Upon the faces of those present I behold the expression of thoughtfulness
and wisdom; therefore, I shall discourse upon a subject involving one of
the divine questions, a question of religious and metaphysical
importance--namely, the progressive and perpetual motion of elemental atoms
throughout the various degrees of phenomena and the kingdoms of existence.
It will be demonstrated and become evident that the origin and outcome of
phenomena are identical and that there is an essential oneness in all
existing things. This is a subtle principle appertaining to divine
philosophy and requiring close analysis and attention.
The elemental atoms which constitute all phenomenal existence and being in
this illimitable universe are in perpetual motion, undergoing continuous
degrees of progression. For instance, let us conceive of an atom in the
mineral kingdom progressing upward to the kingdom of the vegetable by
entering into the composition and fibre of a tree or plant. From thence it
is assimilated and transferred into the kingdom of the animal and finally,
by the law and process of composition, becomes a part of the body of man.
That is to say, it has traversed the intermediate degrees and stations of
phenomenal existence, entering into the composition of various organisms
in its journey. This motion or transference is progressive and perpetual,
for after disintegration of the human body into which it has entered, it
returns to the mineral kingdom whence it came and will continue to
traverse the kingdoms of phenomena as before. This is an illustration
designed to show that the constituent elemental atoms of phenomena undergo
progressive transference and motion throughout the material kingdoms.
In its ceaseless progression and journeyings the atom becomes imbued with
the virtues and powers of each degree or kingdom it traverses. In the
degree of the mineral it possessed mineral affinities; in the kingdom of
the vegetable it manifested the augmentative virtue or power of growth; in
the animal organism it reflected the intelligence of that degree; and in
the kingdom of man it was qualified with human attributes or virtues.
Furthermore, the forms and organisms of phenomenal being and existence in
each of the kingdoms of the universe are myriad and numberless. The
vegetable plane or kingdom, for instance, has its infinite variety of
types and material structures of plant life--each distinct and different
within itself, no two exactly alike in composition and detail--for there
are no repetitions in nature, and the augmentative virtue cannot be
confined to any given image or shape. Each leaf has its own particular
identity--so to speak, its own individuality as a leaf. Therefore, each
atom of the innumerable elemental atoms, during its ceaseless motion
through the kingdoms of existence as a constituent of organic composition,
not only becomes imbued with the powers and virtues of the kingdoms it
traverses but also reflects the attributes and qualities of the forms and
organisms of those kingdoms. As each of these forms has its individual and
particular virtue, therefore, each elemental atom of the universe has the
opportunity of expressing an infinite variety of those individual virtues.
No atom is bereft or deprived of this opportunity or right of expression.
Nor can it be said of any given atom that it is denied equal opportunities
with other atoms; nay, all are privileged to possess the virtues existent
in these kingdoms and to reflect the attributes of their organisms. In the
various transformations or passages from kingdom to kingdom the virtues
expressed by the atoms in each degree are peculiar to that degree. For
example, in the world of the mineral the atom does not express the
vegetable form and organism, and when through the process of transmutation
it assumes the virtues of the vegetable degree, it does not reflect the
attributes of animal organisms, and so on.
It is evident, then, that each elemental atom of the universe is possessed
of a capacity to express all the virtues of the universe. This is a subtle
and abstract realization. Meditate upon it, for within it lies the true
explanation of pantheism. From this point of view and perception pantheism
is a truth, for every atom in the universe possesses or reflects all the
virtues of life, the manifestation of which is effected through change and
transformation. Therefore, the origin and outcome of phenomena is, verily,
the omnipresent God; for the reality of all phenomenal existence is
through Him. There is neither reality nor the manifestation of reality
without the instrumentality of God. Existence is realized and possible
through the bounty of God, just as the ray or flame emanating from this
lamp is realized through the bounty of the lamp, from which it originates.
Even so, all phenomena are realized through the divine bounty, and the
explanation of true pantheistic statement and principle is that 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. The virtue of being and existence is through no other
agency. Therefore, in the words of Baha'u'llah, the first teaching is the
oneness of the world of humanity.
When the man who is spiritually sagacious and possessed of insight views
the world of humanity, he will observe that the lights of the divine
bounty are flooding all mankind, just as the lights of the sun shed their
splendor upon all existing things. All phenomena of material existence are
revealed through the ray emanating from the sun. Without light nothing
would be visible. Similarly, all phenomena in the inner world of reality
receive the bounties of God from the source of divine bestowal. This human
plane, or kingdom, is one creation, and all souls are the signs and traces
of the divine bounty. In this plane there are no exceptions; all have been
recipients of their bestowals through the heavenly bounty. Can you find a
soul bereft of the nearness of God? Can you find one whom God has deprived
of its daily sustenance? This is impossible. God is kind and loving to
all, and all are manifestations of the divine bounty. This is the oneness
of the world of humanity.
