Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Life, Rising Up

1- Human life is an immensely glorious phenomenon. Some people, however, have taken it for granted, considering it as a normal thing available to everyone. Those who have tried to interpret life materialistically and regard the source of life as unknown or arising from alien creatures from outer space, are incapable of seeing the supreme values of life.

2- Life is virtually respectable, and seeks its own activity and preservation under any circumstances. Man will never feel reluctant toward life unless mental disorder darkens his picture of life.

3- To discover the aim of life, man must step much higher than his unconscious, fatalistic nature. If man limits life to a purely natural one - feelings, actions and desires arising from animal instincts and reproduction - he will never find an elevated aim for his life. If man is to find the true meaning of life, he should go far beyond his natural life.

4- Life has two dimensions: physical and spiritual. Since the material aspect of human life is the grounds for man's mental and spiritual activity, any disorder in his physical aspect will affect the other, too. The mental and spiritual aspect of human life are essentially important, but should be activated by means of proper development and flourishing further.

5- Human life cannot be discovered without activating the spiritual dimension of life. As a general rule, when man drowns in some phenomenon, since he cannot control it, not only will he never understand it deeply, the phenomenon will be unable to show its true self, too. If man's life flourishes, his starting point and destination in life will also reveal themselves.

6- If the spiritual dimension is not activated, man's life will pass with baseless games, attractions and mockery. Sometimes man deceives himself with limited knowledge, and sometimes his natural instincts influence his reasoning and wisdom, making him move along the negative path of life, interpreting life with the pleasure he gets out of satisfying his natural instincts.

The selfishness and hedonism caused by man's indulging in his instincts makes him misinterpreting his life, and struggling along the wrong path for a whole lifetime. If man's spiritual aspect is activated, his tools of discovery will no longer be affected by desires and pleasures, but logically flourish, for the spiritual aspect of life casts a kind of light upon all of man's knowledge, preventing any deceit. Without activating the spiritual aspect of life, life loses its true form, and man will drown in the superficial prolific of life.

7- Human life has no value without the activation of the spiritual aspect. Respect toward man's nature is not possible unless the spiritual aspect of life is activated, and that happens only when all humans are considered as equal. As we read in the Holy Qur’an:

    من قتل نفسا بغير نفس او فساد فی الارض فکانما قتل الناس جميعا و من احياها فكانما احيا الناس جميعا

“Whoso slays a soul not to retaliate for a slain soul, nor for corruption done in the land, shall be as if he had slain mankind altogether; and whoso gives life to a soul, shall be as if he had given life to mankind altogether.”( 5:32)

When man becomes so evil that he insults God by killing another human being - and insulting the creator of the whole universe is in fact equal to insulting the whole universe itself, too, which man himself is also the most valuable and glorious part of - killing one human being is equal to killing all of mankind, and giving life to a human being is equivalent to giving all of humanity life. This is why the human disposition of a human being who has a deep understanding of truth is so heavily respected.

Throughout history, the human nature and disposition has been paid respect for various reasons, each of which calls for study and criticism. Some of them are:

a) Throughout history, all outstanding figures have generally advocated respect for the human disposition, and the public, influenced by them, have imitated them in doing so.

b) Crude, primitive emotions and feelings have also led to support for respecting the human disposition. However, this motive has no strong basis, so it cannot be regarded as a stable factor. It fades when cruelty and filth is done by man, or man's selfishness overflows.

c) The third reason is religion, for all religions see respect for the human disposition as their highest item of anthropological agenda. In divine religions, respect for the human disposition is based on God's will, which has created man's life as glorious and precious.

d) Deep feeling for the human disposition; recognizing and receiving man's disposition in the general harmony of the universe. Such a feeling is in fact the supreme religious feeling mentioned above. Of course, man's reaching this great and profound feeling - which regards each human being as a fundamental component of the general harmony of the universe - calls for development and perfection.

e) Some regard scientific, industrial and artistic advances and human cultures as the motive for respecting the human disposition, whereas such issues can only prove the greatness and importance of human potentials, not the necessity of respecting the human disposition. During the last few centuries, science has made a great deal of progress, but respect for the human disposition has waned.

f) Humanists also support the value of man, referring to the decree of wisdom and reason on the necessity of supporting mankind. Depending on reason and wisdom - theoretical wisdom and reason, at that, which does not concern supreme human values and principles - respect and value for the human disposition cannot be gained. Reason-based humanism, which has become hugely popular these days, has still not been successful in bringing human beings together in friendship and affection, or creating respect and love between them. The only motive that can make value and respect for the human disposition a reality is a religious one.

8- Concepts like character, ego, spirit and soul will only exist when the spiritual dimension of man's life is activated. Drowning in selfishness and

hedonism destroys the harmony in man's management of his life, inhibiting his character, ego and spirit - which are vital for the evolution of man's life - from flourishing. When man feels hedonism is all he needs, he will not seek spirit or character anymore.

The Factors that Can Elevate Man's Evolutionary Life

The human soul has the potential for development and perfection; in order to achieve them, we must figure out what factors or methods can lead man to an evolutionary life. Here, we will provide 21 principles for it:

1- Man's natural self cannot be the leader of man's soul. If the human soul drowns in selfishness - in other words, if it is degraded down to its “natural self” - it will be unable to evolve. The natural self (ego) manages the initial, compulsory life; it never undertakes activating supreme levels and aspects. Let us quote from Jalal-addin Muhammad Molawi (Rumi) from Divan-e-shams:

    برگشاده ســوی بالا، بالهـــا زده انـدر زمين چنگـــالها

    خواجه می گريد که ماند از قافله خنده ها دارد از اين ماندن خرش

(The soul has spread its wings, heading for the heavens, but the body clings to the earth - this world - with its claws. The wealthy man weeps, for he has fallen behind his group; his donkey is laughing at this.)

