Motion and growth: what it means to advance

Consider the clock, which, though a lifeless object, made of mere metal, by virtue of its order and skilled design is possessed of a highly regular movement. Though it is an inanimate object, it can determine the time cycles of the glorious sun itself. … A mighty outcome as this can result when a tiny and delicate movement appeareth in a heavy object.

Shouldst the movement of a spiritual yearning, which is like unto the spirit of this physical world, appear in the body of man, consider what manifest fruits and luminous perfections shall come forth! Therefore beseech God that through the divine means and spiritual powers, He may cause a movement in the consciousness of the human beings, and that thou mayest become like unto a timepiece for the movement of the stars of the Concourse on High and the celestial bodies of the All Glorious Kingdom and, even as a victorious spirit, become the means through which the body of this contingent world is moved and stirred.

O Thou attracted to the love of God! Be thou in constant flux, in ebb and flow of the spirit, in permanent motion. Nevertheless, focus thy movement and thy stillness round a single Point and fix thy speech and thy silence upon one central and essential utterance.

Moderation is necessary in all affairs. Man must take a lesson from divine actions and deeds for God suffers a tree to grow a long time before it attains to perfection. He is able to make a tree grow to fruition in an instant, but wisdom requires a gradual development.

Know that nothing that exists remains in a state of repose--that is, all things are in motion. They are either growing or declining, either coming from non-existence into existence or passing from existence into non-existence. So this flower, this hyacinth, was for a time coming from non-existence into existence and is now passing from existence into non-existence. This is called essential or natural motion, and it can in no wise be dissociated from created things, for it is one of their essential requirements, just as it is an essential requirement of fire to burn.

There are different degrees of motion. There is a motion of transit, that is from place to place. For example, the revolution of the earth around the sun; a bird flies from branch to branch. Another kind is the motion of inherent growth, like that of man from the condition of childhood to the estate of manhood, or the development of a tree from the seedling to its full fruition. The third is the motion of condition - the sick man passes from the stage of sickness to the state of health. The fourth motion is that of the spirit. … The fifth is the motion of the intellect whereby the ignorant become wise; the indifferent, alert; the dark, illuminated and the carnally-minded, spiritual.

There are two kinds of changes and alterations. One causes descent and one ascent. The one which causes descent is not good, but on the contrary. The other change, which causes ascent, is acceptable.

… The mineral carbon changes in many stations until diamonds are produced from it.

It is the inherent nature of things on this earth to change, thus we see around us the change of the seasons. Every spring is followed by a summer and every autumn brings a winter -- every day a night and every evening a morning. There is a sequence in all things.

For example, if the Most Great Luminary of the horizons were to remain perpetually rising at the meridian circle, all generated beings, contingent things and visible realities would be burned up and destroyed. No spring would remain, nor flower garden, no tree or fruit, no summer or autumn, no April or October, no birds or living creatures or humans. It is therefore evident that these are signs of wisdom.

Absolute repose does not exist in nature.

… Thus it is evident that movement is essential to all existence.

… We have seen that movement is essential to existence; nothing that has life is without motion. All creation, whether of the mineral, vegetable or animal kingdom, is compelled to obey the law of motion; it must either ascend or descend.

Regarding what you wrote about the motion of the sun and earth: All beings are in motion, there is no stationary thing, for motion is among the requirements of existence while stillness is among the characteristics of non-existence - meaning there is no existent thing that lacks motion. In the divine Tablets this matter is explicit that all luminous and non-luminous bodies, even the particles of creation, are in motion either primarily or derivatively.

O Adib! The world of creation is in motion and movement.

The world of existence is in motion and movement, and the world of creation is a mirror of the favors of the All-Merciful Lord.

Creation is the expression of motion. Motion is life. … All created forms are progressive in their planes, or kingdoms of existence, under the stimulus of the power or spirit of life. The universal energy is dynamic. Nothing is stationary in the material world of outer phenomena or in the inner world of intellect and consciousness.

