Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Anjam Khursheed, Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit, bahai-library.com.
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Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit
Anjam Khursheed

Abstract

This paper presents the Baha'i view of human nature, which involves an
interaction between spirit, soul and body. It argues that these same
elements also exist in the Semitic line of religions as well as in the Far
Eastern ones. The paper sets out to demonstrate that both the so-called
Western dualist and Eastern monist traditions are in fact tripartite in
character, where monism provides the underlying rationale and unity for
dualism. Another theme addressed in this work is the conflict between
traditional religious beliefs and modern science concerning the
immortality of the soul. It presents the Baha'i many-world approach to
human beings and their place in the cosmos, and argues that such a view
is perfectly consistent with both traditional religion and modern science.

1. Introduction

The belief in an afterlife is universal. In practically every culture since
recorded history, human beings have looked upon death as a door
separating us from another world, and people from all cultures offer up
prayers for their departed. It is difficult to explain exactly how this belief
arose and why it has persisted. Few things are as certain and yet so
mysterious as death.

Most religions believe that the fruits of our actions and thoughts are in
some way propagated on into another world. In one way or another, each
of the world's religious traditions describes human nature and our place
in the cosmos in terms of a spiritual journey. Although the end of each
journey may be called by a different name, a "Heaven", a "Paradise" or a
"Nirvana", they all bear remarkable resemblance to one another.
Although the route to each religious heaven might vary, they are all at
110 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

the end of the day concerned about cosmological justice and the
maintenance of universal moral balance.

In the Semitic line of religions, the Judaic-Christian-Islamic one, the
traveller on the spiritual journey is described in terms of a "human spirit"
or "soul", inherently different to the world of its body. "Wisdom" in
these traditions frequently involves choosing the world of the "spirit" as
opposed to the world of "matter", and striving to arrive at a situation
where the "spirit" prevails.

In traditional Christian theology, human nature is described in terms of
the well-known biblical image of a "half-angel" self, struggling to
overcome a "half-animal" self1. Historically, this Christian self-portrait
intermingled with the Ancient Greek belief of the soul being immortal
and fundamentally different to our perishable bodies. Both in terms of
theology and philosophy, the distinction between an eternal "soul" and a
transient "body" has dominated Western thought, and is usually referred
to as "dualism". In theology, the 5th century priest, St. Augustine of
Hippo is usually cited to be the most famous exponent of dualism, while
in philosophy, apart from Plato and Socrates, reference is usually made
to the 17th century pioneer of modern science, the French mathematician,
René Descartes.

In Far Eastern religious traditions, the spiritual traveller might appear to
describe his journey quite differently. In Buddhism and some strands of
Hinduism, the purpose of the spiritual traveller is to rise above dualism.
The goal of the journey is described in terms of the traveller reaching a
selfless state of "Emptiness", or "Nothing". The mystical monism of the
Eastern Religions involves the traveller becoming simultaneously united
to the path and the world through which he traverses, and in so doing, he

Man as a "little lower than angels" is described in Psalms 8: 3-6, "what is
man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy
hands; and hast put all things under his feet". The apostle St Paul describes a
conflict in human nature, "my inner being delights in the law of God. But I see a
different law at work in my body - a law that fights against which my mind
approves o f (Romans 7: 22-23). St Paul, in the same letter, refers to human
nature being intrinsically bound by "sin" (Romans 7: 18-20).
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 111

reaches the goal.

Another difference between the Western dualist and Eastern monist
spiritual traditions is apparent in how they describe the "self of a human
being. The Buddhist description is often taken by many to involve
rejecting the existence of a personal "self which survives death.
Important qualities of the "soul" like human consciousness and its
identity, according to many Buddhists is perishable. This belief not only
seems to contradict prior Hindu beliefs concerning the existence of an
individual "atman", but seems at odds with orthodox Christian doctrine.
Take for instance the view of the medieval scholastic philosopher, St
Thomas Aquinas, which became official Catholic doctrine for many
centuries. Aquinas presents reasons why the soul is not only immortal,
but also why it is personal and unique2.

There are many such differences between Western and Eastern religious
traditions, but whether they really represent genuinely conflicting
descriptions about human nature is an issue to be examined in this paper.
Often the doctrines that divide religious people from one another are in
fact not reflected in their own sacred scriptures. The argument advanced
here is that the Buddhist description of the soul in all its major aspects
shares much common ground with the concept of an immortal soul of
other religions.

On a broader note, Western dualism and Eastern monism are still
variations upon a common theme. Both Western and Eastern religious
traditions share the common conviction that our life has meaning, that
there is an afterlife and that the two are somehow related. They share the
conviction that we are accountable for our actions, not only in this world
but in the world beyond. In both cases, the universe maintains a moral
balance, and human beings are essentially moral beings. This is of
course, not only true about the world's major religious traditions, but
also arguably true of all religions.

There has however, been considerable opposition to traditional religious
views on the afterlife and human nature in modern western secular
societies. This opposition is often linked with modern science, and

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 76:2, chapter 5, p. 113.
112 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

whether this is altogether fair to science, is one of the themes that will be
examined in this paper. Modern science is often invoked to suggest that
we are mere fragments of matter in a world that is neither about us or for
us. The influential philosopher of science, Bertrand Russell, writing early
this century stated that the "world which Science presents for our belief,
involves the notion that "man is a product of causes which had no
provision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his
hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of
accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire,, no heroism, no intensity of
thought and feeling, can preserve an individual beyond the grave"3.

The above citation from Russell, perhaps the most widely read modern
Western philosopher, is diametrically opposite to his ancient counterpart,
Socrates,

"Is not what we call death a freeing and separation of soul from body...
and the desire to free the soul is found chiefly or rather only, in the true
philosopher; in fact the philosopher's occupation consists precisely in the
freeing and separation of soul from body... true philosophers make
dying their profession." 4

Death for Socrates is the culmination of wisdom and all true
philosophers should seek to attain its liberation. Death for Russell, is a
process of atoms dispersing, and nothing more. Russell is of course, one
of the most famous spokesmen for the warfare thesis between science
and religion this century. Because human beings are supposed to be
nothing more thpn "accidental collocations of atoms", there is no life
after death, no justice beyond the grave. Now the degree of
sophistication may have changed since Russell wrote the above words,
but the fundamental axioms behind it remain the same. In one way or
another, a scientific description of human beings is associated with
rejecting the belief in an immortal soul or an afterlife. In these modern
times, it is more usual to find descriptions of the mind in terms of
physical causes and physical causes alone, as opposed to say an immortal
spiritual entity which has moral purposes. In the philosophy of mind,

Bertrand Russell, A Free Man's Worship, an essay in the book "Mysticism and
Logic", p. 10.
Socrates, Pheado, 67a-68b.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 113

Russell's approach is sometimes referred to as "physicalism".5

Just to what extent the modern western "physicalist" view has eroded
belief in the afterlife is a complex question, and not one that will be
pursued here. It certainly seems to have caused much doubt about it, but
in the author's experience, most modern Western people still attend
funerals and pray for their departed family members and friends. So
perhaps the impact of physicalism has disturbed deeper traditional
beliefs, but not eradicated them - even in the modern West. If this is the
case, there is undoubtedly a large gap between theory and practice.
Consider the modern philosophy of mind. Very few professional
philosophers who work in the philosophy of mind write in defence of
traditional religious views of mind. Most the literature in the modern
philosophy of mind describes the mind in terms of physical causes, a
kind of "physical monism" which is usually incompatible with the
traditional dualism of the West, or the spiritual monism of the East.

Most traditional religious accounts of human beings involve the belief
that they have freewill. Many theories in the modern philosophy of mind
on the other hand, particularly those that align themselves to science,
either directly or tacitly amount to rejecting free-will. Ironically, the
philosophers who arrive at such conclusions would want to deny that
they were in any way "forced" into them: they would want to maintain
that they arrived at their innovative and creative theories by themselves -
by their own free-will.

It should be noted that this contradiction between the theory and practice
of modern philosophy is now a global one. Even in South Eastern Asia
where religious traditions have a much stronger social profile than in the
West, the university curriculum in the philosophy of mind is dominated
by secular philosophies of mind, that is, they either directly reject or
indirectly undermine traditional religious views of human nature. The

Various different forms of physicalism have appeared since Russell, these include
behaviourism, central state materialism, the brain-mind identity theory, functionalism,
connectionism, etc, see the book, Body and Mind by Keith Campbell. The latest forms of
physicalism often use computers to model the mind. A whole new area of cognitive
science has sprung up in the last few decades which attempts to describe and explain
mental phenomena in terms of a set of complex interactive and adaptive software
instructions, see The Minds I by Hofstadter and Dennet.
114 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

physicalist human self-portrait is diametrically opposed to the
fundamental axioms of all religions. Whether it be the Buddhist journey
to Nirvana, or the Christian journey to Heaven, the attempt to squeeze
human experience into the narrow confines of physical causes and
physical causes alone, naturally leads to the death of an afterlife and
points towards a universe that has no moral balance.

The attack of physicalism on traditional religion has of course, occurred
first within Western culture and largely takes the form of criticisms
against Western dualism. Russell describes a process whereby the word
"soul" was gradually replaced by "mind", and where the word "mind"
was in time, replaced by "subject".6 Russell himself contrasted his
physicalist view with Plato's dualism, Aristotle's "substance", and
Aquinas's "embodied soul". He also pointed out the contradictions
associated with Aquinas's thesis of bodily resurrection.

In all his criticisms of Western spiritual traditions, Russell took his own
view to be representative of science. He stated for instance, that "Natural
knowledge only enables us to recognise a thing by its attributes" and he
takes a "substance" to denote the "sum of its attributes", and goes on to
state that, "there is no need to suppose an unknowable core, in which his
attributes inhere like pins in a pin-cushion. What is absolutely and
essentially unknowable cannot even be known to exist, and there is no
point in supposing that it does".7 He ascribes this latter view to some
followers of the 17th century philosopher John Locke, but it is clearly
also a view with which he agrees. Russell's philosophy is based on what
he understood to be scientific facts. In connection with soul-body
dualism, he states for instance, "The primary facts which we can observe
have no such dualism, and give no reason for regarding either "things" or
"persons" as anything but collections of phenomena"8. Russell's factual
representation of science is however, questionable.9

Russell's detailed criticisms of the soul-body doctrine are many, but

B. Russell, Religion and Science, chapter Soul and Body.
Ibid, pp. 115-6.
Ibid, pp. 121-2.
see the author's paper in The Singapore Bahá "i Studies Review, vol.1, entitled "The
Spiritual Foundations of Science" and also in the author's book, The Universe Within.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 115

what is important here is to articulate something of the spirit behind
them. His concern generally relates to preserving scientific objectivity,
as he understood it. In particular, he spoke out against people holding
beliefs that go beyond what the scientific facts show. This concern for
scientific objectivity is of course commendable, but is it really fair to
reject belief in an immortal soul on that basis? The Baha'i Faith is an
instance where a religion upholds the integrity of scientific objectivity,
while at the same time adhering to the doctrine of an immortal soul. This
article will attempt to show how these two beliefs need not be in conflict.

In his celebrated book, 'The Concept of Mind', the philosopher of mind
Gilbert Ryle writing around the middle of this century disparagingly
referred to Cartesian Dualism, that is, Descartes' philosophy of mind, as
"the dogma of the Ghost in a Machine".10 Without going into Ryle's
detailed criticisms, the "ghost in a machine" metaphor epitomises many
of the difficulties that religious dualism faces in the modern world.

Like a ghost, the soul is difficult to measure in empirical terms, and the
natural question to ask is, where is it located? It is also difficult to
understand how a ghost might be moved by or move anything physically.
By implying that the soul is like a ghost, the same difficulties for the soul
are suggested and the physicalist often asks the question of how exactly
the soul interacts with the body. This question was not given a clear
answer by Descartes, and it is often assumed to be an inherent weakness
of dualism.

Another difficult question relates to identifying the exact moment when
an immortal soul comes into being. On the individual level, this
translates into asking when an immortal soul is co-joined to its body. Or
on a collective level, the question translates into determining the point in
human evolution at which souls appeared. Yet another question is what
makes a human being unique, that is, how does one soul differ from
another? These are only some of the objections that have been made
against dualism. Many books which collect together important works in
the philosophy mind, often start off with undermining dualism as a valid
theory of mind based upon some of these criticisms11.

G. Ryle, The Concept of Mind, p. 17.
' see Body and Mind, by K. Campbell.
116 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

There is an additional element in the modern approach to human nature
which goes beyond philosophy. This is the question of the difference
between human beings and animals. Ever since the theory of evolution,
the scientific approach has always been associated with the view that
human beings are not in principle different to animals, and that both are
best understood in terms of natural causes.

This paper will outline some Baha'i responses to the above questions.
The discussion will present the Baha'i tripartite model of human nature
which is founded on an interaction between body, soul and spirit,
correlating it both to Western dualism and Eastern spiritual monism.
This model of human nature will be related to the religious traditions of
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In addition, the
Baha'i approach will be used to identify tripartite elements in the
philosophies of Plato and Descartes, which are usually described to be
dualist. Finally, the weaknesses and strengths of modern approaches to
human nature will be discussed in the light of the Baha'i principle that
science should be in harmony with religion.

The first point to make about the Baha'i belief in the existence of an
immortal soul is that it is foundational, a cornerstone belief upon which
many others depend. Understanding the soul is an integral part of the
Baha'i approach to topics as diverse as God, science, and world peace. In
1912, 'Abdu'1-Bahá, the eldest son of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the
Baha'i Faith, began a talk in Boston, America, in the following way:

"In the world of existence there is nothing so important as spirit, nothing
so essential as the spirit of man. The spirit of man is the most noble of
phenomena. The spirit of man is the meeting between man and God. The
spirit of man is the animus of human life and the collective center of all
human virtues. The spirit of man is the cause of the illumination of this
world. The world may be likened to the body: man is the spirit of the
body, because the light of the world is the human spirit. Man is the life
of the world, and the life of man is the spirit. The happiness of the world
depends upon man, and the happiness of man is dependent on the
spirit"12.

* Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 239-240.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 117

'Abdu'1-Bahá goes on to present arguments in favour of the existence of
a human soul and its immortality, and finishes the discourse by the
following closing remarks: "As we have shown that there is a spirit and
that this spirit is permanent and everlasting, we must strive to learn of it.
May you become informed of its power, hasten to render it divine, to
have it become sanctified and holy and make it the very light of the
world illuminating the East and the West".

As the above quotations imply, the Baha'i belief in an immortal soul is
inextricably related to the spiritual nature of human beings. Its
importance in Baha'i eschatology cannot be over-emphasised.

Another point that needs to be made from the outset is that the human
soul according to the Baha'i Faith is a profound hidden mystery whose
true nature lies beyond our grasp. Baha'u'llah declares that:

"Verily I say, the human soul is, in its essence, one of the signs of God, a
mystery among His mysteries. It is one of the mighty signs of the
Almighty, the harbinger that proclaimeth the reality of all the worlds of
God. Within it lieth concealed that which the world is now utterly
incapable of apprehending."13

Elsewhere, Baha'u'llah states,

"Thou hast asked Me concerning the nature of the soul. Know, verily,
that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most
learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind,
however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created
things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His
glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him.
If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually,
return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will
become a victim to self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their
depths".14

The above passage has important implications for the present discussion.

Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 160.
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 158.
118 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

From the Baha'i perspective, we cannot obtain objective knowledge of
the soul, only personal glimpses of it. This means that discussion about
the soul is inherently imprecise, and resembles more the language of
poetry than the logic of a mathematical proof, or the empirical
demonstrations of the applied sciences. Descriptions of the soul in the
Baha'i writings are often made in terms of analogies, and each analogy
illustrates a different aspect of the soul. No single analogy however,
describes the soul in objectively precise terms. Since notions about the
soul are inherently subjective, we will inevitably have our own preferred
analogies where the same words have different meanings to different
people. What some call "soul", others have referred to as "mind" or
"intellect", or "spirit". This is particularly true when comparing beliefs
about the soul between various cultures. For instance, to the ancient
Greeks, it was the "mind" or "intellect" (Nous) which formed the
immortal part of man, while on the other hand, the soul was a generic
term which applied to all forms of life. This is apparent in Aristotle's
writings, who when using the soul in relation to human beings, always
qualified it and used the term, "rational soul". On the other hand, in the
Christian tradition, the soul is distinguished from the "spirit", and it is
the "spirit" which is qualified in different instances, such as the "human
spirit" in one context, or the "Holy Spirit" in another. In Buddhism, it is
the mind which is eternal, as opposed to a perishable "self.

Often, ambiguities of terminology are created by different translations of
the same text. Even in the Baha'i writings there is the multiple use of the
words "soul", "mind" and "spirit". Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of
' Abdu'1-Bahá, noted this problem:

"When studying at present15, in English, the available Baha'i writings on
the subject of body, soul and spirit, one is handicapped by a certain lack
of clarity because not all were translated by the same person, and also
there are, as you know, still many Baha'i writings untranslated. But there
is no doubt that spirit and soul seem to have been interchanged in
meaning sometimes; soul and mind have, likewise, been interchanged in
meaning, no doubt due to difficulties arising from different
translations."16

1946
Unto Him Shall We Return, p. 60.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 119

Since there are many sources of potential confusion, not only from
cultural differences but also from personal preferences, the Baha'i
approach to the soul requires flexibility in the use of words and
metaphors and discourages disputes about it. In the final analysis, we can
have at best only partial glimpses of its inherent hidden mystery, and
even then, this tiny glimmer of understanding will be irreducibly
personal. For this reason, it should be stated from the outset that this
paper does not attempt to give a rigorously complete account of the
Baha'i concept of the soul. It only presents some analogies which have
been helpful to the author in correlating Baha'i beliefs to a few issues of
human nature that involve modern philosophy and various religious
traditions. The following discussion reflects the author's background as a
professional scientist, and might appear at times a little technical to the
general reader, but in the light of the foregoing discussion, such bias is
inevitable.

2. A multi-dimensional universe

When comparing the Baha'i description of the soul to other approaches,
particularly modern ones, it is important to emphasise that the Baha'i
Faith is intrinsically committed to the existence of many worlds. Like
most other religious traditions, the Baha'i Faith believes that the physical
world we live in is somehow bounded and relative, and that it is
embedded in other worlds. One powerful way of thinking of many
worlds is to liken them to other dimensions, different to the familiar
space-time ones we live in. The following simple geometric analogy,
creatively portrayed by the writer Edwin Abbot in 1884, highlights the
difference between a physicalist approach and a religious view of human
nature. Abbot named his novel "Flatland", and it is unique in the way it
combines religious imagery with mathematics. It consists of parables in
the language of geometry. Much of the imagery evokes the timeless
drama relating to the birth of a religion: the messenger coming from
another realm, the conversion of the first disciple, the disbelief of the
populace and persecution by the prevailing clergy, and so on. Here a
variation of Abbot's Flatland is formulated to act as a metaphor for the
soul.

Imagine geometric shapes are confined to move on a two-dimensional
120 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

plane, as illustrated in the figure below. Imagine further, that these
shapes, a triangle, square, circle etc, are animated with life. They
obviously see the world quite differently to us. As they move along the
flat plane, they do not see shapes, but can only discern lines. The
inhabitants of Flatland use touch to overcome the difficulty of shape
recognition. Also, through the existence of a fog, the more sophisticated
shapes deduce geometric information by sight: distances further away
appear dim while those close to the observer appear bright, so depth
information about objects can be extracted. Abbot describes a
community of geometric shapes which are obsessively class conscious:
the position of a shape in the social hierarchy rises in direct proportion to
the number of sides it has. The square has more moral and intellectual
standing than a triangle, but is inferior to pentagons, and so on. The
highest class, the priestly class, are polygons which have hundreds of
sides.

Two Dimensional Plane

One night, on the eve of a new millennium, a square has a strange vision.
He encounters a stranger who mysteriously appears in his sitting room
without having entered the doors of his house. The stranger is somehow
simultaneously able to be a point and a perfect circle, changing its size at
will. In response to the square's questions demanding to know its
identity, the stranger declares that "I am the circle of all circles" and says
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 121

that he is the bearer of an important message to the inhabitants of
Flatland. He explains that he has chosen the square to be his first
disciple, and the message he brings is the "Gospel of the 3rd dimension".
The stranger of course, turns out to be a sphere crossing the surface of
Flatland.

The act of religious conversion is paralleled by flat geometric figures
coming to believe in the 3 rd dimension. The spiritual perfections of a
religious founder is creatively portrayed in terms of him being able to
move in a higher dimension. The three dimensional stranger can look
upon the two dimensional inhabitants of Flatland from a much more
comprehensive perspective than they can ever see themselves. None of
the inhabitants of Flatland can, for instance, see their "insides", but the
fact that each shape must have an "inside" can be inferred from the rules
of geometry. A point extended in a direction perpendicular to itself
produces a line of say 3 inches. A line extended out perpendicularly to
itself by 3 inches produces a square having an area of 32 inches. The
more mathematically minded inhabitants of Flatland understood this. But
earlier in the same evening, when one of the square's grandsons reasoned
by analogy that there must also be geometrical meaning to the quantity
3 3 produced by a square somehow moving in a direction perpendicular to
itself, the square dismissed his speculations as nonsense, stating
categorically that "Geometry has only two dimensions". But later that
night, the stranger confirmed that the square's grandson had reasoned
correctly. In order to overcome the square's scepticism about the
existence of the 3rd dimension, he lifted the square out of Flatland's
surface, enabling him to see for the first time, the "insides" of the houses
and inhabitants of Flatland. In what he interpreted to be a mystical
vision, the square saw Flatland from above, and viewed the objects of
Flatland in a much more complete way than he had ever seen them
before.

Abbot's simple but imaginative Flatland analogy can also be used to
depict the relationship of the human soul to its body. The soul may be
represented by a luminous object placed above Flatland, like the sun
shinning on a flat landscape. In this analogy, the sun represents an
individual soul, and its brain/body is denoted by the landscape. The
analogy of the sun representing the soul whose light is in some way
122 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

reflected in the body is given in the Baha'i writings.17 The rays of the sun
reaching Flatland models the way thoughts are communicated from the
soul to the brain. If the question be asked, where is the soul located?
Then according to this analogy, it is obvious that the soul cannot be
located in the brain or body - no more than the sun can be located on the
surface of the landscape. Just as the flat geometric figures of Flatland can
never look out into the 3rd dimension directly, so we too, can never
observe the soul directly. But just as the existence of the 3rd dimension
can be reasoned by analogy from one and two dimensions, so too is the
existence of a 4th dimension understandable to us by analogy. If we live
in a multi-dimensional universe, the physicalist insistence that the soul
be explained only in terms of physical causes in the brain is obviously
similar to insisting that all objects in the universe lie on a Flatland-like
surface, which is of course, unnecessarily restrictive.

In the Flatland novel, Abbot even hints that a 4th dimension does exist
and refers to it as "Thoughtland". The square, destined to be the first
disciple of the gospel of the 3 rd dimension, reasons that there must be a
dimension perpendicular to three dimensional space, and that someone
out in the 4th dimension can somehow look upon the inhabitants of three
dimensions and see their place in the universe in much greater
perspective than they themselves could ever imagine.

There is in principal no conflict with a religious multi-dimensional view
of human nature and modern science. It is true that if the soul lies in a
realm outside space and time and is not located in the brain, a complete
scientific description of it may not be possible. But this need not be
cause for alarm, after all, if we do live in a multi-dimensional world, then
one would expect science to have some inherent limitations, particularly
with respect to those special human characteristics that make science
possible in the first place. The main point here is that scepticism about
the religious view of human nature should not be founded on modern
science.

Abbot's intuition that we live in four-dimensional space was confirmed

Baha'u'llah's sun/cloud/landscape analogy, Gleanings, LXXX, and 'Abdu'1-Bahá's
sun/mirror analogy, Some Answered Questions, pp. 239-40, will also be quoted later in
the text.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 123

by Einstein's special relativity theory which appeared only 21 years after
Flatland was first published.18 In special relativity, time plays the role of
a 4 dimension, and the space-time continuum forms the landscape upon
which all events in our world are located. This theory showed that space
and time are relative quantities which depend on our own frame of
reference: if we use an object's motion to measure time intervals or
measure its spatial dimensions, what we observe will depend upon our
relative motion to that object. The more our relative speeds differ, the
greater the space-time distortion. In the extreme case, if our relative
speeds approach the speed of light, events that would ordinarily take one
second in our frame of reference, seem to take eternity if viewed from
the other frame of reference.

Einstein's theory of General Relativity, published around a decade after
his special relativity appeared, also brought about a profound revolution
in our notions of space and time. If the four-dimensional space-time
continuum of special relativity is represented by Flatland, then the
landscape implied by General Relativity is a realm of space-time warps
and curves. Einstein related the contours of this landscape to
gravitational mass, where the distortions of space-time are created by the
action of the gravitational force. The motions of planets around stars are
now explained in terms of space-time geometry instead of Newtonian
forces acting at a distance. For instance, if we observe events close to a
large star, the motion of objects around it reveal to us a space-time
terrain where time is slowed down. In the extreme case, a second
between events on earth becomes eternity at the centre of a space-time
singularity such as a black hole. As is well known, the existence of black
holes have been empirically verified in modern astronomy. In fact, the
theory of General Relativity has received a considerable amount of
experimental evidence in its favour, and is now well accepted amongst
physicists.

The surface-land of General Relativity implies that events in our
universe are trapped in a space-time fabric which folds and undulates. It

see the author's books, Science and Religion, and The Universe Within which
discuss at length Einstein's theories and their harmony with philosophy and religion. A
clear and concise description of special and general relativity for the non-scientist, is
given by Einstein himself in his essays which are available in the book Relativity, the
Special and the General Theory.
124 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

indicates we are creatures that dwell on a landscape that is in some sense
bounded, relative, and in this respect, it is similar to Abbot's Flatland.
Moreover, physicists since Einstein have been postulating the existence
of many more than four dimensions. As is well known, in some of the
Grand Unified Field theories (GUTs) of modern physics, seven extra
dimensions to our ordinary three spatial ones are conjectured to exist. It
turns out that these extra dimensions help create the framework in which
the various forces of nature can be united - at least in theory19. Just as
Abbot and many mathematicians have long recognised, there is nothing
to exclude the existence of higher dimensions. In fact their existence is a
logical extension of our mathematical experience. The argument by
analogy is still quite plausible: instead of our universe being confined to
a kind of Flatland where it is limited to what science can discover, it is
more likely that we live in a multi-dimensional terrain. We cannot
directly look into the other dimensions, no more than the creatures of
Flatland can look into the 3rd dimension. But that does not mean that
there are no indicators that the other dimensions exist.

The results of modern physics present us with many indirect signs that
we live in a multi-dimensional world. Imagine the movements of an ant
on the surface of an apple. There are various reasons for it to suspect that
there are dimensions beyond its two dimensional surface-world. When it
completes an entire revolution of the apple and returns to its initial
position, or when it adds up the angles of a triangle and finds them to be
greater than 180 degrees, it might suspect that higher dimensions
actually exist, although it will not be able to look up into the 3rd
dimension directly. The results of General Relativity give us similar
results: we deduce that light bends in space-time, and a beam of light
which we transmit might even return to us - if we could wait that long. If
we send out beams of light between three distant points and measure the
angles between them, they too would not add up to 180 degrees. Our
world no more obeys the laws of a Euclidean like Flatland than does the
surface of an apple. So just as there are reasons for the ant to believe that
there is more to its world than the surface of the apple, so too for us,
there are many indicators to think that our world is not limited to our
space-time world. There is however, an important difference: to the best

see for instance, Superforce by Paul Davies, written on a level the general reader
can understand.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 125

of our knowledge, the ant is no mathematician.

It should be noted that General and Special Relativity are only two
theories of modern physics which imply that we live in a multi-
dimensional universe, there are of course, more such theories. For
instance, Quantum Mechanics, also developed in the early part of this
century, revises our notions of matter. The apparent incompatibility of a
ghost and a machine in Ryle's metaphor derives much from our
"classical" view of matter. In classical physics, matter consists of objects
which move like billiard balls, bouncing and colliding off one another.
But quantum mechanics reveals that what we see as matter actually
consists of scattering and reflecting waves of energy. Atoms are clouds
of energy, vibrating and constantly transforming into different forms.
Modern physics replaces the classical notion of matter moving in
absolute space and time with the more fundamental concept of waves of
energy vibrating in space-time. The seeming permanence of matter, on
the subatomic scale, turns out to be an illusion. At this level, copper can
be turned into gold and vice-versa. Matter appears to be pockets of
energy trapped in a crinkled space-time fabric. Even what we conceive
of as a vacuum is actually filled with the continual generation and
annihilation of ghostly "virtual" particles and their anti-particles. All of
this is now quite well known and widely accepted.20

In the Baha'i writings, the belief in many worlds is often illustrated in
terms of parallels drawn between the mineral, vegetable, animal and
human realms. 'Abdu'1-Bahá gives the following description of the
afterlife, explaining that although it is very close to our world, we are
nevertheless, unaware of it,

"the souls of the children of the Kingdom, after their separation from the
body, ascend unto the realm of everlasting life. But if ye ask as to the
place, know ye that the world of existence is a single world, although its
stations are various and distinct. For example, the mineral life occupieth
its own plane, but a mineral entity is without any awareness at all of the
vegetable kingdom, and indeed, with its inner tongue denieth that there is
any such kingdom. In the same way, a vegetable entity knoweth nothing

for more on the philosophical implications of Quantum Mechanics see Quantum
Reality, Beyond the New Physics, by Nick Herbert.
126 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

of the animal world, remaining completely heedless and ignorant thereof,
for the stage of the animal is higher than that of the vegetable, and the
vegetable is veiled from the animal world and inwardly denieth the
existence of that world - all this while animal, vegetable and mineral
dwell together in the one world. In the same way the animal remaineth
totally unaware of that power of the human mind which graspeth
universal ideas and layeth bare the secrets of creation - so that a man
who liveth in the east can make plans and arrangements for the west; can
unravel mysteries; although located on the continent of Europe can
discover America; although sited on the earth can lay hold of the inner
realities of the stars of heaven. Of this power of discovery which
belongeth to the human mind, this power which can grasp abstract and
universal ideas, the animal remaineth totally ignorant, and indeed denieth
its existence. In the same way, the denizens of this earth are completely
unaware of the world of the Kingdom and deny the existence thereof.
They ask, for example: * Where is the Kingdom? Where is the Lord of the
Kingdom?' These people are even as the mineral and the vegetable, who
know nothing whatever of the animal and the human realm; they see it
not; they find it not. Yet the mineral and vegetable, the animal and man,
are all living here together in this world of existence".21

According to the Baha'i Faith, there is no real separation between this
world and the next, they are both part of a "single world". Just as the
mineral and vegetable live in the same world as the animal or human
being, they are not aware of them in any meaningful way. This lack of
awareness is obviously related to a difference in consciousness. In the
same way, is it not possible, indeed, is it not perfectly logical, that
beyond what we see of the world, there should exist higher states of
consciousness?

If we take ourselves in analogy to other forms of life, everything in our
experience points to there being worlds beyond ours. Take for instance, a
caterpillar. It might seem that the world of the caterpillar is limited to an
existence of twigs and branches, a leafy surface world. What would a
caterpillar's awareness of the 3rd dimension be like? In what way could
the caterpillar be aware of the sky, or the birds that fly through the air?
Yet, after it undergoes chrysalis and emerges in the form of a butterfly,

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections of the Writings of yAbdu 'l-Bahá, pp. 193-194.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 127

the same creature is able to flutter through the atmosphere, which when
compared to its former life, might be described as a celestial realm, a
world which it had formerly been unaware of. Could the afterlife not in
the same way lie beyond our grasp? This argument does not prove that
the afterlife exists, but it does make it more plausible than the opposite
alternative, which is to believe that there are no more worlds other than
the ones we can understand or perceive. We cannot and should not use
science to exclude the possibility of there being an immortal soul.
Science and religion are not combatants in a true contest, both can be
united in their search for universal truths.

