The materialists hold to the opinion that the world of nature is complete.
The divine philosophers declare that the world of nature is incomplete.
There is a wide difference between the two. The materialists call
attention to the perfection of nature, the sun, moon and stars, the trees
in their adornment, the whole earth and the sea--even unimportant phenomena
revealing the most perfect symmetry. The divine philosophers deny this
seeming perfection and completeness in nature's kingdom, even though
admitting the beauty of its scenes and aspects and acknowledging the
irresistible cosmic forces which control the colossal suns and planets.
They hold that while nature seems perfect, it is, nevertheless, imperfect
because it has need of intelligence and education. In proof of this they
say that man, though he be a very god in the realm of material creation,
is himself in need of an educator. Man undeveloped by education is savage,
animalistic, brutal. Laws and regulations, schools, colleges and
universities have for their purpose the training of man and his uplift
from the dark borderland of the animal kingdom. What is the difference
between the people of America and the inhabitants of central Africa?
All are human beings. Why have the people of America advanced to a high
degree of civilization while the tribes of central Africa remain in
extreme ignorance and barbarism? The difference and distinction between
them is the degree of education. This is unquestioned. The people of
Europe and America have been uplifted by education and training from the
world of defects and have ascended toward the realm of perfection, whereas
the people of Africa, denied educational development, remain in a natural
condition of illiteracy and deprivation, for nature is incomplete and
defective. Education is a necessity. If a piece of ground be left in its
natural and original state, it will either become a thorny waste or be
covered by worthless weeds. When cleared and cultivated, this same
unproductive field will yield plentiful harvests of food for human
sustenance.
This same difference is noticeable among animals; some have been
domesticated, educated, others left wild. The proof is clear that the
world of nature is imperfect, the world of education perfect. That is to
say, man is rescued from the exigencies of nature by training and culture;
consequently, education is necessary, obligatory. But education is of
various kinds. There is a training and development of the physical body
which ensures strength and growth. There is intellectual education or
mental training for which schools and colleges are founded. The third kind
of education is that of the spirit. Through the breaths of the Holy Spirit
man is uplifted into the world of moralities and illumined by the lights
of divine bestowals. The moral world is only attained through the
effulgence of the Sun of Reality and the quickening life of the divine
spirit. For this reason the holy Manifestations of God appear in the human
world. They come to educate and illuminate mankind, to bestow spiritual
susceptibilities, to quicken inner perceptions and thereby adorn the
reality of man--the human temple--with divine graces. Through Them man may
become the point of the emanations of God and the recipient of heavenly
bounties. Under the influence of Their teachings he may become the
manifestation of the effulgences of God and a magnet attracting the lights
of the supreme world. For this reason the holy, divine Manifestations are
the first Teachers and Educators of humanity; Their traces are the highest
evidences, and Their spiritual tuition is universal in its application to
the world of mankind. Their influence and power are immeasurable and
unlimited. One heavenly Personage has developed many nations. For example,
Jesus Christ, single and unassisted, educated the Roman, Greek and
Assyrian nations and all of Europe. It is evident, therefore, that the
greatest education is that of the Spirit.
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, because the human reality is like the
soil. If no bounty of rain descends from heaven upon the soil, if no heat
of the sun penetrates, it will remain black, forbidding, unproductive; but
when the moistening shower and the effulgent glow of the sun's rays fall
upon it, beautiful and redolent flowers grow from its bosom. Similarly,
the human spirit or reality of man, unless it becomes the recipient of the
lights of the Kingdom, develops divine susceptibilities and consciously
reflects the effulgence of God, will not be the manifestation of ideal
bounties, for only the reality of man can become the mirror wherein the
lights of God are revealed. The reality of man will then be as the spirit
of this world, for just as the animus of life quickens the physical human
body, so the body of the world will receive its vivification through the
animating virtue of the sanctified spirit of man.
It is evident that the holy Manifestations and divine dawning points are
necessary, for these blessed and glorious Souls are the foremost Teachers
and Educators of mankind, and all human souls are developed through Them
by the bounty of the Holy Spirit of God.