2- God helps man with his spiritual evolution. As Imam Ali has said:

    عبادالله ان من احب عبادالله اليه عبدا اعانه الله علی نفسه

“O servants of God! God's most precious servants are those God has helped to crush their lusts and desires.”

God, of course helps man know and elevate his soul when man himself wants it. As Jalal-addin Muhammad Molawi says:

    چون چنين خواهی، خدا خواهد چنين حــق بــــرآرد آرزوی متّقيــــن

(When you want it, God will do it: God grants what the pious ask for.)

The potential and grounds for the will and enthusiasm to do good deeds is hidden inside man; the best reason to prove it is the great, glorious group of developed righteousness-seeking humans that have existed throughout history.

If such a will and progress toward development and perfection does not flourish, several inhibiting factors can be named, which we can generally categorize into two groups:

a) Man's hallucinations and inductions to himself, implying that it is too difficult for him to gain mystic knowledge and elevate his soul.

b) External factors also sometimes inhibit man. Unsuitable social circumstances, the lack of constructive education and many others factors are what man must overcome and do his best to move toward development and perfection; he should not shrug off developing himself.

3- The most important form of justice is justice toward oneself, which is not possible without harnessing one's desires. Self-preservation is the most significant factor that makes life go on. When the human disposition is released from all laws or human principles, it will fall into its natural path.

Any activity aiming to preserve the natural self is destructive to man. If man proceeds toward elevating his soul - in other words, if he defies his desires and lusts - he has taken the first step toward making justice a reality. If man cannot do justice with regard to his own forces and potentials and save himself from drowning in lusts and desires, how can he ever provide others with justice?

4- One must not attempt to fulfill others' wishes and desires to the extent that one's own soul becomes corrupt. When governing people requires convincing them, and convincing them must be done by satisfying their desires and lusts, the result will be nothing but the corruption of the soul of the ruler and his helpers.

One who is sensitive about the improvement and refinement of his own soul, will never be ready to corrupt it in order to fulfill others' wishes; rather, the shining rays of his brilliant, good-deeded soul can cast light on others, too.

5- Make use of yourself for yourself. As Imam Ali says:

    فاخذ امرو من نفسه لنفسه

“Developed man makes use of himself to his own benefit.”

    خويش را تسليــم کن، بــردار مزد وانگه از خود بی ز خود چيزی بدزد

    چون به هر ميلی که دل خواهی سپرد از تو چيـزی در نهان خواهند برد

(Make me true, and take any reward you like from me; but if you give your soul to anyone you wish, they will steal your inside from you secretly.)

Jalal-addin Muhammad Molawi

Man possesses potentials and talents that blossom on contact with the world outside. Some people make use of their potentials in order to achieve their natural goals; still others use them to gain human goals - these people make positive use of themselves. They activate their positive potentials, and enjoy perfection and development.

6- If you do not know yourself, you are doomed. Let us quote from Imam Ali:

    هلک امرؤ لم يعرف قدره

“If man does not recognize his own value and potential, he is doomed.”

We cannot make use of ourselves without knowing ourselves. Man cannot activate his talents and potentials if he does not discover them and know about them.

7- Nobody will pay any attention to one who pays no attention to his/her own self. If man does not care about himself, and does not activate his talents and potentials, he should never expect others to care about him, either.

As Imam Ali has said about this essential principle of evolutionary life:

    و اعلموا انه من لم يعن علی نفسه حتی يکون له منها واعظ و زاجر لم يکن له من غيرها لا زاجر و لا واعظ

“Lo and behold, he who does not care to be his own internal advisor and conscience, nothing and nobody else will do that for him.”

No one, not even God's prophets, can guide man toward perfection and development unless man himself attempts to progress. Man must have the will to construct and develop himself if he is to move toward evolutionary life.

8- If you know yourself, you will know your God. As the Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad has said:

    من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه

“If you discover yourself, you have in fact discovered your Lord.”

Thus, if the human “self” - the human” soul”, in fact - is comprehensively known and discovered, the greatest step toward knowing God has been taken, for:

a) One of the aspects of the “self” is a monotheist nature which puts man in contact with God.

b) The human self can gain complete knowledge of the universe, and see the divine light shining on the universe.

c) Knowledge of the unity of the human disposition, with all its diverse qualities, is a sign of the conceptual multiplicity of God's qualities.

d) Abstracting the human soul - the human self - from material aspects and the dominance of such abstraction on the body without making physical contact with it.

e) All the activities of the human disposition without subtracting anything from it or analyzing it.

f) Creating works of art or mathematical operations is a sign of how God works.

g) The imaginations formed in the human mind are examples of creating facts with no physical background about them whatsoever.

9- Always calculate and balance yourself. Self-calculation and self-balance is a fundamental principle on the path to elevating evolutionary life. Some may think that in these days of machine-like life and people's hectic lifestyles, no one has the time to do self-calculations, whereas they would take serious steps toward doing so if educational systems and social leaders made them understand the crucial importance of having an original character. If man analyzes and calculates his own nature and character, life will have a different meaning to him; social leaders and those responsible for education must realize how necessary this is.

10- In evolutionary life, you must not degrade the value and glory of your own self by submitting to profanity and being prolific. Let us quote from Imam Ali:

    و اکرم نفسک عن کل دنية و ان ساقتک الی الرغايب فانک لن تعتاض بما تبذل من نفسک عوضا

“Consider your nature, your disposition, as too great to be traded with lowly, decadent affairs, even though your nature may encourage you toward them, for they are quite attractive and satisfying. But you will lose far more than you gain if you fall for them.”

Giving in to lowly affairs and decadence is the greatest barrier on the path to development and perfection. Not all means can guide one to the aim

of life. Man should not sell the elixir of his existence for a meager price. If the human ego is lost, nothing can ever replace it. The value of the “self” is higher than anything else. Countless human beings have sacrificed themselves for meager desires and lusts, thinking that they have gained something.

