The limits of reason: learning with humility

Verily the mind is the greatest sign in man, and blessed is he who attaineth unto it. Yet notwithstanding its lofty station and exalted rank, it is seen to be powerless to comprehend most things, for the mind's knowledge dependeth upon the testimony of sight. Unless the eye beholdeth the palm tree, the mind cannot perceive in the date-stone its fruits and leaves, branches and boughs.

Nevertheless, though it is the function of this light to make things visible to us, it cannot give us the power to see them or to understand what their various charms may be, for this light has no intelligence, no consciousness. It is the light of the intellect which gives us knowledge and understanding, and without this light the physical eyes would be useless.

This human world is an ocean of varying opinions. If reason is the perfect standard and criterion of knowledge, why are opinions at variance and why do philosophers disagree so completely with each other? This is a clear proof that human reason is not to be relied upon as an infallible criterion. For instance, great discoveries and announcements of former centuries are continually upset and discarded by the wise men of today.

The second criterion is that of the intellect, which was the principal criterion of comprehension for those pillars of wisdom, the ancient philosophers. They deduced things through the power of the mind and relied on rational arguments: all their arguments are based upon reason. But despite this, they diverged greatly in their opinions. They would even change their own views: for twenty years they would deduce the existence of something through rational arguments, and then afterwards they would disprove the same, again through rational arguments.

As for the sensory measure, its greatest medium is sight, and its error is clearly evident to people of insight, for sight sees the mirage as water, shadow as stationary, a moving point as a circle, and great bodies as small. As for the measure of reason, upon which the people of observation and deduction rely, its error is clearly proven, for its adherents differ on most questions and opinions. Were it a straight measure, they would not have differed on any question.

The senses mistake a mirage for water; the eyes see the sun move; your train or boat seems immobile and the landscape seems to pass by, planets look like fixed points of light; but they have measurable dimensions. A lighted point set in rotation appears like a circle. These examples show the senses subject to error. How can we put our trust in them?

The test of logic is just as imperfect, for were this criterion perfect there would never have been the continual clash of opinion as to the sacred texts. How can they be interpreted by logic if the means be at fault?

Though by the ancient philosophers the reasoning mind was regarded as the highest authority, these philosophers do not agree. Some declare that the universe had a beginning, others that it had no beginning. Their various opinions are so numerous that one cannot count them. But if the verdict of man's reason was a norm of final and absolute verity, the philosophers of the world would agree.

The ancient philosophers have also taught that by the Intellect (the second method) of argument and reasoning accurate and absolute knowledge of everything can be obtained. … It is therefore evident that we cannot rely on this second method of obtaining knowledge, to ensure absolute accuracy. Successive philosophers are always contradicting each other, and propounding diverse theories. If absolute knowledge were to be obtained by this means, the wisest philosophers would agree in saying the same things.

While they were thinking this to be the only way one could understand everything they became of different opinions. Discord and differences only show the measure of the intellect to be untrue, for they all had the same intellect, and were this the true standard they would never have disagreed.

The perception of the mind is bound to the testimony of sight. Before observation, knowledge of all things is concealed from the intellect. Can the rational soul, ere it hath witnessed, behold within the seed the world of trees and fruits, of leaves and branches and twigs? No, by God! When through sight these matters are discovered, the mind then becomes aware of their individual comprehension. Likewise, observe and ponder upon other things.

Intuition (or inner perception) is a power or a light by which man comprehends and perceives the realities of things without the mediumship of the outward senses. To illustrate: There are four kinds of lights: 1 - The outward (or phenomenal) light, which makes things manifest or visible, but which does not discover them. 2 - The light of the eye, or the Eye-sight. This makes things manifest and also discovers them, but it does not comprehend them. 3 - The light of the Intellect (or reason). this light makes things manifest, discovers them, comprehends them, but things pre-exist it, (i.e., its existence is posterior to the creation of things). 4 - The Light of God. It is the revealer of things (i.e., by it things are made manifest), the discoverer of things, the comprehender of things, and it precedes the creation of all things and follows the existence of all things, as it is said, 'God is the Light of the Heaven and Earth' (Quran).

To be brief: The light which is the manifestor of things makes things manifest; the light which is the discoverer of things discovers them; the light which is the comprehender of things, comprehends things. Likewise, the outward faculties and senses of man discover and perceive the appearance of things. But the light of Intuition (or Inner Perception) is a light which comprehends the realities and the core of things. Intuition (or Inner Perception) means the Divine Universal Reason, and it comprehends and grasps supernatural things and conditions which cannot be grasped by the outward senses.