During the ministry of Jesus Christ in Palestine He was surrounded by
people of various nations, including the Jews, all of them living in the
condition of extreme ignorance, bereft of the Word of God and darkened in
consciousness. Christ educated these people and quickened them with the
life of the Word so that they in turn became the instruments of educating
the world, illumining the East and the West.
Consider the wonderful effect of spiritual education and training. By it
the fisherman Peter was transformed into the greatest of teachers.
Spiritual education made the disciples radiant lamps in the darkness of
the world and caused the Christians of the first and second centuries to
become renowned everywhere for their virtues. Even philosophers bore
testimony to this. Among them was Galen, the physician, who wrote a book
upon the subject of the progress of the nations. He was a celebrated
philosopher of the Greeks, although not a Christian. In his book he stated
that religious beliefs exercise a tremendous influence upon civilization
and that the world is in need of such belief. In proof of this, he said,
in substance, "In our time there is a certain people called Christians,
who, though neither philosophers nor scholastically trained, are superior
to all others as regards their morality. They are perfect in morals. Each
one of them is like a great philosopher in morals, ethics and turning
toward the Kingdom of God." This is evidence from the testimony of an
intelligent outside observer that spiritual education is the light of the
world of humanity and that its absence in the world is darkness itself.
Baha'u'llah appeared in Persia at a time when the darkness of ignorance
enveloped the East, and there was no trace of human love and fellowship.
Through divine education and the power of the breaths of the Holy Spirit
He so refined the souls of the Persians who followed Him that they
attained a station of highest intelligence and reflected the attributes of
perfection to the world. Whereas formerly they were ignorant, they became
knowing; they were weak, they became mighty; they were without integrity,
they became conscientious; they were hostile toward all men, they
developed love for humanity; they were spiritually negligent, they became
mindful and attentive; they were sleeping, they became awakened; they
disagreed among themselves, they united in love and are now striving to
render service to the world of humankind. Service to God and mankind is
their sole intention; they have neither wish nor desire save that which is
in accordance with the good pleasure of God. The good pleasure of God is
love for His creatures. The will and plan of God is that each individual
member of humankind shall become illumined like unto a lamp, radiant with
all the destined virtues of humanity, leading his fellow creatures out of
natural darkness into the heavenly light. Therein rests the virtue and
glory of the world of humanity. This is the perfection, honor and glory of
man; otherwise, man is an animal and without differentiation from the
creatures of that lower kingdom.
It is clearly evident that while man possesses powers in common with the
animal, he is distinguished from the animal by intellectual attainment,
spiritual perception, the acquisition of virtues, capacity to receive the
bestowals of Divinity, lordly bounty and emanations of heavenly mercy.
This is the adornment of man, his honor and sublimity. Humanity must
strive toward this supreme station. Christ has interpreted this station as
the second birth. Man is first born from a world of darkness, the matrix
of the mother, into this physical world of light. In the dark world from
whence he came he had no knowledge of the virtues of this existence. He
has been liberated from a condition of darkness and brought into a new and
spacious realm where there is sunlight, the stars are shining, the moon
sheds its radiance, there are beautiful views, gardens of roses, fruits
and all the blessings of the present world. How did he attain these
blessings? Through the agency of birth from the mother. Just as man has
been physically born into this world, he may be reborn from the realm and
matrix of nature, for the realm of nature is a condition of animalism,
darkness and defect. In this second birth he attains the world of the
Kingdom. There he witnesses and realizes that the world of nature is a
world of gloom, whereas the Kingdom is a world of radiance; the world of
nature is a world of defects, the Kingdom is a realm of perfection; the
world of nature is a world without enlightenment, the Kingdom of spiritual
humanity is a heaven of illumination. Great discoveries and revelations
are now possible for him; he has attained the reality of perception; his
circle of understanding is illimitably widened; he views the realities of
creation, comprehends the divine bounties and unseals the mystery of
phenomena. This is the station which Christ has interpreted as the second
birth. He says that just as ye 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 attain this second, spiritual
birth. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit."
I pray that the confirmation of God may descend upon you. 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 everlasting life.