearing, which perceives audible sounds; smell, which perceives odors; taste, which perceives foods; and feeling, which is in all parts of the body, and perceives tangible things. These five powers perceive outward existences."

(e) "The mind, moreover, understandeth not whilst the senses have ceased function, and in the embryonic stage and in early infancy the reasoning power is totally absent." (This "mind" YOU "make up" reaction by reaction.)

The HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS results from a faculty common to body and SOUL

(f) "The intermediary between the five outward...and inward powers is the sense which they possess in common, that is to say, the sense which acts between the outer and inner powers, conveys to the inward powers whatever the outer powers discern. It is termed the common faculty, because it communicates between the outward and inward powers, and thus is common to...(them)."

(g) "Man also has spiritual powers: imagination, which conceives things; thought (or "faculty of reason," see Oxford Dictionary) "which reflects upon realities; comprehension which comprehends (KNOWS?) realities; memory, which retains whatever man imagines, thinks and comprehends." (These are all "inward powers" which YOU use in "making up your mind."

Mind action helps the SOUL to grow, and to deal intelligently with MATERIAL things

(h) "The purpose and object of schools, colleges and universities is to educate man and thereby rescue and redeem him from the exigencies and defects of nature and to awaken within him the capability of controlling and appropriating nature’s bounties." (i) "Societies...interested in commerce, science and politics...are for MATERIAL service, their desire being for the progress and enlightenment of the world of MATTER." [Page 58]

XIX. THE BODY, PHYSICAL BEING OR MATERIAL-MAN IS A PART OF YOU, ALSO A SEPARATE REALITY

Its power is the animal degree of SOUL power; its purpose is to aid in SOUL-growth

(a) "Physically man belongs to the animal kingdom."

(b) "The body is the physical or animal degree of man.... The bodies alike of men and animals are composed of elements held together by the LAW of attraction. Like the animal, man possesses the faculties of the senses, is subject to heat, cold, hunger, thirst, etc."

(c) "The fact of having a pure and spotless body...exerciseth an influence upon the spirit of man."

The body is of MATERIAL assistance in developing the SOUL’S understanding and LOVE

(d) "Next in rank (to the gift of understanding conferred upon man), is the power of vision, the chief instrument whereby his understanding can function. The senses of hearing, of the heart, and the like, are similarly to be reckoned among the gifts with which the HUMAN body is endowed. Immeasurably exalted is the Almighty Who hath created these powers, and revealed them in the body of man."

(e) "O SON OF BOUNTY! Out of the wastes of nothingness, with the clay of My command I made thee to appear, and have ordained for thy training every atom in existence and the essence of all created things."

(f) "These MATERIAL bodies are composed of atoms; when these atoms begin to separate decomposition sets in, then comes what we call death. This composition of atoms which constitutes the body or mortal element of any created being, is temporary. When the power of attraction, which holds these atoms together, is withdrawn, the body, as such, ceases to exist."

"Monkey see, monkey do": imitation and habits put "marks" in the heart and brain

(g) "It is incumbent...(to) cleanse the heart - which is the wellspring of divine treasures - from every marking, and...turn away from imitation."

(h) "God has not intended man to blindly imitate.... He has endowed him with the faculty of reasoning...to investigate and discover truth; and that which he finds real and true, he must accept. He must not be an imitator or blind follower."

The brain and nervous system are a SOUL’S communication system with outer existence

(i) "As outer circumstances are communicated to the ‎SCUL SOUL‎ by the eyes, ears, and brain of a man, so does the SOUL communicate its desires and purposes through the brain to the hands and tongue of the physical body, thereby expressing itself."

(j) "The powers of the sympathetic nerve are neither entirely physical nor spiritual, but are between the two. The nerve is connected with both. Its phenomena shall be perfect when its spiritual and physical relations are normal." Reread page 44. Note especially what "normal relations" are: that the SOUL control the body; otherwise there’s inner conflict, nervous tension.

We are to learn that "thinking" and even emoting can be a purely physical activity

(k) "Among other HUMAN forces, the power of ideation or faculty of intellection is MATERIAL." So science can enlighten us here. See next pages. [Page 59]

XX. HERE WE INSERT A FEW PAGES FROM EXPERTS ON THE HUMAN BODY AND PHYSICAL MAKE-UP

Remember: a HUMAN being NOW is a compromise between his animal and divine natures

(a) "People try to relieve nervous tension by adopting some form of com- promise behavior to render the unpleasant situation endurable. Often these compromises are invented in childhood, and, of course, they are childish. ...The child's compromise adjustment of today becomes his everyday habit- ual response, preventing adequate adjustments to adult situations.... These compromise habits of adjustment that do not adjust we call neurotic trends....They are not emotional tensions, but the result of attempting to adjust to emotional tensions.... (So) for man to function well,,,his underlying emotional tensions must be released."

HUMAN habits or "conditioned reflexes" are physical, so can be studied in animals

(b) "Pavlov...discovered that glandular responses, an automatic function of the body not under the control of the will, could be trained to respond to an artificial stimulus. He called this response a conditioned reflex.... The conditioned reflex is at the root of all your habit patterns, good or bad. It is this reflex that makes you go to work, punch the clock, lunch at noon, dine heavily at night, and wish that you hadn't by bedtime."

A "conditioned reflex" is a habit pattern built into the brain and nervous system

"What would happen if...reflexes,...opposite in their nature, were evoked at the same TIME? This experiment was made.

(c) "A dog was conditioned to react to a bell, a bell with a low musical note, just as he would react to food.... Next, his fear reflexes were con- ditioned to respond to a bell with a high musical note. An electric wire was attached to a storage battery, and every time the high note was sounded the dog received a slight shock. The dog, of course, was frightened.... His whole body, from the tip of his nose to the ultimate hairs on his tail, was conditioned to react to the high-pitched bell.

"Then the bells were changed gradually.... Two antagonistic conditioned reflexes were set off by an intermediate bell.

"What did the dog do? Just what a HUMAN being would do under like circumstances. He developed a neurosis. He crept into a corner, trembled all over.... Conflicting conditioned reflexes had made the poor animal neurotic....

"The experimental neurosis produced in dogs by conditioning in conflict- ing responses is just what happens by accident to us HUMANS. Our bodies are conditioned to react in a fear response to a certain stimulus;...then our bodies are conditioned to react in a LOVE response to the very same stimulus. A father will slap his son for no good reason; and the next day will give him candy for the same reason. The child never KNOWS where he stands. Father has become the stimulus that stands for a piece of candy and a sock on the jaw.

"When we cannot distinguish between stimuli, we become confused. Con- flict occurs within ourselves. There develops a tug of war between nerve cells in the brain. We feel that we must do two contradictory things at the same TIME. This conflict does not occur at a level of brain activity that is under our conscious control. The conflict involves our glands, our stomachs, intestines, blood vessels. All we KNOW is that we feel ner- vous, that we have abdominal cramps, or that our feet are cold and clammy....

"Our bodies and our minds are taught thousands of behavior patterns many of which are in complete conflict with each other." [Page 60]

Both habit patterns and HUMAN emotions are part of the body: let's see how they work

(d) "Your own habit patterns... are tied up not so much with your mind as with the behavior of your heart and intestines and glands. You become aware simply of nervousness when such habit patterns are frustrated, or when the behavior that they command can no longer be continued. Then there arises a sense of strain, of lack of fulfillment."

(e) "Fear is a compound of physical and mental processes. To an awareness of danger, something more must be added. That something more is contributed by your physical reactions in preparation for running away. Danger, plus the muscle tensions that make the knees quake and the back shiver, is fear..., something that we do in five stages. First: we perceive danger. Second: desire to escape.... Third: bodily responses follow the first two intellectual factors. Fourth: some of the bodily responses stir up disagreeable sensations and feelings which we would be rid of and which create--Fifth: a secondary motive to find relief in safety. If safety is impossible, these secondary feelings may become so intense as to produce paralyzing terror. "You end your fear when you stop the process in any one of these five activities."

(f) "Nerves control all of our organs. These nerves are grouped chiefly in one part of the nervous system.... This nervous center of our emotional life is called the interbrain....

"So let me introduce you to your master of ceremonies, the interbrain. Here is the seat of your emotions. LOVE, hate, fear, rage, jealousy, with their various groups of organic behavior, all take their start from this point. Even sex is located in this part of your nervous system....

"The interbrain sits just above the base of the skull. Stick your fingers in your ears, and you will be pointing right at it....

"The purpose of the interbrain is to co-ordinate all of the activities of the body. It makes the body and mind work together as a unit."

Nerves are vitally involved in emotions, but these too are part of the anatomy

(g) "When your organs are going through the motions of a fear reaction, you're going to feel the emotion of fear. Will power...has nothing to do with it. Your nerves, physical things having length, breadth, thickness, weight, are kicking up a row; and nature has placed the nerves of your interbrain just out of the reach of conscious control....

"When the interbrain gets confused messages..., so that the same situation sets off the behavior of conflicting emotional reactions, the old interbrain loses its power of producing perfect automatic co-ordination between all parts of the body. Signals go to organs to do things that hinder rather than help... Instead of community effort, it's civil war. Instead of man against environment, it's man against himself.".

(h) "You NOW KNOW that conflict between emotional habit patterns leads to interbrain misbehavior, gives you the jitters....

"You KNOW that emotion is behavior, something that you do with your entire body. Tensing your muscles is a part of emotional behavior....You cannot feel an emotion when your muscles are completely relaxed....

"Mental troubles make you sick, literally. That is because mental trouble, in itself, is a physical disease, brought on by collision between opposing types of organ behavior, or, as we said previously, by collision between conflicting emotions." [Page 61]

Nervousness, bad emotions and mental disease are all caused by the body machinery

(i) "Nervousness is a physical disease located in the interbrain.... "That the body talks to the mind, puts thoughts into our heads, is not ...a new and revolutionary idea.... At least seven-eighths of our thinking consists of RATIONALization of organ needs and desires. The mind does the dancing while the body pulls the strings.... Never forget that anger is... a way of physical activity.... When emotion rules, the body controls the mind.

"Nervousness...can paralyze your creative activities,...control your thinking. Interbrain misbehavior is hypnotic.... Your body dictates to your mind, and...this dictation is essentially a hypnotic process."

(j) "Conditioned reflexes or emotional habit patterns send wave after wave of suggestions to the interbrain and to the centers of inhibition and stimulation in the forebrain. Nerve impulses spread from one center of inhibition to another, producing a condition of partial hypnosis.... The result is loss of physical and mental balance, self-control. It is the fact of partial self-hypnosis that makes nervousness a mental disease.

"We have a vicious circle. Emotional conflicts upset the proper functioning of the body, including the nervous system. The nervous system ceases to function properly, interferes with thinking that might set the nervous sufferer back upon the right road...

"In readjusting our lives so that we may live more abundantly,...we must begin by learning the technique and habit patterns of muscular relaxation. This is always the first step."

Muscular relaxation breaks the vicious cycle. can even stop bad emotions and habits

(k) "You can learn to relax while you sleep....Your mental attitude while falling asleep is going to decide the quality of sleep you will enjoy.... Neurotics...wake up more tired than they were when they went to bed. Of course they are tired. Their muscles have been working all night, one muscle group against its opposite group.... No wonder, then, when they wake, that they feel muscle-weary and exhausted....

"Giving yourself last-minute directions before going to sleep is called 'controlled sleep.'... Controlled sleep can give you waking self-control."

(l) "The smoking habit, like all other habits, is a form of self-hypnosis. Conscious suggestion while completely relaxed dehypnotizes, and breaks the habit.... Remember to use controlled sleep - last-minute directions to do tomorrow what you wish you had done today....By using controlled sleep, you will be able to make yourself do the things that you know will make you happy. You knock out nervousness before it gets a chance to hurt you.

"When you are returning to ways of creative living, you are breaking another wheel in the machine of self-destructive emotional behavior. Your daily adjustments become more and more satisfactory.... The vicious circle of nervousness, maladjustment, and more nervousness is out."

It isn’t bad to have habits - “they help to maintain the integrity of the personality”

(m) "It is only when conflict between emotional habit patterns of withdrawal and expansion - flight and approach - disturb the interbrain that we have trouble. Then...a few nerve cells dominate the entire brain. Instead of a democracy ruled by the many, we have a dictatorship by a part of the organism. Freedom of thought is abolished by self-induced partial hypnosis. Suggestions that normally should call forth positive responses induce apathy or opposition." [Page 62]

The kind of work that is also worship goes a long way toward solving the problem

(n) "Keep your mind occupied...and you won't have TIME to be nervous. ....Doing things is one road to freedom, to mental and physical health. But work may be health-sapping, when done in the wrong manner.... You must carry your habits of relaxation over into your work.... Nearly any kind of work is fun when one relaxes, works easily and efficiently, and comes to see in one's work possibilities and opportunities for self-development. ...Do anything in which you are or used to be interested.

"Constructive activity does free the brain...breaks the network of inhibitions that prevent the entire brain from functioning as an organ.

Which of these neurotic trends can you detect in your actions and bad habits?

(0) 1. The morbid need for affection 2. The morbid need for power and domination 3. The morbid need for personal admiration 4. The morbid dread of criticism 5. The morbid fear of failure

"These neurotic trends and others...may determine a person's character by forcing him to develop those attitudes, feelings and ideas that are consistent with his neurotic trends."

To find out your neurotic trends, analyze your actions; and DON'T RATIONALize them

(p) "Why do you do them? Don't answer this question by explaining the immediate situation involving each one." (This is RATIONALIZING them) "That will only confuse you and throw you off the scent. Remember that you are looking for neurotic trends, not for excuses for behaving in your own worst interests."

But "mere awareness of neurotic trends is not enough." You must DO something NEW

(g) "Simply refuse to react in your adult situation in a manner appropriate to childhood fantasy.... Have your neurotic trends compelled you to do certain things? It's good to KNOW that. NOW do exactly the opposite."

Growth results from accepting one's growth elements from and adapting to environment

(r) "Adjustments to society direct the growth of personality....Adjustment to your social situations gives meaning to your life....Happy is the man who lives in his social environment as easily and unconsciously as a fish in water....But whether we are aware of it or not, it is through adjustment to social situations" (not from the WORD of God) "that we get our motivations ....It is the interaction between your prior purposes and needs and your social pressures that make you do the way you do."

