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04th
February 2012
Divine Love
(Cont’d from last Weekend
VOICE)
 We
come to another aspect of our subject -- Are
the workings and effects of love confined to
this world or do they extend on and on to another
existence? Will its influence affect our existence
here only or will it extend to the life everlasting?
When we look upon the human kingdom we readily
observe that it is superior to all others. In
the differentiation of life in the world of
existence, there are four degrees or kingdoms,
-- the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human.
The mineral kingdom is possessed of a certain
virtue which we term cohesion. The vegetable
kingdom possesses cohesive properties plus the
power of growth or power augmentative. The animal
kingdom is possessed of the virtues of the mineral
and vegetable plus the powers of the senses.
But the animal although gifted with sensibilities
is utterly bereft of consciousness, absolutely
out of touch with the world of consciousness
and spirit. The animal possesses no powers by
which it can make discoveries which lie beyond
the realm of the senses. It has no power of
intellectual origination. For example, an animal
located in Europe is not capable of discovering
the continent of America. It understands only
phenomena which come within the range of its
senses and instinct. It cannot abstractly reason
out anything. The animal cannot conceive of
the earth being spherical or revolving upon
its axis. It cannot apprehend that the little
stars in the heavens are tremendous worlds vastly
greater than the earth. The animal cannot abstractly
conceive of intellect. Of these powers it is
bereft. Therefore these powers are peculiar
to man and it is made evident that in the human
kingdom there is a reality of which the animal
is minus. What is that reality? It is the spirit
of Man. By it Man is distinguished above all
the other phenomenal kingdoms. Although he possesses
all the virtues of the lower kingdoms he is
further endowed with the spiritual faculty,
the heavenly gift of consciousness.
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All material phenomena are
subject to nature. All material organisms
are captives of nature. None of them can deviate
in the slightest from the law of nature. This
earth, these great mountains, the animals
with their wonderful powers and instincts
cannot go beyond natural limitations. All
things are captives of nature except man.
Man is the sovereign of nature; he breaks
nature’s laws. Though an animal fitted
by nature to live upon the surface of the
earth he flies in the air like a bird, sails
upon the ocean and dives deep beneath its
waves in submarines. Man is gifted with a
power whereby he penetrates and discovers
the laws of nature, brings them forth from
the world of invisibility into the plane of
visibility. Electricity was once a latent
force of nature. According to nature’s
laws it should remain a hidden secret, but
the spirit of man discovered it, brought it
forth from its secret depository and made
its phenomena visible. It is evident and manifest
that man is capable of breaking nature’s
laws. How does he accomplish it? Through a
spirit with which God has endowed him at creation.
This is a proof that the spirit of man differentiates
and distinguishes him above all the lower
kingdoms. It is this spirit to which the verse
in the Old Testament refers when it states
that Man has been created “after the
image and likeness of God”. The spirit
of Man alone penetrates the realities of God
and partakes of the divine bounties.
(Abdu’l-Bahá, Foundations of
World Unity, p. 87)
For further information contact:
North: 452-0335-Central: 452-4346-South: 459-3131
Please
comment respectfully and responsibly as we reserve
the right to remove any comment we consider
inappropriate. Refrain from personal attacks
and using any offensive language.
Discuss
Story
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