11- One of the most significant effects of evolutionary life is adjusting oneself with regard to others. The correct criterion for the relationship between human beings is a crucially important issue. Here, by relationships between human beings we do not refer merely to social life, for the main factor that makes social life is not making any disturbances in life and providing the grounds for people's talents and potentials to be harmonized and put to better use in order to make social life a reality.

The criterion necessary for the relationship between human beings on the path toward evolutionary intelligible life is far beyond the rules and criteria in social life. That criterion is nothing but the human ego - a purified human ego, of course, that moves on the path toward development and perfection.

12- Supreme effort is the strongest force of evolutionary life. As Imam Ali has said,

    قدر الرجل علی قدر همته

“A man's value and merit lies in his effort and endeavor.”

Extreme effort has some conditions:

a) Supreme aim and dissatisfaction about what the society imposes upon man.

b) Stepping beyond the waves of mortal desires and evaluating natural pleasures, which keep man busy and prevent him from development and elevation.

c) Logically interpreting the concepts of “possibility” and “impossible.” Some people who have enough power and will to accomplish things mistake the possible with the impossible; they imagine what they aim for is beyond their abilities.

d) Will power has a crucial role in making supreme effort fruitful, for man will accomplish nothing without will power.

With supreme effort, man will achieve:

● Patience: Supreme effort gives man firmness and tranquility against the negative consequences of pleasures and sorrow.

● Revealing the secrets of the soul: Pleasures and sorrows deprive man of the secrets in his soul. With supreme effort, man can put up a resistance against them.

● Social constructivism: Only human beings of supreme effort can construct the society.

● Freedom: Supreme effort can set man free.

● The highest level of freedom increases the heart's capacity for gaining goodwill and perfection.

13- One of the signs of entering evolutionary life is clearing the soul of all hatred and frustrations. If we hate another person intensely, to the extent that hatred fills our souls and affects our other mental activities, it will be a horrendous grudge. Grudges make man lose his ability to see things

righteously. Man ignores human values and will continue until he destroys the one he hates.

14- You cannot proceed on the path of evolutionary life unless you stop expecting rewards for your good deeds. If man's relationship with others becomes a form of trade, he will never make it to the path of evolutionary life. Some people never seem willing to give anything unless they gain something in return. Trade and reward and punishment are phenomena necessary to the natural ego, but man must step beyond them if he is to achieve development and evolution.

15- Feeling that your purely natural life is insufficient can make you start moving on the path of evolutionary life. If man does not feel eager to become perfect, if he does not suffer from his shortcomings, he will never make any progress on the path to evolutionary life. Alas, many people do not feel the need for reaching perfection, so they take no action toward eliminating their shortcomings.

16- In an evolutionary life, rewards and punishments are based upon intentions. Intention consists of decision and objective action, the merit of which depends on one hand upon the value of man's effort in deciding to do so, and on the other hand upon man's mental motive. If man's decision is based on a negative motive, his character will deteriorate a positive motive will, in contrast, boost his personality. This is why we can say that reward and punishment - rise or fall - depends on our intentions.

17- The basic factor in man's evolutionary life is the fact that God watches man's every single word, action and even what goes on deep inside him. If man believes that God is aware of his every move - internally or externally - he will avoid evil. Such a man will not avoid wrongdoing for fear of social punishment, but rather due to his shame toward his creator. Belief that God is at all times observing every aspect of human life can elevate man's evolutionary life, for man now knows that God wishes the best for him, and has provided him with intelligible ways to get there, and the tools he needs to do so; obeying what God wants man to do is the path to perfection.

18- Man's evolutionary life cannot be elevated without activating the human intellect, which in turn cannot serve man without spiritual purification. If intelligence enjoys the advice and directions of a pure conscience and sound nature and disposition, it can guide man toward progress and perfection, for intelligence alone is unable to provide man with evolutionary advance. It should be accompanied with self-purification in order to remove all the inhibiting factors on its path.

19- The human ego requires natural flourish and expansion in order to proceed on the path of evolutionary life.

If the perfection-seeking human soul starts its climb toward supernatural progress without any chances for relaxation or rest, and constantly cuts its ego off from all its natural characteristics, forcing them to obey its furiously accelerating development, the ego will undoubtedly suffer, losing the management of its body, which serves as its steed. Thus, moderate dealing with the ego is necessary for elevation toward evolutionary life.

20- In evolutionary life, man's progress should be forward-looking at all times. Sometimes imitating one's predecessors' beliefs and traditions prevents man from logical activity and progress. This is why we must state that on his path toward evolutionary life, man must analyze the culture that dominates his society, and remove any sedimentary elements in it. Imitations are steel dams inhibiting man's advance toward evolution.

There are two kinds of future man must have in mind on the path to evolutionary life:

a) The future of this worldly life, for which thoughts and intelligence are a crucial necessity.

b) The future of man's other life, which if man ignores or defies, interpreting his worldly life will also become impossible.

21- Those who are the most obedient of God also have the best intentions about their own selves. As Imam Ali has said,

    عبادالله ان انصح الناس لنفسه اطوعهم لربه و ان اغشهم لنفسه اعصاهم لربه

“O servants of God, those people who are the most obedient are the kindest to themselves, and those who defy God are betraying themselves the worst of all.”

Man, in contact with God, sees Him supervising and dominating his ego. Such a feeling makes man believe that he is always in the realm of God, so he will not fall astray from God's path.