But some souls are weak; we must endeavor to strengthen them. Some are
ignorant, uninformed of the bounties of God; we must strive to make them
knowing. Some are ailing; we must seek to restore them to health. Some are
immature as children; they must be trained and assisted to attain
maturity. We nurse the sick in tenderness and the kindly spirit of love;
we do not despise them because they are ill. Therefore, we must exercise
extreme patience, sympathy and love toward all mankind, considering no
soul as rejected. If we look upon a soul as rejected, we have disobeyed
the teachings of God. God is loving to all. Shall we be unjust or unkind
to anyone? Is this allowable in the sight of God? God provides for all. Is
it befitting for us to prevent the flow of His merciful provisions for
mankind? God has created all in His image and likeness. Shall we manifest
hatred for His creatures and servants? This would be contrary to the will
of God and according to the will of Satan, by which we mean the natural
inclinations of the lower nature. This lower nature in man is symbolized
as Satan--the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside.
Baha'u'llah teaches that the foundations of the divine religion are one
reality which does not admit of multiplicity or division. Therefore, the
commandments and teachings of God are one. The religious differences and
divisions which exist in the world are due to blind imitations of forms
without knowledge or investigation of the fundamental divine reality which
underlies all the religions. Inasmuch as these imitations of ancestral
forms are various, dissensions have arisen among the people of religion.
Therefore, it is necessary to free mankind from this subjection to blind
belief by pointing the way of guidance to reality itself, which is the
only basis of unity.
Baha'u'llah says that religion must be conducive to love and unity. If it
proves to be the source of hatred and enmity, its absence is preferable;
for the will and law of God is love, and love is the bond between human
hearts. Religion is the light of the world. If it is made the cause of
darkness through human misunderstanding and ignorance, it would be better
to do without it.
Religion must conform to science and reason; otherwise, it is
superstition. God has created man in order that he may perceive the verity
of existence and endowed him with mind or reason to discover truth.
Therefore, scientific knowledge and religious belief must be conformable
to the analysis of this divine faculty in man.
Prejudices of all kinds--whether religious, racial, patriotic or
political--are destructive of divine foundations in man. All the warfare
and bloodshed in human history have been the outcome of prejudice. This
earth is one home and native land. God has created mankind with equal
endowment and right to live upon the earth. As a city is the home of all
its inhabitants although each may have his individual place of residence
therein, so the earth's surface is one wide native land or home for all
races of humankind. Racial prejudice or separation into nations such as
French, German, American and so on is unnatural and proceeds from human
motive and ignorance. All are the children and servants of God. Why should
we be separated by artificial and imaginary boundaries? In the animal
kingdom the doves flock together in harmony and agreement. They have no
prejudices. We are human and superior in intelligence. Is it befitting
that lower creatures should manifest virtues which lack expression in man?
Baha'u'llah has proclaimed and promulgated the foundation of international
peace. For thousands of years men and nations have gone forth to the
battlefield to settle their differences. The cause of this has been
ignorance and degeneracy. Praise be to God! In this radiant century minds
have developed, perceptions have become keener, eyes are illumined and
ears attentive. Therefore, it will be impossible for war to continue.
Consider human ignorance and inconsistency. A man who kills another man is
punished by execution, but a military genius who kills one hundred
thousand of his fellow creatures is immortalized as a hero. One man steals
a small sum of money and is imprisoned as a thief. Another pillages a
whole country and is honored as a patriot and conqueror. A single
falsehood brings reproach and censure, but the wiles of politicians and
diplomats excite the admiration and praise of a nation. Consider the
ignorance and inconsistency of mankind. How darkened and savage are the
instincts of humanity!
Baha'u'llah has announced that no matter how far the world of humanity may
advance in material civilization, it is nevertheless in need of spiritual
virtues and the bounties of God. The spirit of man is not illumined and
quickened through material sources. It is not resuscitated by
investigating phenomena of the world of matter. The spirit of man is in
need of the protection of the Holy Spirit. Just as he advances by
progressive stages from the mere physical world of being into the
intellectual realm, so must he develop upward in moral attributes and
spiritual graces. In the process of this attainment he is ever in need of
the bestowals of the Holy Spirit. Material development may be likened to
the glass of a lamp, whereas divine virtues and spiritual susceptibilities
are the light within the glass. The lamp chimney is worthless without the
light; likewise, man in his material condition requires the radiance and
vivification of the divine graces and merciful attributes. Without the
presence of the Holy Spirit he is lifeless. Although physically and
mentally alive, he is spiritually dead. Christ announced, "That which is
born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit," meaning that man must be born again. As the babe is born into the
light of this physical world, so must the physical and intellectual man be
born into the light of the world of Divinity. In the matrix of the mother
the unborn child was deprived and unconscious of the world of material
existence, but after its birth it beheld the wonders and beauties of a new
realm of life and being. In the world of the matrix it was utterly
ignorant and unable to conceive of these new conditions, but after its
transformation it discovers the radiant sun, trees, flowers and an
infinite range of blessings and bounties awaiting it. In the human plane
and kingdom man is a captive of nature and ignorant of the divine world
until born of the breaths of the Holy Spirit out of physical conditions of
limitation and deprivation. Then he beholds the reality of the spiritual
realm and Kingdom, realizes the narrow restrictions of the mere human
world of existence and becomes conscious of the unlimited and infinite
glories of the world of God. Therefore, no matter how man may advance upon
the physical and intellectual plane, he is ever in need of the boundless
virtues of Divinity, the protection of the Holy Spirit and the face of
God.
29 August 1912
Talk at Home of Madame Morey
34 Hillside Avenue, Malden, Massachusetts