The Prophets and Divine Manifestations have taught that this sense of Intuition, Inner Perception, or Innate Reason exists in man. Philosophers are also in accord with the Prophets in this matter, that is, to the degree of believing it possible that such a power may exist in man. For Philosophers do not deny the existence of powers which are supernatural. But Prophets demonstrate the existence of this Inner Perception and Intuition in man in a practical way. They show forth this power first in themselves by inspiring men with the faculty of comprehending the realities of things and grasping things supernatural.

(That is, the Prophets prove the existence of Intuition or Inner Reason, by showing forth themselves such a comprehension which is beyond the power of any man. They also inspire their disciples with, and develop in them, the same power. This is illustrated in the life, prophetic vision and deeds of the Prophets and their true followers.)

This 'sagacity' or 'quickness of parts' is to be met with in most animals, while in man this is found in a much less degree. For instance, if, during the night, some one enters your house clandestinely, the man of the house may not feel conscious of such presence, while the dog of the house will instantly become aware of it. thus a dog is more sagacious than his master in the matter of the power of instinct, but the dog has no intellect which is a gift particular to man.

If the criterion of the senses were to be the best of criteria, then His Holiness the Cow would be the greatest philosopher!"

Then He said, "Laughter broke out and the meeting concluded. The next day we went to Dublin. We were walking with some friends on a street when several cows appeared in the distance. The friends said, 'Here come the philosophers!' I said how strange that I made this statement last night in San Francisco and today we are thirty-five leagues away from there. They said, 'You made the statement in the philosophers' gathering and all the newspapers published that His Holiness the Cow is the greatest philosopher!'"

He depends solely upon sense perception. That which is not perceptible to the senses he rejects.

From this standpoint of knowing the greatest Plato is the cow, and the donkey is an arch philosopher. In the great university of nature, where nothing beyond the pale of sensibilities is classified as knowledge, the animal is a graduate and the human materialist but an under-graduate.

If inability to sense constitutes proof of perfection, the cow must be the greatest philosopher, for she does not realize anything beyond the animal world.

Is the animal's inability to perceive the existence of human intellect or perfections sufficient grounds on which to reject them as falsehoods?

How, then, can one claim that one's powers of perception encompass the divine realms, or rely on that deficient perception as the standard by which to prove [the existence of such realms]?

Because he cannot conceive a higher, does it not exist? The purely material man cannot comprehend the spiritual idea of life. And so he thinks that his lack of knowledge is proof of non-existence.

Have you ever thought that the worms inside of an apple may think that the creation of God is ended there and that there is nothing outside? Again the tiny worms inside of an apricot seed may boast that God's creation hath come to a terminus in this small seed. There is nothing beside this. Now the worms must "wiggle" out of the apple, eat their way out and then lo and behold, the creation of God is infinite.

They remained imprisoned in the world of nature yet investigated the realities beyond nature. They lived in a cage yet wished to fly.

Now these degrees all belong to one kingdom, are all composed of matter. As it is impossible for these different kingdoms belonging to the same world to understand one another to is it impossible for man to understand the things of the future life. For as the difference between these grades or conditions so is the difference between man and the spiritual kingdom. It is impossible for man to perceive or understand it because he has no power with which to perceive it.

This people, all of them, have pictured a god in the realm of the mind, and worship that image which they have made for themselves. And yet that image is comprehended, the human mind being the comprehender thereof, and certainly the comprehender is greater than that which lieth within its grasp; for imagination is but the branch, while mind is the root; and certainly the root is greater than the branch. Consider then, how all the peoples of the world are bowing the knee to a fancy of their own contriving, how they have created a creator within their own minds, and they call it the Fashioner of all that is -- whereas in truth it is but an illusion. Thus are the people worshipping only an error of perception.

But that Essence of Essences, that Invisible of Invisibles, is sanctified above all human speculation, and never to be overtaken by the mind of man. Never shall that immemorial Reality lodge within the compass of a contingent being. His is another realm, and of that realm no understanding can be won. No access can be gained thereto; all entry is forbidden there. The utmost one can say is that Its existence can be proved, but the conditions of Its existence are unknown.

