The Independent Investigation of Truth

After a long hiatus, we return to the second of the twelve principles of the Bahá'í Faith. This would be the Independent Investigation of the Truth. Previously, we have covered this idea while studying the first two paragraphs of the Kitáb-i-Íqán. The first paragraph begins with the deceleration, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth."

Before we continue, we must define what man is. In The Divine Philosophy, 'Abdu'l-Bahá breaks up the idea into three parts. You have the soul, the mind and the spirit. He writes, by "the soul we mean the motive power of this physical body which lives under its entire control in accordance with its dictates." Thus, the soul is in control of everything we do. There are two natures of the soul, one which may be compared to darkness and the other to light. The soul is in charge of our free will, thus it allows us to go either way. However, referring to the Seven Valleys, we need to make it the Will of God, hence we teach and pray to give life to our soul, thus allowing us to make good decisions (by good, meaning to following the Will of God).

After the soul, we fall to the mind "which unfolds to his vision the secrets of existence... whereby he may investigate the reality of every object." The mind is the power of comprehension. We are very curious beings, taking our surroundings and manipulating them to our advantage. Though many of our thoughts are simply neurons charging through the brain as action potentials, there must be more to it than that. It really comes together from evolution. As animals evolved from the sponge to anemone to shellfish, sensory organs began to form. Eyes sensed the light and changes in light would be noticed and could either mean danger or safety. Taste and smell became tests for food with many nutrients or food which was dangerous to eat. Hearing could sense nearby enemies or prey to catch. Touch allowed the body to know it was being attacked. These senses became centralized in a super-organ called the brain. Here, the mind and storage areas were created as memories so that we could keep everything we had learned and build from it. It allowed for greater and more efficient survival. Today, rather than solely memorizing places good for food, we also use the mind for discovery of natural laws which guide our world and which we can manipulate to our advantage.

Finally, we come to the spirit "which is an emanation from the divine bestower... the effulgence of the sun of reality, the radiation of the celestial world, the spirit of faith..." It can perhaps be better described as the divine energy which gives us eternal life. We learn about the twin dichotomies of being and doing. Being is simply the existence where the mind and soul exist. However doing is within the realm of the spirit as it is what causes us to rise above simple existence and use whatever capabilities we have for our own benefit. 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "that although the souls of humanity are living, yet if they are deprived of contact with the spirit they are as dead." Since it is with our free will that we learn to worship God, praying and service are as life to the soul while wandering in the mist of promiscuity is as death. The spirit is our desire to reach this highest end-both physically (witnessed through our lives) and spiritually (witnessed through our dreams). We need to learn to activate both ends of the spectrum in order to complete our lives.

Through the soul, man chooses good or evil; through the mind, man comprehends his surroundings; through the spirit, man has energy for both the soul and the mind. The three work together in order to create our being. So when Bahá'u'lláh writes, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth," He is speaking of all three components of our existence. The soul must follow the right path towards God, the mind must give up what it has stored as knowledge which will keep it from falsely negating truth and the spirit must be the energy which causes this detachment on both ends.

So why is this Independent Investigation of the Truth a good idea? In religions of old, there were priests and other clergymen which controlled the day to day activities of everybody. They interpreted the Writings and the commoners accepted whatever was told of them as true. However, during those times, many people did not have the ability to read or write-they did not have the time to learn. Instead, they would have one person designated to do this job and he was almost as a keeper of knowledge.

Today, literacy is becoming universal. Due to education becoming available for all people (hence the Universal Education as another major principle of the Bahá'í Faith), almost everybody has the ability to read and write and decide for themselves what they think is true rather than simply blindly following somebody else. Our minds were made to manipulate and understand; what is its use if we simply listen to another person? Man "can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake of the cup of divine nearness and favour, unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets." It is not to the words of other people we turn to when trying to comprehend but to the words of God and our own minds to see what we can understand.

This does not mean we should not try to explain things to others. It is wonderful to share our own ideas and build upon each other. We are social beings and have the ability to teach one another. Why waste time learning something for oneself if one can learn it faster from another? However, we need to always have proof and validation for whatever is claimed. We must also never force somebody else to accept an idea which they do not believe. This is contrary to the Independent Investigation of Truth.

The spirit is necessary for both ends for our progression.

Next time we will cover the Unity of Religion