The parents' childishness, failure to "grow up," is passed on to their offspring

(s) "The unwaxed and unpolished truth is that many parents are jealous of their children, resent their presence and their needs, hate the responsibility that children bring, and even hate the children. This sounds harsh, but it is true. Many parents are childish. They have failed to grow up emotionally, and are in competition with their own children. So they hand down their nervousness to their children by failing to give their children an even break.... Adult animosity and cruelty take many forms. They often hide behind a mask of good will and kindness." [Page 63] Anything short of success and fulfillment is wrong for it's not what God WILLS for YOU

(t) "Frustration at any level of development stops growth, sending the child back to a level of adjustment suitable only to a lower age group. This process of seeking satisfaction in more infantile activities is called regression.... But in childhood, regression is not temporary and may be a serious block to the growing-up process.... Childhood regressions persist into adult life....

"So NOW... you should be able... to interpret any compulsions and ob- sessions that prevent your enjoying your life... (and) when you seek to track down your neurotic trends, you will help yourself by writing a little autobiography." Try this!

Do YOU really want to be a spiritual being? - if so, be consistent! - act like one!

(u) "Once you have made your decision, act the part of the person whom you have decided to become.... Every attitude must reinforce your purpose....

"Let a man do what he really wants to do, and he will have all the 'will power' that he requires. Activities that appeared attractive and seductive become boring and stupid, once they interfere with the main purposes of his life. What people call will power is simply the organiza- tion of habits around some central purpose.

"Excessive use of alcohol is easy to stop the minute you have a reason for eliminating drink.... When a man finds himself, he loses his way to the liquor store."

(v) "Act servile, and you'll be a slave, and what is worse, you'll like it, and you will start to invent reasons to justify your master's super- iority. Act like a queen, and you will feel like one. You will believe in yourself and, acting on your belief, you will do the things that lead to success.

"Your attitudes are the higher-ups, the big shots, in your mental life," life of the RATIONAL man, that is). "They are the habits that sit in the driver's seat. They control your lesser habit patterns. When YOU can boss them, YOU are in control of your own LIFE. You become invulnerable, and nothing can hurt YOU....

"Anything to which you attach your interests becomes a part of your personality..., an extension of yourself. By adjusting to...group life, you build up your larger concepts of right and wrong, of purpose in life and the meaning that life holds for you. Through social living and identi- fication, you create habitual responses in group life. Let us agree to call these general habitual responses your attitudes....

"Your attitudes, then, are not only an organization of habits acquired in previous adjustments. They are springs of action. They decide what YOU pay attention to or even notice.... Your attitudes are YOU."

Pschology advocates, sets as a goal, what every Bahá’í is supposed to experience

(w) Patient cited "recovered from this nervous condition only after he had experienced something like a religious conversion, during which he created a new set of values....

"A normal man or woman" (true Bahá’í?) "feels at home in this jumbled and confused and disorderly world. He is like an architect who, amidst the piles of lumber, the groaning of the cement mixer, the pounding of hammers, the confusion of each trade intent on its job, still has before him the blueprint and has in his mind a picture" of what he is trying to build. [Page 64]

XXI. BY SEEING THE PART OF YOU THAT'S NOT MATERIAL, RATIONAL OR HUMAN, WE VIEW A SOUL

THE MATERIAL-MAN (body)

Outer vision alone is not only deceiving, but can hamper the SOUL's accurate vision

(a) 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. The bestowals of God are...always manifest."

The MATERIAL man is your lower nature; it is not evil, but makes YOU subject to sin

(b) "It is possible that one thing in relation to another may be evil, and at the same TIME within the limits of its proper being it may not be evil. ...All that God created, He created good.... All evils return to non-existence. Good exists, evil is non-existent."

(c) "In man...imperfections and sinful actions are born of his MATERIAL nature....If...he rejects the things of God and allows his evil passions to conquer him, then he is no better than a mere animal."

(d) "If the animals are savage and ferocious it is simply a means for their subsistence and preservation. They are deprived of that degree of intellect which can reason and discriminate between right and wrong, justice and injustice; they are justified in their actions and not responsible. When man is ferocious and cruel toward his fellowman it is not for subsistence or safety. His motive is selfish advantage and wilful wrong.... There is no lower degree or greater debasement for man than this natal condition of animalism."

The SOUL must become aware of evil in order to KNOW divinity and to make choices

(e) "Things are often KNOWN by their opposites. Were it not for darkness, light could not be sensed. Were it not for death, LIFE could not be KNOWN. If ignorance did not exist KNOWLEDGE would not be a reality. It is necessary that each should exist, in order that the other should have reality. ...Unless night was a reality there could not be day.... Things are KNOWN by their opposites."

The RIGHT way to live is for YOU to control your body - this develops "character"

(f) "It is the old case of rider and the horse. It is a wonderful feeling to be mounted on a high-spirited animal and have a good gallop. It is most dangerous to be mounted on one over which you have barely any control. Of all the many things people seem to have lost control over today, nothing stands out so sharply as their complete lack of command of their sex LIFE. They seem to think that the gratification of their extremely over-developed sex instinct is their sovereign right, their one road to happiness, and the greatest pleasure LIFE can afford them. Everything about Western civilization tends to put sex in the limelight:...The slogan appears to be, 'you were born to seek satisfaction in sex, this is your basic freedom, go to it,' and people, unquestioningly, seem to accept this devastating advice; and the result is disease, depravity and divorce, on an ever-increasing scale." [Page 65]

RATIONAL MAN (body plus RATIONAL power reason, imagination)

Reasoning performed by brain action leads to truth only when based on true premises the mind YOU "make up"

(g) From Oxford Dictionary, "reason, verb, form or try to reach conclusions by connected thought...(from premises)"

(h) "If a man's thought...does not soar, but is directed downwards to center itself upon the things of this world, he grows more and more MATERIAL until he arrives at a state little better than that of a mere animal."

Imagining can give us vain illusions. make us believe in unreality - beware!

(i) "Rid thyself of all attachment to the vain allusions of men and cast behind thy back the idle and subtle disputations of them that are veiled from God."

(j) One "kind of spiritual discoveries is made up of pure imaginations; but these imaginations become embodied in such a way that many simple-hearted people believe that they have a reality."

(k) "The pictures of Divinity that come to our mind are the product of our fancy; they exist in the realm of our imagination. They are not adequate to the Truth; truth in its essence cannot be put into words,' (l) "Just as...mists and vapors conceal the phenomenal sun, so HUMAN imaginations obscure the Sun of Truth."

(m) "In this day, whosoever rendeth not asunder the veil of his idle imaginings will assuredly fail to hear the Voice of God. Well is it with them that, with the aid of the power of God, have shattered the idols of their fancies and, with ears attentive to His call, have risen from the dead."

Thought and intellect cive man high potentialities, develop a limited understanding

(n) "The minds of the wise and learned are impotent to fathom the secrets of Thy handiwork." (o) "The learned, one and all, stand aghast before the signs and tokens of Thy handiwork, while the wise find themselves, without exception, impotent to unravel the mystery of...the MANIFESTATIONS."

(p) "RELIGION and science are the two wings upon which man can soar into the heights, with which the HUMAN SOUL can progress.... With the wing of science alone he would...make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of MATERIALism."

Intellectualizing about religion is valueless in developing the SOUL or spirituality

(q) "O ye seeming fair yet inwardly foul! Ye are like clear but bitter water, which to outward seeming is crystal pure but which, when tested by the divine Assayer, not a drop is accepted. Yea, the sun beam falls alike upon the dust and the mirror, yet differ they in reflection even as doth the star from the earth: nay, immeasurable is the difference!"

(r) "We should, therefore, detach ourselves from the external forms and practices of religion. We must realize that these forms and practices, however beautiful, are but garments clothing the warm heart and living limbs of Divine truth." [Page 66]

RATIONAL MAN

Much RATIONAL activity is unproductive: other kinds serve only the MATERIAL LIFE

(s) "Thoughts may be divided into two classes: Thought that belongs to the world of thought alone; Thought that expresses itself in action. "Some men and women glory in their exalted thoughts, but if these thoughts never reach the plane of action, they remain useless: the power of thought is dependent on its manifestation in deeds."

(t) "If a man is successful in his business, art or profession, he is thereby enabled to increase his physical wellbeing and to give his body the amount of ease and comfort in which it delights.... But...MATERIAL advantages do not elevate the spirit (SOUL) of man. Perfection in worldly things is a joy to the body of a man but in no wise does it glorify his SOUL."

(u) "Societies...interested in commerce, science and politics...are for MATERIAL service, their desire being for the progress and enlightenment of the world of MATTER. But rarely does a breath from the spirit world breathe upon them. They seem unconscious of the Divine Voice."

Our machinery generates the HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, but Truth can only come from God

(v) KNOW verily that KNOWLEDGE is of two kinds: Divine and Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God Himself; the motive force of the latter the whisperings of selfish desire....The former bringeth forth the fruit of patience, of longing desire, of true understanding, and LOVE; whilst the latter can yield naught but arrogance, vainglory and conceit."

(w) "Wouldst thou that the mind should not entrap thee? Teach it the science of the LOVE of God?"

(x) "A true seeker...must, before all else, cleanse his heart...from the obscuring dust of all acquired KNOWLEDGE, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy."

One of our worst misuses of the intellect is RATIONALization of what is really wrong (particularly in relation to our own bad habits and emotions; see p. 62(p)

(y) From Oxford Dictionary, "rationalize, v. Explain, explain away"

It can be as wrong to over-indulge the intellectual appetites as the body appetites

(z) If a man has a keen sense of taste and smell, a fine ear for music, and eye that delights in symmetry and colour;...it does not follow he is sunk in sensuality or a rank MATERIAList... But the moment he becomes a gourmand, the moment he lives only for the joy of satisfying some or all of his senses, be they sexual, intellectual, or otherwise, he is abusing his gifts and hindering the unfoldment of his SOUL. Just as asceticism is unnatural and fundamentally false in principle, so licence is equally false and even more injurious to HUMAN nature, for bad as abstinence may be, over-indulgence in anything is worse in its effects."

The RATIONAL man, like the MATERIAL man, must serve the SOUL to fulfill its purpose.

And now let's listen to some scientific comments on RATIONAL activity. [Page 67]

Communication is a big part of our RATIONAL LIFE take some advice about words

(References on this page are from RELEASE FROM NERVOUS TENSION by David H. Fink)

When we learn how important they are, we'll appreciate BAHÁ’U’LLÁH's definitions

(aa) "Words begin as directions for adjustment to environment. think of words as maps, but they are directive maps. They direct traffic as a policeman does.... You may "If you must use a tool that you do not understand, you are apt to misuse it, whether it be a surgeon's scalpel or your vocabulary.... "We can describe four more or less distinct periods of verbal progress.... 1. The Age of Magic Word Maps 2. The Age of Theological Word Maps 3. The Age of Philosophical Word Maps 4. The Age of Scientific Word Maps.... "The self-starter of...destructive emotional behavior is misunderstand- ing that begins with the misuse of words, the tools of...thinking.... "Words...are triggers to action.... Habit patterns spring into motion at the stimulus of a word.... "The right word releases...energy, directs it into productive channels. But if you use words badly, you use yourself badly. The wrong word can get you all muddled up, confused, give you paralysis of will, interbrain mis- behavior, and the jitters. The right word puts you back on the right track.... Words expressing judgments block further thought. "We are now living in an era of new mapmakers - the age of science. ....Learn to detect in your own thinking the words that confuse rather than clarify...KNOW that meaningless maps are warping your understanding and directing your behavior. This KNOWLEDGE should lead you back into the the world of reality." (Bahá’ís would define the new era differently.)

A vital function of the MANIFESTATION of God is to clarify meanings of vital words

(bb) "If you want to get along with your fellows, please remember that your private vocabulary is singular to yourself, and the other people's vocabularies often express meanings known only to them.... From the world of our private meanings, there is no communication with the out- side.... No two people talk an identical language. No recipient of mes- sages has shared the same experiences as the sender.... "For purposes of helping your nerves, this analysis of words - tools of thought can be useful to you.... (Do so) the next time your son makes you angry or worries you. Thus, you may be able to stall your emotional machinery before the engine starts and backfires. "Words are indeed triggers to action. The gun is always loaded. You ...(should be) able to identify your target before you press the trigger."

To live intelligently, we must speak understandingly and honestly, even to ourselves

(cc) "All of us have...habit patterns of irrational behavior that limit our possibilities for adaptation to our immediate problems.... Complexes distort clear thinking.... "Most emotional habits are unverbalized, but they control nearly all of our conscious LIFE. "Unverbalized habits are dynamic. They demand expression...can be a heavy drag. To prevent such habit patterns from directing YOU...bring them into consciousness. You can verbalize them and so bring them under control." [Page 68]

HUMAN BEING (body plus RATIONAL power plus bad negative emotions)

This is the domain of the SELF or EGO - man prior to union with the HOLY SPIRIT

(dd) "These HUMAN conditions may be likened to the matrix of the mother from which a child is to be born into the spacious outer world."

(ee) "If we do not strive and sanctify ourselves from the defects and evil qualities of HUMAN nature we will not partake of the bestowals of God."

(ff) "Self-desire...is the dust which prevents reflection of the rays of the Sun of Reality.... The natural emotions are blameworthy and are like rust which deprives the heart of the bounties of God."

(gg) "If the heart turns away from the blessings God offers, how can it hope for happiness?"

(hh) "Just as HUMAN intellects have revealed the secrets of MATTER...may minds and spirits (SOULS) likewise come into the KNOWLEDGE of the verities of God, and the realities of the KINGDOM be made manifest in...hearts."

(ii) "For the LIFE of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the LIFE of the spirit (SOULS?) is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude."

HUMANNESS is a state we escape only through denial of self and of what's "natural"

(j) "The third element of the utterance under discussion is, 'opposes his passions.' How wonderful are the implications of this deceptively easy, all-inclusive phrase....

"For desire is a flame that has reduced to ashes uncounted lifetime harvests of the learned, a devouring fire that even the vast sea of their accumulated KNOWLEDGE could never quench. How often has it happened that an individual who was graced with every attribute of humanity and wore the jewel of true understanding, nevertheless followed after his passions until his excellent qualities passed beyond moderation and he was forced into excess. His pure intentions changed to evil ones, his attributes were no longer put to uses worthy of them and the power of his desires turned him aside from righteousness and its rewards into ways that were dangerous and dark."

HUMANNESS is a relatively miserable condition which it is NOW possible to outgrow

(kk) All HUMAN attainment moveth upon a lame ass, whilst Truth, riding upon the wind, darteth across space.'" (11) "The end of every (HUMAN?) work is without result because it is perishable and inconstant."

(mm) "A MATERIAL man lets himself be worried and harassed by little things, but a spiritual man is always calm and serene under all circumstances."

(nn) "Let your vision be world-embracing rather than confined to your own self."

