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Paris Talks
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Pages 22-27
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GOD COMPREHENDS ALL: HE CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED
Friday evening, October 20th
`Abdu'l-Bahá said:
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Numerous meetings are held in Paris every day
for different purposes, to discuss politics, commerce,
education, art, science and many other subjects.
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All these meetings are good: but this assembly has
met together to turn their faces towards God, to learn
how best to work for the good of humanity, to seek
how prejudices may be abolished, and the seed of
love and universal brotherhood sown in the heart of
man.
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God approves of the motive of our gathering together
and gives us His blessing.
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In the Old Testament we read that God said, `Let
us make man in Our own image'. In the Gospel, Christ
said, `I am in the Father, and the Father in Me'.
[1]
In
the Qur'án, God says, `Man is my Mystery and I am
his'. Bahá'u'lláh writes that God says, `Thy heart is
My home; purify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My
place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation'.
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All these sacred words show us that man is made in
God's image: yet the Essence of God is incomprehensible
to the human mind, for the finite understanding
cannot be applied to this infinite Mystery. God
contains all: He cannot be contained. That which
contains is superior to that which is contained. The
whole is greater than its parts.
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Things which are understood by men cannot be outside
their capacity for understanding, so that it is
impossible for the heart of man to comprehend the
nature of the Majesty of God. Our imagination can
only picture that which it is able to create.
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The power of the understanding differs in degree in
the various kingdoms of creation. The mineral, vegetable,
and animal realms are each incapable of understanding
any creation beyond their own. The mineral
cannot imagine the growing power of the plant. The
tree cannot understand the power of movement in the
animal, neither can it comprehend what it would mean
to possess sight, hearing or the sense of smell. These
all belong to the physical creation.
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Man also shares in this creation; but it is not possible
for either of the lower kingdoms to understand that
which takes place in the mind of man. The animal
cannot realize the intelligence of a human being, he
only knows that which is perceived by his animal
senses, he cannot imagine anything in the abstract. An
animal could not learn that the world is round, that
the earth revolves round the sun, or the construction
of the electric telegraph. These things are only possible
to man. Man is the highest work of creation, the
nearest to God of all creatures.
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All superior kingdoms are incomprehensible to the
inferior; how therefore could it be possible that the
creature, man, should understand the almighty Creator
of all?
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That which we imagine, is not the Reality of God;
He, the Unknowable, the Unthinkable, is far beyond
the highest conception of man.
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All creatures that exist are dependent upon the
Divine Bounty. Divine Mercy gives life itself. As
the light of the sun shines on the whole world, so the
Mercy of the infinite God is shed on all creatures. As
the sun ripens the fruits of the earth, and gives life and
warmth to all living beings, so shines the Sun of Truth
on all souls, filling them with the fire of Divine love
and understanding.
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The superiority of man over the rest of the created
world is seen again in this, that man has a soul in
which dwells the divine spirit; the souls of the lower
creatures are inferior in their essence.
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There is no doubt then, that of all created beings
man is the nearest to the nature of God, and therefore
receives a greater gift of the Divine Bounty.
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The mineral kingdom possesses the power of existing.
The plant has the power of existing and growing.
The animal, in addition to existence and growth, has
the capacity of moving about, and the use of the
faculties of the senses. In the human kingdom we find
all the attributes of the lower worlds, with much more
added thereto. Man is the sum of every previous
creation, for he contains them all.
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To man is given the special gift of the intellect by
which he is able to receive a larger share of the light
Divine. The Perfect Man is as a polished mirror
reflecting the Sun of Truth, manifesting the attributes
of God.
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The Lord Christ said, `He that hath seen Me hath
seen the Father'--God manifested in man.
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The sun does not leave his place in the heavens and
descend into the mirror, for the actions of ascent and
descent, coming and going, do not belong to the
Infinite, they are the methods of finite beings. In the
Manifestation of God, the perfectly polished mirror,
appear the qualities of the Divine in a form that man is
capable of comprehending.
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This is so simple that all can understand it, and that
which we are able to understand we must perforce
accept.
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Our Father will not hold us responsible for the rejection
of dogmas which we are unable either to believe
or comprehend, for He is ever infinitely just to His
children.
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This example is, however, so logical that it can easily
be grasped by all minds willing to give it their consideration.
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May each one of you become a shining lamp, of
which the flame is the Love of God. May your hearts
burn with the radiance of unity. May your eyes be
illumined with the effulgence of the Sun of Truth!
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The city of Paris is very beautiful, a more civilized
and well-appointed town in all material development
it would be impossible to find in the present world. But
the spiritual light has not shone upon her for a long
time: her spiritual progress is far behind that of her
material civilization. A supreme power is needed to
awaken her to the reality of spiritual truth, to breathe
the breath of life into her dormant soul. You must all
unite in this work of arousing her, in reanimating her
people by the help of that Superior Force.
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When an illness is slight a small remedy will suffice
to heal it, but when the slight illness becomes a terrible
disease, then a very strong remedy must be used by the
Divine Healer. There are some trees that blossom and
bear fruit in a cool climate, others there are which need
the hottest rays of the sun to bring them to perfect
maturity. Paris is one of those trees for whose spiritual
unfoldment a great flaming Sun of the Divine Power
of God is needed.
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I ask you all, each one of you, to follow well the
light of truth, in the Holy Teachings, and God will
strengthen you by His Holy Spirit so that you will be
enabled to overcome the difficulties, and to destroy
the prejudices which cause separation and hatred
amongst the people. Let your hearts be filled with the
great love of God, let it be felt by all; for every man is
a servant of God, and all are entitled to a share of the
Divine Bounty.
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Especially to those whose thoughts are material
and retrograde show the utmost love and patience,
thereby winning them into the unity of fellowship by
the radiance of your kindness.
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If you are faithful to your great work, following the
Holy Sun of Truth without swerving, then will the
blessed day of universal brotherhood dawn on this
beautiful city.
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Notes
1. [St. John xiv, II]
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