Imagine a world without relative motion, where all objects appear
stationary and even movement inside your body ceases. If somehow you
could retain consciousness, would you be aware of time? From moment
to moment, if there is no observable change in your world, would time
exist? Would you not be in eternity? Or imagine that after sleeping,
everything appears exactly the same to you as it was before you fell
asleep, would you have any way of knowing how long you had been
sleeping? Obviously time is applicable to the decay and growth of
bodies, to the change and relative motion of objects. When however we
are in a state of sleep, that is, when the senses are dormant, our minds
seem to operate independently from time. Our conception of days and
nights come from the earth's spinning motion with respect to the sun, but
if we were able to live on the surface of the sun, days or nights would
have no meaning. From the Baha'i perspective, the world of the afterlife
lies outside time and yet exists alongside it. It is comparable to the way
our dreams coexist alongside our bodies when we sleep,

"Those who have passed on through death have a sphere of their own. It
is not removed from ours; their work, the work of the Kingdom, is ours;
but it is sanctified from what we call 'time and place.' Time with us is
measured by the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset,
that kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have
different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real
separation".

That our world is embedded in higher worlds is poetically conveyed in

'Abdu 'l-Bahá in London, p. 96.
128 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

the following passage by ' Abdu'1-Bahá,

"And as we reflect, we observe that man is like unto a tiny organism
contained within a fruit; this fruit hath developed out of the blossom, the
blossom hath grown out of the tree, the tree is sustained by the sap, and
the sap formed out of earth and water. How then can this tiny organism
comprehend the nature of the garden, conceive of the gardener and
comprehend his being?"23

To picture ourselves in terms of a tiny organism, with many worlds lying
beyond our comprehension or perception is surely a humble, open-
minded position to take of our position in the cosmos. To claim that there
can be nothing more evolved than what science can discover, or to state,
as Bertrand Russell stated, that "Whatever can be known, can be known
by means of science"24, is clearly closed-minded - a "Flatland" position
to take. The irony is that most people today generally associate
modernity with being open-minded, and usually think of traditional
religion as being closed-minded.

The confusion here is created by dogmas in the name of both science and
religion. Although a religion may be open-minded with respect to the
existence of many worlds, its followers may be closed-minded about it.
Mediocre scientists and dogmatic religious believers share a lot in
common. Both reductionist science and puritanical religion de-emphasise
the role of the individual in their pursuit to acquire objective truths. Both
are based not so much on what they believe, but what they reject.
"Positivist science" became infamous for relegating "non-science" to an
inferior truth-status, while dogmatic religion is well known for denying
salvation to believers who do not share exactly its own creed of
confession. Positivist science often attempts to reduce intangible
experiences to a series of empirical facts, while religious dogma
translates faith into a set of rituals, rites and specific codes of practice. A
parallel between closed-minded science and dogmatic religion is
presented in detail elsewhere by the author.25 On the other hand, there
are many parallels one can draw between genuine scientists and truly

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Auguste Forel and the Baha'i Faith , p. 19.
B. Russell, History of Western Philosophy, p. 788.
see the author's book, The Universe Within, chap. 12, The Puritanical Mind.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 129

religious people. Both the scientific genius and genuine religious
believer are people of great faith, humble before the great cosmological
mysteries of our existence, and commitment to the many-worlds
hypothesis is a natural part of their world-view.

3. Apparent Dualism

'Abdu'1-Bahá's description of the soul or the "human spirit" often starts
out by contrasting the intellectual qualities of the mind with the animal
instincts of the body. From the Baha'i point of view, the distinguishing
feature of being human lies in the power of thought. 'Abdu'1-Bahá
declares, "The reality of man is his thought, not his material body. The
thought force and the animal force are partners. Although man is part of
the animal creation, he possesses a power of thought superior to all other
created beings".26 This passage strongly echoes the Rationalist tradition
in Western Philosophy. It is for instance, close to Descartes', "I think
therefore I am" dictum.

The seventeenth century Rationalists, as with those in ancient and
medieval times, took consciousness, the power of abstraction and ability
to reason to be the primary qualities of being human. Descartes had
come to this conclusion by a process of systematic doubt. He found that
he could doubt the validity of things such as our perception of objects,
the existence of the external world and the truth of mathematical
theorems. He could doubt whether he had a body, but could not doubt
the process of thinking, since this in itself involved thinking. He
concluded that,

" From this I recognised that I was a substance whose whole essence or
nature is to be conscious and whose being requires no place and depends
on no material thing. Thus this self, that is to say the soul, by which I am
what I am, is entirely distinct from the body, and is even more easily
known; and even if the body were not there at all, the soul would be just
what it is."27

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 17.
Descartes: Philosophical Writings,?. 32.
130 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

Similar arguments exist in the Islamic philosophical tradition.28 'Abdu'l-
Bahá also follows these kinds of arguments to demonstrate the
superiority of mind over body. He notes that even though parts of the
body may be dismembered, the mind is not affected, the "whole body
may be paralyzed; and yet the mind, spirit, remains ever the same".29

'Abdu'1-Bahá often refers to an animal as, " a captive of nature", that is,
its behaviour is dominated by the demands of its senses and regulated
directly by the laws of nature. He contrasts this with the minds of human
beings, which, by discovering the laws of nature, put them to whatever
use they wish. Animals are bound by biological constraints, whereas
human minds are not. For instance, the fact that human beings can travel
through the air or in the deep ocean comes from the mind's power of
intellectual discovery, and not from any developments in biological
evolution. We have in this sense broken the laws of nature. From the
Baha'i point of view, by being discoverers of the laws of nature and not
passive subjects to it, human beings show that they have an active inner
force which is not present in animals. In comparison to this human
conscious active force, the body of man or the animal is unconscious and
passive. This belief is of course, similar to Aristotle's Active Intellect,
which communicates and animates a "passive sensory" brain, or Plato's
self-moved soul30. Plato made the distinction that human souls are active
and cannot be understood in terms of a chain of prior physical causes,
unlike the "souls" of other objects. Similarly, the ability of human
beings to discover the laws of nature, from the Baha'i perspective, shows
that their minds are in some way independent from them. 'Abdu'1-Bahá
also often used an argument that was presented by Plato and attributed to
Socrates. This is the view that the human soul is a "simple" element, that
is, it is not a combination of elements. 'Abdu'1-Bahá, like Plato, uses this
concept of the soul to argue for its immortality.31

Avicenna's "floating man", see pp. 201-2, The Singapore Baha'i Studies Review,
Vol.2.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 243.
see Aristotle's Active Intellect described in De Anima, III.5, and Plato's self-moved
soul described in Phaedrus.
Plato, Pheado 77c-78d, known as the 'Affinity argument'. 'Abdu'1-Bahá on the
incomposite nature of the Soul, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 306.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 131

The commonly used distinction in the Baha'i Writings to classify all
objects and living beings into various "Kingdoms": the mineral,
vegetable, animal and human kingdoms, is similar to Aristotle's three
grades of life. Aristotle categorises all living beings into the "souls" of
vegetables, animals and human beings. Also, similar to Aristotle's
schema, the Baha'i writings state that the prime characteristic of the
vegetable is growth, for the animal it is sense perception, and for human
beings it is the power of thought.

Aristotle's designation of the human soul as the "rational soul" is used in
the Baha'i writings on several occasions, and is acknowledged by
'Abdu'1-Bahá to be the "terminology of the philosophers".32 Like
Aristotle, 'Abdu'1-Bahá emphasises that the rational soul is the only
grade of life which is immortal.33 In many instances, the word "spirit" is
substituted for "soul", and Aristotle's grades of life are widened to
include elements of belief that clearly come from the Semitic religious
tradition. 'Abdu'1-Bahá states for instance that "spirit" is universally
divided into five categories: the vegetable spirit, the animal spirit, the
human spirit, the spirit of faith, and the Holy Spirit".34 The first three
"spirits" are described in a manner similar to the way Aristotle describes
"souls" in his three grades of life.

The above discussion demonstrates that the Baha'i Faith's conception of
the soul has many points in common with Western philosophical
dualism. Broadly speaking, the same is true for Western theological
dualism. The following passage by ' Abdu'1-Bahá echoes the well known
spirit-matter distinction of Christianity,

"Man is the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of
spirituality - that is to say he is the end of imperfection and the beginning
of perfection. He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of
light; that is why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of
the night and the beginning of day. He has an animal side as well as an

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 208, pp. 217-18, pp. 239-40.
"It is, further, in its separate state that the Intellect is just that which it is, and it is
this alone that is immortal and eternal", Aristotle, De Anima, Book III, Chap. 5, Intellect
II, Active and Passive, and 'Abdu'1-Bahá in Some Answered Questions, chap.55, p. 208.
' Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, chap. 36, "Five Aspects of Spirit".
132 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

angelic side... Not in any other of the species in the world of existence is
there such a difference, contrast, contradiction and opposition as in the
species of man."35

Here, the uniqueness of human beings is described in terms of them
standing on the boundary between the material and spiritual worlds.
There are many such passages which refer to the essential dual nature of
human beings.36

In Christianity, the dual nature of human beings is often described in
terms of a sinful nature being in opposition to an angelic one. In Islam,
the dual nature of human beings is usually expressed in terms of a
conflict between the wicked against the righteous. In the Baha'i Faith,
human dualism is usually portrayed as a tension between animal like
qualities and spiritual ones. The animal qualities are those related to
survival, such as aggression, while the spiritual qualities typically
include our ability to reason, to be selfless, and our capacity to be of
service to others.

There are various analogies given in the Baha'i writings in support of
mind/body dualism. Human nature is likened to a rider on a horse, a bird
in a cage, or the sun shining on a mirror. They are all used to express the
soul's inherent independence from the body. The rider for instance will
leave the horse when the horse cannot travel any further; the bird will fly
free when the cage is broken; and the sun continues to shine even if the
mirror is shattered.37 The bird in the cage analogy is of course
reminiscent of similar beliefs in other spiritual traditions. Plato for
instance, likened the soul to be a chariot with broken winged horses
which is trapped on earth.38

' Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 235-6.
see Paris Talks, chapter on 'The Two Natures in Man', pp. 60-62, also
Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 60, p. 295, p. 464.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, rider/horse analogy, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 416, bird in
a cage, Some Answered Questions, p. 228, sun/mirror, Some Answered Questions,p. 242.
"Let us adopt this method, and compare the soul to a winged charioteer and his team
acting together. Now all the horses and charioteers of the gods are good and come of
good stock, but in other beings there is a mixture of good and bad ... Now we must try to
tell how it is that we speak of both mortal and immortal living beings. Soul taken as a
whole is in charge of all that is inanimate, and traverses the entire universe, appearing at
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 13 3

4. The Baha'i Tripartite approach and its underlying monism

Soul/body dualism is not the only way that human nature is described in
the Baha'i writings. Often a tripartite distinction is made, involving an
interaction between body, soul and spirit. 'Abdu'1-Bahá on several
occasions refers to this tripartite view of human nature explicitly, as in
the following passage,

"There are in the world of humanity three degrees; those of the body, the
soul, and spirit. The body is the physical or animal degree of man. From
the bodily point of view man is a sharer of the animal kingdom. The
bodies alike of men and animals are composed of elements held together
by the law of attraction. Like the animal, man possesses the faculties of
the senses, is subject to heat, cold, hunger, thirst, etc.; unlike the animal,
man has a rational soul, the human intelligence. This intelligence of man
is the intermediary between his body and his spirit. When man allows
the spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then does he
contain all Creation; because man, being the culmination of all that went
before and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower
world within himself. Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality
of the soul, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of
Creation."39

Another explicit reference is given in the following passage,

"When we ponder over the reality of the microcosm, we discover that in
the microcosm there are three realities. Man is endowed with an outer or
physical reality. It belongs to the material realm, the animal
kingdom...The human body is like animals subject to nature's laws. But
man is endowed with a second reality, the rational or intellectual reality;
and the intellectual reality of man predominates over nature... Yet there is
a third reality, the spiritual reality. Through its medium one discovers
spiritual revelations, a celestial faculty which is infinite as regards the

different times in different forms. When it is perfect and winged it moves on high and
governs all creation, but the soul that has shed its wings falls until it encounters solid
matters. There it settles and puts on an earthly body, which appears to be self-moving
because of the power of soul that is in it, and this combination of soul and body is given
the name of a living being and is termed mortal." Plato, Phaedrus, p. 246.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, pp. 96-97.
134 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

intellectual as well as physical realms. That power is conferred upon man
through the breath of the Holy Spirit. It is an eternal reality, an
indestructible reality, a reality belonging to the divine, a supernatural
kingdom; a reality whereby the world is illumined... It is the ray of the
Sun of Reality."40

The world of the spirit is described in a manner that resembles the
Christian Holy Spirit, or Hindu Atman. The soul is not able to function
unless it is filled with the Holy Spirit. Both intellectually and spiritually,
human souls depend on the spirit. 'Abdu'1-Bahá states, "By the power of
the Holy Spirit, working through his soul, man is able to perceive the
divine reality of things. All great works of art and science are witnesses
to this power of the Spirit. The same Spirit gives eternal life"41. The Holy
Spirit is the animating spiritual force which gives life to both the world
of the soul and body. It is the force which links God to His creation. In
the Baha'i writings, God and his Manifestations are often likened to the
Sun, the Holy Spirit is represented by its rays, and all living beings are
symbolised by the earth. ' Abdu'1-Bahá puts it in the following way,

"The Divine Reality may be likened to the sun and the Holy Spirit to the
rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring light and warmth of the sun
to the earth, giving life to all created things, so do the 'Manifestations'
bring the power of the Holy Spirit from the Divine Sun of Reality to give
light and life to the souls of men42 ...The Holy Spirit is the Light from
the Sun of Truth bringing, by its infinite power, life and illumination to
all mankind, flooding all souls with Divine Radiance, conveying the
blessings of God's Mercy to the whole world. The earth, without the
medium of the warmth and light of the rays of the sun, could not receive
benefits from the sun. Likewise the Holy Spirit is the very cause of the
life of man; without the Holy Spirit he would have no intellect, he would
be unable to acquire his scientific knowledge by which his great
influence over the rest of creation is gained. The illumination of the Holy
Spirit gives to man the power of thought, and enables him to make
discoveries by which he bends the laws of nature to his will. The Holy

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p. 51.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 85.
In the Baha'i writings, the term 'Manifestations of God' refers to the founders of the
world's major religions. The 'Divine Sun of Reality' refers to God.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 13 5

Spirit it is which, through the mediation of the Prophets of God, teaches
spiritual virtues to man and enables him to attain Eternal Life."43

In the Baha'i Faith, the world of the spirit is the uniting principle for the
soul and body. The relationship between the immortal realm of the soul
and the perishable world of the body is best understood with reference to
the world of the spirit, since it is at this higher level that they have a
common origin. Just as the physical life of all living beings on earth
depend on the rays of the sun, the intellectual and spiritual life of human
beings depend on an invisible sun, the "Sun of Reality", the "Divine
Reality", the "Sun of Truth", names which in the Baha'i writings
translate to mean God and His Manifestations. The main point is that
both souls and bodies have a common point of reference: both, to their
own degree are ultimately signs of God. Their unity and relationship to
each other can only be understood in relation to the world of God and
His Manifestations. 'Abdu'1-Bahá states,

"The worlds of God are in perfect harmony and correspondence one and
another. Each world in this limitless universe is, as it were, a mirror
reflecting the history and nature of all the rest. The physical universe is,
likewise, in perfect correspondence with the spiritual or divine realm.
The world of matter is an outer expression or facsimile of the inner
kingdom of the spirit. The world of minds corresponds with the world of
hearts." 44

The human material, intellectual and spiritual realms are interconnected,
and are but different projections of the same world of spirit. Our physical
universe, although a "facsimile" of a more real world, is nevertheless, a
natural part of it.