(oo) "Arise, O people, and, by the power of God's might, resolve to gain the victory over your own selves, that haply the whole earth may be freed and sanctified from its servitude to the gods of its idle fancies." [Page 69]

Man begins his LIFE limited and captive to "nature" but must outgrow this condition

(pp) "MATERIAL LIFE is a load which must be carried on while we are on earth, but the cares of the lower things of LIFE should not be allowed to monopolize all the thoughts and aspirations of a HUMAN being. The heart's ambitions should ascend to a more glorious goal, mental activity should rise to higher levels. Men should hold in their SOULS the vision of celestial perfection...a heavenly civilization!"

MATERIAL things can be seen. understood by the HUMAN spirit: divine realities can't

(qq) "The HUMAN spirit... (or) RATIONAL SOUL...embraces all beings, and as far as HUMAN ability permits discovers the realities of things.... But the HUMAN spirit (SOUL), unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted with...the heavenly realities."

As here defined, the HUMAN being is the MATERIALIST, man exclusive of spirituality (Reread p. 50)

(rr) "MATERIALists...do not use that great gift of God, the power of understanding, by which they might see with the eyes of the spirit (SOUL), hear with spiritual ears and also comprehend with a Divinely enlightened heart. .... The comprehension of that other LIFE depends on our spiritual birth."

HUMANness is a prison we escape only through denial of self and of what's "natural"

(ss) "When man does not open his mind and heart to the blessing of the SPIRIT..., man is in a sorry plight!...All his aspirations and desires being strengthened by the lower side of the SOUL's nature, he becomes more and more brutal, until his whole being is in no way superior to that of the beasts that perish. Men such as this, plan to work evil, to hurt and to destroy."

HUMAN ideas and attitudes, based on physical and RATIONAL perception, aren't valid

(tt) "Tear asunder, in My Name, the veils that have grievously blinded your vision, and, through the power born of your belief in the unity of God, scatter the idols of vain imitation.... Suffer not yourselves to be wrapt in the dense veils of your selfish desires, inasmuch as I have perfected in every one of you My creation, so that the excellence of My handiwork may be fully revealed unto men."

A definite relationship with DEITY and the HOLY SPIRIT are essential to SOUL growth

(uu) "The point is this, that...to bring spirits (SOULS) within the bonds of serenity is a most arduous undertaking.... It necessitates a divine and holy potency, the potency of inspiration, the power of the HOLY SPIRIT."

(vv) "The body of man is in need of physical and mental energy, but his spirit (SOUL?) requires the LIFE and fortification of the HOLY SPIRIT."

(www) "Afflictions and troubles are due to the state of not being content with what God has ordained for you. If one submits himself to God he is happy."

As here defined, the HUMAN being is a manifestation of the lower nature using our higher-than-animal powers, the intellect or RATIONAL faculty

[Page 70]

XXII. MANKIND COMBINES HUMAN IMPERFECTIONS AND WHAT SHOWS OF THE DIVINE NATURE NOW

MANKIND is people, and in them we see both the good and evil of the earthly LIFE

(a) "A man may have attained to a high degree of MATERIAL progress, but without the light of truth his SOUL is stunted and starved. Another man may have no MATERIAL gifts, may be at the bottom of the social ladder, but, having received the warmth of the Sun of Truth, his SOUL is great and his spiritual understanding is enlightened."

Thus in MANKIND or groups we see a degree of spirituality and of divine perfections

(b) "If the perfections of the spirit (SOUL) did not appear in this world (in MANKIND), this world would be unenlightened and absolutely brutal. By the appearance of the spirit in the physical form, this world is enlightened. As the spirit (SOUL) of man is the cause of the LIFE of the body, so the world is in the condition of the body, and man is in the condition of the spirit (SOUL). If there were no man, the perfections of the spirit (SOUL) would not appear, and the light of the mind would not be resplendent in this world. This world would be like a body without a SOUL."

God planned "good" qualities to show in MANKIND even where there is no spirituality

(c) A question was asked about "those who are blessed with good actions and universal benevolence, who have praiseworthy characteristics, who... care for the poor, and who strive to establish universal peace" without any acknowledgment of "divine teachings."

"Answer Know that such actions, such efforts, and such words are praiseworthy and approved, and are the glory of humanity (MANKIND). But these actions alone are not sufficient; they are a body of greatest loveliness, but without spirit" (the distinctive power of the SOUL).... (d) It may be that a man performs an action which in appearance is righteous, but which is dictated by covetousness.... But the good will is sanctified."

(e) "HUMAN brotherhood and dependence exist because mutual helpfulness and cooperation are the two necessary principles underlying HUMAN welfare. This is the physical (MATERIAL) relationship of MANKIND. There is another brotherhood, the spiritual, which is higher, holier and superior to all others. It is heavenly; it emanates from the breaths of the HOLY SPIRIT...; it is founded upon spiritual susceptibilities. This brotherhood is established by the manifestations of the HOLY ONE" (in the realm of spirit).

People's spirituality, idealism and morality are the result of MANKIND’s education

(f) "Unless the moral character of a nation is educated, as well as its brain and its talents, civilization has no sure basis.

"As RELIGION inculcates morality, it is therefore the truest philosophy, and on it is built the only lasting civilization.... Because man has stopped his ears to the Voice of Truth and shut his eyes to the Sacred Light, neglecting the LAW of God, for this reason has the darkness of war and tumult, unrest and misery, desolated the earth." [Page 71]

CONDITION OF SPIRITUALITY

RATIONALITY SOUL Consciousness Intuition and Faith Reason and Imagination/ Memory and Senses MATERIALITY

The MANIFESTATION of God gives the education that has generated MANKIND's morality and virtues

Ceiling HUMAN thinking and feeling Onsciousness Physical or animal consciousness

(g) "HUMAN education signifies civilization and progress: that is to say, government, administration, charitable works, trades, arts and handicrafts, sciences, great inventions and discoveries of physical LAWS, which are the activities essential to man as distinguished from the animal.

"Divine education is that of the KINGDOM of God: it consists in acquiring divine perfections, and this is true education."

(h) In the "realm of intelligence and idealism there must be a center of illumination, and that center is the everlasting, ever-shining Sun, the WORD of God. Its lights are the lights of reality which have shown upon humanity, illumining the realm of thought and morals, conferring the bounties of the divine world upon man.... The moral and ethical world and the world of spiritual regeneration are dependent for their progressive being upon that heavenly center of illumination. It gives forth the light of RELIGION and...imbues humanity with archetypal virtues."

(i) "The Prophets of God have come to show man the way of righteousness in order that he may not follow his own natural impulse, but govern his actions by the light of Their precept and example. According to Their teachings he should do that which is found to be praiseworthy..., even though it be opposed to his natural HUMAN inclination; and he should not do that which is found to be unworthy...though it be in the direction of his natural impulse and desire."

(j) "The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His RELIGION is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the HUMAN race."

Civilization is an outward showing of MANKIND's agelong spiritual Guidance from God

(k) In "true civilization...the spiritual is carried out in the MATERIAL."

In individuals, we separate HUMANNESS and spirituality: in MANKIND we see the imperfections of HUMANNESS plus morality and virtues developed to date. [Page 72]

XXIII, THE LEVEL OF YOUR SOUL DEVELOPMENT IS SHOWN IN YOUR FEELINGS

LOVE or LINKING, positive and negative, is the basic action of spirit at all levels

MANIFESTATION ✓ (a) "LOVE is...the MANIFESTATION of the All-Merciful, the "Next World" KINGDOM Revealed HUMAN World fountain of spiritual outpourings.

"LOVE is heaven’s kindly light, the HOLY SPIRIT’s eternal breath that vivifies the HUMAN SOUL.

"LOVE is the cause of God’s REVELATION unto man, the vital bond inherent...in the realities of things.

"LOVE is the one means that insures true felicity both in this world and the next.

"LOVE is the light that guideth in darkness, the living LINK that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined SOUL....

"LOVE revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe.

"LOVE is the spirit of LIFE unto the adorned body of MANKIND, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race....

"LOVE is the most great LAW that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of the MATERIAL world, the supreme..force that directs the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms."

In the animal condition YOU LOVE sense-pleasure, appetite satisfaction and body comfort and hate pain, unsatisfied desires and body discomfort

(b) "Consider..the attainment of pleasures and happiness in this mortal world. How easy it is for the animal.... They have no labor for their livelihood and happiness because everything is provided...for them."

RATIONAL thought and HUMAN emotions often intensify these feelings, don’t change them

(c) "Although man is part of the animal CREATION, he possesses a power of thought superior to all other created beings.... (But) if...his thought does not soar, but is directed downwards to center itself upon the things of this world, he grows more and more MATERIAL until he arrives at a state little better than that of a mere animal."

(d) "A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances. A complaining SOUL complains even if he lives in paradise."

At this level (RATIONAL. HUMAN). even religion doesn’t change these feelings

(e) "Inasmuch as HUMAN interpretations and blind imitations differ widely, religious strife and disagreement have arisen...the light of true RELIGION has been extinguished."

As the SOUL develops, you find feelings being reversed and becoming heavenly, NEW

(f) "Man is he who forgets his own interests for the sake of others.... Consider how the greatest men in the world...have forfeited their own comfort, have sacrificed their own pleasure for the well-being of humanity."

(g) "The LIFE of man is...divine, eternal, not mortal and sensual.... His LIFE is intended to be a LIFE of spiritual enjoyment to which the animal can never attain.... The happiness of man is in the fragrance of the LOVE of God." [Page 73] What you see or are aware of activates your LOVE power, MAKES you feel as you do

(h) "For those who believe in God, who have LOVE of God, and faith, LIFE is excellent - that is, it is eternal; but to those SOULS who are veiled from God, although they have LIFE, it is dark, and in comparison with the LIFE of believers it is non-existent."

Any RATIONAL being can cherish high ideals; but this alone can't make a SOUL LOVING

(i) "What profit is there in agreeing that universal friendship is good, and talking of the solidarity of the HUMAN race as a deal? Unless these thoughts are translated into the world of action, they are useless."

When we're aware of body dis-ease, we try to cure it; but what about SOUL ailments?

(j) "A cure of physical disease is very easy, but the cure of spiritual disease is very difficult. If one has a fever and you give him medicine, the fever will vanish; but if the spirit (SOUL) is afflicted with the disease of ignorance, it is difficult to remove that disease. For example, if the spiritual health is afflicted with the LOVE of the world, spiritual medicine must be given. These medicines are the advices and commands of God, which will have effect upon it."

Awareness of divine truth or REALITY dissolves self-concern, fear and hatred

(k) "Nothing save that which profiteth them can befall My loved ones,' God tells us; we have but to accept this statement as fact or truth."

(1) "What is needed is divine joyousness. The star of happiness is in every heart. We must remove the clouds so that it may twinkle radiantly."

SUMMARY (of the HUMAN reality with its various conditions):

KINGDOM Revealed

Aware of the divine Purpose, Origin, Objective and potentialities of existence, through viewing it in the light of divine REVELATION and with the eyes of the heart (faith and intuition), the enlightened SCUL feels only a selfless LOVE, a radiant acquiescence and ever-increasing delight and joy. It is from these feelings that spirituality grows - that is, all of the heavenly attributes such as mercy, kindness, forgiveness, patience, understanding, etc. For each HUMAN character-deficiency that "bad" emotions generate, there is a spiritual quality that grows out of LOVE to eliminate that fault.

HUMAN World

All HUMAN emotions develop from the animal and RATIONAL view of LIFE. They are merely an enlargement of the animal's views and feelings. When RATIONAL vision is added to animal awareness, man begins to see things in the light of TIME, and to grasp a degree of abstract truth. He recognizes himself as a self-determining creature with definite needs and objectives; and evaluates things and people as acceptable or revolting according as they serve his purposes. He uses his intellect both to gain more facts about what he deals with, and to RATIONALIZE what he sees and feels. The animal view of LIFE is greatly enlarged.

MAT World

Aware only of his own sensations, appetites and body condition, the animal feels a LIKING for his own pleasure, satisfactions and comfort, and a DIS-LIKE of pain, hunger and interference with satisfaction. [Page 74]

EVERY REACTION IS A STEP IN LIVING, ACTIVATES SOME DEGREE OF POWER OR SPIRIT

To react YOU (1) "see" something: (2) feel something; (3) do something about it

(a) "It is first 'to KNOW,' and then 'to do.'"

(b) "The spirit of man (SOUL) can manifest itself in all forms (all degrees of spirit?) at the same TIME."

"Seeing" uses KNOWING power of body (low gear), mind (2nd) or SOUL (high)

(c) "MATERIALists...depend upon the five senses only,... (their) criterion of KNOWLEDGE is limited to that which can be perceived by the senses" ("low gear" seeing).

(d) "The image of the object perceived (is delivered) to the memory...(which) keeps it in its repository" to be reactivated in a reaction. (Reactivation is one kind of "low gear" seeing).

(e) "It is by the aid of such senses as those of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, that the mind comprehendeth" (2nd gear"), "whereas the SOUL is free from all agencies" ("high gear" seeing).

People's "minds" RATIONALize their own errors or think that what they imagine is real

(f) "They should in no wise allow their fancy to obscure their judgment, neither should they regard their own imaginings as the voice of the Eternal."

Each person may choose what he gives attention to, and what "eyes" he "sees" with

(g) "For example...he can pass his TIME in praising God, or he can be occupied with other thoughts...and engrossed with MATERIAL things.... These actions are subject to the control of the will of man himself, consequently he is responsible for them."

(h) KNOWLEDGE is like unto wings for the being, and is as a ladder for ascending" (to various levels of consciousness).

(i) "Just as the outer sense of sight is necessary to him, he should also possess insight and conscious perception."

The LIFE of the SOUL is seeing divinity in each situation, reacting creatively to it

(j) "O SON OF DUST! Blind thine eyes...to all save My beauty; stop thine ears to all save My WORD; empty thyself of all learning save the KNOWLEDGE of Me; that with a clear vision, a pure heart and an attentive ear thou mayest enter the court of My holiness."

(k) "The honor of man is through the attainment of the KNOWLEDGE of God; his happiness is from the LOVE of God; his joy is in the glad-tidings of God; his greatness is dependent upon his servitude to God."

(l) NOW "the fingers of divine power have unlocked the portals of the KNOWLEDGE of God, and the light of divine KNOWLEDGE and heavenly grace hath illumined and inspired the essence of all created things, in such wise that in each and every thing a door of KNOWLEDGE hath been opened, and within every atom traces of the sun hath been made manifest." [Page 75]

The body "sees" with SENSES and MEMORY

The body "sees" with SENSES and MEMORY - this makes a low gear animal reaction;

mind "sees" with REASON and IMAGINATION (RATIONAL nower), HUMAN, 2nd gear

SCUL "sees" with FAITH and INTUITION ("eves of the heart") in "high gear"

Only what the SOUL sees in the light of divine REVELATION is pure KNOWLEDGE - what the rest of us see is only part-truth, imperfect. often totally untrue; and imperfect vision causes imperfect or "bad" feelings and wrong reactions.