While looking from the window, Abdul-Baha said: "We hear the murmur of the sea always continuing. It never ceases. Were it to cease, the world would be dead, stagnant, lifeless. But the waves of the mind of man are far greater than those of the sea; they also are ceaseless. They never stop for one instant. This movement is good.

Motion is the sign of life. If there be no wind, no motion the air becomes impure. When water is stagnant it also becomes impure. There is motion in everything, all the plants are moving. All bodies whether large or small are moving. There is no globe which is absolutely stationary. The people thought that the poles were without motion. In reality there are two motions: rotation and revolutions.

There are other kinds of motion. One is a local motion, which is dependent upon condition. For example, the turning of wine into vinegar. A second is an essential motion, such as when the body of man develops into maturity. Another is a spiritual motion, which is the attraction of the hearts.

The point is this: that all existing things (creation) are in motion. Therefore it is known that motion is the cause of life and lack of motion is indicative of decay or retrogression.

… But the main motion is based upon the holy books which give life to man and lifts him from a miserable stage to that of exaltation. It moves man from the center of eternal degradation to the center of eternal life. This is the real and important motion.

The elemental atoms which constitute all phenomenal existence and being in this illimitable universe are in perpetual motion, undergoing continuous degrees of progression.

Every indivisible electron is transformed into all the forms of creatures and everything travels or moves in everything."

All material things are ordered like a planetary system. In the center is the divine dynamo and around Him circle in a raving dance the matter particles, the so-called atoms. The faster the movement, the firmer and denser appears the matter to us.

"The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient." That is to say: The substance and primary matter of contingent beings is the ethereal power, which is invisible and known only through its effects, such as electricity, heat, and light--these are vibrations of that power, and this is established and proven in natural philosophy and is known as the ethereal matter.

Although sensitivity in plants is slight as compared with that manifested in animals, within their own kingdom they have sensitivity and vegetable spirit.

Cut across a conical shape, sprinkle a little sulphate of copper on it, add a little water and then observe it with a magnifier. You will find its components rushing toward the center. Their sensitivity is apparent in their effort to reach the center until they form a cylinder.

Al-Ash'ari says about it: [']The entire creation consists of matter and power (movement). Matter, the corporeal, consists of atoms which are alike; they, the atoms, fill up space, they are units without magnitude conceived as points, on which all spatial corporeal existence is based. The atoms do not penetrate into each other, they move, they change. All changes of the atoms are based on combination and separation, on quick and undetectable movement -on this is dependent the form, the appearance of the body.

These ten intellects are Aristotle's concept. For example, [he says] motion is of two kinds: forced motion and circular motion. Circular motion is evidence of will. Since we observe circular motion in these spheres, they possess will, and therefore in these spheres there exists an intellectual force which is the governing force of that sphere. … This is but imagination.

Now it is known that all motion is compelled motion. This sun is compelled to move, even these other spheres are compelled to move. All motion is compelled, not volitional.

Divine and all-encompassing Wisdom hath ordained that motion be an inseparable concomitant of existence, whether inherently or accidentally, spiritually or materially. This movement must be governed by some check or rein, some regulator or director, otherwise, order will be disrupted and the spheres and bodies will fall from the heavens. For this reason God brought into being a universal attractive force between these bodies to hold sway over them and govern them, a force deriving from the firm ties and the mighty correspondence that exist between the realities of these limitless worlds.

For example the center of intelligence is the brain. The center of vision is the eye. The center of hearing is the ear. The center of speech is the tongue. For the power of gravitation, there is a center which is betwixt the heaven and earth. All the composite elements of this globe gravitate around that center. Where is the center of light? It is the Sun.

Each power is localized. Reason has its seat in the brain, sight in the eye, hearing in the ears, speech in the tongue. The force of gravity is localized in the center of the earth. Everything on the surface of the earth is attracted toward the center. Our light is localized in the sun. The heat of the sun transforms minerals, vegetables, animals, and man.

