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Henry A. Weil1, a
Bahá'í, developed a construct of powers of the soul2 and has described, to his own
understanding, various language games found in the
Bahá'í texts. Since many of his assumptions were
grounded in essentialism, one of the principal engagements of ASMA Spirit, as a
nominalist perspective, is with a radical modification,
deconstruction, and relativization of Weil's understandings of
Bahá'í wisdom teachings.
Decidedly, no attempt is made to be faithful to any previous
constructions, including those developed by Weil. All such systems,
rather than being regarded as fixed ontologies (reality frameworks) or
kosmologies (Ken Wilber's term), are treated here as language games,
names, and categories. Likewise, created reality is a name for God's
volitionally relative constructions or lifeworlds, not a perennial
ordering of existence or idealized scheme of timeless first
principles.
Now, formation is of three kinds and of three kinds only:
accidental, necessary and voluntary. The coming together of the
various constituent elements of beings cannot be accidental, for
unto every effect there must be a cause. It cannot be compulsory,
for then the formation must be an inherent property of the
constituent parts and the inherent property of a thing can in no wise
be dissociated from it, such as light that is the revealer of things,
heat that causeth the expansion of elements and the solar rays which
are the essential property of the sun. Thus under such circumstances
the decomposition of any formation is impossible, for the inherent
properties of a thing cannot be separated from it. The third
formation remaineth and that is the voluntary one, that is, an unseen
force described as the Ancient Power, causeth these elements to come
together, every formation giving rise to a distinct being.
--`Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet to
August Forel, pages 16-17
The powers of the soul are here reformulated as the human spirit (a.k.a. the innate
character, rational faculty, rational soul, or common
faculty/hiss-i-mushtarak). The spirits of
particular souls, observed in various tropes or attributes, can be
understood according to at least five names or categories. By
reflecting on `Abdu'l-Bahá's example, such capacities enable
the development of a soul's acquired characteristics and attributes
(or spiritual virtues), inter alia, love, mercy, fairness, and
trustworthiness.
Every other word of Bahá'u'lláh's and
'Abdu'l-Bahá's writings is a preachment on moral and ethical
conduct; all else is the form, the chalice, into which the pure
spirit must be poured; without the spirit and the action which must
demonstrate it, it is a lifeless form.
-- From a letter dated October 25, 1949, written on behalf of Shoghi
Effendi to an individual Bahá'í and cited: Living the Life, page 20
The human spirit, or rational soul, appears to have been used by
`Abdu'l-Bahá as a category, a rubric, for those areas of
functioning which distinguish humans from animals. What now follows
is an attempt to descrbe the capacities (powers), and categories of
capacities, named the human spirit.
I have, over the years, made extensive modifications to Weil's
framework. The resulting model is designated ASMA Spirit.
- the mental faculties: the
intellect (aql) or intellectual capacities of the human spirit,
including imagination, thought, understanding, and memory
"Man has also spiritual powers: imagination, which conceives things;
thought, which reflects upon realities; comprehension, which
comprehends realities; memory, which retains whatever man imagines,
thinks and comprehends. The intermediary between the five outward
powers and the inward powers is the sense which they possess in
common - that is to say, the sense which acts between the outer and
inner powers, conveys to the inward powers whatever the outer powers
discern. It is termed the common faculty, because it communicates
between the outward and inward powers and thus is common to the
outward and inward powers."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
Answered Questions, page 210
"Now concerning mental faculties, they are in truth of the inherent
properties of the soul, even as the radiation of light is the
essential property of the sun. The rays of the sun are renewed but
the sun itself is ever the same and unchanged. Consider how the human
intellect develops and weakens, and may at times come to naught,
whereas the soul changeth not. For the mind to manifest itself, the
human body must be whole; and a sound mind cannot be but in a sound
body, whereas the soul dependeth not upon the body. It is through the
power of the soul that the mind comprehendeth, imagineth and exerteth
its influence, whilst the soul is a power that is free. The mind
comprehendeth the abstract by the aid of the concrete, but the soul
hath limitless manifestations of its own. The mind is circumscribed,
the soul limitless. It is by the aid of such senses as those of
sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, that the mind comprehendeth,
whereas the soul is free from all agencies."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet to
August Forel, page 8
"Now regarding the question whether the faculties of the mind and the
human soul are one and the same. These faculties are but the inherent
properties of the soul, such as the power of imagination, of thought,
of understanding; powers that are the essential requisites of the
reality of man, even as the solar ray is the inherent property of the
sun. The temple of man is like unto a mirror, his soul is as the sun,
and his mental faculties even as the rays that emanate from that
source of light. The ray may cease to fall upon the mirror, but it
can in no wise be dissociated from the sun."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet to
August Forel, pages 24-25
- the spirit of faith: the
magnet of faith and service or power and capacity of faith in the
Prophet to transform the human conscience or free will; results in
the acquisition of virtues, such as love (biologically experienced as
spiritual joy or happiness), kindness, mercy, truthfulness, service,
etc.