That such an Essence doth exist, the philosophers and learned doctors one and all have understood; but whenever they tried to learn something of Its being, they were left bewildered and dismayed, and at the end, despairing, their hopes in ruins, they went their way, out of this life. For to comprehend the state and the inner mystery of that Essence of Essences, that Most Secret of Secrets, one needs must have another power and other faculties; and such a power, such faculties would be more than humankind can bear, wherefore no word of Him can come to them.

If, for example, one be endowed with the senses of hearing, of taste, of smell, of touch -- but be deprived of the sense of sight, it will not be possible for one to gaze about; for sight cannot be realized through hearing or tasting, or the sense of smell or touch. In the same way, with the faculties at man's disposal it is beyond the realm of possibility for him to grasp that unseeable Reality, holy and sanctified above all the sceptics' doubts. For this, other faculties are required, other senses; should such powers become available to him, then could a human being receive some knowledge of that world; otherwise, never.

O my friend, verily the Cause is great and great, and the penetration of the Word of God in the temple (body) of all the regions is similar to the pervasion of the soul in a sound body.

By the life of Baha', verily, the power of the Kingdom of God hath taken hold of the pillars of the world, and hath possessed all the nations. Thou wilt surely find the standards of the Testament waving in all regions, the chanting of the verses of unity raised in exalted assemblies, and the lights of the Sun of Truth and its heat dispersing the thick clouds massed on the horizon. Be rejoiced at this glad-tidings, whereby the hearts of the sincere among the beloved are cheered.

O my friend, isolate all thy faculties and senses from every other mention and thought, and follow the example of Abdul-Baha in servitude to the Holy and Exalted Threshold. Hasten to the field of sacrifice, craving for the most great martyrdom; expend thy life and all of thy grades of love for God and in attraction to the Beauty of El-ABHA.

By God, the True One, man should seek only this bounty, inasmuch as it is everlasting, eternal, divine, spiritual, luminous and merciful. Be sanctified from all the universe, and send my greeting and praise to the spiritual leaf, the being who relies upon the grace of her Lord--the maid-servant of God, thy revered wife, and say unto her that she may address the veiled ones (those blind to the Truth), saying: "Verily, eyes are dazzled by gazing at the sun, and it is impossible to consider it because of the intensity of its rays; and verily the sea cannot be contained in a cup. The weakness of eyes does no harm to the sun, nor the smallness of the cup to the sea."

Then let her explain to the people, and make known to every questioner, by saying: "Verily, minds are limited, and the splendor of lights is so great as not to be comprehended by (man's) reflective faculties.

O Lord! The innermost reality of understanding in this contingent realm is, in its essence, utterly powerless to grasp even a single one of the mysteries of the All-Merciful, inasmuch as all understanding encompasseth that reality in the realm of existence that is comprehensible. How, then, could that which is contingent comprehend the Ancient Mystery unless the Ancient be encompassed by the contingent world?

For contingent beings are limited by their inability to know Him - otherwise, through the intensification of the bonds of waywardness, the heedless ones would claim knowledge of the essence of the All-Merciful. Yet all that they distinguish through vain imaginings, in the most precise meanings of expression, is but a mental conception or a heart's fancy that can neither quench the thirsty one nor heal the afflicted.

To man, the Essence of God is incomprehensible, so also are the worlds beyond this, and their condition.

Since minds can only perceive things as limited, they cannot witness the matter between matters and the decree of eternity in the decree of determination.

When philosophers pondered this with their minds, they were cut off from understanding it and found no path for themselves except through fixed essences or predestination. This was because they did not learn from the Manifestations of infallibility, but relied on what they grasped through their own intellects, not realizing that if their intellects were true intellects and not merely nominal ones, they would have attained a station wherein if they had approached even a fingertip closer, they would have been consumed by fire.

My God! The wings of our understanding have grown weary of ascending to the zenith of Thy knowledge, and the spiders of our minds are powerless to weave with their threads upon the highest horizons the loftiness of Thy praise and glorification.

The true mystic is he who confesseth his powerlessness and the powerlessness of his mystical knowledge to attain unto the station whence appeared the light of mystical knowledge from God, the Lord of the Throne on high and of earth below. Verily, he who hath not attained unto this confession is among the most ignorant of the ignorant, even though he be learned in all the sciences of the world.

