This blog is dedicated to exploring the proposition that:
What the Bahá'ís do believe is that we have three aspects to our humanness, so to speak, a body, a mind and an immortal identity – soul or spirit. We believe the mind forms a link between the soul and the body, and the two interact with each other. [Shoghi Effendi, Arohanui, p. 89]
I like this statement by 'Abdu'l-Bahá (from Some Answered Questions, pp. 208-09):
Spirit is the lamp; mind is the light which shines from the lamp. Spirit is the tree, and the [tag]mind[/tag] is the fruit. Mind is the perfection of the spirit and is its essential quality, as the sun's rays are the essential necessity of the sun.
There's much to be explored about our humanness. I hope readers will join in the exploration.
Technorati Tags: Baha'i, Bahai, spiritual, spirituality
8 April 2006 at 22:34
Dear Barney,
I have found it impossible to work out a consistent statement about the relationship between mind, spirit and soul etc from the many writings. This is caused, in part, by the impossibility of words to accurately represent spiritual realities and the inconsistencies in the translations we work from in English.
When I studied the issue, I found that the best writings to work from were from Baha’u'llah; principally, this statement from the Summons: ““Say: Spirit, mind, soul, and the powers of sight and hearing are but one single reality which hath manifold expressions owing to the diversity of its instruments.” pp 154-55, para 35 I have written a series of blog entries on this topic, in which I examine what Baha’u'llah says on this issue in what I consider to be the three principal sources:
- Suriy-i-Ra’is, in Summons of the Lord of Hosts, pp 152-55
- Commentary on the verse ‘He who knows his self knows his lord’ (which is also in Gleanings at LXXXIII)
- Tablet of the Disconnected Letters, which is not officially translated.
The discussion on my blog begins at http://whoisbahaullah.com/blog/?p=134 . The messages that comprise the discussion are located one after the other in the Study category.
Alison Marshall
9 April 2006 at 09:30
Many thanks for your help with this study, Alison. I very much appreciate your pointers. I shall read your blog entries and we may have a dialogue about this.
–Barney