Humans Are Special !

Next time you feel down and not worth much, try recalling these two quotes from Reality.

Actually, if every one would put these Words up in some prominent place, we just might brighten the World a bit...

"Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form When within thee the universe is folded?"

Bahá’u’lláh quoting ‘Alí: The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys,
"Valley of Wonderment", p. 34

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"Man is said to be the greatest representative of God, and he is the Book of Creation because all the mysteries of beings exist in him."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 64: "The State of Man and His Progress after Death", p. 236

Our Mysterious Soul !

Two quotes today from Reality--both similarly about the soul but each significantly different in detail.

Two space pics, too!

"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 adoration before Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him."

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection
LXXXII, pp. 158-159

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"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 lieth concealed that which the world is now utterly incapable of apprehending."

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection
LXXXII, p. 160

City of Certitude

In this excerpt from Reality, the Word of God is called the City of Certitude. It is also specified to be the Word of God for the Age a person is living in. Past posts have contained ideas about the many Words of God and the Manifestations of God Who bring them to us.

"When the channel of the human soul is cleansed of all worldly and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive the breath of the Beloved across immeasurable distances, and will, led by its perfume, attain and enter the City of Certitude. Therein he will discern the wonders of His ancient wisdom, and will perceive all the hidden teachings from the rustling leaves of the Tree—which flourisheth in that City. With both his inner and his outer ear he will hear from its dust the hymns of glory and praise ascending unto the Lord of Lords, and with his inner eye will he discover the mysteries of "return" and "revival." How unspeakably glorious are the signs, the tokens, the revelations, and splendours which He Who is the King of names and attributes hath destined for that City! The attainment of this City quencheth thirst without water, and kindleth the love of God without fire. Within every blade of grass are enshrined the mysteries of an inscrutable wisdom, and upon every rose-bush a myriad nightingales pour out, in blissful rapture, their melody. Its wondrous tulips unfold the mystery of the undying Fire in the Burning Bush, and its sweet savours of holiness breathe the perfume of the Messianic Spirit. It bestoweth wealth without gold, and conferreth immortality without death. In every leaf ineffable delights are treasured, and within every chamber unnumbered mysteries lie hidden."

Bahá’u’lláh: The Kitáb-i-Íqán, paragraph 217, pp. 182-183

Darkness Into Light

Why are humans so hard to understand?

Why are there some people who are "devils" and some who are clearly "angels"?

How can extremely good people have hidden dark sides?

To begin to reach some understanding, check out this remarkable quote from Reality:

"Man is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of spirituality—that is to say, he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection. He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of light; that is why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of the night and the beginning of day, meaning that he is the sum of all the degrees of imperfection, and that he possesses the degrees of perfection. He has the animal side as well as the angelic side, and the aim of an educator is to so train human souls that their angelic aspect may overcome their animal side. 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. That is why he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection. Not in any other of the species in the world of existence is there such a difference, contrast, contradiction and opposition as in the species of man."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 64: "The State of
Man and His Progress after Death", pp. 235-236

Human Nature

Even though I've studied more than my share of science, I never could understand the idea that humans were just very smart apes...

Today's excerpt from Reality explores our true identities:

"....if the perfections of the spirit did not appear in this world, 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 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. 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. This world would be like a body without a soul."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 52: "The Appearing of the Spirit in the Body", p. 201

The Light of The World

So, have you ever wondered whether society can be less animalistic and more spiritual?

Ever wondered, if it actually could be more spiritual, how it would ever happen?

Try pondering this quote from Reality:

"Material civilization is like a lamp-glass. Divine civilization is the lamp itself and the glass without the light is dark. Material civilization is like the body. No matter how infinitely graceful, elegant and beautiful it may be, it is dead. Divine civilization is like the spirit, and the body gets its life from the spirit, otherwise it becomes a corpse. It has thus been made evident that the world of mankind is in need of the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Without the spirit the world of mankind is lifeless, and without this light the world of mankind is in utter darkness. For the world of nature is an animal world. Until man is born again from the world of nature, that is to say, becomes detached from the world of nature, he is essentially an animal, and it is the teachings of God which convert this animal into a human soul."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
Selection #227, pp. 303-304

Who Are We -- Really ?!

Searching for the meaning of life can be downright dangerous.

It can also be as easy as falling off a log...

I think it all depends on the Guidance you use in the Search--some information is just better.

The quote from Reality for today is one of the shortest and most compelling statements I've every found about our Place in the Scheme of Things and what our True Potential is [Remember, English has no proper sex-neutral words for people. Other languages do. So, we're sort of stuck with "Man" for All of Us...] :

"Man is said to be the greatest representative of God, and he is the Book of Creation because all the mysteries of beings exist in him. If he comes under the shadow of the True Educator and is rightly trained, he becomes the essence of essences, the light of lights, the spirit of spirits; he becomes the center of the divine appearances, the source of spiritual qualities, the rising-place of heavenly lights, and the receptacle of divine inspirations. If he is deprived of this education, he becomes the manifestation of satanic qualities, the sum of animal vices, and the source of all dark conditions."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 64: "The State of
Man and His Progress after Death", p. 236

In His Image

Today's excerpt from Reality explores the well-known idea that humans are created in God's "image".

Even a slight amount of thought brings the awareness that this "image" is far from a concrete replication of God's Powers and Attributes.

There's something metaphorical and spiritual going on.

It should be stressed that a misguided ego could read this quote and get quite a swelled head...

"Without doubt each being is the center of the shining forth of the glory of God—that is to say, the perfections of God appear from it and are resplendent in it. It is like the sun, which is resplendent in the desert, upon the sea, in the trees, in the fruits and blossoms, and in all earthly things. The world, indeed each existing being, proclaims to us one of the names of God, but 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—that is to say, for each name, each attribute, each perfection which we affirm of God there exists a sign in man. If it were otherwise, man could not imagine these perfections and could not understand them. So we say that God is the seer, and the eye is the sign of His vision; if this sight were not in man, how could we imagine the vision of God? For the blind (that is, one born blind) cannot imagine sight; and the deaf (that is, one deaf from birth) cannot imagine hearing; and the dead cannot realize life. Consequently, the Divinity of God, which is the sum of all perfections, reflects itself in the reality of man—that is to say, the Essence of Oneness is the gathering of all perfections, and from this unity He casts a reflection upon the human reality. 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. The reflection of the divine perfections appears in the reality of man, so he is the representative of God, the messenger of God. If man did not exist, the universe would be without result, for the object of existence is the appearance of the perfections of God."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions, Chapter 50: "Spiritual
Proofs of the Origin of Man", pp. 195-196

Giving Up To Win

Part of the "mission" of this blog is to provide ideas that can be used to live a more spiritual life.

I feel competent to make comments on the material presented from Reality primarily because I've made so many mistakes in my quest to find a thriving level of spirituality in my own life.

At least I can point and say, "Oh, please reconsider that direction!"

Another thing I feel strongly about is that we don't make ourselves more spiritual. We can only release the death grip on our egos and become receptive enough to let spirituality flow in our lives...

"These energies with which the Day Star of Divine bounty and Source of heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these energies may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror. Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts, nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross. It is clear and evident that until a fire is kindled the lamp will never be ignited, and unless the dross is blotted out from the face of the mirror it can never represent the image of the sun nor reflect its light and glory."

Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Selection
XXVII, pp. 65-66