Man has not been able to understand himself and know the ulterior motives of the laws which constantly modify and change our world. He has not yet explained the unchangeable law of creation which governs the smallest protoplasm and the highest created being - "without haste, but without rest[!]" How does he dare them to assume so much for granted? How can he then claim to reduce to ascertained principles, the laws of the transcendental world of God which he has never observed or witnessed?

And since in all human souls the luminous flame of divine reason which perceives abstract meanings is extinguished, and perceptions are confined to sensible things, therefore the third category is mostly chosen and expressed so that weak minds may receive a portion of abstract spiritual realities.

Consider the physical eye - how by a thin veil it is prevented from beholding all that exists between earth and heaven. Likewise, how can the inner eye, with the thick veils of idle fancy and imitation, perceive the shining of the lights of divine unity without limitation?

Amongst the people is he whose learning hath made him proud, and who hath been debarred thereby from recognizing My Name, the Self-Subsisting; who, when he heareth the tread of sandals following behind him, waxeth greater in his own esteem than Nimrod.

… We have decreed, O people, that the highest and last end of all learning be the recognition of Him Who is the Object of all knowledge; and yet, behold how ye have allowed your learning to shut you out, as by a veil, from Him Who is the Dayspring of this Light, through Whom every hidden thing hath been revealed.

Say: O concourse of divines! We have ordained knowledge that it might guide you to My path, yet ye turned away therefrom and waxed proud before the All-Wise One.

How vast the number of people who are well versed in every science, yet it is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their faith, inasmuch as the fruit of every science is none other than the knowledge of divine precepts and submission unto His good-pleasure.

O questioner! Know that people take pride in knowledge and praise it, yet this servant complains of it. Were it not for knowledge, the Beauty would not have been imprisoned in the Most Great Prison of Akka, nor would He have drunk the cup of tribulation at the hands of His enemies. Rhetoric has distanced me, the science of meanings has brought me low, mention of union has disjointed my limbs, brevity has become the cause of prolixity in my hardship and tribulation, morphology has turned me from rest, syntax has erased joy and delight from my heart, and my knowledge of God's mysteries has become chains around my neck.

Leave aside the books of the people - a command from Us - and take hold of this Mighty Tablet. They have authored them according to their desires and attributed them to the religion of God and His path.

O beloved friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha! One must carefully study the divine texts and execute the laws of God's religion, avoiding the interpretations of the mystics and the confusion of the philosophers, for these cause souls to become frozen, depressed, lazy, indifferent, scattered and bewildered, and ultimately render the divine community degraded and contemptible, considered in the eyes of the public as a group of transgressors and sinners. Assuredly, the true friends desire naught save the fear of God.

Since the beginning of the world there have been an endless number of philosophical thoughts and theories. Some of these concepts were considered useful, others were imagined to be be visions or spiritual inspirations, whereas most of them emanated from superstition. Inasmuch as such thoughts were various and contradictory they could not belong to the realm of reality, because reality is one and does not permit of multiplicity.

Many a soul, in the ark of philosophy, after fruitless struggles, was drowned in the sea of conflicting theories of cause and effect, while those on board the craft of simplicity reached the shore of universal cause by the help of favourable winds blowing from the point of divine knowledge.

I was pleased with its contents...

...the ultimate reach of minds is but fetters, and most of the strivings of the learned are but error. Take what thou hast seen and leave aside what thou hast heard - in the countenance of the full moon thou wilt find what makes thee independent of Saturn.

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This grace is all-encompassing and unlimited, such that some handmaidens have attained this station while most of the learned ones of the age, despite their great knowledge, remain deprived and excluded.

But these people are pure in heart and simple in spirit; therefore, though not intellectually advanced, they are capable of grasping their portion of truth, for truth is for all.

There are many people in Persia who are illiterate, but who are able to guide wise and learned men. Knowledge and sciences are like water gathered from pools and cisterns for the irrigation of the soil; the confirmations of God are like rainfalls and showers. Why should one gather water from pools when the pure water is obtainable? Unless one's mind be concentrated on the Cause, one can not receive assistance from God.

There is no doubt that I have not been, nor am I, versed in the formal disciplines of the doctors; rather, from the tongue of innate nature there issued supplications and verses which, in very truth, conform to the wonted practice of the People of God -- upon them be God's peace.