(m) "The foundation of success and salvation is the KNOWLEDGE of God, and...the results of the KNOWLEDGE of God are the good actions which are the fruits of faith."

Purely physical transactions are often carried out successfully by the body alone ("low gear" reacting)

(n) "All parts (of the body) function under certain LAWS that are essential to existence...; and though that all-unifying agency in the temple of man be not sensed or seen and the reality thereof be unKNOWN, yet by its effects it manifesteth itself with the greatest power."("Agency" is the SOUL.)

(o) "Man..., though in body the captive of nature is yet free in his mind and SOUL, and hath mastery over nature."

Dealing successfully with more complex matters requires a higher degree of spirit

(p) "The spirit (SOUL) possesseth various grades and stations....In the animal world there is the sense of feeling, but in the HUMAN world there is an all-embracing power.... The reasoning power of the mind proveth the existence" of the SOUL. (Using this power gives a "2nd gear" or HUMAN reaction.)

Positive feelings bring out and connect us with the greatest power on earth: LOVE

(q) "The wonderful LAW of Attraction, Harmony and Unity, holds together this marvelous CREATION."

(r) "LOVE is the very cause of LIFE; on the other hand, separation brings death." (s) "LOVE and affinity are the cause of LIFE, and discord and separation are the cause of death."

(t) "LOVE is the fundamental principle of God's purpose for man, and He has commanded us to LOVE each other even as He LOVES us."

(n) "What a power is LOVE! It is the most wonderful, the greatest of all living powers.... In the world of existence there is indeed no greater power than the power of LOVE. When the heart of man is aglow with the flame of LOVE, he is ready to sacrifice all even his LIFE."

When LOVE is activated, the SOUL participates, and this is a "high gear" reaction

(v) "The leviathan of LOVE swalloweth the master of reason and destroyeth the Lord of KNOWLEDGE.... LOVE...hath bound a myriad victims in his fetters."

Fear and hate stifle the LIFE of the SOUL: LOVE is its purpose, fulfillment, reality

(w) "BAHÁ’U’LLÁH has rent the veil of prejudice and superstition which was stifling the SOULS of men."

(x) Those who are spiritually receptive are called "the very incarnations of longing,...the embodiments of vehement desire." [Page 76]

Feelings and desires are the impetus to all action - both its motive and objective

(y) "Every cause is followed by an effect and vice versa.... Motion without a mover or cause of motion is inconceivable."

(z) "LOVE manifests its reality in deeds, not only in words."

LOVE is a radiation from the heavenly realms which SOULS are destined to reflect

(aa) "LOVE is the conscious bestowal of God, the bond of affiliation in all phenomena.... All composite beings or existing phenomena are made up primarily of single elements bound together by a power of attraction.... The power of cohesion expressed in the mineral kingdom is in reality LOVE or affinity manifested in a low degree.... In the vegetable kingdom...we find an increased power of attraction has become manifest among the composing elements.... We enter the animal kingdom... (and) observe that the animals are susceptible to certain affiliation and fellowship, and that they exercise natural selection. This elemental attraction, this admixture and selective affinity is LOVE manifest in the degree of the animal. ...Finally...the kingdom of man...is the superior kingdom, the light of LOVE is more resplendent. In man...beyond and above all these lower powers we discover...the attraction of heart, the susceptibilities and affinities which bind men together, enabling them to live and associate in friendship and solidarity. It is therefore evident that in the world of humanity the greates king and sovereign is LOVE."

HUMAN feelings and spiritual ones are differentiated as self-LOVE and selfless LOVE

(bb) "Beware...lest ye estrange yourselves from the servants of God. You must consider all His servants as your own family.... God has created men to LOVE each other."

(cc) "You must LOVE your friend better than yourself, yes, be willing to sacrifice yourself." (dd) "Be most loving one to another. Burn away, wholly for the sake of the Well-Beloved, the veil of self with the flame of the undying Fire, and with faces joyous and beaming with light, associate with your neighbor."

(ee) "Cleanse from your hearts the LOVE of worldly things,...from your entire being whatsoever...may tempt you to follow the promptings of your evil and corrupt inclinations. Let God be your fear, O people."

(ff) "The essence of LOVE is for man to turn his heart to the Beloved One, and sever himself from all else but God, and desire naught save that which is the desire of his Lord."

(gg) "The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover hath no desire save union with his beloved. Nor shall the seeker reach his goal unless he sacrifice all things."

Where our highest SOUL powers are used we experience a LIFE that is out of this world

(hh) At TIMES "there is an immediate and vivid perception by the SOUL. Exhilaration is experienced. The SCUL (in the world of dreams) journeys, perceives, senses. It often happens that a man in a state of wakefulness has not been able to accomplish the solution of a problem, and when he goes to sleep he will reach that solution in a dream." [Page 77]

LOVE of Divinity is our goal; rewards and promises of attainment are most glorious

(ii) "LOVE is the foundation of every thing.... These waves from our minds go forth and create movement and thought in other minds. From one strong thought of LOVE what great results may be produced!"

(jj) "O SON OF LOVE! Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of LOVE. Take thou one pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity."

(kk) "Among spiritual SOULS there are spiritual understandings, discoveries, a communion which is purified from imagination and fancy, an association which is sanctified from TIME and place."

(11) "And shouldst thou recognize thy powerlessness, do thou rein in thy passions, and return unto thy LORD, that perchance He may forgive thee thy sins,"

(mm) "When you call on the Mercy of God waiting to reinforce you, your strength will be threefold." (nn) "If ye follow in His way, His incalculable and imperishable blessings will be showered upon you."

(00) "The beloved of God (believers?) have, in the days of the MANIFESTATION...been exalted above and made independent of all HUMAN learning. Nay, from their hearts and the springs of their innate powers hath gushed out unceasingly the inmost essence of HUMAN learning and wisdom.... In those days, no man shall ever stand in need of his neighbor."

(pp) "BAHÁ’U’LLÁH has appeared and so resuscitated spirits (SCULS) that they have manifested powers more than HUMAN.... Such resuscitation is impossible except through...the divine power of the HOLY SPIRIT."

(aq) "The potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of his destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be manifested in this promised Day of God."

(rr) "Try with all your hearts to be willing channels for God's bounty. For...He has chosen you to be His messengers of LOVE throughout the world, to be His bearers of spiritual gifts to man, to be the means of spreading unity and concord on the earth. Thank God...(for) such a privilege."

Awakening to the KNOWLEDGE of God which generates selfless LOVE, is "second birth"

(ss) "The disciples (of Jesus Christ)...were delivered from the animal characteristics and qualities which are the characteristics of HUMAN nature, and they become qualified with the divine characteristics, which are the bounty of God; this is the meaning of the second birth."

(tt) "Then they received the help of God, and the power of the HOLY SPIRIT became manifested; the spirituality of Christ triumphed, and the LOVE of God reigned.... Through the spirit of the LOVE of God, they gained a new LIFE."

(uu) "Therefore rebirth means...release from the captivity of nature, freedom from attachment to this mortal and MATERIAL LIFE. This is the second or spiritual birth."

(vv) "The resuscitation/ rebirth of the spirit of man is through the science of the LOVE of God." Science systematic and formulated KNOWLEDGE (Oxford Dictionary). [Page 78]

NOW A CLOSE-UP OF THE SOUL’S GROWTH PATTERN

Its symbol is a tree; and YOU were created in seed-form

(a) "The HUMAN reality may be compared to a seed. If we sow the seed, a mighty tree appears from it. ...Through education and culture,...virtues deposited by the loving God will become apparent in the HUMAN reality even as the unfoldment of the tree from within the germinating seed."

(b) "I am, O my God, but a tiny seed which Thou hast sown in the soil of Thy LOVE, and caused to spring forth by the hand of Thy bounty."

Your root-LIFE is in the MATERIAL world ("of illusion")

(See (r) p.53)

(c) "All our senses are doors which can lead us not only to a fuller expression of LIFE but to a better understanding of it and a higher state of inner development. But like everything else, they must be kept in their proper place, fulfilling their proper function."

(d) "Some men’s lives are solely occupied with the things of this world; their minds are so circumscribed by exterior manners and traditional interests that they are blind to any other realm of existence, to the spiritual significance of all things: They think and dream of earthly fame, of MATERIAL progress. Sensuous delights and comfortable surroundings bound their horizon, their highest ambitions center in successes of worldly conditions and circumstances!... Like the animal, they have no thought beyond their own physical well-being.' These live at the lowest level."

The troubles of MATERIAL LIFE stimulate your SOUL-growth, like ploughing the earth

(e) "The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by suffering. The more the ground is ploughed the better the seed will grow, the better the harvest will be. Just as the plough furroughs the earth deeply, purifying it of weeds and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the petty affairs of this worldly LIFE until he arrives at a state of complete detachment.... Man is, so to speak, unripe; the heat of the fire of suffering will mature him... The greatest men have suffered most."

(f) "Men who suffer not, attain no perfection. The plant most pruned... is that one which, when the summer comes, will have the most beautiful blossoms and the most abundant fruit."

Essential to your being as foliage is to a tree, are your thoughts, words and deeds

(Reread p. 51)

(g) "For example, if this tree were entirely fruit, the vegetable perfections could not be attained; for leaves, blossoms, and fruits are all necessary, so that the tree may be adorned with utmost beauty and perfection."

Your HUMAN LIFE is like the major part of a tree; out of it comes your spirituality

(h) "The SOUL (in earthly LIFETIME?) is the intermediary between the body and the spirit (developed SOUL? or HOLY SPIRIT?)...(as) this tree is the intermediary between the seed and the fruit. When the fruit appears and becomes ripe, then we KNOW that the tree is perfect; if the tree bore no fruit it would be merely a useless growth, serving no purpose." [Page 79]

The fruit of the SOUL's earthly living is its spirituality, the eternal part of YOU

(i) "The fruits of the HUMAN world...are the spiritual attributes which appear in man. If man is bereft of those attributes he is like a fruitless tree."

(j) "No one can destroy his spiritual qualities; they are from God."

(k) "The fruit of the HUMAN tree...is the LOVE of God; it is the LOVE of humankind; it is to wish good for all the people of the earth; it is service to humanity; it is truthfulness and honesty; it is virtues and good morals;...such are the fruits of the HUMAN tree. Otherwise it is only wood."

(1) "The fruit of man's earthly existence...is the recognition of the one true God."

(m) "If a tree bear no fruit it had better be cut down....It is better a thousand times for a man to die than to continue... without virtue."

YOU change, sacrificing lower conditions and expressions for higher spiritual ones

(n) "If you plant a seed in the ground, a tree will become manifest from that seed. The seed sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it. The seed is outwardly lost, destroyed, but the same seed which is sacrificed will be absorbed and embodied in the tree, its blossoms, fruit and branches. If the identity of that seed had not been sacrificed to the tree which became manifest from it, no branches, blossoms or fruits would have been forthcoming."

YOU can grow mentally and spiritually as long as YOU live

(o) "New fruits must be forthcoming; for that is the provision and intention of spiritual re-formation. The renewal of the leaf is fruitless. From the re-formation of bark or branch no fruit will come forth. The renewal of verdure produces nothing. If there be no renewal of fruit from the tree, of what avail is the re-formation of bark, blossom, branch and trunk?"

But YCU develop as YOU should, only if YOU arow in the light of Divinity. REVELATION

(p) "All creatures that exist are dependent upon the Divine Bounty. Divine Mercy gives LIFE itself. As the light of the sun shines on the whole world, so the Mercy of the infinite God is shed on all creatures. As the sun ripens the fruits of the earth, and gives LIFE and warmth to all living beings, so shines the SUN of Truth on all SOULS, filling them with the fire of Divine LOVE and understanding." (q) "God...is like the sun."

(r) "Be well watered with the abundant rain falling from the clouds of the Testament of God, that thou mayest bring forth fresh and ripe fruits which are beneficial to the hearts and SOULS."

(s) "The heart must of necessity be spiritual. A tree must be fruitful; it may be very tall, very verdant, but yield no fruits. The fruits of the tree of...HUMAN LIFE are the LOVE of God, magnetic, spiritual susceptibilities, heavenly illumination, the KNOWLEDGE of God, praiseworthy attributes, good morals and conduct. A person whose tree of LIFE produces such fruits is a Bahá’í; otherwise he is of the earth, earthy, self-occupied, and following the dictates of his own desires, and is man only by name. As...Christ says: 'Ye shall KNOW the tree by its fruits.'"

(t) "All those who seek truth in the Heavenly KINGDOM shine like stars; they are like fruit trees laden with choice fruit." [Page 80]

XXVI. DIFFERENT REALMS OF BEING ARE GENERATED BY DIFFERENT DEGREES OF SPIRIT

(Re-read p. 38-41)

The "Greater World" is generated by God's own SPIRIT (the HOLY SPIRIT) (See p. 25)

The "Lesser World" is generated by lesser degrees of SPIRIT: "All the variations in the stages...in the realms of being proceed from... (man's) own vision."(a)

The different "stages" or realms of being:

KINGDOM OF THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD, or "Greater World" Degree of SPIRIT: HOLY SPIRIT CREATION, generated by SPIRIT consisting of: this KNOWING power; plus this LOVE power Absolute KNOWLEDGE, and Divine LOVE, divine, innate; complete awareness of reality

"Lesser World" Degree of SPIRIT: "spirit"

"Departed SCULS" World "hereafter" added by God's mercy to that gained on earth Divine KNOWLEDGE and selfless, infinite Selfless LOVE

KINGDOM REVEALED World of Spirituality Degree of SPIRIT: "spirit" (characteristic or full power of the SCUL) Intuitive and spiritual KNOWING developed by inspiration and faith in divine REVELATION Selfless LOVE of Divinity (spiritual) and of what is seen as good

HUMANNESS World of HUMAN emotions Degree of SPIRIT: HUMAN spirit RATIONALITY World of HUMAN intellect RATIONAL faculties, intellect Revulsion against what is DISLIKED; negative or bad emotions

MATERIALITY World of Matter Degree of SPIRIT: animal spirit Instinct, senses, memory Sensations

The MATERIAL world is the beginning stage of CREATION

SENSES and MEMORY acquaint us with MATTER and the MATERIAL world that we call nature

(b) "In the powers which animals and men have in common, the animal is often the more powerful. For example,...the power of memory: if you carry a pigeon from here to a distant country, and there set it free, it will return, for it remembers the way."