Intelligible Life, the Fundamental Domain

Human life can be divided into two kinds, purely natural life and intelligible life. In the former, which is a somewhat animal-like life, people are engaged in a battle for survival. Their sole aim is to fulfill their natural desires, and since their life is totally engulfed by worldly needs, the positive aspects of humanity are entirely forgotten. Man’s infatuation with purely natural ways of life has greatly influenced the history of mankind. Let us take a look at some of its effects:

1- Stupefaction replacing consciousness

2- The destruction of positive forms of love

3- Conflicts between power and righteousness

4- Self-bestrangedness

5- Selfishness and stubbornness

6- Misjudging the human character

7- Human relationships based on personal benefit

8- Various philosophizations tending to vouch for human corruptions

9- Considering oneself as the goal and others as one’s means to achieve it

10- Ruining the environment

11- Man’s conflict with his own self

12- The destruction of man’s highest emotions and unity

13- The waning of human affection and sympathy

14- Sacrificing the goal for its means

15- Aimless deconstructing and weakening original cultures

16- Losing one’s aim in life and falling into nihilism

17- Uncertainty and anxiety about one’s future

18- Self-alienation

19- The aimlessness and uselessness of the arts

20- Increasing suicide

21- Social maladjustment

22- Pitiful incompetence in explaining absolutes and relativities

The Definition of Intelligible Life

A conscious life which guides the compulsory and pseudo-compulsory forces and activities of man’s natural life in the path toward evolutionary goals by means of more freedom of choice; thus, the human character is gradually developed and guided toward the highest end of life - playing a role in the whole harmony of the universe dependent upon divine greatness.

Let us take a closer look at some of the most important aspects of this definition:

● A 'Conscious Life': Living an intelligible life, man is quite conscious of his life. His character is independent, and everything he does arises from his original personality, not imitating of others. In an intelligible life, man is totally aware of the principles and values of life, and follows them.

● 'Guiding the compulsory and pseudo-compulsory forces and activities of man’s natural life toward evolutionary goals by means of more freedom of choice': moving on the path of intelligible life, man is well aware of the fatalistic, compulsory causes and factors surrounding him, and tries to make the most of his freedom. For instance, if he wins a better position, he does not allow the factors around him that may lead to pride or arrogance make him fall astray from his progress toward perfection and commitment to great human values. In an intelligible life, man achieves the highest level of free will, and the more he makes use of his freedom in his will, the greater his intelligible life will be.

We should not neglect the critical role of environmental factors and social leaders in making intelligible life possible. In unsuitable social conditions, freedom of will - and subsequently intelligible life - will have no chance to flourish. Therefore, leaders of societies should encourage proper human virtues and values.

● 'Towards evolutionary goals': In an intelligible life, all of man’s actions, words, even his mental activities aim for perfection. He never feels that he has finally become perfect; he is constantly trying to raise himself to greater levels of perfection.

● 'Gradually developing the human character'. All of man’s positive potentials and talents flourish in an intelligible life, and he finds a life of happiness and prosperity. His naive, childish feelings fade away, and his petty interests are replaced by greater, more valuable ones. In an intelligible life, the human character uses internal and external realities correctly, for every aspect of his life is undergoing evolutionary metamorphosis.

● 'Being guided towards the highest end of life': Man cannot achieve the highest aims of life by drowning in the compulsory and pseudo-compulsory tendencies of his natural self. If he wants to accomplish the greatest ends in life, his actions must be logical and conscientious, and he should be determined enough to make use of the mental activities needed to interpret the highest aims of life.

The Role of Wisdom in an intelligible Life

Wisdom in an intelligible life is not confined to theoretical wisdom - although theoretical wisdom too is a necessary tool in an intelligible life - for anything useful to man's life cannot be ignored in an intelligible life. Both theoretical wisdom and practical wisdom - man's alert, active, motivating conscience - are employed in an intelligible life to elevate and develop the human character. They harmoniously provide the grounds for elevation to the level of perfect wisdom, which is of great mystic significance.

Here we must criticize schools of thought such as rationalism for overemphasizing the role of wisdom, and considering it dominant over man's life without any divine interference at all. Many rationalists ignore the fact that if man's opportunist, ambitious nature is guided toward divine aspects, it will move on the path to an intelligible life, where man can step out of his “self-orientated” nature and be attracted by his “real ego” to an intelligible life - and this is the only way man can abandon war, bloodshed, atrocity and all other evil, and change “the history of purely natural life” into “the history of mankind”.

The Feasibility of an intelligible Life

Some people believe that man is generally incapable of achieving an intelligible life, and only an exceptional few have been able to leave “purely natural life” for a “intelligible life”. In other words, most people are drowned in their “purely natural life”.

We must first say that man does possess the capacity for accepting an intelligible life, for when he feels a passion for something, he will aim for it, and bear any inconvenience he has to in order to achieve it. Those who love fame or wealth undergo a great deal of trouble, pain and insults in order to achieve success in acquiring them.

Second, when man moves on the path of an intelligible life, he feels that he is approaching something not impossible, but a truly original life, which he will find highly valuable.

Also, though the number of those who have developed themselves into an intelligible life is low, they are not totally exceptional people, for when man moves on the path of intelligible life, he feels that all of the necessary elements for perfection exist in him, and are in no conflict with his innate natural self.

Social leaders should try to help their people realize what a conscious life feels like. If leaders of societies make their people understand how necessary a life of consciousness is, they will never protest. If human beings become aware of the glory of justice, honesty and wisdom existing in actions and words and the glorious sense of duty and love for peers, they will easily accept it. By reinforcing and developing man's positive potentials, he can be made aware of the importance of understanding and adopting the necessity of endeavor toward an intelligible life.

This is the same mind that can so delicately gather wealth, fame and defeat his rivals by means of brilliant ideas, and high intelligence throughout his purely natural life; surely, can it not understand that its

wisdom and intellect can be employed toward higher goals, such as serving his peers, justice and upholding the right? Can it not realize that it is able to seriously calculate the mysteries of the universe, not merely act like on a stage?