Dualism, as it. appears in the Baha'i writings, does so upon the
background world of the spirit, or world of God. If taken out of this all-
important context, it will inevitably be misrepresented. It is precisely the
filtering out of this element from our various spiritual traditions that
characterise many modern descriptions of traditional dualism. Since they
have a secular bias, they tend to tacitly miss out the uniting link between

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, pp. 58-59.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 270.
136 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

soul and body which was always there in a more religious framework.
The world of the spirit provides the transpersonal element to human
nature. It makes up the selfless part which inspires and nurtures the
progress of the soul.

The world of the spirit provides rationale to the very idea of the soul.
Dualism, viewed from this perspective is only the starting point. The
soul is not only different to the body, but it is a powerful sign of the
existence of a world beyond it. It is not a suspended immortal substance
to be defined only in terms of what the body is not, but it is an "image of
God". From this perspective, the concepts of God and the soul are
inextricably linked. The faculties and qualities of the soul are bound
together with the attributes of God. In fact in many religious traditions,
knowledge of the soul is equated with knowledge of God, not in an
objective sense, but in spiritual terms, that is, in an inner sense.45

The soul as it appears in this world is a mere shadow of how it will
appear in the next world: "Know thou that the Kingdom is the real world,
and this nether place is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow hath no
life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but
images reflected in water, and seeming as pictures to the eye".46 The
Baha'i tripartite approach has its focus primarily on the world of the
spirit. This is the monist side of the Baha'i Faith, and the nature of both
soul and body can only be understood in terms of this third element.
While both dualism and monism co-exist in Baha'i teachings, monism is
the uniting principle that underlies its dualism.

Many Baha'i analogies which describe the soul and the afterlife can be
readily interpreted in a tripartite way and serve to illustrate the
aforementioned points. Take the often-used analogy of the foetus in the
womb. In Baha'u'llah's words, "The world beyond is as different from
this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in
the womb of the mother".47 The foetus represents our soul and the
uterine world symbolises this world: We can have no more conception of

see article "The Hindu Concept of God: Unity in Diversity", by the author, The
Singapore Bahá 7 Studies Review, vol.2, section 3.2, pp. 17-31.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu 'l-Bahá, p. 178.
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 157.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 13 7

what the afterlife is like than a foetus can imagine the world into which it
will be born. Death in this life is not an end, but a birth into a wider
world. Just as the womb is a dark restricted place in comparison to the
world in which the foetus is to be born, so too, is our life in this world
limited when compared to the world to come. The world of the afterlife
according to the Baha'i writings, is not limited by space and time. Just as
a baby develops its organs, eyes, ears, etc for use in this world, the
purpose of our lives is to develop spiritual qualities which will be used in
the next life. In ' Abdu'1-Bahá's words,

"Consider how a being, in the world of the womb, was deaf of ear and
blind of eye, and mute of tongue; how he was bereft of any perceptions
at all. But once, out of that world of darkness, he passed into this world
of light, then his eye saw, his ear heard, his tongue spoke. In the same
way, once he hath hastened away from this mortal place into the
Kingdom of God, then he will be born in the spirit; then the eye of his
perception will open, the ear of his soul will hearken, and all the truths of
which he was ignorant before will be made plain and clear".48

An important message of the foetus/womb analogy is that the fruits of
our actions in this life cannot be seen while we are still within it. The
meaning and purpose of our lives here is defined only in relation to the
afterlife. Also, just as it would be implausible for the foetus to think that
its life were limited to the uterine world, so too, is it unlikely that our
lives are restricted to this physical world,

"... just as the effects and the fruitage of the uterine life are not to be
found in that dark and narrow place, and only when the child is
transferred to this wide earth do the benefits and uses of growth and
development in that previous world become revealed - so likewise
reward and punishment, heaven and hell, requital and retribution for
actions done in this present life, will stand revealed in that other world
beyond. And just as, if human life in the womb were limited to that
uterine world, existence there would be nonsensical, irrelevant - so too if
the life of this world, the deeds here done and their fruitage, did not
come forth in the world beyond, the whole process would be irrational

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu 'l-Bahá, p. 177.
138 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

and foolish."49

The world of the spirit is represented by the mother in this analogy. Just
as the mother surrounds and sustains both the foetus and the womb, so
too does the world of the spirit nourish our souls and bodies. Imagine
you are the foetus, conscious in the same way as you are now. It is
perfectly natural for you to make a distinction between the uterine world
and yourself. After all, are you not growing in some sense, in a way that
the world around you is not? Your first inclination might tend towards
dualism. You and the uterine world, although interdependent, are yet
quite different. You seem to possess a freedom in movement, an
autonomy that the rest of the objects in the uterine world do not have. As
time goes on, you begin to suspect that there is more to the uterine world
than can be directly observed. Although you share much with your
uterine world, you do not conclude that you are nothing but the product
of forces acting within it. It would be more natural to be open to the
possibility of worlds existing beyond your immediate world. You are a
fish in the topsy-turvy world of an amniotic liquid, but a thin layer of
skin is all that separates you from a world of air, space and light. If
somehow you heard of the existence of the world of the mother, a world
that nourishes and sustains both you and the uterine world, would you
not believe in it? Would it not explain many aspects of your nature and
your relationship to the uterine world? You may come to believe that the
existence of this invisible third element is actually very important, and
that it is the only reasonable way of accounting for the differences
between you and the uterine world. Finally, when your nine-month
incubation period comes to an end, when you depart from the womb
world, you are in fact born into another world. There you are free from
being a fish immersed in the amniotic liquid world, and for the first time,
you breath the air of another world.

Another analogy frequently used in the Baha'i writings is the image of
the soul being like a plant and the body being like the earth or soil in
which it grows. ' Abdu'1-Bahá describes it in the following manner,

".the soul is the intermediary between the body and the spirit. In like
manner is this tree the intermediary between the seed and the fruit. When

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu 'l-Bahá, p. 185.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 139

the fruit of the tree appears and becomes ripe, then we know the tree is
perfect... when the soul has in it the life of the spirit, then does it bring
forth good fruit and become a divine tree."50

In this analogy the soul is nurtured by the world of the spirit, variously
symbolised by the rays of the sun, the rain from clouds, and
"springtime",

"When the phenomenal sun appears from the vernal point of dawning in
the zodiac, a wondrous and vibrant commotion is set up in the body of
the earthly world. The withered trees are quickened with animation, the
black soil becomes verdant with new growth, fresh and fragrant flowers
bloom, the world of dust is refreshed, renewed life forces surge through
the veins of every animate being, and a new springtime carpets the
meadows, plains, mountains and valleys with wondrous forms of life.
That which was dead and desolate is revived and resuscitated; that which
was withered, faded and stricken is transformed by the spirit of a new
creation. In the same way the Sun of Reality, when it illumines the
horizon of the inner world, animates, vivifies and quickens with a divine
and wonderful power. The trees of human minds clothe themselves in
new and verdant robes, putting on leaves and blossoms and bearing
spiritual fruits of the heavenly glad tidings. Then fragrant flowers of
inner significances appear from the soil of human souls, and the whole
being of man awakens to a new and divine activity. This is the growth
and development of the inner world through the effulgent light of divine
guidance and the heat of the fire of the love of God."51

Although a seed is planted in the ground, the cause for its growth comes
from beyond the world of the soil; that is, it comes from the influence of
the sun and clouds. Gradually, green shoots emerge from the soil. Both
the top part of the plant and the world above it is invisible to those who
are confined to live underground. As the plant grows further, it may, or
may not develop fruits. Likewise, the world of the spirit, although lying
beyond this physical world, invisible from an empirical standpoint, is
responsible for our soul's development. The tree's fruits represent
spiritual qualities of the soul and symbolise our life's purpose. We in this

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 98.
5x
' Abdu' 1-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 271.
140 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

life have roots which stretch down into the physical world, yet at the
same time, a part of us reaches out into another realm, a world which is
under the direct influence of the spirit.

Whether our souls develop spiritual qualities is dependent on us and the
moral choices we make. Just as it is impossible to observe a tree and its
fruits from a point below the ground, so too, is it impossible for us to
observe the development of the soul and make judgements about it while
we are in this physical world. In terms of this analogy, mind/body
dualism recognises that there is a difference between the world of the
soil and the growing plant, but this is only the starting point. It naturally
leads us to conclude that there is another world, a world which both
surrounds the plant and the soil in which it grows, but at the same time,
extends beyond them. Just as it is difficult to imagine how and why the
plant and soil interact unless the influence of the world above them be
recognised, so too is it difficult to relate our bodies to our souls unless
the influence of the world of the spirit is taken into account. The world
of the spirit is the unifying world, the one reference point for both soul
and body.

In the tree/soil analogy, the founders of the world's major religions are
likened to "Gardeners" who nurture the plant's growth: their teachings
and their lives are responsible for the spiritual growth of souls,

"It is evident, therefore, that man is in need of divine education and
inspiration, that the spirit and bounties of God are essential to his
development. That is to say, the teachings of Christ and the Prophets are
necessary for his education and guidance. They are the divine Gardeners
Who till the earth of human hearts and minds. They educate man, uproot
the weeds, burn the thorns and remodel the waste places into gardens and
orchards where fruitful trees grow".52

Death has been likened to a kind gardener uprooting the plant and
transferring it to a "wide open area". 'Abdu'1-Bahá, when writing about
the death of a youth, stated the following,

"The inscrutable divine wisdom underlieth such heart-rending

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 295.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 141

occurrences. It is as if a kind gardener transferred a fresh and tender
shrub from a confined place to a wide open area. This transfer is not the
cause of the withering, the lessening or the destruction of that shrub; nay,
on the contrary, it maketh it to grow and thrive, acquire freshness and
delicacy, become green and bear fruit. This hidden secret is well known
to the gardener, but those souls who are unaware of this bounty suppose
that the gardener, in his anger and wrath, hath uprooted the shrub. Yet to
those who are aware, this concealed fact is manifest, and this predestined
decree is considered a bounty."53

Like the foetus/womb analogy, the tree/soil analogy is based upon
supposing that our physical world is but a finite world embedded in
many worlds that extend beyond it, and that our souls are evolving
through the influence of the invisible rays of the spirit. The journey
analogy also conveys similar themes. The soul is likened to a traveller
who passes through this physical world acquiring spiritual qualities. Here
an individual human body is likened to be a vehicle for the soul, which,
while moving about physically, enables the soul to make a parallel
journey in another universe, a universe within. 'Abdu'1-Bahá describes
our inner journey and the need for it in the following way,

"The wisdom of the appearance of the spirit in the body is this: the
human spirit is a Divine Trust, and it must traverse all conditions, for its
passage and movement through the conditions of existence will be the
means of its acquiring perfections. So when a man travels and passes
through different regions and numerous countries with system and
method, it is certainly a means of his acquiring perfection, for he will see
places, scenes and countries, from which he will discover the conditions
and states of other nations. He will thus become acquainted with the
geography of countries and their wonders and arts; he will familiarize
himself with the habits, customs and usages of peoples; he will see the
civilization and progress of the epoch; he will become aware of the
policy of governments and the power and capacity of each country. It is
the same when the human spirit passes through the conditions of
existence: it will become the possessor of each degree and station."54

' Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu 'l-Bahá, pp. 199-200.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 198.
142 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

Elsewhere, 'Abdu'1-Bahá states, "The pathway of life is the road which
leads to divine knowledge and attainment. Without training and guidance
the soul could never progress beyond the conditions of its lower
nature"55. From the Baha'i perspective, the soul's purpose is to acquire
spiritual wisdom. There is much more than soul/body dualism here. The
soul is a "Divine Trust" in search of God. The appearance of the soul in
the body is not the outcome of an accidental or random occurrence. Like
all good travellers, the spiritually wise recognise the need for skilful
guides. According to the Baha'i writings, God, His Manifestations and
His spirit provide the compass by which our souls navigate the inner
landscape.

Baha'u'llah in his "Seven Valleys" describes some of the spiritual
landmarks that must characterise our inner journey. The traveller
journeys successively through the valleys of "search", "love",
"knowledge", "unity", "contentment", "wonderment", and reaches the
valley of "true poverty and absolute nothingness"56. In the valley of
search, Baha'u'llah describes some of the sacrifices the "true seeker"
must be prepared to make if he or she is reach the final goal, referred to
as "the realm of the spirit, which is the City of God". The object of the
traveller's goal is also personified in terms of a journey to find a "trace
of the traceless Friend",

"The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover
hath no desire save union with his beloved. Nor shall the seeker reach his
goal unless he sacrifices all things. That is, whatever he hath seen, and
heard, and understood, all must he set at naught, that he may enter the
realm of the spirit, which is the City of God...On this journey the
traveller abideth in every land and dwelleth in every region. In every
face, he seeketh the beauty of the Friend; in every country he looketh for
the Beloved. He joineth every company, and seeketh fellowship with
every soul, that haply in some mind he may uncover the secret of the
Friend, or in some face he may behold the beauty of the Loved One."57

'Abdu'1-Bahá', Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 296.
The Seven Valleys is a commentary on the famous mystical Sufi work: Faridu'l-Din
'Attar's Conference of the Birds.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 143

At each stage of the journey, the traveller is dependent on God's
guidance. In the valley of "true poverty and absolute nothingness",
Baha'u'llah states,

"These journeys have no visible ending in the world of time, but the
severed wayfarer - if invisible confirmation descend upon him and the
Guardian of the Cause assist him - may cross these seven stages in seven
steps, nay rather in seven breaths, nay rather in a single breath, if God
will and desire it.. .They who soar in the heaven of singleness and reach
to the sea of the Absolute, reckon this city - which is the station of life in
God - as the furthermost state of mystic knowers.. ."58

This last valley is the "dying from self and the living in God"59, and is
obviously similar to the end goal described in many of the world's other
mystical traditions. The "absolute nothingness" for instance of this last
valley, is similar to the "blow out" or "annihilation" of Nirvana in
Buddhism. This journey involves the traveller becoming more and more
selfless. The end goal of the journey is to arrive at a condition where no
trace of ourselves exist, and where we become a perfect channel for the
world of the spirit, "Yea, all he hath, from heart to skin, will be set
aflame, so that nothing will remain save the Friend"60. This spiritual state
is both a consequence and precondition of the soul being in complete
harmony with the world of God. It does not mean of course that we
become identical to God, but that God's light becomes perfectly
reflected in us. From the Baha'i perspective, our souls cannot be
understood without reference to this ultimate goal. Perfect spiritual unity
with the world of God is the highest aspiration of all souls. Once again,
the starting point is mind/body dualism. The goal of our inner journey is
however, unity, and it is this all-important third element, an underlying
monism within us that is able to unify an immortal soul to its perishable
body.

Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, pp. 40-41.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 36.
Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 36.
144 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

5. The rays of the mind and its reflections

On some occasions the sun/landscape analogy is used to illustrate the
link between the soul and the body and clarify ideas about the faculties
of the mind. The sun is used to symbolise the human soul and the
landscape is likened to the human body. Baha'u'llah gives this analogy
in the context of describing how injuries which seem to change the mind,
do not in fact affect the soul. He likens these injuries to be like clouds
which obscure the sun's light,

"Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of
all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of
weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between his
soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any bodily
ailments...When it leaveth the body, however, it will evince such
ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no force on earth can equal.
Every pure, every refined and sanctified soul will be endowed with
tremendous power, and shall rejoice with exceeding gladness. Consider
the lamp which is hidden under a bushel. Though its light be shining, yet
its radiance is concealed from men. Likewise, consider the sun which
hath been obscured by the clouds. Observe how its splendor appeareth to
have diminished, when in reality the source of that light hath remained
unchanged. The soul of man should be likened unto this sun, and all
things on earth should be regarded as his body. So long as no external
impediment interveneth between them, the body will, in its entirety,
continue to reflect the light of the soul, and to be sustained by its power.
As soon as, however, a veil interposeth itself between them, the
brightness of that light seemeth to lessen. Consider again the sun when it
is completely hidden behind the clouds. Though the earth is still
illumined with its light, yet the measure of light which it receiveth is
considerably reduced. Not until the clouds have dispersed, can the sun
shine again in the plenitude of its glory. Neither the presence of the
cloud nor its absence can, in any way, affect the inherent splendor of the
sun. The soul of man is the sun by which his body is illumined, and from
which it draweth its sustenance, and should be so regarded."61.