The MATERIAL world, though perfect in itself, is inadequate as man's realm of being

(c) "The body is limited to a place, and does not KNOW that which is beyond it." (d) "Man is in the highest degree of MATERIALITY, and at the beginning of spirituality;...he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection."

But in the MATERIAL world we can see likenesses and symbols of the realms of spirit

(e) "The physical universe is...in perfect correspondence with the spiritual or divine realm. The world of MATTER is an outer expression or facsimile of the inner KINGDOM of spirit." [Page 81]

RATIONAL WORLD

Created to embody KNOWLEDGE of Reality and Divinity, man lives in the RATIONAL world

(f) "KNOWLEDGE...is a state attained to by the intelligence, (and) is an intellectual condition."

KNOWLEDGE is man's first weapon against slavery to nature and animalism in himself

(9) "ALL CREATION is made subject to the laws of nature, but man has been able to conquer these laws." (h) "When we are not captives of nature, when we possess the power to control ourselves, shall we become captives of nature and act according to its exigencies?" (i) "The lower appetites of nature are like kings over men; one must defeat their forces, otherwise he will be defeated by them."

But the RATIONAL world is not dependable: HUMAN thoughts are often wrong, untrue

(j) "I am astonished that certain philosophers of America and Europe are content to gradually approach the animal world, and so to go backwards; for the tendency of existence must be towards exaltation."

(k) "The conception of annihilation is a factor in HUMAN degradation, a cause of HUMAN debasement and lowliness, a source of HUMAN fear and abjection...; therefore it behooves man to abandon thoughts of non-existence and death which are absolutely imaginary and see himself ever living, everlasting in the divine purpose of his creation.

(l) "Among those matters which require thorough revision and reform is the method of studying the various branches of KNOWLEDGE and the organization of the academic curriculum. From lack of organization, education has become haphazard and confused. Trifling subjects which should not call for elaboration receive undue attention.

(m) "Many things come to the mind of man which are like the waves of the sea of imaginations; they have no fruit, and no result comes from them."

We accept ideas from the RATIONAL world; but ideas can't supply a SOUL's needs

(n) "No system of philosophy has ever been able to change the manners and customs of a people for the better."

(o) "All over the world one hears beautiful sayings extolled... But all these sayings are but words and we see very few of them carried into the world of action. On the contrary, we perceive that men are carried away by passion and selfishness, each man thinking only of what will benefit himself even if it means the ruin of his brother."

The mind of man is intended to aspire to a higher world than the RATIONAL one

(p) "My hope for you is that you will progress in the world of spirit, as well as in the world of MATTER; that your intelligence will develop, your KNOWLEDGE will augment, and your understanding be widened."

(q) "Just as HUMAN intellects have revealed the secrets of MATTER...may minds and spirits (SOULS) likewise come into the KNOWLEDGE of the verities of God, and the realities of the KINGDOM be made manifest in HUMAN hearts." [Page 82]

WORLD OF HUMANNESS

REVELATION accepted is what distinguishes the KINGDOM REVEALED from the HUMAN world

(r) "As long as man is in the matrix of the HUMAN world, as long as he is the captive of nature, he is out of touch with and without KNOWLEDGE of the universe of the KINGDOM. If he attains rebirth while in the world of nature, he will become informed of the divine world. He will observe that another higher world exists."

There is a clear line between the HUMAN world and the so-called world of spirit

(s) In the HUMAN world and in the earthly consciousness "trials...beset our every step; all our sorrow, pain, shame and grief, are born in the world of MATTER; whereas the spiritual KINGDOM never causes sadness. A man living with his thoughts in this KINGDOM KNOWS perpetual joy. The ills all flesh is heir to, do not pass him by, but they only touch the surface of his LIFE; the depths are calm and serene."

HUMAN wills and selfish desires rule in the HUMAN realm: LOVE is out of this world

(t) "O SON OF DESIRE! How long wilt thou soar in the realms of desire? Wings have I bestowed upon thee, that thou mayest fly to the realms of mystic holiness and not the regions of satanic fancy."

The HUMAN world is a place of negative emotions, severe oppression, bad conditions

(u) "What 'oppression' is more grievous that than a SOUL seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the KNOWLEDGE of God, should KNOW not where to go for it and from whom to seek it?.... By 'oppression' is meant the want of capacity to acquire spiritual KNOWLEDGE and apprehend the WORD of God."

The HUMAN world takes in no spiritual or divine realities: it's dark, unenlightened

(v) "Truth may be likened to the sun! The sun is the luminous body that disperses all shadows; in the same way does truth scatter the shadows of our imagination. As the sun gives LIFE to the body of humanity, so does truth give LIFE to their SOULS."

(w) "My purpose...was that thou mightest attain My everlasting dominion. ...And yet heedless thou didst remain, and...didst neglect all My bounties and occupied thyself with thine idle imaginings, in such wise that thou didst become wholly forgetful, and, turning away from the portals of the Friend didst abide within the courts of My enemy.'"

Most people NOW live in the HUMAN world. but BAHÁ’U’LLÁH offers freedom from it

(x) "Today, humanity is bowed down with trouble..., no one escapes; ... but thank God, the remedy is at our doors. Let us turn our hearts away from the world of MATTER and live in the spiritual world!"

(y) "Our greatest efforts must be directed towards detachment from the things of the world; we must strive to become more spiritual."

(z) "The wayfarer in this Valley (Valley of KNOWLEDGE)... breaketh the cage of the body and the passions, and consorteth with the people of the immortal realm." [Page 83]

THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM REVEALED

Faith & intuition enable us to "see" this KINGDOM that BAHÁ’U’LLÁH reveals, describes

(aa) "The outer expression used for the KINGDOM is heaven; but this is a comparison and similitude, not a reality or fact, for the KINGDOM is not a MATERIAL place, it is sanctified from TIME and place. It is a spiritual world, a divine world, and the center of the Sovereignty of God; for it is freed from body and that which is corporeal, and it is purified and sanctified from the imaginations of the HUMAN world."

(bb) As "LOVE has no place, but is connected with the heart; so the KINGDOM has no place, but is connected with man. Entrance into the KINGDOM is... through detachment, through holiness and chastity, through truthfulness, purity, steadfastness, faithfulness, and the sacrifice of LIFE." Since these are the attributes of the KINGDOM, he who possesses them "belongs" to this KINGDOM.

(cc) "When they (people) are delivered through the light of faith from the darkness of...vices, and become illuminated with the radiance of the Sun of Reality....they esteem this the greatest reward, and they KNOW it to be the true paradise."

(dd) "O SON OF SPIRIT! With the joyful tidings of light I hail thee: rejoice! To the court of holiness I summon thee; abide therein that thou mayest live in peace for evermore."

The KINGDOM Revealed or "heaven" on earth is a condition to which we may all attain

(ee) Although we are imprisoned in the MATERIAL world, our spirit (SOUL) can soar into the Heavens and we shall be free indeed!"

The KINGDOM Revealed is a realm of eternal LOVE. joy and spiritual blessings

(ff) "The spiritual world...is the KINDGOM of complete attraction and affinity. It is the KINGDOM of the one divine spirit, the KINGDOM of God. Therefore the affinity and LOVE manifest."

(gg) "In the spiritual world, the divine bestowals are infinite, for in that realm there is neither separation nor disintegration which characterize the world of MATERIAL existence. Spiritual existence is absolute immortality, completeness and unchangeable being."

(hh) "In the world of spirit there is no retrogression."

(ii) "Spiritual blessings are...endless: spirit, consciousness, thought, memory, perception, ideation and other endowments. By these He (God) has guided us and we enter His KINGDOM. He has opened the doors of all good before our faces.... He has summoned us to the KINGDOM of heaven. He has enriched us by the bestowals of God."

(jj) "If sorrow and adversity visit us, let us turn our faces to the KINGDOM, and heavenly consolation will be outpoured."

(kk) "If we are born from the matrix of this physical and phenomal environment into the freedom and loftiness and vision spiritual, we shall consider this mortal existence and its blessings as worthless by comparison." [Page 84]

BAHÁ’U’LLAH makes clear HOW each SOUL can enter this heavenly world here and NOW

(11) "O MY SERVANT! Purge thy heart from malice and, innocent of envy, enter the divine court of holiness."

(mm) "O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MINDS TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR!...Abide not but in the rose-garden of the spirit....dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy SOUL thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and aeekest to attain thy goal."

(nn) "O SON OF GLORY! Be swift in the path of holiness, and enter the heaven of communion with Me. Cleanse thy heart with the burnish of the spirit, and hasten to the court of the Most High."

Shifting from the dominion of self to control by the divine WILL is a requirement

(oo) If "SOULS... sacrifice self, become detached from the perfections of the realm of man and free from the shackles of this ephemeral world, assuredly the splendors of the rays of the divine union shall shine in their hearts, and in the eternal paradise they shall find ideal relationship, union and happiness."

(pp) "O SON OF SPIRIT! Burst they cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of LOVE soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity."

(qq) "The station of absolute self-surrender transcendeth, and will ever remain exalted above, every other station."

(rr) "Become servants of the heavenly kingdom, captives in the service of the WILL of God.. This captivity is freedom, this sacrifice is glorification.... For service... is unity with God.".

(ss) "Deliver your SOULS, O people, from the bondage of self, and purify them from all attachment to anything besides Me." (tt) "When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed freedom! For self is the greatest prison."

BAHÁ’U’LLAH has unveiled the world of Divinity, revealed God’s KINGDOM "on earth"

(uu) "O SON OF MAN! The light hath shone on thee from the horizon of the sacred Mount and the spirit of enlightenment hath breathed in the Sinai of thy heart. Wherefore, free thyself from the veils of idle fancies and enter into My court, that thou mayest be fit for everlasting LIFE and worthy to meet Me. Thus may death not come upon thee, neither weariness nor trouble."

The coming of the KINGDOM was long promised; we’re NOW called to develop its REALITY

(vv) "OFFSPRING OF DUST!... Barter not the garden of eternal delight for the dust-heap of a mortal world. Up from thy prison ascend unto the glorious meads above, and from thy mortal cage wing thy flight unto the paradise of the Placeless."

(w/w) "O SON OF WORLDLINESS! Pleasant is the realm of being, wert thou to attain thereto;B glorious is the domain of eternity, shouldst thou pass beyond the world of mortality...Shouldst thou attain this station, thou wouldst be freed from destruction and death, from toil and sin." [Page 85]

The attributes of the KINGDOM REVEALED are God's attributes reflected in SCULS

(xx) "Entrance into the KINGDOM is through the LOVE of God, through detachment, through holiness and chastity, through truthfulness, purity and...sacrifice."

DEITY

(yy) "What is true greatness in man?....His spiritual attributes. No one can destroy his spiritual qualities; they are from God."

(zz) "Man is like unto the glass (in a lamp); but spiritual splendors are like unto the light within the glass. No matter how translucent the glass may be, as long as there is no light within, it remains dark. Likewise man, no matter how much he advances in MATERIAL accomplishments,...will remain like the glass without light if he is deprived of the virtues spiritual."

Divine motives, stirred by the HOLY SPIRIT, produce these qualities

(aaa) "Man's supreme honor and real happiness lie in self respect. in high resolves and noble purposes, in integrity and moral quality, in immaculacy of mind."

GREATER (bbb) MANIFESTATIONS "are commissioned to use the inspiration of WORLD divine awareness LESSER ness WORLD HUMAN awareness Spiritual awareness (man) PROPHET (man) Their words...for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations and only then, will the Trust of God, latent in the reality of man, emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb of Divine REVELATION, from behind the veil of concealment."

(ccc) "HUMAN virtues (are) inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT."

(ddd) "What is the purpose of our lives?...To acquire virtues."

To develop and manifest these is our destiny, our highest fulfilment

(eee) "The LIFE of man is useful if he attains the perfections of man."

(fff) "True happiness depends on spiritual good and having the heart ever open to receive the Divine Bounty."

(ggg) "No matter how much man may acquire MATERIAL virtues, he will not be able to realize and express the highest possibilities of LIFE without spiritual graces."

(hhh) "Happy are the righteous that have attained unto the most great truth; happy are the wise that have recognized the straight path of God and turned unto His KINGDOM; happy are the glad and sincere, the lamps of whose hearts burn with the KNOWLEDGE of the All-Merciful and are protected from the rough winds of tests and sorrows; happy are the brave whose hearts the power of the oppressor cannot daunt; happy are the clear-sighted that have learned to distinguish the transitory from the eternal, that have turned their faces to the Imperishable and are named among the Immortals in the realm of power and glory."

(iii) "Strive, O people, to gain admittance into this vast Immensity for which God ordained neither beginning nor end, in which His voice hath been raised, and over which have been wafted the sweet savors of holiness and glory." [Page 86]

XXVII. THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH IS SPIRITUAL, PART OF THE KINGDOM REVEALED

That a new WORLD ORDER is being born is obvious; BAHÁ’U’LLÁH explains what it is

(a) "The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new WORLD ORDER. MANKIND's ordered LIFE hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed."

--

(b) "Soon will the present-day ORDER be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead." (c) "The day is approaching when We will have rolled up the world and all that is therein, and spread out a new ORDER in its stead. He verily, is powerful over all things."

(d) "The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can NOW be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective."

(e) "The world of spirit needs new LIFE, the world of mind necessitates new animus and development, the world of SOULS a new bounty, the world of morality a re-formation."

God is causing changes: MANKIND is moving from the natural to the SPIRITUAL condition

(f) "Motion hath been generated by the potent energies which the WORDS of the Almighty have released throughout the entire CREATION."

(g) "The precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of ORDER in the world and the security of its peoples."

(h) "Whenever My LAWS appear like the sun in the heaven of Mine utterance, they must be faithfully obeyed by all, though My decree be such as to cause the heaven of every religion to be cleft asunder."

(i) "Just as you were physically born from the mother into this world, ye must be born again from the mother-world of nature into the LIFE of the divine KINGDOM....May you all be born again from this mortal world into the realm of the KINGDOM. May you clearly witness the signs of God, sense the virtues of the divine, attain the eternal bounties and perceive the reality of LIFE everlasting."

As in heaven, the LAW of the New ORDER is LOVE: selfish negative emotions are barred out

(j) "Real LOVE is the LOVE which exists between God and His servants, the LOVE which binds together holy SOULS. This is the LOVE of the spiritual world, not the LOVE of physical bodies and organisms." (k) "BAHÁ’U’LLÁH has proclaimed and provided the way by which hostility and dissention may be removed from the HUMAN world."