And since such a Personage is superior to all others in spiritual perfections and heavenly attainments, and is indeed the focal centre of divine blessings and the pivot of the circle of light, He will encompass all others, and there is no doubt whatsoever that He will shine out with such power as to gather every soul into His sheltering shade.

When ye consider this matter with care, it will become apparent that this is according to a universal law, which one can find at work in all things: the whole attracteth the part, and in the circle, the centre is the pivot of the compasses .

The lights of earth are all acceptable, but the center of effulgence is the sun, and we must direct our gaze to the sun. God is the Supreme Center. The more we turn toward this Center of Light, the greater will be our capacity.

Likewise, in the spiritual realm of intelligence and idealism there must be a center of illumination, and that center is the everlasting, ever-shining Sun, the Word of God. Its lights are the lights of reality which have shone upon humanity, illumining the realm of thought and morals, conferring the bounties of the divine world upon man. … This Sun of Reality, this Center of effulgences, is the Prophet or Manifestation of God.

And as for "the Divine Soul" (an-nafs al-ilahiyyah), it consists of the Universal Reality which brings together all of the Divine realities of the realm of Primal Manifestation (lahutiyyah) and the eternal secrets, the outer aspect of which is the ancient light and the inner aspect is the most mighty and sublime mystery, the Primal Point from which appear all things and to which they revert, from which they originate and to which they return. … And so the horizons and souls become filled and illumined by it on the Day of the Covenant, and on account of it the tabernacles of unity tremble and are set in motion.

Praise be to God, Who causeth the oceans of light to surge with divine, fiery waters; Who stirreth up the letters of manifestation through the Point of the Divine Cloud of Unity; Who unfoldeth the mountain of the unseen from the heaven of manifestation - the essence of hiddenness and the countenance of eternity; and Who causeth the Point of Lordship to revolve in the most glorious and eternal manner - that all may testify that verily He is the Truth, there is no God but Him, and that He is indeed the Single, the One, the Eternal, Who begetteth not nor is begotten, and there is none like unto Him, and He is God, the Supreme, the Compelling.

He Who is both the Beginning and the End, He Who is both Stillness and Motion, is now manifest before your eyes. Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End, how out of Stillness Motion hath been engendered.

Thou hadst asked about the motion and rest of things - whether they are by God's will. This is certainly so, for the sustenance of existence comes from the All-Bountiful. If sustenance from God did not reach existence, no created thing would move.

O thou who advancest toward the Supreme Horizon! Be moved by the motion apparent from the heat of God's compelling Word, which God hath made sanctified from the three motions which are the six and what is above them of the motions mentioned in the books of the people. Thus doth the Lord of all beings command thee. And this motion, though it revolveth around itself, yet it hath motions which none knoweth save thy Lord, the Mighty, the All-Knowing.

We have made heat the cause of motion, and We have sanctified it above the types of motion mentioned in the books of men, for it has appeared from thy Lord's word without how or gesture. Reflect and be of the thankful. The world moves by this motion and the celestial spheres rotate by the name of your Ancient Lord.

Can you remain still while the Spirit soars between the heavens and earth?

O friend! The cause of motion is heat, and the cause of ascension is lightness. God willing, the fire of the love of God which is deposited in thy verses will become the cause of ascension and the reason for motion, and will unite the friends with the friends.

O servant of Baha! Be self-sacrificing in the path of God, and wing thy flight unto the heavens of the love of the Abha Beauty, for any movement animated by love moveth from the periphery to the centre, from space to the Day-Star of the universe.

Perchance thou deemest this to be difficult, but I tell thee that such cannot be the case, for when the motivating and guiding power is the divine force of magnetism it is possible, by its aid, to traverse time and space easily and swiftly.

O thou who warmest thyself by the fire of the love of God, spreading from the Tree of the Covenant! Let thy soul be at ease and thy heart in peace concerning the perfect success and progress which the pen is not able to express, for in a short time thou shalt see the flag of the Kingdom waving in those far and wide regions, and the lights of the Truth shining brilliantly in its dawn above those horizons, and thou shalt know that thou art the center of the circle of the love of God, the axis around which souls revolve in their way and supplication to God.