"Faith is the magnet which draws the confirmation of the Merciful One.
Service is the magnet which attracts the heavenly strength. I hope
thou wilt attain both."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of
'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás, volume 1, page 62
"Happiness consists of two kinds; physical and spiritual. The
physical happiness is limited; its utmost duration is one day, one
month, one year. It hath no result. Spiritual happiness is eternal
and unfathomable. This kind of happiness appeareth in one's soul with
the love of God and suffereth one to attain to the virtues and
perfections of the world of humanity. Therefore, endeavor as much as
thou art able in order to illuminate the lamp of thy heart by the
light of love."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of
'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás, volume 3, page 673
"From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and
bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His
knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share
in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this
knowledge. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of
creation. The greater the effort exerted for the refinement of this
sublime and noble mirror, the more faithfully will it be made to
reflect the glory of the names and attributes of God, and reveal the
wonders of His signs and knowledge. Every created thing will be
enabled (so great is this reflecting power) to reveal the
potentialities of its pre-ordained station, will recognize its
capacity and limitations, and will testify to the truth that 'He,
verily, is God; there is none other God besides Him.'...
"There can be no doubt whatever that, in consequence of the efforts
which every man may consciously exert and as a result of the exertion
of his own spiritual faculties, this mirror can be so cleansed from
the dross of earthly defilements and purged from satanic fancies as
to be able to draw nigh unto the meads of eternal holiness and attain
the courts of everlasting fellowship."
-- Bahá'u'lláh:, Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá'u'lláh, page 262
"Then know, O thou virtuous soul, that as soon as thou becomest
separated from aught else save God and dost cut thyself from the
worldly things, thy heart will shine with lights of divinity and with
the effulgence of the Sun of Truth from the horizon of the Realm of
Might, and then thou wilt be filed by the spirit of power from God
and become capable of doing that which thou desirest. This is the
confirmed truth."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of
'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás, volume 3, page 709
"The human spirit which distinguishes man from the animal is the
rational soul, and these two names - the human spirit and the
rational soul - designate one thing. This spirit, which in the
terminology of the philosophers is the rational soul, embraces all
beings, and as far as human ability permits discovers the realities
of things and becomes cognizant of their peculiarities and effects,
and of the qualities and properties of beings. But the human spirit,
unless assisted by the spirit of faith, does not become acquainted
with the divine secrets and the heavenly realities. It is like a
mirror which, although clear, polished and brilliant, is still in need
of light. Until a ray of the sun reflects upon it, it cannot discover
the heavenly secrets."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
Answered Questions, pages 208-209
"Service is the magnet which draws the divine confirmations. Thus,
when a person is active, they are blessed by the Holy Spirit. When
they are inactive, the Holy Spirit cannot find a repository in their
being, and thus they are deprived of its healing and quickening
rays."
-- From a letter dated July 12, 1952, written on behalf of Shoghi
Effendi to an individual Bahá'í and cited: Living the Life, page 18
"In serving a Cause for which your mother sacrificed so much you will
no doubt come to find the very purpose of your life, and the true
secret of happiness in this, as well as in the next world."
-- From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi in Arohanui: Letters to New Zealand,
page 42
"But the Spirit of Faith which is of the Kingdom (of God) consists of
the all-comprehending Grace and the perfect attainment (or salvation,
fruition, achievement) and the power of sanctity and the divine
effulgence from the Sun of Truth on luminous light-seeking essences
from the presence of the divine Unity. And by this Spirit is the life
of the spirit of man, when it is fortified thereby, as Christ saith:
'That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.' And this Spirit hath
both restitution and return, inasmuch as it consists of the Light of
God and the unconditioned Grace."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás,
volume 1, page 115
"The maid-servants of the Merciful should love each other with heart
and soul; for though there be many bodies, the spirit of faith is
one3 and the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit is universal. There is one Light but many lamps; there
is one Wine but the glasses differ."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of
'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás, volume 3, page 505
"Do thou ponder these momentous happenings in thy heart, so that thou
mayest apprehend the greatness of this Revelation, and perceive its
stupendous glory. Then shall the spirit of faith, through the grace of
the Merciful, be breathed into thy being, and thou shalt be
established and abide upon the seat of certitude."
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The
Kitáb-i-Íqán, page 236
"The fourth degree of spirit is the heavenly spirit; it is the spirit
of faith and the bounty of God; it comes from the breath of the Holy
Spirit, and by the divine power it becomes the cause of eternal life.