(l) "He is indeed a captive who hath not recognized the Supreme Redeemer, but hath suffered his SOUL to be bound, distressed and helpless, in the fetters of his desires." (m) "He is not to be numbered with the people of Baha who followeth his mundane desires...."

(n) "Leave all thought of self, and strive only to be obedient and submissive to the WILL of God. In this way only shall we become citizens of the KINGDOM of God." [Page 87]

Spiritual government, administration of affairs by selfless leaders, is God's decree

If

(o) "The...House of Justice, if it be established under the necessary conditions,...will be under the protection and guardianship of God. that House of Justice shall decide unanimously, or by a majority, upon any question not mentioned in the Book, that decision will be guarded from mistake... The members of the House of Justice have not, individually, essential sinlessness; but the body of the House of Justice is under the protection of God: this is called conferred infallibility."

Take

(p) "O ye the elected representatives of the people of every land! ye counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth MANKIND, and bettereth the condition thereof." (q) "If five people meet together to seek for truth, they must begin by cutting themselves free from all their own special conditions and renouncing all preconceived ideas."

(r) "The gift of God to this enlightened age is the KNOWLEDGE of the oneness of MANKIND and of the fundamental oneness of RELIGION. War shall cease between nations, and by the WILL of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers."

(s) "Then every nation on earth will reign in honor, and every people will be cradled in tranquility and content."

(t) "Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your minds and hearts may be tranquillized. Heal the dissentions that divide you, and ye will no longer be in need of any armaments except what the protection of your cities and territories demandeth."

We must see," LIVE by, God's Purpose in order to be part of the new divine Order

(u) "Behold how contrary are the ways of the MANIFESTATIONS of God, as ordained by the King of CREATION, to the ways and desires of men! As thou comest to comprehend the essence of these divine mysteries, thou wilt grasp the purpose of God, the divine Charmer, the Best-Beloved."

(v) "The only difference (in people) lies in the degree of faithfulness, of obedience to the LAWS of God. There are some who are as lighted torches, there are others who shine as stars in the sky of humanity."

The spiritual WORLD ORDER won't deteriorate: it will evolve towards more perfection

(w) "In the world of spirit there is no retrogression."

(x) "O ye Cohorts of God!...this community of the ‘Most Great Name’ is...striving... to live in accordance with the divine Teachings in order that...the HUMAN race attain to higher morals, conduct and manners."

(y) "If we confess verbally that BAHÁ’U’LLAH’s principles are the cause of eternal salvation and the means of nearness unto the throne of God and yet do not live according to their instructions, we are not Bahá’ís. Therefore day and night we must pray for each other, so that we be assisted to express in our lives the universal spirit of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH." [Page 88]

XXVIII, THE ULTIMATE IN CREATION IS THE KINGDOM OF DEPARTED SOULS ONCE CALLED HEAVEN

We can't say what YOU will be at death: but we may be sure YOU will still be Y-O-U

(a) "Total annihilation is an impossibility.... As existence can never become non-existence, there is no death for man.... Death is therefore applicable to a change or transformation from one degree to another."

(b) "As to the SOUL of man after death, it remains in the degree of purity to which it has evolved during life in the physical body, and after it is freed from the body it remains plunged in the ocean of God’s mercy... (and) evolves nearer to God, by the mercy and bounty of God."

The "next LIFE" is a continuation of this, minus earthly limitations

(c) "There is no other being higher than a perfect man. But man when he has reached this state can still make progress in perfections but not in state, because there is no state higher than that of a perfect man to which he can transfer himself. He only progresses in the state of humanity, for the HUMAN perfections are infinite. Thus, however learned a man may be, we can imagine one more learned. Hence, as the perfections of humanity are endless, man can also make progress in perfections after leaving this world."

Man, always part of CREATION, develops endless perfections eternally after death

(d) "In the world of existence man has traversed successive degrees until he has attained the HUMAN kingdom. In each degree of his progression he has developed capacity for advancement to the next station and condition. ...Therefore in this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond.... That world beyond is a world of sanctity and radiance; therefore it is necessary that in this world he should acquire these divine attributes....By what means can man acquire these things?....First, through the KNOWLEDGE of God. Second, through the LOVE of God. Third, through faith. Fourth, through philanthropic deeds. Fifth, through self-sacrifice. Sixth, through severance from this world. Seventh, through sanctity and holiness."

(e) "As the spirit (SOUL) continues to exist after death, it necessarily progresses, or declines; and in the other world, to cease to progress is the same as to decline; but it never leaves its own condition, in which it continues to develop."

(f) "From the moment the SOUL leaves the body and arrives in the Heavenly World, its evolution is spiritual, and that evolution is: the approaching unto God....The SOUL does not evolve from degree to degree as a LAW - it only evolves nearer to God, by the Mercy and Bounty of God."

(g) "The progress of man’s spirit (SOUL) in the divine world, after the severance of its connection with the body of dust, is through the bounty and grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and sincere prayers of other HUMAN SOULS or through the charities and important good works which are performed in its name." [Page 89]

"Dying" is like emerging from the womb into the greater world waiting to receive us

(h) "Spiritual existence is absolute immortality, completeness and unchangeable being."

(i) "LIFE in this mortal world will quickly come to an end, and this earthly glory, wealth, comfort and happiness will soon vanish and be no more. Summon ye the people to God and..to the manners and conduct of the Supreme Concourse."

(j) "Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is LIFE indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting LIFE."

(k) "The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the SOUL attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation."

(l) "A friend asked: 'How should one look forward to death? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered: 'How does one look forward to the end of any journey? With hope and expectation. It is even so with the end of this earthly journey. In the next world man will find himself freed from many of the disabilities under which he now suffers. Those who have passed on through death, have a sphere of their own. It is not removed from ours: their work of the KINGDOM, is ours; but it is sanctified from what we call TIME and place. Those who have ascended have different attributes (conditions) from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation. In prayer there is a mingling of stations, a mingling of condition.'"

The punishments and rewards in this KINGDOM are of our own making here on earth

(m) "All men shall, after their physical death, estimate the worth of their deeds, and realize all that their hands have wrought....They that are the followers of the one true God shall, the moment they depart out of this LIFE, experience such joy and gladness as would be impossible to describe, while they that live in error shall be seized with such fear and trembling, and shall be filled with such consternation, as nothing can exceed."

(n) "The punishments of the other world...consist in being deprived of the special divine blessings and the absolute bounties, and falling into the lowest degrees of existence. He who is deprived of these divine favors, although he continues after death, is considered as dead by the people of truth."

(o) "Likewise the rewards of the other world are the eternal LIFE which is clearly mentioned in all the Holy Books, the divine perfections, the eternal bounties, and everlasting felicity. The rewards of the other world are the perfections and the peace obtained in the spiritual worlds after leaving this world."

(p) "On the Day of Judgment, when men stand before their Lord, they will not be questioned as to their education and the degree of their culture - rather will they be examined as to their good deeds.'"

(q) "The loftiest mansions in the Realm of Immortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that have truly believed in God and in His signs. Death can never invade that holy seat." [Page 90]

XXIX. WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO AN INFINITUDE OF GLORIOUS WORLDS BEYOND THE PRESENT

No SOUL is so spiritually dead as to enter the "next LIFE" without hope of progress

(a) "It is possible that the condition of those who have died in sin and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may become the object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through His justice, for bounty is giving without desert, and justice is giving what is deserved."

(b) "The very fact that our spiritual instinct, surely never given in vain, prompts us to pray for the welfare of those, our loved ones, who have passed out of the MATERIAL world: does it not bear witness to the continuance of their existence?"

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH gives us thrilling glimpses of the KINGDOM to which true believers belong

(c) "If the SOUL of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved.... It shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue describe. The SOUL that hath remained faithful to the CAUSE of God, and stood unwaveringly firm in His Path shall, after his ascension, be possessed of such power that all the worlds which the Almighty hath created can benefit through him. Such a SOUL provideth, at the bidding of the Ideal King and Divine Educator, the pure leaven that leaveneth the world of being, and furnisheth the power through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest.... Those SCULS that are the symbols of detachment are the leaven of the world."

(d) "As to the question whether the SOULS will recognize each other in the spiritual world: This fact is certain; for the KINGDOM is the world of vision where all the concealed realities will become disclosed. How much more the well KNOWN SOULS will become manifest! The mysteries of which man is heedless in this earthly world, these he will discover in the heavenly world, and there informed of the secret of truth: how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he hath been associated."

(e) "The SCULS of the people of Bahá, who have entered and been established within the Crimson Ark, shall associate and commune intimately one with another, and shall be so closely associated in their lives, their aspirations, their aims and strivings as to be even as one SOUL.... The people of Bahá.. ...are, one and all, well aware of one another's state and condition, and are united in the bonds of intimacy and fellowship. Such a state, however, must depend upon their faith and their conduct. They that are of the same grade and station are fully aware of one another's capacity, character, accomplishments and merits. They that are of a lower grade, however, are incapable of comprehending adequately the station, or of estimating the merits, of those that rank above them."

What God has destined for us is bevond all imagining - Divine

(f) "The worlds of God are countless in number, and infinite in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing."

(g) "Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain." [Page 91]

XXX. TIME IS A PHASE OF REALITY TO BE COPED WITH IN MATERIAL AND HUMAN EXISTENCE

TIME is dimension measuring ages, stages. cycles or lengths of activity or progress

(a) "Place and TIME surround the body." (b) "Development and progression imply gradual stages or degrees....NOW is the beginning of the manifestation of the power spiritual, and inevitably its potency of LIFE forces will assume greater and greater proportions.... It will reach such a degree that spiritual effulgences will overcome the physical, so that divine susceptibilities will overpower MATERIAL intelligence, and the heavenly light dispel and banish earthly darkness." (c) "We are in the cycle which began with Adam and its universal MANIFESTATION is BAHÁ’U’LLÁH." (d) "There were many universal cycles preceding this one in which we are living. They were consummated, completed, and their traces obliterated." (e) "Every age hath its own problems."

There's a RIGHT TIME (God's TIME) for everything - especially to recognize DEITY

(f) "We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you!"

the

(g) "It is NOW the TIME in history of the world for us to...arise to service in the world of morality, for HUMAN morals are in need of readjustment." (h) "Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its...requirements." (i) "Ye are the shepherds of MANKIND; liberate ye your flocks from the wolves of evil passions and desires, and adorn them with the ornament of the fear of God."

The cycle BAHÁ’U’LLÁH began is the TIME MANKIND is to enter the spiritual condition

(j) The REVELATION which, from TIME immemorial, hath been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath NOW, by virtue of the pervasive WILL of the Almighty...been revealed unto men. The advent of such a REVELATION hath been heralded in all the sacred SCRIPTURES. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement, MANKIND hath strayed from its path and shut itself from its glory."

(k) "Consider this present century of radiance and compare it with past centuries. What a vast difference exists between them! How minds have developed! How perceptions have deepened! How discoveries have increased! What great projects have been accomplished! How many realities have become manifest! How many mysteries of CREATION have been probed and penetrated! What is the CAUSE of this? It is through the efficacy of spiritual springtime in which we are living."

(l) "He...hath come to build anew the whole world." (m) "Today the light of Truth is shining upon the world in its abundance.

(u) At the TIME when "lights of KNOWLEDGE and certitude envelop" the seeker's being, the MANIFESTATION" will awaken the heart, the SOUL and the spirit.” [Page 92]

It’s TIME NOW to submit ego-will to God’s WILL: so do we enter the divine KINGDOM

DIVINITY SPIR SPACE TIME POWER

(o) "LIFE is of two kinds: that of the body, and that of the spirit. The LIFE of the body is MATERIAL LIFE, but the LIFE of the spirit (SOUL) expresses the existence of the KINGDOM, which con- sists in receiving the SPIRIT of God, and becoming vivified by the breath of the HOLY SPIRIT."

(p) Because they (atoms) have affinity for each other, the power of LIFE is able to manifest itself and rganisms of the phenomenal world become possible.... It is so likewise in the spiritual world. That world is the KINGDOM of complete attraction and affinity. It is the KINGDOM of the one divine spirit, the KINGDOM of God."

(q) "By...perpetual union with God is meant that men should merge their will wholly in the WILL OF GOD, and regard their desires as utter nothingness."

(r) "Perish that lover who discerneth between the pleasant and poisonous in his LOVE for his beloved!"

Every SOUL yearns for this condition at all TIMES

(s) "Man is always turned towards the heights, and his aspiration is lofty%3B he always desires to reach a greater world than the world in which he is, and to mount to a higher sphere than that in which he is. The LOVE of exaltation is one of the characteristics of man,"

HUMAN limitations in viewing TIME often veil origins or goals, and thus reality

(t) "If the lover could have looked ahead, he would have blessed the watch- man at the start,....and he would have seen that (watchman’s apparent) tyranny as justice....Those who journey in the garden-land of KNOWLEDGE,...people of the Valleys above this (Valley of KNOWLEDGE,) see the end and the beginning as one.... For these have passed over the worlds of names and...attributes."

(n) "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 in- visible 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.... Thus it is this Light which we must strive to seek."

Only God KNOWS the origin and objective of CREATION and man: they must be revealed [Page 93]

In TIME things change; and in the light of TIME, RATIONAL men see action patterns

(v) "In every age and dispensation all divine ordinances are changed and transformed according to the requirements of the TIME, except the LAW of LOVE, which, like a fountain, always flows and is never over- taken by change."

(w) "Development and progression imply gradual stages or degrees....NOW is the beginning of the manifestation of the power spiritual, and in- evitably its potency of LIFE forces will assume greater and greater pro- portions.... It will reach such a degree that spiritual effulgences will overcome the physical, so that divine susceptibilities will overpower MATERIAL intelligence, and the heavenly light dispel and banish earthly darkness."

(x) "There is a day and night in the world of spirituality."

(y) "Though in infancy the signs of the mind and spirit appear in man, they do not reach the degree of perfection, they are imperfect. Only when man attains maturity do the mind and the spirit appear and become evident in utmost perfection."

(z) "Man is a child of God;B most noble, lofty and beloved by God, his Creator. Therefore he must ever strive that the divine bounties and vir- tues bestowed upon him may prevail and control him. Just NOW the soil of HUMAN hearts seems like black earth, but in the inmost substance of this dark soil there are thousands of fragrant flowers latent. We must endeavor to cultivate and awaken these potentialities...bring forth these resplen- dent powers long hidden in HUMAN hearts."

RATIONAL man can see things in the light of TIME but only God can unveil the future

(aa) "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 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.... Thus it is this Light which we must strive to seek."