When discussing the feasibility of intelligible life we must keep in mind that the human character can be developed, “built up.” Man can improve himself through calculations made in his intelligence and conscience. The important point is identifying the way to explore reaching intelligible life, and that is not impossible. If man steps beyond his “purely natural life,” he can enter “intelligible life,” where he will undergo eleven changes:

● his raw feelings change into elevated emotions;

● his scattered brainwaves turn into “specific thoughts about a certain topic;”

● his raw kindness becomes “intelligible affection;”

● his high expectations change into “motivating hopes;”

● his nominal likes and interests become perfection-creating ones;

● being content with worthless concepts of goodness and perfection give way to effort toward discovering the real truth about them;

● pure imitation and passiveness will disappear, and be replaced by original, direct thought and truth-finding;

● fractional, theoretical chess games in the mind will be replaced by harmony between sound wisdom and realistic conscience;

● elevated freedom will replace desires;

● seeing oneself as exceptional as and higher than others will change into understanding the highest human unity and equality among humans as being the means or the end.

● Being content with the milestones of life in this world as man’s main goal is replaced by always considering oneself as still on the way.

A Closer Look at the Aspects of Intelligible Life

When man moves toward intelligible life, every aspect of his life will undergo dramatic change. Let us take a closer look at some of them:

1- The human character in intelligible life: According to the following three principles, the human character is virtually valuable:

a) Man is a being who has various talents and is ready to step up to higher stages of perfection and greatness. Throughout history we see human beings who ascended to the pinnacles of humanity, showing the most brilliant human ideals.

b) Despite all the diversity people have in race, appearance or secondary qualities, they still have the same universal harmony. In other words, they can move along the ultimate path of life.

c) In spite of ethnical, social and other differences people have, they feel a kind of value-based unity regarding each other if they are in a well-balanced mental state. Such a feeling is deeply rooted in man's soul, and many of the heroic acts he has shown throughout history depict the unity men have in their common principles and values.

We cannot accept the three above-mentioned principles without believing in intelligible life. In other words, proving the value of human character is a result of accepting intelligible life. This cannot be done unless the “natural

self” is overcome. Having stepped beyond his natural self, man can accept the existence of others, understand his basic relationship with them, and regard the human character as valuable.

On the path of intelligible life, man sees great human beings from a vaster, more elevated horizon, as if they are mirrors reflecting divine beauty and glory. Those who obey natural life, on the other hand, are considered worthless, even if they are socially outstanding.

2- Ethics in an intelligible life: In order to understand how important ethics is in intelligible life, we should compare it with ethics in a purely natural life:

a) In purely natural life, ethics consists of accepting principles confirmed by the society, and the reason for obeying them is merely to avoid interference between individuals. But ethics in an intelligible life means considering oneself as part of the whole of human life, which has - as the Qur’an states - divinity breathed in it, and accepting the principle that all human beings come from the same origin. In such a system of moral ethics, man does not wish for others what he would not wish for himself. He does not blindly follow a set of socially established norms.

b) The favorable ethics in natural life consists of following emotional desires and whims, whether they are to the benefit of other human beings or not. Thus, each person does as he/she may please, whereas in intelligible life man's emotions are elevated to harmony with fixed human principles. In intelligible life, human emotions are based on justice considering other human beings as valuable.

c) The basis of moral ethics in purely natural life is accepting and obeying rules arising from choosing a lifestyle decreed by the social trends. In such ethics, great human moral virtues are ignored, and the only thing that matters is what desirable in social life; in intelligible life, on the other hand, principles such as free conscience representing goodness, perfection, and motivating human beings toward that are of significance.

d) In natural life, ethics serves as to enforce social laws and prevent crimes in the society. In intelligible life, however, it is not the servant of man's rights in a natural life or a reducer of crime - although if correctly used, it will have such results, too. The aim of ethics in intelligible life is to activate man's greatest potentials and elevate the members of the society.

3- Law in intelligible life: The purpose of the law is basically to enforce social order and mutual coexistence among members of the society. In intelligible life, it not only does so, but also emphasizes on the rights of human lives. If social laws pay sufficient attention to advancing evolutionary morals and true human love for having a free character, “the natural history of life” would become “the human history.” Human laws can never be effective unless man's natural self is well-balanced and all human beings move on the path of intelligible life.

Intelligible life insists on having rights for human lives alongside the rights of purely natural life. It makes people realize each other's advantages and spiritual greatness, and enables them to use such qualities; this is what changes a normal living being into Abuzar Ghafari, a wanderer into Owais Qarni, a petty poet into Hakim Sanaee, and a criminal into Fuzayl Ayaz.

4- Social relationships in intelligible life: Human relationships in intelligible life is based upon humanity, not seeking advantage of one another. In purely natural life, however, man only considers his own benefit, and his relationships with others are only to serve that purpose. In intelligible life, the way a teacher behaves with his students goes way beyond his salary. The teacher relates to not only their senses and thoughts, but indeed to their souls. In intelligible life, therefore, careful attention to the highest aim of life is what makes the link among people and provides human unity.

5- Science in intelligible life: It is vital for man to gain knowledge. Intelligible life and purely natural life agree on this. The difference is whether science makes man's natural self inflate, or control it. In a purely natural life, man may fall into infatuation for science, and consider nature only superficially; in intelligible life, however, man makes use of science as a means to advance toward his evolutionary goals; wisdom and free conscience control human desires, and all of man's physical and spiritual activities are guided by God. Here, man sees science as a divine ray of light -shining on human societies by means of the human senses, brain, nature and laboratories.

6- Ideology in intelligible life: Merely seeing the world outside and the world inside - just “taking photos of it, in fact - is quite different from observing and gaining knowledge about the universe by means of precision tools and determining where man stands as the knower. Man is not a living being who merely reflects the facts about the world inside himself like a big mirror, without any awareness of his own role in discovering them. Man has the capability to know everything about the universe and his knowledge of the world is by no means limited to mere photographic observation.