In this analogy, it is the body that reflects the light of the soul, and the

Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, LXXX.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 145

"impediments" which may reduce its apparent brightness come from
injury of the brain. Here Baha'u'llah makes an important point about the
mind: the faculties of the mind, as we observe them, depend on the state
of the body. 'Abdu'1-Bahá also uses the same analogy to clarify the
relationship of the mind to the soul,

"Now regarding the question whether the faculties of the mind and the
human sou] 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".62

The faculties of the mind are likened to the "rays" of the soul. This
passage appears to suggest that the mind continues to exist, even when
the soul is dissociated from the body. But this is only partially true, since
what we observe of the mind will be signs of the soul's power in this
world, and unlike the sun, the intensity of its rays appear to change with
time. Elsewhere ' Abdu'1-Bahá elaborates this point,

"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 being 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".63

Here a distinction is made between the sun and its rays: the sun is
"unchanged", while its rays are being "renewed". It is perhaps more
accurate to think of the Baha'i view of the mind in terms of it emerging
from an interaction between the soul and its body. In this way, the power

' Abdu'1-Bahá, August Forel and the Baha'i Faith, pp. 24-25.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, August Forel and the Baha'i Faith, p. 8.
146 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

behind the mind is the eternal part, emanating from the soul, while the
faculties of the mind that we observe are temporal in character. This
conclusion seems to be confirmed by the Baha'i writings. ' Abdu'1-Bahá
states for instance, that the "intelligence of man is the intermediary
between his body and his spirit"64, and Shoghi Effendi states that, "What
the Baha'is do believe... is that we have three aspects of our humanness,
so to speak, 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 together"65. Note that this picture is still essentially dualist, in
that it makes the distinction between the temporal world of the body and
the eternal realm of the soul. The mind however, being the interface
between these two worlds, contains within it elements of both.
As to the question of when a soul comes into being, a question often
posed in the philosophy of mind, 'Abdu'1-Bahá states the following:

"... these members, these elements, this composition, which are found in
the organism of man, are an attraction and magnet for the spirit; it is
certain that the spirit will appear in it. So a mirror which is clear will
certainly attract the rays of the sun. It will become luminous, and
wonderful images will appear in it - that is to say, when these existing
elements are gathered together according to the natural order, and with
perfect strength, they become a magnet for the spirit, and the spirit will
become manifest in them with all its perfections. Under these conditions
it cannot be said, "What is the necessity for the rays of the sun to
descend upon the mirror?" - for the connection which exists between the
reality of things, whether they be spiritual or material, requires that when
the mirror is clear and faces the sun, the light of the sun must become
apparent in it. In the same way, when the elements are arranged and
combined in the most glorious system, organization and manner, the
human spirit will appear and be manifest in them."66

The belief in a soul does not mean that at conception an immortal
substance is somehow created ex-nihilo. It means rather that when the
special combination of elements that make up a human being come
together, they are able to reflect the rays of the spirit. The soul being

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 96.
Unto Him Shall We Return, p. 60.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 201.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 147

outside time is always there, but by being reflected in a body/brain, its
personality is strengthened and it has the opportunity to grow spiritually.
The Baha'i seed/soil analogy helps to clarify this point. The soil, as
already explained, represents our space-time world and the seed
symbolises the soul. Before the seed is planted, it exists, but lies outside
the world of the soil. Likewise, before conception, a soul exists outside
our space-time world. Imagine that placing the seed into the ground
corresponds to the events that accompany the conception of a human
embryo. The seed once placed in the ground, begins to grow, sprouting
above the soil. Likewise, the soul grows spiritually, reaching out beyond
our space-time world. Just as the form and colour of a plant is latent
within the seed from the outset, so too, is there an intrinsic part to each
human being, which under the right conditions, develops and grows

"The personality of the rational soul is from its beginning; it is not due to
the instrumentality of the body, but the state and the personality of the
rational soul may be strengthened in this world.. ."67

6. Engineering Analogies of the Soul

According to 'Abdu'1-Bahá, the human body "develops through the
animal spirit"68. Note that this point is in agreement with Darwin's
theory of evolution. Man's body is animal in nature and has a common
origin with animals. On the other hand, the theory of evolution says
nothing about human minds. That has of course not stopped many people
from making a connection, but this kind of reductionism is completely
unwarranted69. The Baha'i Faith affirms the phenomenon of human
evolution, but maintains that the human species was always distinct from
animal species. A common origin may exist for the bodies of human
beings and animals, but that does not mean that they are identical. In
fact, their obvious mental differences suggest that there are fundamental
differences.

' Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 240.
Ibid.
a detailed discussion about this subject can be found in chapter 6, The Survival
Machine, in the author's book, The Universe Within.
148 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

If one subscribes to the Baha'i view of there being varying degrees of the
spirit, it is natural to ask what it is about human beings that allows for an
immortal soul? But to speak of the soul in "object" or physical terms is
to misunderstand it, and the Baha'i writings are very clear about
avoiding such an approach. The soul, according to the Baha'i Faith is
best understood in its own spiritual terms, "the comprehension of that
other life depends on our spiritual birth!".70 Yet, the Baha'i writings do
give many analogies of how to think of the soul and some of them have
already been mentioned in this paper. Since in our modern society, a
scientific approach is almost always invariably associated with one
which rejects the existence of the soul, the following analogies, inspired
by the Baha'i writings have been specially devised by the author to help
clarify the spiritual difference between man and animal. These analogies
are tentative in nature and were found helpful to the author. They are
given here in that spirit. They are by no means definitive, and to the
general reader, might appear technical in places.

The first analogy is based upon the capture of rain by a container or cup.
The rain symbolises the world of the spirit, while the container denotes a
human being in this physical world. The rain is essentially different from
the container in that it does not have a specific shape or form. After it
falls into the container, it is given apparent form. Likewise, the world of
the spirit comes from outside space-time. Containers have different
shapes and sizes and some collect more rain than others. In this analogy,
imagine that we can only see the outside surface of containers and cannot
observe their contents. The soul is like the collected rain, essentially
formless, but given form by the container. Since we can only observe the
surface of containers from their outside, we cannot see each other's
souls. The soul is a form of energy which lies outside our space-time
world, but rests alongside it. The spirit flows through everything, but in
our space-time world, it is given form. A spiritual person is someone
who is filled with the spirit. The goal of life is to capture the spirit. Each
of us has a different spiritual capacity, just as containers come in
different sizes. We all contaminate the water to some extent, that is, we
all in some way leave our imprint on it - some leave less, others leave
more. At death the container is broken and the collected water pours out
into another dimension. Its task is eventually to flow back to the infinite

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 94.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 149

Ocean (God). Through each successive world, it makes its way closer
and closer to the Ocean (God).

The difference between man and animal in this analogy may be thought
of in terms of the varying degrees to which they are able to capture the
spirit. Animals may for instance be modelled in terms of objects in
which the spirit is not collected: the rain essentially flows through them.
At death, when their elements disperse, no "spirit" is transferred into
another dimension. They nevertheless, whilst alive, have the spirit in
them.

The second analogy is that of a torch. Let the battery, the source of
electrical energy, represent the spirit, and let the electrical wires in the
circuit, as well as the thin wire filament in the bulb denote the human
body. Furthermore, let the projected light of the torch symbolise the
human soul. Initially, just after the torch is switched on, electrical energy
from the battery supplies current in the circuit. As the current increases
in magnitude, heat is dissipated in the thin-wire bulb filament and is
given off in the form of light. This light is then projected forward by the
mirror behind the bulb. Likewise, from the moment of conception, the
spirit is empowering the spiritual life of human beings and the light of
the soul is reflected in this world and the world beyond. Now the thin-
wire bulb filament is in principle no different to any other wire. The only
difference is that it is much thinner and can withstand a higher
temperature than other wires. If the bulb filament is now replaced by a
normal wire in the circuit, one that is much thicker, then no light is
produced. This might model the difference between an animal and
human being. The "circuit" for the animal in this analogy is similar to the
torch, but it is one where the bulb filament is replaced by an ordinary
piece of wire. The animal "circuit" is empowered by the source, and a
current is produced, but no light is propagated. Strictly speaking an
ordinary electrical circuit will emit a small amount of radiation, but it is
very much smaller in magnitude to the light of the torch and it is not in
the visible frequency range.

Man and animal in the torch analogy are similar. They are both modelled
to be circuits which conduct spiritual energy. There is a small but crucial
difference represented by the thin-wire bulb filament. This difference is
enough to account for a kind of soul-light in the human case. Although
150 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

the animal does not emit this kind of light, it does have however, a
"radiation" of its own.

There are many variations of the torch analogy which are possible. The
analogy is based upon likening human beings and animals to electrical
circuits which are powered by the spirit. The circuit model for human
beings may employ a capacitor instead of a bulb. For those familiar with
electrical circuits, they will know that the capacitor will charge up after
the switch is closed (on position) and will subsequently store electrical
energy. So when the switch is put in the off position, breaking the
electric circuit, a voltage remains across the capacitor, representing the
stored energy of the circuit. This might model how souls of human
beings store and collect spiritual energy and how after death, spiritual
qualities of the soul remain. In the case of the animal where the
corresponding circuit has no capacitance but only resistance, the voltage
across the resistor falls to zero almost immediately after the source is
disconnected from the circuit. The animal equivalent circuit is obviously
very similar to the human one, the only difference is that it does not have
the capacity to store up spiritual qualities in the same way that human
beings do.

The electric circuit model of human nature can even incorporate free
will. Imagine that in the equivalent circuit there is a variable resistance.
In the case of the torch, a variable resistor is used to control the intensity
of light that is emitted, while in the case of the capacitor circuit, it
controls the rate at which the capacitor charges up. In both cases,
imagine that the ability to change the variable resistor value is something
that lies within the control of human beings. The ideal value of the
variable resistor is zero. In the case of the torch model, zero resistance
will maximise the intensity of the soul-light propagated, while for the
capacitor circuit, zero resistance will result in a greater store of spiritual
energy in a given amount of time. Minimising the value of the variable
resistor is obviously analogous to human beings becoming selfless, and
providing less "resistance" to the spirit.

It should also be mentioned at this point that a technological analogy for
the Baha'i approach to the soul has already been provided by John
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 151

Hatcher . Hatcher compares the connection between the soul and the
brain to the way information is broadcast from a television transmitter
and detected by a television receiver. The waves of electromagnetic
energy traversing the earth's atmosphere are independent of the receiver.
It is only by tuning our television set to the correct frequency, that is, by
decoding the information in a certain way, that we can form images on
our TV screen. Likewise, "thought waves" of the soul might traverse an
"inner space", and be detected by the brain. Although Hatcher did not
use this analogy to highlight the spiritual difference between man and
animal, it can be used to do so. The animal equivalent electric circuit
here would be one that can neither transmit or receive "soul waves".
There is a similarity of the transmitter part of this analogy to the torch
analogy. As in that case, the main difference between animal and man
lies in the degree of sophistication of their respective equivalent circuits.
To transmit and receive electromagnetic waves requires the use of
special types of circuits called "tuned circuits". The animal equivalent
circuit would not be of this type. The main point which emerges from
these technological analogies is that from a bodily point of view, man
and animal can be quite alike. Their important differences can only be
explained when viewed from higher dimensions or other worlds.

The last analogy to be considered here models more than the difference
between man and animal, and conveys also something of man's purpose
in life. Consider a small dark room where the shutters at its only window
are closed. Imagine that the room is occupied by a man who has a torch
or lamp strapped to his forehead. The head torch is initially switched off
and is fixed on so that it illuminates the direction in which the man
looks. Being on his forehead, the man cannot observe the torch directly.
Let there be enough food provisions in the room that the man can survive
for a long period of time. Imagine that the only door in the room is
locked and that there is no other exit to the outside world. Now consider
the situation where the head torch is switched on. The man may look
around and explore the room. He may notice the paintings on the wall
which depict landscapes. The man may discover hidden mirrors which
enable him to catch a glimpse of himself. He may wander over to the
window and find a way of releasing the shutters and thereby catch a
glimpse of the world outside the room. Imagine also that there is a large

W. Hatcher, The Purpose of Physical Reality, p. 151.
152 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

stainless mirror by the window. By the aid of this mirror the man is able
to observe something of the outside world and obtain a clear reflection of
himself. At some time later, the door opens, and the man is taken out of
the room into the sunlight.

The room in this analogy symbolises this physical world. The head torch
represents the soul, and its rays denote the light of human consciousness.
The world outside the room represents the afterlife, and the opening of
the door symbolises death. The mirrors in the room, the shutters, and
paintings all represent the founders of religions and their teachings. By
their aid, the man is able to catch glimpses of his true self, and
understand how his limited dark world relates to the bright spacious
world that lies beyond it. This analogy obviously combines elements of
the Baha'i foetus/womb and sun/mirror analogies together.

Now if the man were to ask himself where exactly the outside world is
located, it would be a question that would be very difficult to answer in
terms of what can be observed within the room. This is analogous to
inquiring into the location of the afterlife. If the man were to ask exactly
where the head-torch is located, he would not be able to locate it. In the
same way, we cannot locate souls or fathom the intellectual light that
comes from them.

The difference between man and animal can be depicted by switching off
the head torch and providing the man with a box of matches. The man's
perception of the room suddenly becomes much more fragmentary. The
man effectively moves around the room by touching objects. He will not
see the room as a whole, but can only see partial glimpses of it. His field
of view will be limited to the small area illuminated by a match while it
is lit. This fragmentary view of life might represent how an animal
perceives our world. Animals in comparison to us, seem to perceive
events in space and time in a much more separate and disjointed way. In
time, they seem to live more from moment to moment. In space, their
images are less correlated compared to ours, and they are easily misled
by optical illusions. In the dark room analogy, all this is represented by
the difference of seeing the room by the aid of a bright head-torch
instead of by striking a series of matches.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 15 3

7. The Semitic Religions

In the Semitic line of religions, the unifying element to human nature is
either directly identified with God, or with those who come in God's
name, or with God's spirit. In these religions, human beings are of
course, "made in God's image". The unity of human nature naturally
follows on from the unity of God. God's voice is heard both in the call of
the "prophet" and in human conscience.

In Judaism, human nature and the physical world are directly dependent
on God. It is the "breath of God" which gives man life, and it is the
return of this breath to God which causes death,

"The Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of
it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to
live." (Genesis 2: 7).

"Lord, you have made so many things! How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures. There is ocean, large and wide,
where countless creatures live, large and small alike... All of them
depend on you to give them food when they need it. You give it to them,
and they eat it; you provide food, and they are satisfied. When you turn
away, they are afraid; when you take away your breath, they die and go
back to the dust from which they came. But when you give them breath,
they are created; you give new life to the earth." (Psalms 1042: 24-30).

From the above Old Testament passages, it is clear that the breath of God
overcomes the dualism between man and nature. The immortal soul in
Judaism is virtually indistinguishable from God's breath, and the
tripartite character of human nature is implicit. In terms of God's breath,
the difference between man and the rest of creation is only a matter of
degree. But so different is the spiritual station of man with respect to the
world of nature, that he is Lord and master of it, "When I consider thy
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast
ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man,
that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to
have dominion over the works of thy hands; and hast put all things under
his feet" (Psalms 8: 3-6).
154 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

In Christianity, and subsequently Islam, a tripartite approach to human
nature is articulated with greater clarity, and the belief that the soul is on
a never-ending journey towards God gradually arose. Although
historically, life after death in these religions has been interpreted in
quite literal terms, there are many references within their source
scriptures which suggest a different approach. In fact, a significant
number of passages support the Baha'i view of the soul advancing in
different forms, where its state after death is so different to its existence
in this world that it cannot be adequately understood in physical terms.