(bb) "If your days on earth are numbered, you (can) KNOW that ever- lasting LIFE awaits you."

(cc) "Lift up your hearts above the present and look with eyes of faith into the future!"

We have new Light NCW on the Divine Purpose and Potentiality of LIFE: seekers, note!

(dd) "Changes brought about in every Dispensation constitute the dark clouds that intervene between...man's understanding, the Divine Luminary."

and,

(ee) "Our attention is, directed toward the heavenly KINGDOM unto which we must render faithful service...Praise be to God! we are living in a century of light.... Praise be to God! we are alive to this TIME of the manifesta- tion of divine LOVE."

(ff) "When...the lights of KNOWLEDGE envelop his (seeker's) being...at that hour...the Mystic Herald...will awaken the heart, the soul and the spirit from the slumber of heedlessness."

(gg) "This is the day when pure hearts have a portion of the everlasting bounties." [Page 94]

XXXI. REVEALED RELIGION IS WHAT MAN ACCEPTS OF A REVELATION, PART OF THE KINGDOM REVEALED

RELIGION isn't a creation of man; it's awareness and LOVE of DIVINITY that GOD offers

(a) "RELIGION is the outer expression of the divine reality." (b) "The essence of all RELIGIONS is the LOVE of God, and it is the foundation of all the sacred teachings." (c) "The essence of RELIGION is to testify unto that which the Lord hath revealed, and follow that which he hath ordained in His mighty Book."

True RELIGION is based on the WORD of God, as brought to us by His MANIFESTATION

(d) "Content thyself with that which He, Himself, hath revealed: 'Is it not enough... that We have sent down unto thee a Book?" This is the testimony which He Himself hath ordained; greater proof than this there is none, nor ever will be: 'This proof is His WORD, His own Self, the testimony of His truth.'" (e) "KNOW thou, that I have ... fully revealed to thee My WORD.... Be then content with My pleasure and thankful unto Me."

Since Revealed RELIGION is Truth from God, it is one; but Truth is unveiled gradually

(f) "Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever one." (g) "The Sun has sent forth many rays to illumine HUMAN intelligence; the light is always the same." (h) "The RELIGION of God is one, for all REVELATIONS of it are based upon reality." (i) "REVELATION may be likened unto the light of the moon that sheddeth its radiance upon the earth....every TIME it appeareth, it revealeth a fresh measure of its brightness."

RELIGION, the ultimate in KNOWLEDGE, must agree with, include RATIONALITY, science

(j) "God made RELIGION and science to be the measure, as it were, of our understanding. Take heed that you neglect not such a wonderful power." (k) "Weigh carefully in the balance of reason and science everything that is presented to you as RELIGION. If it passes this test, then accept it, for it is truth! If, however, it does not so conform, then reject it for it is ignorance!... There are individuals (however) who have weak intellects and their powers of reasoning have not developed...The strength and power of RELIGION must not be doubted because of the incapacity of these persons to understand." (l) "RELIGION must be in harmony with science and reason. If it does not conform to science and reconcile with reason it is superstition. Down to the present day it has been customary for man to accept a religious teaching even though it were not in accord with HUMAN reason and judgment. The harmony of religious belief with reason is a new vista which BAHÁ’U’LLÁH has opened for the SOUL of man." (m) "The religion which does not walk hand in hand with science is itself in the darkness of superstition and ignorance." [Page 95]

RELIGIONS progressively give spiritual insight, moral education, views of the future

GOD

(n) "Every true Prophet hath regarded His Message as fundamentally the same as the REVELATION of every other Prophet gone before Him.... The measure of the REVELATION of the Prophets of God in this world, however, must differ. Each and every one of Them hath been the Bearer of a distinct Message, and hath been commissioned to reveal Himself through specific acts."

KINGDOM OF

(o) "‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: 'The Message of Krishna is the message of LOVE. All God's prophets have brought the message of LOVE.'" (p) "Buddha...established a new RELIGION." (q) "There is no difference...between the Teachings of Zoraster, Jesus and BAHÁ’U’LLÁH."

MANIFESTATION CREATION

(r) "Moses...proceeding from the Parán of the LOVE of God,...shone forth from the Sinai of light upon the world. He summoned all the peoples and kindreds of the earth to the KINGDOM of eternity, and invited them to partake of the fruit of the tree of faithfulness."

REVELATION

(s) "Jesus founded the sacred Law (of LOVE) on a basis of moral character and complete spirituality and...delineated a special way of LIFE which constitutes the highest type of action on earth."

Spiritual Worlds Revealed Religion

(t) "Abraham...made a covenant concerning Moses and gave the glad tidings of His coming....Moses made a covenant concerning...Christ, and announced the good news of His MANIFESTATION to the world....Christ made a covenant concerning the Paraclete and gave the tidings of His coming.

HUMAN worlds

...Muhammad made a covenant concerning the Báb and the Báb was the One promised by Muhammad.... The Báb made a covenant concerning the Blessed Beauty of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH and gave the glad tidings of His coming.... BAHÁ’U’LLÁH made a covenant concerning a Promised One Who will become manifest after one thousand or thousands of years."

humanly developed religion

RELIGION reveals spiritual LAWS, instills motives and ideals that inspire obedience

(u) "The ideal safeguard, namely, the RELIGION of God, prevents both the manifest and the concealed crime, trains man, educates morals, compels the adoption of virtues and is the all-inclusive power which guarantees the felicity of the world of MANKIND. But by RELIGION is meant that which is ascertained by investigation and not that which is based on mere imitation, the foundation of Divine RELIGIONS and not HUMAN imitations."

(v) "RELIGION is a manifest light and strong fortress for the protection and tranquillity of the people of the world. For the fear of God commands people to do that which is just and forbids them that which is evil."

(w) "The RELIGION of God and the creed of God hath been REVEALED and made manifest from the heaven of the WILL of...(God) for the sake of union and harmony among the people of the world." (x) "As RELIGION inculcates morality, it is therefore the truest philosophy, and on it is built the only lasting civilization." [Page 96]

Man's only "salvation' from animalism results from accepting REVELATION, RELIGION

(y) "From the TIME of Adam to this day there have been two pathways in the world of humanity; one the natural or MATERIAListic, the other the religious or spiritual. The pathway of nature is the pathway of the animal realm.... The second pathway is that of RELIGION, the road of the divine KINGDOM. It involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes, heavenly illuminacion and righteous actions in the world of humanity. This pathway is conducive to the progress and uplift of the world. It is the source of HUMAN enlightenment, training and ethical improvement; the magnet which attracts the LOVE of God because of the KNOWLEDGE of God it bestows. This is the road of the Holy MANIFESTATIONS of God for They are in reality the foundation of the divine RELIGION of oneness. There is no change or transformation in this pathway. It is the cause of HUMAN betterment, the acquisition of heavenly virtues and the illumination of MANKIND."

(z) "The greatest bestowal of God in the world of humanity is RELIGION; for assuredly the divine teachings of RELIGION are above all other sources of instruction and development of man. RELIGION confers upon man eternal life, and guides his footsteps in the world of morality. It opens the doors of unending happiness and bestows everlasting honor upon the HUMAN kingdom. It has been the basis of all civilization and progress in the history of MANKIND."

East is where the Sun of Truth rises, RELIGIONS start; then they develop in the West

(aa) "In the past as in the present, the spiritual Sun of Truth has always shone from the horizon of the East."

(bb) "The West has always received spiritual enlightenment from the East. The Song of the Kingdom is first heard in the East, but in the West the greater volume of sound bursts upon the listening ears...Christ arose as a bright Star in the Eastern sky, but the light of His Teaching shone more perfectly in the West.... The sound of the Song of Christ has echoed over all the lands of the Western World and entered the hearts of its people."

Inner Truth is one, but outer expressions vary in TIME: so each RELIGION is different

(cc) "Each of the divine RELIGIONS embodies two kinds of ordinances. first are those which concern spiritual susceptibilities, the development of moral principles and the quickening of the conscience of man. These are essential or fundamental, one and the same in all RELIGIONS, changeless and eternal, reality not subject to transformation.... The second kind of ordinances...are those which relate to the MATERIAL affairs of HUMANkind. These are the MATERIAL or accidental LAWS which are subject to change in each day of manifestation, according to...conditions."

(dd) "Every age hath its own problem, and every SOUL its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require."

(ee) "All these divisions we see on all sides, all these disputes and opposition, are caused because men cling to ritual and outward observances, and forget the simple, underlying truth. It is the outward practices of RELIGION that are so different, and it is they that cause disputes and enmity - while reality is always the same, and one. The Reality is the Truth, and truth has no division. Truth is God's guidance, it is the light of the world, it is LOVE, it is mercy." [Page 97]

As its Light dims, Revealed RELIGION changes into something HUMAN called religion

(a) "O MY FRIENDS! Call ye to mind that covenant ye have entered into with Me upon Mount Paran.... NOW none do I find faithful unto the covenant. Of a certainty pride and rebellion have effaced it from the hearts, in such wise that no trace thereof remaineth."

(b) "Man has opposed the WILL of God and acted in opposition to the plan of God. Therefore from the beginning of history to the present TIME the world of humanity has had no lasting rest.... In the nineteenth century...the darkness of imitations and forms had enveloped religious belief. The people of religions were in constant warfare, filled with enmity, hatred and bitterness."

(c) "When the the sun sets, it is TIME for bats to fly.... When the lights of RELIGION become darkened, the MATERIALists appear."

Each religion, like everything HUMAN, dies; that's why God sends another REVELATION

(d) "The spirituality of people has been overcome by MATERIALism.... Although some attend churches and temples of worship and devotion, it is in accordance with the traditions and imitations of their fathers and not for the investigation of reality. For it is evident that they have not found the reality and are not engaged in its adoration."

(e) MATERIAL forces gain the ascendancy. The divine signs are becoming less and less, and HUMAN evidences grow stronger. They have reached a degree that MATERIALists are advancing and aggressive while divine forces are waning and vanishing. Irreligion has conquered RELIGION."

(f) As in TIME a tree withers and decays, "so it is with RELIGIONS: through the passing of TIME they change from their original foundation, the truth of the RELIGION of God entirely departs...;B heresies appear, and it becomes a body without a SOUL. That is why it is renewed."

(g) "We should, therefore, detach ourselves from the external forms and practices of RELIGION. We must realize that these forms and practices, however beautiful, are but garments clothing the warm heart and living limbs of Divine Truth."

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH urges abandoning past REVELATIONS: these He has restated and man has changed

(h) of "that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power...and revealed unto the Prophets of old, We have taken the inner essence...and clothed it in the garment of brevity.".

(i) "Moses...brought tidings of joy unto the people of Israel. To this testify the records of the sacred books.... (But) it is not Our wish to relate the stories of the days that are past. God is Our witness that what we even NOW mention is solely....that the ignorant be led unto the ocean of divine KNOWLEDGE.... Otherwise, this servant regardeth the consideration of such records a grave mistake and grievous transgression."

(j) "By corruption of the text is meant that in which all Muslim divines are engaged today, that is the interpretation of God's holy Book in accordance with their idle imaginings and their vain desires. And as the Jews, in the TIME of Muhammad, interpreted those verses of the Pentateuch, that referred to His MANIFESTATION, after their own fancy...the charge of 'perverting the text was therefore pronounced against them." [Page 98]

XXXIII. BAHÁ’U’LLÁH COMES TO RENEW RELIGION: HIS R'L'N. ACCEPTED. IS THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH

Past Enlightenment has been partly lost and partly integrated into HUMAN RATIONALITY

(a) "Every nation is holding to its traditional religious forms. The light of reality is obscured. Were the various nations to investigate the reality, there is no doubt they would attain. to it. As reality is one, all nations would then become as one nation."

(b) "The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of HUMAN society; what else but the Elixir of His potent REVELATION can cleanse and revive it?... Perplexing and difficult as this may appear, the...task of converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been empowered to accomplish. The Force capable of such a transformation transcendeth the potency of the Elixir itself. The WORD of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change."

(c) "That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal CAUSE, one common Faith." (d) "The divine teachings are the heavenly grace and the showers of the mercy of God, which purify the hearts of men."

(e) "It is our duty in this radiant century to investigate the essentials of divine RELIGION, seek the realities underlying the oneness of the world."

(f) "Just as in the world of politics there is need for free throught, like- wise in the world of RELIGION there should be the right of unrestricted in- dividual belief."

Spiritual education has been provided by God at levels reflected by HUMAN education (Man has developed from the "ground" up; read thus)

TIME of divine REVELATION - BAHÁ’U’LLÁH 1863 A.D. Guidance into ALL TRUTH BÁB 1844 A.D. End of preparation, start of maturity. NOHAMMAD 622 A.D. Maturity(spiritual) training("college") JESUS CHRIST I A.D. Senior "high" education BUDDHA 566 B.C. Junior "high" education ZOROASTER 1000 B.C. (?) Upper "grades" MOSES 1330 B.C. (?) Elementary "grades" KRISHNA 2000 B.C. (?) Kindergarten ABRAHAM ? First or ADAM ? "home" training

TIME of intellectual evolution: Language and mentality developed in HUMAN World TIME of physical evolution: body took shape in MATERIAL World [Page 99]

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH has unveiled divine reality, proving He’s a Divine Revelator, RELIGION-Founder

(g) "When the darkness of ignorance and heedlessness concerning the realm of eternity...had encircled the universe, then the resplendent Luminary dawned and the brilliant Light illumined the horizon of the East. Hence, the Sun of Reality shone forth, scattering the sparkling lights of the KINGDOM to the East and to the West. Those who had seeing eyes...have beheld the reality of things in themselves, have discovered the mysteries of the KINGDOM, were released from superstition and doubts, perceived the lights of Truth, and became...intoxicated with the cup of the LOVE of God... sacrificing their minds and their lives upon the altar of LOVE.".

(h) "No sooner had the First WORD proceeded, through the potency of Thy WILL and purpose, out of His mouth, and the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole CREATION was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths. Through that WORD the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly KINGDOM, entities of a new CREATION, and revealing, in the unseen realms, the signs and tokens of Thy unity and oneness. Through that Call Thou didst announce unto all Thy Servants the advent of Thy most great REVELATION and the appearance of Thy most perfect CAUSE."

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S SPIRIT is the HOLY SPIRIT, His WORD is God’s WORD, fully manifested

(i) "The glorious Sun of Truth has once again risen in the East... The light of the unity of MANKIND is beginning to illumine the world, and soon the banner of Divine harmony...will be flying high in the Heavens...Breezes of the HOLY SPIRIT, will inspire the whole world."