Such mental effort, dominant knowledge and observation leads to a vital result, and that is the fact that there is an extremely high philosophy and wisdom guiding the universe toward a very elevated destination by means of certain laws; every particle in the universe, when considered in relation to other particles, confirms that

    قطــرهای کــــز جويبــاری میرود از پــی انجــام کـــاری میرود

(There is a cause behind even a drop of water going by in a stream.)

The ideological principles understood and accepted by means of these basics undoubtedly enter man's deepest levels of psyche, and influence and explain his life. Such a life, accounted for according to the highest destination of the universe is called an intelligible life.

7- Arts in an Intelligible Life: When an artist steps into intelligible life, he does not want art for the sake of art itself anymore; he wants art for the sake of humanity in an intelligible life. Here, the artist pictures facts as they are and as they should be by means of his finely elevated emotions. In an intelligible life, the artist pays careful attention to the aim of life, and attempts to use his art to guide the fatalistic activities of man's natural life toward freedom and development. When a work of art is created, motivated by the cause of making intelligible life come true, it is not only an appealing work relieving man's fatigue of natural life, but also a wave of “intelligible

life itself, “reinforcing this kind of life in other members of the society and letting them get a taste of it, too.” Art in an intelligible life aims to develop man's awareness, freedom and perfection, not his animal-like wishes and natural desires.

8- Politics in an Intelligible Life: Politics is managing people's lives on the path to achieving the highest of physical and spiritual goals. Throughout history, politicians drowned in purely natural life have degraded the life of human beings down to “things.” Machiavelli has written the most possibly logical account based on purely natural life. He did not even for a moment consider intelligible life and the prospect of making it a reality in human societies. Instead of taking man's immense range of potentials into consideration, Machiavelli expressed his own internal thoughts. He believed that managing the purely natural life of people arises from “self-love.” In an intelligible life, however, politics has a goal, and a starting point and a path. The goal of politics in an intelligible life is creating factors of awareness and adjusting the fatalistic forces and activities of natural life by providing the development of freedom. The starting point is relief from self-love, and the path is continual searching by the human character in an effort to reach the highest aim of life.

9- Economy in an Intelligible Life: As far as a purely natural life is concerned, self-love confirms man's freedom in claiming dominance and absolute possession of all creatures. In a purely natural life, man considers all natural and man-made blessings and facilities as his own, and thinks his possession of them is unlimited; in an intelligible life, however, man believes that since all human beings have the right to live, the results of human mental and physical endeavor must serve to safeguard and preserve the whole of human life, and be present in the total rhythm of the universe. Such a human being considers goods at the service of life, not life at their service. Man's wishes and desires are harnessed in order to achieve social coexistence in an intelligible life, and economy is also considered to be a factor serving to guarantee man's survival, not inflating his natural self. In brief, man should let others also be provided with the financial blessings he has, and attempt to make their life more comfortable; he should not selfishly want everything for himself, and trample all values and morals in his commercial activities.

10- Education in an Intelligible Life: In an intelligible life, education includes reinforcing and enhancing the factors that influence cognition and understanding the original facts about life, and motivating the children in a society to gradually move from purely natural life to an intelligible life. The primary duty of education in an intelligible life is to dramatically change the mental and spiritual system of the learner by teaching him/her the basic principles of education, so that the learner considers them as vitally necessary as food and water are essential to his/her survival. In an intelligible life, moral virtues like honesty and justice are necessary to man's nature, and the educators and teachers of the society should try to activate human virtues.

If education is anything other than what we mentioned above - i.e, if the facts taught as the basics of education are regarded as not a part of the

human nature or virtues - not only will the learners be deprived of progress toward development and perfection, but also be influenced by external factors.

How Do Cultures Evolve?

Various definitions have been given for culture in encyclopedias all around the world, but they all have elements of properness, perfection, spiritual and physical progress, man's virtual dignity and glory, a deserved, appropriate life along with responsible freedom and law-abiding justice in common. Over 164 various definitions exist. Having studied and evaluated the most important definitions of culture, we may provide a comprehensive one: Culture is the necessary or proper attribute of man's physical or mental activities, based on sound logic and emotions arising from sensible evolutionary lifestyles.

Culture is generally a bi-polar phenomenon; it has both external and internal natures. On one hand it concerns man's mental structure and spiritual make-up - which other living beings lack - and on the other, it has observable effects, too, which are behaviors and results physically visible.

The Four Principles of Culture

Four principles should be noted in our definition of culture:

Necessary or proper quality based on sound logic and emotions arising from evolutionary lifestyles. In other words, every cultural element must first originate from sound logic and supreme human emotions, and secondly provide man with the means for his development and perfection. If what the society calls culture does not tend to develop man or arouse his highest emotions, it will be in fact an anti-culture element. Culture is a term including values. Phenomena like greed for power, fame, selfishness and hedonism cannot be regarded as cultural elements.

Human life is worthless without a culture based on the definition given above, for without culture, life will be empty of supreme human meaning, intellect, or emotions.

The more the culture of a society relies on basic, intelligible principles and supreme human perceptions, the more lasting the culture will be.

Culture has two aspects: relative and absolute.

By absolute aspect we mean the comprehensive, general aspect of culture, such as the culture of appreciating beauty, respect for others, and gaining knowledge, which is applicable to all human societies. The relative aspect of culture arises from the particular ways of thinking, emotions and behaviors of a certain society, like mutual respect.

Two Different Forms of Culture

We can categorize culture into two kinds: pioneer and pursuant.