It is the power which makes the earthly man heavenly, and the
imperfect man perfect. It makes the impure to be pure, the silent
eloquent; it purifies and sanctifies those made captive by carnal
desires; it makes the ignorant wise."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some
Answered Questions, p. 144
- inner vision:
capacity for insight; experienced as spiritual knowledge (Arabic,
ma'rifa/'irf&257;n )
"God grant that, with a penetrating vision and radiant heart, thou
mayest observe the things that have come to pass and are now
happening, and, pondering them in thine heart, mayest recognize that
which most men have, in this Day, failed to perceive."
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá'u'lláh, page 58
"In the mirror of their minds the forms of transcendent realities are
reflected, and the lamp of their inner vision derives its light from
the sun of universal knowledge."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Secret of
Divine Civilization, page 21
"If, then, the spirit were the same as the body, it would be
necessary that the power of the inner sight should also be in the
same proportion. Therefore, it is evident that this spirit is
different from the body, and that the bird is different from the
cage, and that the power and penetration of the spirit is stronger
without the intermediary of the body."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered
Questions, page 228
- free will: the conscience,
will power, mirror of moral choices, or power of volitional
accomplishment
"Man's physical existence on this earth is a period during which the
moral exercise of his free will is tried and tested in order to
prepare his soul for the other worlds of God, and we must welcome
affliction and tribulations as opportunities for improvement in our
eternal selves."
-- From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
to an individual Bahá'í, July 16, 1980, and cited:
Lights of Guidance, page 368
"Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence
of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how ... thy will and
purpose ... proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same
faculty."
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá'u'lláh, page 164
"... though the choice of good and evil belongs to man, under all
circumstances he is dependent upon the sustaining help of life, which
comes from the Omnipotent. The Kingdom of God is very great, and all
are captives in the grasp of His Power. The servant cannot do
anything by his own will; God is powerful, omnipotent, and the Helper
of all beings."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered
Questions, page 250
"... conscience is never to be coerced, whether by other individuals or institutions.
"Conscience, however, is not an unchangeable absolute. One dictionary definition, although not covering all the usages of the term, presents the common understanding of the word 'conscience' as 'the sense of right and wrong as regards things for which one is responsible; the faculty or principle which pronounces upon the moral quality of one's actions or motives, approving the right and condemning the wrong'.
"The functioning of one's conscience, then, depends upon one's understanding of right and wrong; the conscience of one person may be established upon a disinterested striving after truth and justice, while that of another may rest on an unthinking predisposition to act in accordance with that pattern of standards, principles and prohibitions which is a product of his social environment. Conscience, therefore, can serve either as a bulwark of an upright character or can represent an accumulation of prejudices learned from one's forebears or absorbed from a limited social code.
"A Bahá'í recognizes that one aspect of his spiritual and intellectual growth is to foster the development of his conscience in the light of divine Revelation ...."
-- From a letter dated February 8, 1998, written on behalf of the
Universal House of Justice to Dr. Susan Maneck.
- All-Unifying
Agency: coordination of bodily activities
"As the body is sustained by the spirit, it is in relation to the
spirit an essential phenomenon. The spirit is independent of the
body, and in relation to it the spirit is an essential preexistence.
Though the rays are always inseparable from the sun, nevertheless,
the sun is preexistent and the rays are phenomenal, for the existence
of the rays depends upon that of the sun."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, page 280
"... the various organs and members, the parts and elements, that
constitute the body of man, though at variance, are yet all connected
one with the other by that all-unifying agency known as the human
soul, that causeth them to function in perfect harmony and with
absolute regularity, thus making the continuation of life possible.
The human body, however, is utterly unconscious of that all-unifying
agency, and yet acteth with regularity and dischargeth its functions
according to its will."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet to August Forel, page 13
"The mind which is in man, the existence of which is recognized -
where is it in him? If you examine the body with the eye, the ear or
the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless, it exists.
Therefore, the mind has no place, but it is connected with the
brain."
-- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, page 242
Weil also believed that individuality, with what he saw as
its twin potentials for accomplishment and inner change, and immortality were "powers of the
soul." My own suggestion, however, is that individuality is merely a
name for the uniqueness, particularity, or this-ness of each soul,
distinguished from St. Thomas Aquinas' more essentialist view of the
rational soul (human nature),
while its potentials are the powers or capacities of the mind's
mental faculties and free will, of inner vision, and of the spirit
of faith; and that immortality is an affirmation of each soul's
simplicity and indestructibility. Both individuality and
immortality are nominal descriptions of souls, not the
instrumentalities of human spirits.
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