All created things move and stir according to their natural order without will. Therefore, among created beings, those possessed of spirit have will and choice, movement and acquisition, bestowed as the ultimate gift in their own realm. Animals are at the lowest degree of beings possessed of spirit, but as they are not endowed with reason and intelligence, if they move contrary to the natural order, they are excused in this pride, for they move according to nature's requirements and are captive to it without recourse to anything else.

The mineral is the lowest form of life, it could not go lower. Ignorance is the lowest type, we can not go back of that. Darkness is the absence of light, there could be no lower plane in that respect. So man does not go backward from the physical or human position. It is only when he has begun to ascend that he can descend.

Furthermore, spirits progress through all the worlds - just as the mineral spirit ascends to the plant world, the plant spirit to the animal world, and the animal spirit ascends and transfers to the human world. In the same way, the human spirit ascends to divine worlds and higher stations.

The line of Progress is perpendicular and it has no end. Progress is infinite but there are many degrees. Each animate or inanimate organism advances along its own degree.

You who are the grass of this garden must bloom and grow like the cypress and jasmine in this meadow and field. A tree that does not become green and fresh from the spring wind and the rain of Farvardin and the bounty of Ordibehesht - in what other season will it bear sweet fruit?

When staying and residing in one place continues for long, inevitably some weariness results.

You are right - all created things are in motion, and through this universal motion the order of the world of existence is maintained. If any created thing becomes fixed in one place and ceases from motion, decline inevitably occurs. The breeze must constantly blow, the sea must have waves and motion, the stars must transit through the constellations.

Motion is one of the essential requirements of the realities of beings and the cause of attaining universal benefits in the world of creation.

… Therefore it is better that one attain essential motion, seek existential motion, desire qualitative motion, attain material motion and seek spiritual motion. All these motions are the cause of deliverance. Therefore if you are traveling and in motion it is certainly better than being lifeless, sluggish, melancholy and tormented in one place.

When one stops, he descends. A bird, when it is flying, soars; but as soon as it stops, it falls. While man is directed upward, he develops. As soon as he stops, he descends. Therefore I wish the beloved of God always to ascend and develop.

The great question is this: In the world of existence, pause (or discontinuation of progress) marks the beginning of fall and decadence. for instance, as long as the bird soars or moves upward in the air, it is in progress. But no sooner it pauses than it begins to descend.

Day by day he must endeavor to become better, his belief must increase and become firmer, his good qualities and his turning to God must be greater, the fire of his love must flame more brightly; then day by day he will make progress, for to stop advancing is the means of going back. The bird when he flies soars ever higher and higher, for as soon as he stops flying he will come down. Every day, in the morning when arising you should compare today with yesterday and see in what condition you are.

Man must always advance. As soon as man remains stationary in a certain cause he will go backward. Therefore he must strive that man may advance day by day, that he may progress in all the worlds.

Life is motion. Progress and movement are the two unchangeable laws of the Universe.

All created things are in a state of motion; there is no stillness--for motion is among the essential requirements of existence, and stillness is among the hallmarks of non-existence. That is to say, there is not a single existing thing which is not in motion.

Catalogue reference: AB00938 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.

No matter how high the soaring ones fly in the utmost degrees of knowledge and understanding, ... they are but reading letters from the book of their own selves, and reaching only to the brilliant unseen signs that are enshrined in the reality of their own beings, and circling round the centre of their own entities.

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This sincere intent is like unto a magnet attracting the divine confirmations. In the world of being all atoms in existence are centres of attraction for certain things.... Likewise when sincere intent hath been attained and the power of detachment and an eloquent tongue bestowed, these attract mighty confirmations.

Catalogue reference: AB12891 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.

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...its [the soul's] natural movement is, as it were, in a circle around something, something not outside but a centre, and the centre is that from which the circle derives, then it will move around this from which it is and will depend on this...

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And the soul is so disposed then as even to despise intelligence, which at other times it welcomed, because intelligence is a kind of movement, and the soul does not want to move.

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