In Christianity, the afterlife is symbolised by the growth of an individual
seed,

"Someone will ask. "How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of
body will they have?" You fool! When you sow a seed in the ground, it
does not sprout to life unless it dies. And what you sow is a bare seed,
perhaps a grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. God
provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own
proper body... This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life.
When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal...
When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual
body"(l Corinthians 15:35-44).

This analogy is obviously very similar to the one presented in the Baha'i
writings. It suggests that just as a seed must "die" so that a plant can
grow, so too, must the physical body die, enabling the soul to take a new
form. The seed remains in the soil, whereas the plant rises above the
ground and grows into another realm. The meaning of the metaphor is
obviously that although the atoms of the physical body disperse after it
dies, the "spiritual body" which emerges from it continues to develop in
another world. Also implied in this analogy is that the form of the soul in
the afterlife will be superior to its former life in the physical world. This
is made more explicit in another passage by St Paul,

"For we know that when this tent we live in - our body here on earth - is
torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home he
himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is
our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on
over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 155

we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a feeling of oppression; it is
not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have
the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be
transformed by life. God is the one who has prepared us for this change,
and he gave us his Spirit as the guarantee of all that he has in store for
us" (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Our physical bodies, being like tents, are only meant to be temporary,
while the soul's future home, the "houses in heaven", are destined to
"last forever". This is of course, only poetic language, but it does suggest
that human souls in the afterlife will take a more complete and
permanent form than.the one they take in this life. That the "Spirit"
provides an indication of what the afterlife will be like is also important.
Just as in Judaism and Islam, the Spirit of God in Christianity bestows
immortality on human beings, and all the conscious faculties of human
nature are founded upon it,

"The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another
person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. One and the
same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives
the power to heal... But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as
he wishes. He gives a different gift to each person" (1 Corinthians 12:8-
11).

A common misconception about the Christian view of resurrection and
afterlife is that it involves the physical resurrection of the body. For
instance, Leslie Stevenson in his "Seven Theories of Human Nature",
states that the Christian view of human nature does not entail belief in an
immaterial soul surviving death. The scriptural reference which he takes
to support this comes from St Paul's statement, "When buried, it is a
physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians
15:35).72 This idea is often coupled with other statements by St Paul
about the resurrection of believers the "trumpet blast", on the "Last Day"
(1 Corinthians 15: 51-55). Resurrection, according to this interpretation
of biblical text has come to mean the re-assembling of the actual physical
constituents of human bodies as they were before death.

Leslie Stevenson, Seven Theories of Human Nature, pp. 45-6.
156 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

The belief in the physical resurrection of bodies was co-joined with
Aristotle's notion of the soul being the form of the body by St Thomas
Aquinas in the late medieval period. It subsequently made its way into
official catholic doctrine and has remained there. According to Aquinas,
the physical body after resurrection will be in harmony with the soul:
"After resurrection of our bodies we will again have bodily organs with
non-rational powers, and because they will be perfectly amenable to
reason, there will be courage strengthening our capacity for aggressive
emotion and moderation our capacity for affection. But before
resurrection these capacities and virtues will not exist as such; only the
root or seeds of them in the soul, together with justice in the will"73.
Aquinas conceives of the soul as an "embodied soul", that is, an
immortal entity which is in some way bound to the body while on earth,
but then survives death74. After resurrection, this same soul will be
reunited with its former body.

This belief involves an overly literal interpretation of biblical text. The
seed analogy suggests that physically we perish, but what emerges is
something different, a timeless entity which does not depend on the
physical world. In the text already quoted, St Paul explicitly states that
the "spiritual body" is fundamentally different to the physical body and
cannot be compared to it (1 Corinthians 15:35-44). The image of "houses
in heaven" in contrast to the "tent" of the body on earth also implies that
the state of the soul in the afterlife is going to be quite different to its
former existence in this world.

The literal interpretation of resurrection fails to take into account the
metaphorical use of the terms "life" and "death" in the Bible. The early
Christians had understood themselves to have "died", and believed that
they had been spiritually resurrected by their faith in Christ,

"And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on
his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so
that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. For when a person dies, he
is set free from the power of sin. Since we have died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live with him. For we know that Christ has been

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, p. 246.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, p. 111.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 157

raised from death and will never die again - death will no longer rule
over him... In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so
far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ
Jesus." (Romans 6: 11)

"To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by
the Spirit results in life and peace... But you do not live as your human
nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you - if, in fact,
God's Spirit lives in you... If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from
death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give
life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you... God's
Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children..."
(Romans 8:16).

The Christian spiritual resurrection and its immortality is thus
inextricably linked to the Spirit of God, which "joins itself to human
spirits. This clearly demonstrates a tripartite conception of human nature
in Christianity, where the world of the spirit is the world which unites
body and soul. Moreover, the Christian belief in this spiritual side to
human nature is founded on faith, faith in the invisible world of the
Spirit,

"Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual
being is renewed day after day...For we fix our attention, not on things
that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only
for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts for ever" (2 Corinthians 4:16-
18).

In the Quran, the soul of man is also described in terms of God's breath,
"Behold! Thy Lord said to the angels: I am about to create man, from
sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape. When I have fashioned
him in due proportion and breathed into him of my Spirit, fall ye down in
obeisance unto him..." (S 15:28-29), or "He has written Faith in their
hearts, and strengthened them with a spirit from Himself (S 58:22). God
is ever present in human beings, "We are nearer to him than his jugular
vein" (S 50:16). This presence of God extends to signs which are also
apparent in the physical world, "We will surely show them Our signs in
the world and within themselves" (S 41:53). It is God who is the bridge
between the physical world and human nature. Since the soul of man is
158 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

filled with the spirit and breath of God, the nature of the soul in Islam
cannot be separated from God.

Resurrection and life after death in Islam are often described in very
literal terms. But there are some passages in the Quran which explicitly
clarify its symbolic meaning. Life after death is described in terms of a
"new Creation" (S 50:15), or "Resurrection" (S 50:11). In response to
the scepticism of "unbelievers" about this resurrection from the "dust" of
human corpses, the Quran likens this rebirth to the growth of vegetation
from the apparently dry and "dead" earth, "And We send down from the
sky Rain charged with blessing, and We produce therewith gardens and
grain for harvests; and tall and stately palm trees, with shoots of fruit
stalks, piled one over another; - as sustenance for Allah's servants; - and
We give new life therewith to land that is dead: thus will be the
Resurrection" (S 50:9-11). This organic analogy of a new life, is
obviously similar to the Baha'i seed/landscape analogy, where spiritual
growth emerges from the "soil" of human bodies. In both cases, the
immortality of human beings is directly dependent on the "blessings" of
God, "Do ye not see that Allah has subjected to your use all things in the
heavens and on earth, and has made His bounties flow to you in
exceeding measure both seen and unseen" (S 31: 28).

The "resurrection" of life after death is an individual specific occurrence
for each soul, "And your creation or your resurrection is in no wise but
an individual soul: For Allah is He who hears and sees all things" (S
31:28). This is an important point, since elsewhere in the Quran, the term
"Resurrection" is used in the collective sense to symbolise the spiritual
rebirth of mankind (see for instance, S 50:41-44). The afterlife and the
resurrection of the soul in a new form is directly dependent on God, "We
have decreed Death to be your common lot... from changing your forms
and creating you again in forms that ye know not. And ye certainly know
already the first form of creation: why then do you not celebrate His
praises? See ye the seed that ye sow in the ground? Is it ye that cause it
to grow, or are We the cause?" (S 56:60-64). The nature of the human
soul in Islam, its spiritual growth, immortality and unity are all directly
dependent on the "bounties" of God and cannot be understood in terms
of soul-body dualism. God is the all important transpersonal element in
Islam. Quite contrary to many popular beliefs about an Islamic
"Paradise", the soul's future journey is explicitly described to be in
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit \ 59

"forms that ye know not".

8. Far Eastern Spiritual Monism

In Buddhism, the tripartite character of human nature is presented in
terms of a self, mind, and Truth. The self in Buddhism is approximately
equivalent to the "sinful self of Christianity75, or the Baha'i "animal
self. The mind in Buddhism is roughly equivalent to the soul in the
Semitic religious tradition or the "rational soul" of Aristotle77. The
immortal part of the mind, according to Buddhist writings, is the part that
has the potential to be the receptacle of Truth. Truth is something akin to
the Spirit of God in the Semitic religions or the world of spirit mentioned
in the Baha'i writings.

Just as everything in the universe, according to the Baha'i Faith, is to its
own degree a sign or reflection of God78, Truth in Buddhism also reveals
itself in a variety of different forms. The following summary of the Truth
appearing in various ways is described as "Truth as Saviour" in Buddhist
writings79, and obviously bears many similarities to the various
"Kingdoms" found in the Baha'i writings or the grades of life described
in the philosophy of Aristotle. It starts off by stating that since "Truth
desires to appear; truth longs to become conscious; truth strives to know
itself, it manifests itself first in mineral form: "There is truth in the
stone... but the stone has no consciousness". Next it expresses itself in
the form of a plant, which can grow and blossom, but states that "its
beauty is marvellous, but it has no consciousness". The next highest
level of Truth, is the realm of the animal, and although this level of

Romans 6: 6, also see the "natural self mentioned in Romans 6: 12.
"If man were to care for himself only he would be nothing but an animal for only
the animals are thus egoistic", Foundations of World Unity, p. 42.
Aristotle refers to the Intellect as "immortal and eternal" (Aristotle: De Anima,
III.5).
"Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the
revelation within it of the attributes and names of Gods, inasmuch as within every atom
are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that Most Great
Light", Gleanings, p. 176
The Gospel of Buddha, p. 5.
160 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

existence has consciousness, it is a consciousness of "self only: "There
is Truth in the animal; it moves about and perceives its surroundings; it
distinguishes and learns to choose. There is consciousness, but it is not
yet the consciousness of Truth. It is a consciousness of self only". This
last sentence concisely presents the difference between man and animal
in Buddhism. The animal is conscious of "self only, while human
beings are capable of possessing "consciousness of Truth".

Liberation of "self comes from immersing it in Truth: "If we liberate
our souls from our petty selves, wish no ill to others, and become clear as
a crystal diamond reflecting the light of truth, what a radiant picture will
appear in us mirroring things as they are, without the admixture of
burning desires, without the distortion of erroneous illusion, without the
agitation of clinging and unrest...ye should learn to distinguish between
the false self and the true self. The ego with all its egotism is the false
self. It is an unreal illusion and a perishable combination. He only who
identifies his self with the truth will attain Nirvana; and he who has
entered Nirvana has attained Buddhahood; he has acquired the highest
good; he has become eternal and immortal".80 In much the same way as
in the Semitic religions, the animal side to human nature is considered to
be the "false self, in contrast to the "true self which is the part of the
self which can reflect Truth.

There is a common misconception that Buddhism rejects the existence of
an individual human immortal soul, but this is not so. Buddhism states
that the self, that is the animal self as defined above, is perishable. The
self (animal self) is made up from a combination of elements, which in
Buddhism is sometimes described in terms of the 5 Skandhas,81 which
are constantly changing. At death, they will disperse and exist no more.
This is similar to the Baha'i view. 'Abdu'1-Bahá states that, "The animal
spirit is the power of all the senses, which is realised from the
composition and mingling of elements; when this composition
decomposes, the power also perishes and becomes annihilated".82 The

The Gospel of Buddha, p. 4.
this term is used to denote the constituents of personality: (1) form=body, (2)
feelings, (3) perceptions, (4) volitional impulses, (5) consciousness, Buddhist Scriptures,
E.Conze, p. 248.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chap. 55, p. 208.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 161

Buddha states, "All compound things are transitory: they grow and
decay. All compound things are subject to pain: they will be separated
from what they love and be joined to what they abhor. All compound
things lack a self, an atman, an ego".83

In the famous "Questions of King Malinda", the Buddhist monk
Nagasena likens the self to be a chariot. The designation of "chariot"
only refers to a combination of component parts such as the pole, axle,
wheels, framework, flagstaff, yoke etc, and declares that the same
principle applies to the self. He states that the self is a "conceptual term,
a current appellation and a mere name. In ultimate reality, however, this
person cannot be apprehended".84 But this is quite different to the
"incomposite soul" described by Socrates85 or the immortal soul
described in the Baha'i writings, or indeed, the eternal atman (soul) of
Hinduism. Indeed, one of the arguments for the immortality of the soul
presented in the Baha'i writings is that it is unitary, that it is not made up
from a combination of elements and therefore cannot die.86

The other point to remember is that "consciousness" in Buddhism also
applies to animals, so when consciousness appears as one of the
Skandas, or elements that make up human nature, it is not necessarily the
type of consciousness which is related to the rational or spiritual faculties
of human beings, and may in fact be the kind of consciousness that
human beings share with animals. If it perishes with death then this is not
"consciousness of Truth". The word "soul" is confusing in modern
Buddhism. There are indications that it was always a source of
controversy even at the time of Buddha, and that Buddha himself had to
clarify it. He stated that if the soul is identified with "self, then he
rejected its immortality, but on the other hand, if it is identified with that
part of the mind which perceives the Truth, it is immortal. In the
following citation the Buddha makes this point clear when responding to
questions asked from an officer,87

The Gospel of Buddha, p. 158.
E. Conze, Buddhist Scriptures, 'Questions of King Malinda', pp. 146-148.
Phaedo 77c-78d, The Last Days of Socrates, p. 129.
' Abdu'1-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 306.
The Gospel of Buddha, p. 151.
162 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

"The Tathagata teaches that there is no self. He who says that the soul is
his self and that the self is the thinker of our thoughts and the actor of our
deeds, teaches a wrong doctrine which leads to confusion and darkness.
On the other hand, the Tathagata teaches that there is mind. He who
understands by soul mind, and says that mind exists, teaches the truth
which leads to clearness and enlightenment". The officer who was
posing questions to the Buddha then went to ask, "Does, then, the
Tathagata maintain that two things exist? That which we perceive with
our senses and that which is mental?". In response to this apparent
dualism, the Buddha replied, "Verily, I say unto thee, thy mind is
spiritual, but neither is the sense-perceived void of spirituality. The bodhi
is eternal and it dominates all existence as the good law guiding all
beings in their search for truth. It changes brute nature into mind, and
there is no being that cannot be transformed into a vessel of truth".

The power of the Truth to transform "brute nature" into "mind" is of
course very similar to the process of the Christian Holy Spirit
transforming a man's animal nature into an angelic one.

Buddhism believes both that the self is perishable and that it endures
after death. This is not a contradiction. It is the moral part of the self
which passes into an afterlife, taking with it the fruit of good actions. On
the other hand, human beings are evolving and have not reached a
changeless state of perfection, so they are not "undying" in a spiritual
sense. The confusion here is caused by some former Hindu doctrines
which implied that souls had reached perfection and were identical to the
Atman or Spirit of God. But Buddha rejects these notions. The soul in
comparison to the Truth or Tathagata is limited, contingent and
dependent. Instead, the Buddha emphasises the spiritual evolution of the
soul and its dependence on the Truth,

"Some say that the self endures after death, some say it perishes. Both
are wrong and their error is most grievous. For if they say the self is
perishable, the fruit they strive for will perish too, and at some time there
will be no hereafter. Good and evil would be indifferent. This salvation
from selfishness is without merit. When some, on the other hand, say the
self will not perish, then in the midst of all life and death there is but one
identity unborn and undying. If such is their self, then it is perfect and
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 163

cannot be perfected by deeds. The lasting, imperishable self could never
be changed. The self would be lord and master, and there would be no
use in perfecting the perfect, moral aims and salvation would be
unnecessary...Now attend and listen: The senses meet the object and
from their contact sensation is born. Thence results recollection. Thus, as
the sun's power through a burning-glass causes fire to appear, so through
the cognizance born of sense and object, the mind originates and with it
the ego, the thought of self, whom some Brahman teachers call the lord.
The shoot springs from the seed; the seed is not the shoot; both are not
one and the same, but successive phases in a continuous growth. Such is
the birth of animated life"88.