Training in morals and good conduct is far more important than book learning. A child that is cleanly, agreeable, of good character, well-behaved -- even though he be ignorant -- is preferable to a child that is rude, unwashed, ill-natured, and yet becoming deeply versed in all the sciences and arts. The reason for this is that the child who conducts himself well, even though he be ignorant, is of benefit to others, while an ill-natured, ill-behaved child is corrupted and harmful to others, even though he be learned. If, however, the child be trained to be both learned and good, the result is light upon light.

And every branch of learning, conjoined with the love of God, is approved and worthy of praise; but bereft of His love, learning is barren -- indeed, it bringeth on madness. Every kind of knowledge, every science, is as a tree: if the fruit of it be the love of God, then is it a blessed tree, but if not, that tree is but dried-up wood, and shall only feed the fire.

Briefly, good deeds become perfect and complete only after the knowledge of God has been acquired, the love of God has been manifested, and spiritual attractions and goodly motives have been attained. Otherwise, though good deeds be praiseworthy, if they do not spring from the knowledge of God, from the love of God, and from a sincere intention, they will be imperfect.

The intellect is good but until it has become the servant of the heart, it is of little avail.

Intellect judges according to justice, nature according to force. Intellect judges according to equity, nature according to aggression. Intellect judges according to solidarity, mercy and love. Nature, on the contrary, is governed by the law of the survival of the fittest, whereas the distinction of man is to be sanctified above such a law.

The power of the Holy Spirit, enlightening man's intelligence, has enabled him to discover means of bending many natural laws to his will.

Likewise the Holy Spirit is the very cause of the life of man; without the Holy Spirit he would have no intellect, he would be unable to acquire his scientific knowledge by which his great influence over the rest of creation is gained. The illumination of the Holy Spirit gives to man the power of thought, and enables him to make discoveries by which he bends the laws of nature to his will.

When man allows the spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then does he contain all Creation; because man, being the culmination of all that went before and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower world within himself. Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the soul, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of Creation.

It is the spirit that makes man heavenly; it is the spirit that makes man recipient of the Holy Spirit's breaths; it is the spirit that discovers the realities of things; it is the spirit that has produced all these effects; it is the spirit that has established all sciences; it is the spirit that bestows eternal life; it is the spirit that unites different nations; it is the spirit that brings together East and West; it is the spirit that makes the human world divine. Therefore, those souls who are recipients of the power of the spirit are the cause of life to the world.

The highest faculties which the learned have possessed, and whatsoever truths they, in their search after the gems of Thy knowledge, have discovered; the brightest realities with which the wise have been endowed, and whatever secrets they, in their attempts to fathom the mysteries of Thy wisdom, have unravelled, have all been created through the generative power of the Spirit that was breathed into the Pen which Thy hands have fashioned.

By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

The influence of the wisest philosophers, without this Spirit Divine, has been comparatively unimportant, however extensive their learning and deep their scholarship.

All the great philosophers who have stepped into the world of existence could not give a moral education to the inhabitants of a village. The utmost they could do was to have ten or twenty students to whom they gave lectures and conferences.

Although a man may progress in science and philosophy, if he does not take advantage of the power of the spirit, he is incomplete.

… What I mean is this -- philosophy and science will not suffice to elevate and civilize a people who are in a bestial condition.

What philosophy has ever elevated a whole nation and influenced humanity? Philosophy of necessity is restricted to a small school and cannot have an essentially moral influence.

Believing that God is present in nature has never been enough. This belief has never founded, and could never found, a civilization. But belief in God's Chosen Ones, His Prophets, through Whom come the living waters of His revelation, has created structures in the life of man that the revolution of many ages and cycles could not destroy, and brought him holy light that time could never dim.

The knowledge or touching of the Good is the greatest thing.... We are taught about it by comparisons and negations and knowledge of the things which come from it and certain methods of ascent by degrees, but we are put on the way to it by purifications and virtues and adornings and by gaining footholds in the intelligible and settling ourselves firmly there and feasting on its contents.

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Baha'u'llah has said that learning can be the veil between the soul of man and the eternal truth; in other words, between man and knowledge of God. We have seen that many people who become very advanced in the study of modern physical sciences are led to deny God, and to deny His Prophets. That does not mean that God and the Prophets have not and do not exist. It only means that knowledge has become a veil between their hearts and the light of God.

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The first and most important qualification of a Baha'i Teacher is, indeed, unqualified loyalty and attachment to the Cause. Knowledge is, of course essential; but compared to devotion it is secondary in importance.

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