(j) "The WORD of God has assuredly been explained and has become an evident sign and a strong and solid proof, and its traces shall be spread in the East and West, and to these all heads shall bow and all SOULS shall submit and kneel down with their faces to the ground."

(k) "Verily, I say unto you that the WORD of God has assuredly been explained and has become an evident sign...."

(l) "The Book of God is wide open, and His WORD is summoning MANKIND unto Him. No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to cleave to His CAUSE or to become the instruments for its promotion. These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men."

(m) The Promised One of all the nations of the world hath become apparent and manifest! Each community and RELIGION expecteth the coming of their Promised Cne, and...BAHÁ’U’LLÁH is the Promised One of all!'"

(n) "The Book of God hath been sent down in the form of this Youth.... take ye good heed, O peoples of the world, lest ye flee from His face.... God...hath created you; He...hath nourished your SOULS through His CAUSE, and enabled you to recognize Him Who is the Almighty,...the All-KNOWING."

(o) "The Books of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH number more than one hundred.... Each one... inculcates divine morality, the manifestation of lordly graces." [Page 100]

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH suffered willingly for us: NOW He controls MANKIND's immediate destiny

(p) "The Breathings of the Divine SPIRIT awoke Him, and bade Him arise and proclaim His REVELATION."

(q) "The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that MANKIND may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness."

(r) "He (BAHÁ’U’LLÁH) bore these ordeals, suffered these calamities and difficulties in order that...the precious, priceless bestowal of God, the HUMAN mind, might be developed to its fullest capacity in the temple of the body; and man become the reflection and likeness of God, even as it hath been revealed in the Bible: 'We shall create man in Our own image.'"

(s) (BAHÁ’U’LLÁH) holdeth in His hand the immediate destinies of all created things."

His Authority is affirmed by God's WORD and testimony, voiced through BAHÁ’U’LLÁH

(t) "Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of LAWS. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power."

(u) "God is My witness that this Wronged One hath had no purpose except to convey the WORD of God."

(v) "I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the KNOWLEDGE of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-KNOWING. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven.... The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not.... This is but a leaf which the winds of the WILL of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred."

(w) "O My servants! There shineth nothing else in Mine heart except the unfading light of the Morn of Divine guidance, and out of My mouth proceedeth naught but the essence of truth, which the Lord your God hath revealed. Follow not, therefore, your earthly desires, and violate not the Covenant of God, nor break your pledge to Him."

(x) "I can utter no WORD, O my God, unless I be permitted by Thee, and can move in no direction until I obtain Thy sanction. It is Thou, O my God, Who hast called me into being through the power of Thy might, and hast endued me with Thy grace to manifest Thy CAUSE."

(y) "I have no will but Thy WILL, O my Lord, and cherish no desire except Thy desire, From my pen floweth only the summons which Thine own exalted pen hath voiced, and my tongue uttereth naught save what the Most Great SPIRIT hath itself proclaimed in the KINGDOM of Thine eternity. I am stirred by nothing except the winds of Thy WILL, and breathe no word except the WORDS which, by Thy leave and Thine inspiration, am led to pronounce." [Page 101] BAHÁ’U’LLÁH calls us NOW to fulfill our most glorious destiny, to serve our Lord; and here are some of His challenges and promises:

(y) "O COMRADES! The gates that open on the Placeless stand wide and the habitation of the loved one is adorned with the lovers' blood, yet all but a few remain bereft of this celestial city, and even of these few, none but the smallest handful, hath been found with a pure heart and sanctified spirit."

(z) "O My servants! My holy, My divinely ordained REVELATION may be likened unto an ocean in whose depths are copcealed innumerable pearls of great price, of surpassing luster. It is the duty of every seeker to... strive to attain the shores of this ocean...This most great, this fathomless...Ocean is near, astonishingly near, unto you. Behold it is closer to you than your LIFE-vein!"

(aa) "Immerse yourselves in this Ocean in whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance."

(bb) "This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future."

(cc) "This is a REVELATION that infuseth strength into the feeble."

(dd) "We must look higher than all earthly thoughts; detach ourselves from every MATERIAL idea, crave for the things of the spirit%3B fix our eyes on the everlasting bountiful Mercy of the Almighty, Who will fill our SOULS with the gladness of joyful service."

(ee) "You must supplicate and pray to God every night and every day seeking His assistance and help, saying: O Lord! We are weak; strengthen us.... If Thou dost assist us, O Lord, we shall become as scintillating stars. If Thou dost not assist us, we shall become lower than the earth.... O God! Enable us to conquer self and overcome desire. O Lord! Deliver us from the bondage of the MATERIAL world."

(ff) "Do not busy yourselves in your own concerns; let your thoughts be fixed upon that which will rehabilitate the fortunes of MANKIND and sanctify the hearts and SOULS of men. This can best be achieved..through a virtuous LIFE and a goodly behavior."

(gg) "It is incumbent upon thee, and upon the followers of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, to summon all men to whatsoever shall sanctify them from all attachment to the things of the earth and purge them from its defilements."

(hh) "We must use our utmost endeavors in order that the HOLY SPIRIT may influence minds and hearts."

(ii) "Verily God has chosen you for His LOVE and KNOWLEDGE; God has chosen you for the worthy service of unifying MANKIND,....for spreading and claiming true education, for the expression of LOVE toward your fellow-creatures and the removal of prejudice;...but we must be attentive, alert and mindful, occupied with service to all MANKIND, appreciating. the bestowals of God and ever conforming to His WILL."

(jj) "I will write upon him the name of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." [Page 102]

XXXV "THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING": GOD INVITES US TO TASTE AND KNOW

New Thought and ideas in the world testify to a new REVELATION: be free to see it!

(a) One proof of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH's. Power and Authority is that "this is clearly the century of a new LIFE,..of the REVELATION of...reality" (something only a divine Prophet can bring).

(b) "Thoughts are metamorphosed. The foundations of HUMAN society are changing and strengthening.... Thoughts and theories of past ages are fruit- less NOW."

(c) (New) thought is prevailing.... The thoughts of man shall take such upward flight that former accomplishments shall appear as the play of children."

It is first to KNOW and then to do: KNOWLEDGE without action is fruitless

(d) "The Holy Books have their special terminologies which must be KNOWN and understood" (as physicians...architects, philosophers have). (e) "The texts of the holy books are all symbolical, needing authoritative interpretation."

(f) "Through...KNOWLEDGE of God...rightness of morals and illumination, are obtained." (g) "Assuredly one may learn to the end of one's LIFE!"

Answer:

(h) "Question: What can I do to become the real servant of God? Live thou in accord with the Teachings of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. Do not only read them. There is a vast difference between the SOUL who merely reads the word of BAHÁ’U’LLÁH and the one who tries to live them. Read thou THE HID- DEN WORDS. Ponder over their meanings and embody the behests into thy LIFE."

(i) "I hope...certain SOULS may arise who may prove radiant lamps to the world of humanity and a merciful spirit to the phenomenal body; that they may be the cause of the purification of SOULS and the means of sanctifica- tion of hearts;...that they may arise in such wise as to live by the divine teachings and exhortations...as to sparkle like the morning star from the horizon of holiness.".

(j) "They who are the people of God have no ambition except to revive the world, to ennoble its LIFE, and regenerate its peoples.... Their out- ward conduct is but a reflection of their inward LIFE."

(k) "Valiant acts will ensure the triumph of this CAUSE.... This is...the first choice of His unrestrained WILL for every one of you."

(1) "He that seeketh to be a helper of God in this Day...should cleanse his heart from all evil passions and corrupt desires, for the fear of God is the weapon that can render him victorious."

We have undreamed of power for fulfilling the divine Purpose of our being

(m) "The source of courage and power is the promotion of the WORD of God, and steadfastness in His LOVE."

(n) "A WORD hath...been written down and recorded by the Pen of the Most High... which is capable of fully disclosing that force which is hid in men, nay of redoubling its potency." [Page 103]

BAHÁ’ÍS have a tremendous responsibility: they must show the way to Divine Reality

(o) "HOW...staggering the responsibility that must weigh upon the present generation of the American believers at this early stage in their spiritual ...evolution, to weed out, by every means in their power, those faults, habits, and tendencies which they have inherited from their own nation, and to cultivate, patiently and prayerfully, those distinctive qualities and characteristics that are so indispensable to their effective participation in the great redemptive work of their Faith."

(p) "The BAHÁ’Í youth...can contribute...decisively to the virility, the purity, and the driving force of the LIFE of the BAHÁ’Í Community.... Upon (them) must depend the future orientation of its destiny, and the complete unfoldment of the potentialities with which God has endowed it."

Working for God's CAUSE as a BAHÁ’Í brings SOUL-growth, spiritual success and joy

(q) "You see all around you proofs of the inadequacy of MATERIAL things how joy, comfort, peace and consolation are not to be found in the transitory things of the world. Is it not then foolishness to refuse to seek these treasures where they may be found? The doors of the spiritual KINGDOM are open to all, and without is absolute darkness."

(r) "A person thru his own actions and deeds makes himself loved or disliked by the people; or through his own unselfish conduct etc... suffers himself to become favored and beloved at the threshold of God."

(s) "A MATERIAL man lets himself be worried and harassed by little things, but a spiritual man is always calm and serene under all circumstances."

(t) "Strive, therefore, with heart and SOUL, to follow the precepts of the Blessed Perfection, and rest assured that if ye succeed in living the LIFE He marks out for you,....everlasting joy in the Heavenly KINGDOM will be yours, and celestial sustenance will be sent to strengthen you all your days."

(u) "Attach thy heart entirely to the light of truth and...rise in the service of truth in the rose garden of God....(and) in the path of God...exert thyself exceedingly and thus...enjoy LIFE."

(v) "Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow-men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight."

The requisites for world peace; divine power, KNOWLEDGE, volition and action

(w) "The cause of peace is a very great cause; it is the CAUSE OF GOD, and all the forces of the world are opposed to it.... Therefore a power is needed.... But KNOWLEDGE of the need of this power is not sufficient.... The attainment of any object is conditioned upon KNOWLEDGE, volition and action...Through spiritual means and the divine power, it (peace) is possible and practicable."

(x) "Exert yourselves so that this glorious teaching may encircle the globe, and that spirituality may be infused into the hearts of men." [Page 104]

Only spirituality and a loving heart give a SOUL entrance to the REVEALED KINGDOM

(y) "Purify thou, first, thy SOUL with the waters of renunciation and adorn thine head with the crown of the fear of God."

(z) "Wash from your hearts all earthly defilements, and hasten to enter the KINGDOM of your Lord."

(aa) "O My Brother! A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of LOVE and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn."

(bb) "The pure heart is one that is entirely cut away from self. To be selfless is to be pure."

(cc) "Be signs of guidance; lights of piety;...abiders in the ark of safety;...dawning-stars of the mysteries of existence;...day-springs of light; strengthened by the HOLY SPIRIT...and characterized with the attributes of the angels of heaven."

(dd) "Above all, they (young Bahá’ís) should set a high example...: chastity, politeness, friendliness, hospitality, joyous optimism about the ultimate future happiness and well-being of MANKIND, should distinguish them and win over to them the LOVE and admiration of their fellow-youth."

(ee) "The voice of the kingdom of God has been raised. May you attain supreme capacity and magnetic attraction in this realm of might and power, manifesting new energy and wonderful accomplishment, for God is your assister and helper. The breath of the Holy Spirit is your comforter and the angels of heaven surround you. I desire this power for you. Rest assured that these bounties now overshadow you."

(ff) "If you attain to such a capacity of LOVE and unity the Blessed Perfection will shower infinite graces of the spiritual KINGDOM upon you, guide, protect and preserve you...increase your happiness...and uphold you through all difficulties."

LOVE OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, devotion to God, and radiant acceptance of Reality, are glorious

(gg) "O Son of Worldliness!...sweet is the holy ecstasy if thou drinkest of the mystic chalice from the hands of the celestial Youth."

(hh) "For such people (BAHÁ’ís) there is...no more severe punishment than sensual vices, dark qualities, lowness of nature, engrossment in carnal desires."

(ii) The spiritual LOVE of God maketh man pure and holy and clotheth him with the garment of virtue and purity.'

(jj) "The sweetest thing in this world is to obey strictly the commands of God and shun His prohibitions. Through this the attractions of the LOVE of God will be created in the HUMAN consciousness.... For example, there is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer. Man must live in a state of prayerfulness. The most blessed condition is the condition of prayer and supplication. Prayer is 'conversation with God.'...It creates spirituality, generates mindfulness and celestial feelings, begets the attraction of the KINGDOM and engenders the susceptibilities of the higher intelligence." [Page 105]

God seeks us, speaks to each heart but only our divine nature or SOUL can answer

(a) "Behold how the manifold grace of God, which is being showered from the clouds of Divine glory, hath, in this day, encompassed the world. For whereas in days past every lover besought and searched after his Beloved, it is the Beloved Himself Who now is calling His lovers and is inviting them to attain His presence. Take heed lest ye forfeit so precious a favor; beware lest ye belittle so remarkable a token of His grace."

(b) "Prayer and supplication are two wings whereby man soars toward the heavenly mansion of the True One.... One must live in a perennial attitude of prayer. When man is spiritually free, his mind becomes the altar and his heart the sanctuary of prayer."

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH teaches us how to pray; and never was prayer so precious, sc essential

(c) "Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own SOUL, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth...the verses revealed by God,...though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his SOUL."

The WORD OF GOD ushers us into new worlds; let's move ahead and LIVE there joyously

(d) "The WORD of God hath set the heart of the world afire; how regrettable if ye fail to be enkindled with its flame!"

(e) "O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your SOULS, ye would...rid yourselves of attachment of all created things.... Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station."

A Draw them through (f) "Leave Thy servants not to themselves, O my Lord! Draw them through the influence of Thine utterances unto the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration, and to the Fountain of Thy REVELATION, and to the Treasury of Thy wisdom."

(g) "Armed with the power of Thy LOVE, the hatred which moveth them that are against Thee can never alarm me; and with Thy praise on my lips, the rulings of Thy decree can in no wise fill me with sorrow. Fortify, therefore, Thy LOVE within my breast, and suffer me to face the assaults which all the peoples of the earth may launch against me."

(h) "Grant, I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Everlasting King and the Sovereign Protector of all men, that I may be enabled to manifest that which shall cause the hearts and SOULS of men to soar in the limitless immensity of Thy LOVE, and to commune with Thy SPIRIT. Strengthen me through the power of Thy sovereignty, that I may turn all created things towards the Day Spring of Thy MANIFESTATION and the Source of Thy REVELATION. Aid me, O my Lord, to surrender myself wholly to Thy WILL, and to arise and serve Thee."