The spiritual growth of the soul as described by Buddha here is very
similar to the Baha'i concept of the soul forever progressing. Moreover,
the rays of the sun, in the above analogy, are obviously closely akin to
the Spirit of God in the Semitic religions. To speak of the existence of
self in Buddhism is similar to putting oneself before God in the Semitic
religions. When compared to God, we barely exist, likewise in
Buddhism, when compared to the Truth or Nirvana, human beings are
constantly changing and have no permanence.

Some commentators on Buddhism have also pointed out that it does not
reject the existence of the soul, but instead, only states that it cannot be
apprehended. For instance, Edward Conze quotes a Buddhist text in
support of the existence of a true self, "Self-luminous through and
through is thought, but usually it is defiled by adventitious taints which
come from without"89. Early Buddhist writings particularly carry this
implication. In many instances, the Buddha discourages discussions on
the nature of the soul in order to emphasise its inherent mystery. The
Buddha concentrates on acquiring spiritual qualities as opposed to
engaging in intellectual speculations. He states for instance, "There are
some scholars who speculate that the soul is perfectly happy after death.
But when I asked them if people in this world are perfectly happy they
answered, No. And when I asked if they had been perfectly happy even
for half a day they said, No. And when I asked if they knew a method for
realizing a perfectly happy state they said, No. So the talk of these

The Gospel of Buddha, p. 66.
Buddhism, Its Essence and Development, p. 162.
164 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

scholars is groundless".90 Here the Buddha is rejecting the authority of
these "scholars" to talk about the soul, since they themselves have not
experienced true happiness. He is not rejecting the existence of the soul,
but rejecting the authority of certain "scholars" to talk about it.

In another passage the Buddha states that "scholars speak in sixteen
ways of the state of the soul after death... the Buddha knows that these
are speculations and what the result will be... these things are profound
and difficult, not to be grasped by mere logic. The Buddha has realised
this and set it forth, and those who would rightly praise him should speak
of this".91 There are many valuable insights here. The Buddha refers to
the theories of these scholars as "speculations", and implies that their
result is not a spiritually useful one. On the other hand, he states that
"these things are profound and difficult, not to be grasped by mere
logic", suggesting that the best way to approach the mysteries of the soul
is to follow his teachings, rather than engage in logic. The main point is
that Buddhism does not reject the existence of an individual immortal
soul, but it distnlsts intellectual speculations about it. The implication is
that the soul is better understood in terms of acquiring spiritual qualities.
This is very similar to the view of the soul as expressed in Baha'i
• • 92
writings.
The terminology that the Buddha prefers to use for the soul is the
"mind". The "immortal soul" of other religions has its counterpart in
Buddhism with the "immortal mind", as made clear in the following
passage,

"Bodies fall to dust, but the truths of the mind will not be destroyed.
Truth knows neither birth nor death; it has no beginning and no end.
Welcome the truth. The truth is the immortal part of the mind. Establish
the truth in your mind, for the truth is the image of the eternal; it portrays
the immutable; it reveals the everlasting the truth gives unto mortals the
boon of immortality"93. Once the interaction of self, mind and Truth has

The Wisdom of the Early Buddhists, p. 47.
The Wisdom of the Early Buddhists, p. 32.
"The comprehension of that other life depends on our spiritual birth!", Paris Talks,
p. 94.
The Gospel of Buddha, p. 3.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 165

been understood in Buddhism, a similar tripartite picture of human
nature to that existing in other spiritual traditions emerges.

If attachment to the world of the body is denoted by "death" in
Christianity, in Buddhism, almost exactly the same terminology is used
for attachment to a "separate self,

"Verily I say unto thee: The Blessed One has not come to teach death,
but to teach life, and thou discemest not the nature of living and dying.
This body will be dissolved and no amount of sacrifice will save it.
Therefore, seek thou the life that is of the mind. Where self is, truth
cannot be; yet when truth comes, self will disappear. Therefore, let thy
mind rest in the truth; propagate the truth, put thy whole will in it, and let
it spread. In the truth thou shalt live forever. Self is death and truth is
life. The cleaving to self is a perpetual dying, while moving in the truth
is partaking of Nirvana which is life everlasting".94

"There is self and there is truth. Where self is, truth is not. Where truth
is, self is not. Self is the fleeting error of samara; it is individual
separateness and that egotism which begets envy and hatred. Self is the
yearning for pleasure and the lust after vanity. Truth is the correct
comprehension of things; it is permanent and everlasting, the real in all
existence, the bliss of righteousness. The existence of self is an illusion,
and there is no wrong in this world, no vice, no evil, except what flows
from the assertion of self \ 95

The annihilation of self has of course many parallels with various
mystical traditions. In Baha'u'Uah's "Seven Valleys", as already
mentioned, a similar theme is developed: the aim of the spiritual journey
is to attain the condition of the valley of "True Poverty and Absolute
Nothingness". The conception of people being separate selves,
independent of moral and spiritual truths, is arguably a collective modern
myth.

Nirvana is related to the Truth, Buddha, or Tathagata in much the same
way as being "born again" is related to the Holy Spirit in Christianity. A

The Gospel of Buddha, p. 153.
The Gospel of Buddha, p. 41.
166 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

Brahmin wanted to enquire into the location of Nirvana, and asked the
Buddha, "Do I understand thee right aright, that Nirvana is not a place,
and being nowhere it is without reality?", the Buddha in reply likened
Nirvana to the wind, which although difficult to locate, made its
presence felt, "As a great and mighty wind which passeth over the world
in the heat of the day, so the Tathagata comes to blow over the minds of
mankind with the breath of his love, so cool, so sweet, so calm, so
delicate; and those tormented by fever assuage their suffering and rejoice
at the refreshing breeze".96 This is very similar to the way Christ
describes the action of the Holy Spirit and how people must be "born
again" in order to see the Kingdom of God, "Do not be surprised because
I tell you that you must all be born again. The wind blows wherever it
wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it
comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born
of the Spirit" (John 3:7-8).

Nirvana is the spiritual condition that Tathagata or Truth brings, and is
roughly equivalent to the influence of the Holy Spirit. In imagery that is
strikingly similar to the landscape/seed analogy of the Baha'i Faith, or
the seed/rain metaphor used for resurrection in Islam, the Buddhist
writings state that

"Nirvana comes to thee... when thou understandest thoroughly, and
when thou livest according to thy understanding, that all things are of
one essence and there is but one law. Hence, there is but one Nirvana as
there is one truth, not two or three. The Tathagata recreates the whole
world like a cloud shedding its waters without distinction. He has the
same sentiments for the high as for the low, for the wise as for the
ignorant, for the noble-minded as for the immoral. The great cloud full of
rain comes up in this wide universe covering all countries and oceans to
pour down its rain everywhere, over all grasses, shrubs, herbs, trees of
various species, families of plants of different names growing on the
earth, on the hills, on the mountains, or in the valleys... the grasses,
shrubs, herbs, and wild trees suck the water emitted from that great cloud
which is all of one essence and has been abundantly poured down; and
they will, according to their nature, acquire a proportionate development,
shooting up and producing blossoms and their fruits in season. Rooted in

The Gospel of Buddha, p. 154.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 167

one and the same soil, all those families of plants and germs are
quickened by water of the same essence. The Tathagata... knows the law
whose essence is salvation, and whose end is the peace of Nirvana. He is
the same to all, and yet knowing the requirements of every single being,
he does not reveal himself to all alike. He does not impart to them at
once the fullness of omniscience, but pays attention to the disposition of
various beings".97

This passage illustrates the oneness of all things and their dependence on
a single "Truth". It is sometimes referred to as a principle of "spiritual
monism" and is usually contrasted with various forms of dualism. But
from the forgoing discussion, it is clear they do not necessarily conflict,
and that this kind of unifying element actually exists in other religions in
much the same way as it does in Buddhism. Even the very same
metaphors are used for it.

Another point of similarity is the "sun" metaphor. As already quoted, the
world of the spirit in Baha'i writings is likened to the rays of the "Sun of
Truth" (God and His Manifestations) which gives understanding to
human minds and provides spiritual life to their souls. This analogy of
the sun has also close parallels to the "form of the good" mentioned by
Plato. In Buddhism, the Tathagata is described in the following way,
"The wisdom of the Tathagata is the sun of the mind. His radiancy is
glorious by day and night, and he whose faith is strong will not lack light
on the path to Nirvana where he will inherit bliss everlasting".98 The
Tathagata may be taken here to refer to Buddha himself as well as his
teachings and also has many obvious similarities to Christ or Krishna
describing themselves in terms of the "Light of the world": "I am the
light of the world, whoever follows me will have the light of life and will
never walk in darkness", (John 8: 12), and "But those whose unwisdom
is made pure by the wisdom of their inner Spirit, their wisdom is unto
them a sun and its radiance they see the Supreme", (Gita 5:16).

The metaphor of the sun is also used in Buddhism to illustrate spiritual
blindness. This is of course not unique to Buddhism, but the following
Buddhist parable is particularly relevant to the modern world. It is an

The Gospel of Buddha, pp. 164-5.
The Gospel of Buddha, p. 188.
168 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

ancient poetic refutation of modern empiricism: that is, it rejects all
efforts which seek to reduce the soul to measurable object terms,

"There was a man born blind, and he said: "I do not believe in the world
of light and appearance. There are no colors, bright or sombre. There is
no sun, no moon, no stars. No one has witnessed these things." His
friends remonstrated with him, but he clung to his opinion: "What you
say that you see," he objected, "are illusions. If colours existed I should
be able to touch them. They have no substance and are not real.
Everything real has weight, but I feel no weight where you see colours."
In those days there was a physician who was called to see the blind man.
He mixed four simples, and when he applied them to the cataract of the
blind man the grey film melted, and his eyes acquired the faculty of
sight. The Tathagata is the physician, the cataract is the illusion of the
thought "I am", and the four simples are the four noble truths".99

The world of the soul or spirit like colours, cannot be weighed or
touched, but they can nevertheless be seen in their own terms. Although
in this parable, the Buddha and his message is the cure for spiritual
blindness, a similar message exists in other religious traditions. Indeed,
the founder of each religion is often likened to a physician.100 The
important lesson here for the modern world is that our physical world,
like the grey world of the blind man, may not be the only world that
there is. Just as it is closed minded of the blind man to dismiss the
existence of a world of colours because it is invisible to him, so too, is it
closed minded to reject the existence of the soul or spirit on the grounds
that they resist scientific quantification.

In Hinduism, the tripartite character of human nature is expressed in
several different ways. In the Upanishads, just as in Buddhism or in the
philosophy of Plato, the chariot is used as a metaphor for human nature,

"Know the Atman as Lord of a chariot; and the body as the chariot itself.
Know that reason is the charioteer; and the mind indeed is the reins. The
horses, they say, are the senses; and their paths are the objects of sense.
When the soul becomes one with the mind and the senses he is called

The Gospel of the Buddha, p. 181.
Baha'ullah as Divine Physician, Christ as a Healer.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 169

'one who has joys and sorrows'. He who has not right understanding and
whose mind is never steady is not the ruler of his life, like a bad driver
with wild horses. But he who has right understanding and whose mind is
ever steady is the ruler of his life, like a good driver with well-trained
horses. He who has not right understanding, is careless and never pure,
reaches not the End of the journey; but wanders on from death to death.
But he who has understanding, is careful and ever pure, reaches the End
of the journey, from which he never returns".101

This elaborate analogy clearly can be interpreted in a tripartite way. The
body is the chariot, while reason, represented by the charioteer, roughly
corresponds to the soul of the Semitic religions. The Atman, that is the
"Lord of the chariot", who is seated in the chariot, parallels the Holy
Spirit. This Hindu chariot analogy corresponds particularly well to the
Baha'i metaphor of the soul being on a journey. The Lord of the chariot,
that is the Atman, sets the direction for the charioteer of reason. The
Atman is a guide for human reason, just as the Holy Spirit is the guide
for the individual soul in Christianity. On the other hand, the mind,
represented by the reins, is an intermediary between reason (the
charioteer) and the body (the chariot). This is quite close to the Baha'i
description of the mind being the intermediary between the soul and
body.

Reason in the Upanishads also plays a similar role to the "intellect" in
the philosophy of Aristotle, in that it is referred to as the immortal part of
human nature which survives death.102 In the Upanishads, reason is the
central quality of the individual soul, just as it is in the philosophy of
Plato or Aristotle and the above quoted passage in Katha Upanishad goes
on to state, "The man whose chariot is driven by reason, who watches
and holds the reins of his mind, reaches the End of the journey, the
supreme everlasting Spirit." But beyond reason, is the Atman, sometimes
referred to as Spirit, and other times referred to as the Self. The same
passage goes to state, "Beyond the senses are their objects, and beyond
the objects is the mind. Beyond the mind is pure reason, and beyond
reason is the Spirit in man... The light of the Atman, the Spirit, is

Katha Upanishad, Part 3, p. 60, The Upanishads, Penguin.
see Active/Passive Intellect distinction in De Anima, III.5, see also Nicomachean
Ethics X.7.1177b26 as found on p. 139, Aristotle the Philosopher.
170 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

invisible, concealed in all beings. It is seen by the seers of the subtle,
when their vision is keen and is clear. The wise should surrender speech
in mind, mind in the knowing self, the knowing self in the Spirit of the
universe".