Pursuant culture is the quality or lifestyle independent of proven principles; it arises merely out of people's wishes and desires, right or wrong. In other words, whimsical desires are the base of this form of culture. It includes unnecessary beauties and pleasant phenomena, ignoring what people really require. Here, immoral, prolific phenomena are regarded as culture. The culture nowadays is mainly pursuant rather than pioneer. The reason for this is that a series of the highest of cultural fundamentals have been downtrodden:

1- The culture of authentic affection for one's fellow beings

2- The culture of finding original moral conscience

3- The culture of having a high aim in life

4- The culture of honesty, faithfulness and keeping promises

5- The culture of responsible freedom, thoughts and just deeds

6- The culture of regarding science and knowledge as sacred

7- The culture of cooperation and collaboration

8- The culture of spreading constructive, pioneer arts

9- The culture of truth dominating the media and avoiding omission of facts or incorrectly interpreting them

10- The culture of fine economy and providing all people of the living they are entitled to.

Pursuant culture can be divided into three groups:

● Sedentary culture: If the cultural elements of a society consist of ethnic and mental traditions, geographical conditions and qualities of the past, that culture can be considered as sedentary. In this form of culture, a series of fixed historical or environmental characteristics infiltrate deep in the society and resist any social evolution.

● Liquid, colorless culture: Based on no fixed mental basis or principle, it is always undergoing change.

● Self-oriented culture: Here, cultural phenomena and activities themselves are regarded as goals rather than means to get us to higher goals.

This form of 'self-goal' was quite typical of scientific, technological and economic cultures of 19th and 20th century societies. It caused stillness in the real nature of culture - providing creativity and development in the ideals of life of the human ego. The other thing it has done, which is as dangerous as the former, is that instead of being the maker and manager of technology, man has become an irresponsible part of its fatalistic trends.

A Pioneer, Dynamic, Objective Culture: This kind of culture arises from the basic principles of man's evolutionary life. Its motives are original human aspects, and its goal is the ideals that make man head for the attraction of life's supreme end. This is the culture that can provide man with truly original human civilization, and free him from all selfish rulers. Cultural activities also aim toward the highest of human values. If a culture is creative, objective and progressive, it will never fall.

Pioneer culture originates from two factors - primary and secondary. The primary factor is the active, mental factor that tends to change the universe into man's ideal home by using constructive human aspects. The secondary one involves the external and internal factors exclusive to each nation or peoples, accounting for their lifestyles.

If pioneer culture is to dominate human societies, man should recognize the highest aim of life as one of the basic elements of culture.

The basic principles of pioneer culture are:

1- The principle of perfection-seeking and eagerness toward it. Cultural truth is eternal, even if its peoples and occurrences vary.

2- The principle of respect, which has been called love for peers, love for mankind and affection in human cultures.

3- Man's high desire for a proper life

4- Correcting and adjusting the four relationships:

a) man-himself

b) man-God

c) man-the universe

d) man-his fellow beings

Two Aspects of Culture

Every culture can have two aspects:

1- The observable, visible aspect includes the human ideas and ideals that materialize in an observable fact, like artifacts.

2- The clear aspect of culture consists of the ideals, emotions, morals and goals chosen for life and justifies and account for man's life individually or socially, consciously or unconsciously. The word 'clear' for these cultural aspects is like needing light and special glasses to see things, without which nothing would be observable.

The clear, unobservable aspects of culture - which account for its observable aspects - are of different kinds:

1- Selfishness and greed for power.

2- Unintelligible racism and patriotism.

3- General ideas and ideals that have been of interest to man throughout history, like science, art and well-being.

Some of the clear aspects of culture attract man with their ideal, desirable appearance. The way to deal with them is for man to refer to his own self. Since man has fallen quite far away from his own self nowadays, they have also put aside original, pioneer culture. As we know, the clear aspect of culture interprets man's life in all its aspects. If man turns to himself again and finds the supreme goal in his life, he can change and improve the clear aspects of culture.

The supreme goal of life creates pioneer culture. The supreme goal of life answers the six questions - Who am I? Where have I come from? Who am I with? Where have I come? Why am I here? Where do I go from here? - thus accounting for where it stands in the universe, and acquiring an original culture.

Diversity of Cultures

Can a society have diverse cultures? Can the society survive different cultures? First, we must see what cultural diversity means. Let us begin by studying several forms of culture:

1- Cultures that are harmonious because they have original commonalities, like holy religions. Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrians, Sa'ebeens (followers of the prophet John) and other God-sent religions can live in harmony, for they have the same:

a) faith in the origin of the universe

b) faith in God's wisdom and will

c) faith in afterlife

d) faith in human dignity

e) faith in the necessity of man's proper life

2- Cultures that have the same basic principles of natural life and ideology. Cultures that have the same belief about the desired mental life can reach harmony, even if they are not religious.

3- Cultures that differ in their interpretation of the universe and the supreme aim of life. Such cultures may be able to live alongside each other for a limited period of time, but the disturbances and contradictions they cause each other will soon destroy their harmony.

If various cultures have the same ideas about things useful for man's physical and mental life, they can coexist harmoniously.

Acquiring Cultures

Cultures are diverse, so people and societies may be subject to acquiring or transferring cultures. We must take the issue into consideration whether cultures can be absolutely acquired or not. Should cultures be totally accepted or should we study the culture we are to acquire first?

If the culture is a pioneer one, we definitely must accept it and endeavor to transfer it, for man's perfection-seeking potential considers such a culture as desirable to man. Furthermore, no culture should be accepted without study and refinement.

The elements and aspects of the culture should be evaluated and criticized to make sure the inappropriate elements are not transferred; culture transfer is not always correct, and only those cultures that are based upon human values - which makes them useful and constructive - had better be transferred. The elements of such cultures, like science, industry, pioneer arts and supreme moral ethics, can bring about remarkable developments in human societies, like Islam did when it entered Iran and many other countries.

Sometimes, on the other hand, culture transfer leads to corruption and mental disruption. Such cultures make human life nihilistic and ignorant toward social values and the people.

Factors that Can Preserve Cultures

Some cultures are stable and sustainable. They can prevail for a long time and in various societies. The factors that can make a culture stable are:

First, the positive relationship between the culture and some necessary components of the society. For instance, the special culture Indians have toward animals is necessary due to India's specific environmental or ideological factors, whereas other societies have neither such beliefs nor the necessity to do so.