Here, reason is also called the "knowing self, and the Atman is referred
to as Spirit. This terminology is consistent with the Semitic religions and
Greek philosophy. The tripartite approach to human nature in the
Upanishads therefore consists of a body, a knowing self, and Spirit. The
Spirit or Atman is the unifying element which links together mind,
intellect and body, "There is something beyond our mind which abides in
silence within our mind. It is the supreme mystery beyond thought. Let
one's mind and one's subtle body rest upon that and not rest on anything
else".103

The soul, according to the Upanishads exists in three states of
consciousness: consciousness of this world, consciousness of the next
world, and the state of dreaming which is a twilight zone between the
two,

"Abiding among the senses there is a 'person' who consists of
understanding, a light within the heart: this is he. Remaining ever the
same, he skirts both worlds, seemingly thinking, seemingly moving. For,
having fallen asleep, he transcends this world - the forms of death. This
'person', on being born and on being embodied, is conjoined with evil
things. When he departs and dies he leaves evil things behind. This
'person' has two states of consciousness, that of this world and that of
the other world. There is a third twilight state of consciousness, - that of
sleep. Standing in this twilight state, he sees the other two, that of this
world and that of the other world. Now, however, when he approaches
the state of consciousness of the other world, he fares forth towards it
and describes both evil and joyful things. When he falls asleep, he takes
with him all the materials of this all-embracing world. Himself, he
destroys them and himself builds them up again; and he dreams in a
world lighted by his own brilliance, by his own light. Then is this
'person' light by his own light" (4: 3: 7- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad).104

Maitri Upanishad, p. 102, The Upanishads.
Hindu Scriptures, edited by D. Goodall, p. 88.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 171

In the Baha'i Faith also, dreams are a sign of a life beyond this world.
Baha'u'llah states that during the state of sleep, the soul is "made to
traverse a realm which lieth hidden in the innermost reality of this
world". Prayer also in the Baha'i Faith occupies a state of straddling
our present world and the next. 'Abdu'l-Bahá writes, "Those who have
ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet
there is no real separation. In prayer there is a mingling of station, a
mingling of condition. Pray for them as they pray for you!".106 In fact,
the spiritually aware already traverse a heavenly realm even while their
"bodies linger on earth", 'Abdu'1-Bahá" states, "those souls that, in this
day, enter the divine Kingdom and attain everlasting life, although
materially dwelling on earth, yet in reality soar in the realm of heaven.
Their bodies may linger on earth, but their spirits travel in the immensity
of space. For as thoughts widen and become illumined, they acquire the
power of flight and transport man into the Kingdom of God".107

In the Upanishads, alongside statements of the individual "person"
becoming aware of the afterlife, there are other passages that seem to
negate them. Take for instance the following passage which seems to
imply there will be no individual consciousness after death:

"'As a lump of salt dropped into water dissolves in it and cannot be
picked out again, yet from whatever part of the water you draw, there is
still salt there, so too, I say, is this great Being - infinite, boundless, a
mass of understanding. Out of these elements do all contingent beings
arise and along with them are they destroyed. After death there is no
consciousness: this is what I say'. Thus spake Yajnavalkya. But Maitreyi
said: 'In this, good sir, you have thrown me into confusion in that you
say that after death there is no consciousness.' And Yajnavalkya said:
'There is nothing confusing in what I say. This is surely as much as you
can understand now. For where there is any semblance of duality, then
does one smell another, then does one see another, then does one hear
another, then does one speak to another, then does one think of another,
then does one understand another. But when all has become one's very
Self, then with what should one smell whom? With what should one see

Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 152.
'Abdu 'l-Bahá in London, p. 96.
' Abdu'1-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu 'l-Bahá, p. 202.
172 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

whom? With what should one hear whom? With what should one speak
to whom? With what should one think of whom? With what should one
understand whom? With what should one understand Him by whom one
understands this whole universe? With what indeed should one
understand the Understander?'"
(2:4: 12-14 Brhadaranyaka Upanishad).108

But when examined a little further, the above passage does not contradict
the Hindu belief in consciousness of the soul in the afterlife. When
compared to the Spirit, or Atman, individual human consciousness is
almost non-existent. In the Semitic line of religions, man in relation to
God, is a mere shadow. The emphasis of all monist statements in
Hinduism, as in the above passage, is to focus on the Spirit. In relation to
the Spirit, all else is contingent and relative. The Spirit, or Self gives the
very power for the mind to understand, so how can the mind ever
understand that which makes its thinking possible in the first place?
Hinduism poipts to the limitations of human consciousness: there are
spiritual states that transcend human thought. This is of course, similar to
many other religions. It is ironic that Buddhism is often understood to
have rejected the Hindu concept of personal immortality when many
passages within Hindu scriptures themselves also parallel the Buddhist
approach. Rather than there being a contradiction between Buddhism and
Hinduism, there is a striking similarity between them. In Buddhism,
human nature derives its spiritual life from the Tathagata or Truth. The
self of human beings is non-existent in comparison to the Truth. In
Hinduism, it is the "Atman", or "God's Spirit in man" that transcends
the human mind. In the Semitic religions the same message is conveyed
by comparing man's finite knowledge with God's infinite wisdom.

It should be noted that even within the Upanishads the terminology for
the individual "knowing self varies significantly from passage to
passage and from translation to translation. At times, it is referred to as a
"soul", "The soul dwells within us, a flame the size of a thumb, when it
is known as the Lord of the past and future, then ceases all fear".109 In
another translation it is referred to as "person (prusha)".110 Although

Hindu Scriptures, edited by D. Goodall, p. 66.
Katha Upanishad, The Upanishads, p. 63.
Sacred books of the East, vol. 15, p. 16.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 173

there is imprecision in the terminology for the soul, the tripartite picture
of human nature is however, fairly straightforward to identify.

In the Bhagavad Gita, there is greater precision and consistency with
respect to references to the body, soul and Spirit. In fact, they are
virtually identical to the Semitic religions. The goal of human life is
depicted in terms of an individual soul being filled with the Spirit:

"And he reaches the heights of Yoga when he surrenders his earthly will:
when he is not bound by the work of his senses, and he is not bound by
his earthly works. Arise therefore! And with the help of thy Spirit lift up
thy soul: allow not thy soul to fall. For thy soul can be thy friend, and thy
soul can be thy enemy. The soul of man is his friend when by the Spirit
he has conquered his soul; but when a man is not lord of his soul then his
soul then this becomes his own enemy.... Day after day, let the Yogi
practise the harmony of soul: in a secret place, in deep solitude, master
of his mind, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing. Let him find a place
that is pure and a seat that is restful... On that seat let him rest and
practise Yoga for the purification of the soul: with the life of his body
and mind in peace; his soul in silence before the One" (Gita 6: 4-12).

Clearly, the "peace" and harmony of body and soul is dependent upon
the Spirit, which emanates from the One (God). Elsewhere in the
Bhagavad Gita, it states that "Brahman is the Supreme, the Eternal.
Atman is his Spirit in man" (Gita 8:3). These passages suggest that the
Bhagavad Gita also uses the tripartite approach to human nature, where
Spirit is the unifying element between body and soul.

Death in Hinduism is symbolised by the human mind perceiving
diversity, whereas unity signifies life, "Who sees the many and not the
ONE, wanders on from death to death. Even by the mind this truth is to
be learned: there are not many but only ONE. Who sees variety and not
the unity wanders on from death to death" (Katha Upanishad, 4:10-15).
Death here is used in the sense of spiritual death, and parallels a similar
usage as "living in sin" does for Christianity or "attachment to a separate
self does for Buddhism. The search to acquire spiritual unity means that
Hinduism, like Buddhism, is often type-cast as a form of spiritual
monism. However, as the foregoing discussion demonstrates, Hinduism,
like the Semitic religions, has a tripartite approach to human nature
174 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

where the unifying element between body and soul is an underlying
Spirit.

9. Plato's Inner Sun

The Baha'i tripartite approach to human nature has similarities to Plato's
philosophy. For Plato, the uniting link between soul and body is the
realm of the Forms, which is illumined by an inner invisible sun. His
conviction that this physical world is only a shadowy reflection of a real
world is an obvious point of agreement with the Baha'i approach.

In Plato's book, the Republic (514-518), the world of the Forms is
described as a perfect world, an eternal world. In comparison, the world
perceived by our senses is a world of fleeting shadows. The physical
world was believed by Plato to be an imperfect copy of the Forms. In the
simile of the cave, the position of human beings in this life is compared
to the predicament of prisoners in a cave, who are only able to look in
one direction because they are bound by chains. They have a fire behind
them and a wall in front. The fire projects shadows of both the prisoners
and objects immediately behind them - shadows which they inevitably
regard as real since they have no direct way of observing the objects
which cause the shadows. Then finally, a man is able to break the chains
that bind him and exits from the cave where he discovers the light of the
sun. He is able to recognise the real nature of the world and understands
that he had hitherto been deceived by the shadows in the cave. He will
then return to the cave, and inform the other prisoners about the sunlight.

Plato thought that the sun's light came from the Form of the good, "the
form of the good; once seen, it is inferred to be responsible for whatever
is right and valuable in anything, producing in the visible region light
and the source of light, and being in the intelligible region itself
controlling source of truth and intelligence"111. This process of finding
the sunlight, the Form of the good, upon which truth and knowledge
depend, is obviously similar to finding enlightenment in other spiritual
traditions. It corresponds for example to "being born again" in
Christianity, or attaining "Nirvana" in Buddhism.

Plato, Republic, 517c.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit \ 75

In Plato's simile of the sun, he explicitly refers to the sun and its light as
a "third element", which is a realm beyond intelligence. At the same time
it is something upon which the mind depends,

"the eyes have the power of sight, and its possessor tries to use this
power, and if objects have colour, yet you know that he will see nothing
and the colours will remain invisible unless a third element is present
which is specifically and naturally adapted for the purpose... the sun is
not identical with sight nor with what we call the eye in which sight
resides... apply the analogy to the mind. When the mind's eye is fixed
on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and knows
them, and its possession of intelligence is evident; but when it is fixed on
the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its
vision is confused and its opinions shifting, and it seems to lack
intelligence... Then what gives the objects of knowledge their truth and
the knower's mind the power of knowing is the form of the good. It is
the cause of knowledge and truth, and you will be right to think of it as
being itself known, and yet as being something other than, and even
more splendid than, knowledge and truth, splendid as they are. And just
as it was right to think of light and sight as being like the sun itself, so
here again it is right to think of knowledge and truth as being like the
good, but wrong to think of either of them as being the good, whose
position must be ranked still higher".112

Here Plato refers to the sun, the Form of the good, as something higher
than knowledge and truth, and something upon which human intelligence
depends. He describes it as a necessary condition to acquire knowledge
and truth, and the "sun" of the Form of the good clearly has much in
common with the Baha'i "Sun of Truth". Like the Baha'i approach to
human nature, Plato's philosophy of mind is unmistakably tripartite in
character. Plato's philosophy is often interpreted to mean that he
advocated a form of soul-body dualism. But such a reading of Plato's
philosophy misses out the all important Form of the good and its key role
in illuminating the landscape of human intelligence.

Plato, Republic, 507e-509a.
176 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

10. Descartes' Bridge between Mind and Body

Descartes' philosophy of mind can also be read in a tripartite way, as
opposed to the usual dualist one. The clearest indication that Descartes
conceived of a third element which transcends the immortal world of the
soul and the perishable world of the body is the role he assigns to God. It
is no exaggeration to say that for Descartes, God forms the bridge
between the soul and the material world. After arriving at the conclusion
of, "I think, therefore I am", Descartes searches further within himself to
find another indubitable truth. Although he found that the act of thinking
was an irrefutable truth, he realised that there is no guarantee that the
mind's thoughts about the world are valid. In short, in his effort to find
rock hard truths, Descartes had dug so deep that he was left no ground
upon which the world of the senses or the material world could be
trusted. But he finds that the idea of God is a singularly unique thought
in his mind, and argues for God's existence,

"But now I have discerned that God exists, and have understood at the
same time that everything else depends on him, and that he is not
deceitful; and from this I have gathered that whatever I clearly and
distinctly perceive is necessarily true."113

Whether Descartes really believed himself to have proved the existence
of God is not clear, since elsewhere he states that the existence of God is
a primary truth, a basic axiom upon which all others are derived.114 But
the role he assigned God, of using God's good nature to guarantee the
truth of his "clear and distinct" ideas is unmistakable. The natural
conclusion to this is that true knowledge depends on God: "Thus I see
plainly that the certainty and truth of all knowledge depends entirely on
my awareness of the true God; before knowing him I could have no
perfect knowledge, of anything. And now it becomes possible for
countless things to be clearly known and certain to me..."115 Here
Descartes uses the world of God as a bridge connecting the world of the

Descartes: Philosophical Writings, Meditations, p. 107.
"the first and principal intuitive truth ... is that there is a God upon whom all things
depend, whose perfections are infinite, whose power is immeasurable, whose decrees are
unfailing", pxxxv, Descartes: Philosophical Writings.
Descartes: Philosophical Writings, "Meditations", p. 108.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 177

mind to the world of the body. He believed that if he acted in good faith,
that is, where he strove to arrive at clear and distinct ideas, where he
recognised limitations to his understanding, and where he wholly trusted
in God, God would help him acquire true knowledge.116 The role of God
clearly brings out the tripartite character of Descartes' philosophy of
mind. He believed that for the mind to reach any valid knowledge about
the world or itself, it must rely on God. Descartes' philosophy of mind
only appears to be dualist when the role played by God is omitted, and
many modern commentaries of Descartes' philosophy do precisely this.
By doing so, they tacitly reveal their secular bias. The result is that they
impose a division on Descartes' philosophy that was never there.

It is interesting to note that there are similar arguments to Descartes'
"systematic doubt" in the Baha'i writings. 'Abdu'1-Bahá's commentary
on the fallibility of "criterions of truth" rejects various well-known
methods of acquiring knowledge. He doubts their ability to provide
certain knowledge in a manner that is reminiscent of Descartes.117
'Abdu'1-Bahá first doubts the validity of empirical knowledge and gave
reasons that are similar to Descartes'. He cited for instance, the existence
of optical illusions. He then went on to doubt the validity of knowledge
derived from reason, such as knowledge uncovered by science,
philosophy or mathematics: since philosophers invariably disagree with
one another, and scientific knowledge changes and progresses with time,
it is not indubitable. Descartes also found that he could doubt various
scientific truths, including the validity of mathematical theorems.
'Abdu'1-Bahá also rejected the validity of tradition as the basis of
discovering truth. Descartes had vowed not to rely on traditional
wisdom at the very start of his Meditations. 'Abdu'1-Bahá next rejected
inspiration as a reliable source of knowledge, arguing that there was no
way of knowing where such impulses come from: they might equally
come from selfish desires as well as good ones. Similarly, Descartes
imagined that there was a malicious demon who might deceive all that he
imagined, and so only accepted propositions which were beyond the
demon's power to distort.

Finally, 'Abdu'1-Bahá concluded that all human avenues to finding

Descartes: Philosophical Writings, "Meditations", p. 98-9.
'Abdu'1-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, "The Criterions of Truth", p. 45-47.
178 THE SINGAPORE BAHAT STUDIES REVIEW

indubitable truths are faulty. He concluded, just as Descartes had, that for
human beings to arrive at indubitable truths, they require assistance from
the world of God. In 'Abdu'1-Bahá's words, "What then remains? How
shall we attain the reality of knowledge? By the breaths and promptings
of the Holy Spirit which is light and knowledge itself. Through it the
human mind is quickened and fortified into true conclusions and perfect
knowledge... all available human criterions are erroneous and defective,
but the divine standard of knowledge is infallible. Therefore man is not
justified in saying, "I know because I perceive through my senses"; or "I
know because it is proved through my faculty of reason"; or "I know
because it is according to tradition and interpretation of the holy book";
or "I know because I am inspired". All human standard of judgement is
faulty, finite".118 Just as Descartes invoked the help of God to acquire
truth, 'Abdu'1-Bahá emphasised reliance on the Holy Spirit. Descartes'
and 'Abdu'1-Bahá's discussions on criteria for truth bear striking
resemblance to one another, both in terms of their methods and
conclusions.

Descartes' philosophy of mind was far from being based upon a "ghost
in a machine". In fact it would be more accurate to describe it in terms of
a "god in a machine". Descartes' philosophy is tripartite in character,
where mind and body find their natural union in the world of God.

11. Conclusion

This paper has argued in favour of the existence of many worlds beyond
our physical one and has focussed its attention on one such world,
namely the one that lives within our minds. It has given a variety of
different reasons why there is in principle no conflict between modern
science and the belief in an immortal human soul. The paper has
presented the Baha'i view on the body, soul and spirit, showing that this
tripartite approach to human nature is consistent with traditional Western
dualism and Eastern monism. The Baha'i approach is correlated with
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the
philosophies of Plato and Descartes. Common elements to all these
traditions are emphasised from the tripartite perspective, where dualism

'Abdu'1-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p. 47.
Body, Mind, Soul and Spirit 179

is given unity and meaning by the presence of an underlying monism.

One common theme that emerges from the religions considered in this
paper is that they all describe the goal of human life in terms of us
becoming selfless. The Semitic line of religions enjoins their followers to
be humble before God. Progress involves the sacrifice of an animal self,
the death of an egotistical self, and the acquisition of a spiritual self, a
self that is illumined by God's spirit. Jesus instructed his disciples in the
following way, " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul?" (Matthew 16: 24-26). Likewise in the Quran, it is stated that
Allah "guideth to Himself those who turn to Him in penitence..." (S
13:27). The same is true in Hinduism, where the goal of life is to
illumine the self by the inner light of the Self (Atman). In Buddhism, the
spiritual path transforms a perishable self into a mind that reflects the
eternal Truth (Tathagata). The Baha'i Faith, by explicitly describing a
triad relationship between body, soul and spirit, helps to show that both
our Western and Eastern spiritual traditions point towards the same goal,
that of becoming truly selfless.

Acknowledgements

The author dedicates this paper to the memory of his late mother, who
passed away while it was being written.
180 THE SINGAPORE BAHÁ1 STUDIES REVIEW

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