The second, factor is time. Cultural elements become more firmly fixed through time and also more attractive. The continuity of a cultural element, however, does not necessarily mean that it is correct or attractive.

For example, selfishness has been quite common throughout the history of mankind, and few human beings have succeeded in correctly assessing themselves and controlling their selfishness. Does the mere fact that selfishness has prevailed mean that it is correct and well-established? Obviously not, for the stability and continuity of a phenomenon in various aspects of human life does not necessarily mean that it is righteous and justified.

The traditions and customs of a nation are the third factor. As cultural elements, traditions and customs affect different people, and create a specific identity that can provide the culture of the society with continuity.

The fourth, factor is the compatibility of cultures with facts. Any culture that can be compatible with the fixed principles of human life will be stable.

If the factors that make a culture stable belong to its ethnic necessities, they must be studied. If the necessities are due to the people's mental principles and rules, time cannot ruin the necessities; if they are based upon the beliefs of influential figures among the people, the stability of the culture depends upon how influential these individuals are, and how logical they are.

In brief, the mere firm establishment of a culture among people does not imply its originality or its compatibility with the truth. Although when a culture deeply infiltrates inside people it does become like lenses in their eyes through which its followers see the universe, since many cultures of past and present prove baseless when analyzed, we can say that for every positive step man takes on the path of his evolutionary life, he must analyze the culture that dominates his society, throw away any sedentary elements and prevent them from inhibiting his development.

Why Cultural Elements Lose Their Harmony

As we have already said, culture consists of various elements, which in harmony can provide members of the society with development, elevation and continuity. In most societies, however, there is unfortunately lack of harmony among cultural elements. Intense disorder in the elements of a culture can lead to the destruction of the whole culture. The most important disorder in the culture of a society occurs when there is a divide between the spiritual principles and human values. The factors that can bring about disharmony among the cultural elements of a society are:

1- The selfishness of the social leaders can cause disorders in some cultural elements.

2- Hedonism is of the most significant of factors making cultural elements disharmonious.

3- Greed for authority can also, in many forms, demolish cultural values.

We should also keep in mind that harmony among cultural elements in a society does not necessarily mean that all elements originate from the same principles, for every cultural element or phenomenon must arise from its own, specific origin. It does not matter, for example, for the moral culture of a society to originate from emotional principles, whereas its scientific culture may be intellectual and observational; likewise, artistic culture may arise out of abstract tendencies while historical culture originates from observable, realistic elements, and religious culture is based upon pure spiritualism.

Can Culture Undergo Evolution?

Some people believe that culture has undergone an evolutionary progress throughout history. These thinkers consider the advances achieved in some cultural elements such as science and man's making use of his potentials and talents as evolution in human culture. If evolution means scientific and technological advances, man has undoubtedly made progress with regard to his contact with the world and his fellow beings, for the necessity to adjust life and man's sense of domination and benefit-seeking has led to

developments in some cultural phenomena in history. But when it comes to components of culture that are to develop man's soul, there has been no evolution. In other words, man's material culture has made progress, but the other aspects have not. For instance:

● Man still has to make himself committed to defy the culture of selfishness.

● The culture of kindness toward human beings, constructive love, creating charity and greatness has vanished.

● The culture of righteousness being the highest and using power to uphold righteousness and executing what is good and right has waned.

● The culture of scientific conscience has been marred by greed for fame, power and selfishness.

● The culture of caring for geniuses and constructive figures and using them correctly has faded away in today's societies.

● There is no culture of constructive relationship between people; human beings behave toward one another with savagery.

● If human culture has really had evolution, why does man ignore the most fundamental principles of his life:

a) an Intelligible life

b) human dignity and grace

c) responsible, intelligible freedom

d) all laws should be equally applicable to all people

Man still suffers from cultures influenced by Machiavelli, fighting for survival and greed for power. Stagnant evolution in culture has deprived most people of realizing the supreme realities and following them. People cannot comprehend intelligible beauties. The culture of mechanistic life has disabled man's understanding of the beauty of the universe, justice, freedom and dignity.

Nowadays, committing immoral acts is the preferred way to achieve one's goal in political cultures. The logic of human economics has turned into consumerism, and the culture of making a living for life has become living to make an earning.

The Fundamentals of Western Culture

The principles we see as dominating cultural life in Western societies today that can be considered the basics of Western culture. This does not, however, mean that all people in the West believe in them; there are some who actually defy these basics. The important thing is that these principles govern the life and behavior of the people in the West. Let us take some of these principles into consideration:

1- Worldly life is fundamental: Western man has no goal beyond life in this world. They believe that this world is man's ultimate location of existence in the universe.

2- Absolute freedom: Any individual or group can do as he wishes, as long as they do not disturb others. Thus, the individual's life for his own sake has no meaning, for man can do the filthiest of actions legally as long as he causes others no inconvenience. Western culture emphasizes mutual coexistence, not human effort on the path to an intelligible life.

3- Greed for power: Power plays a crucial role in Western culture. It has made cooperation, affection and tolerating legitimate actions of other human beings mere tools for reaching power. The powerful do their best to disable man in order to reach their own animal desires more easily.

4- Hedonism: Western culture encourages hedonism. Some Western so-called “thinkers” have even used science to promote hedonism. If human pleasure is downtrodden, they believe, man will fall into mental disorders and complexes.

5- Desire for seeking profits and advantages: Western culture sees man as always seeking his own benefits and desires. That is what has led to so much exploitation of various peoples and loss of human life

6- Machiavellianism: Machiavellian beliefs dominate the political culture of the West. Human principles fade away, and politicians can use Machiavellian principles to ignore human values.

7- Pragmatism spreads: Another basic characteristic of Western culture is spreading pragmatism without correctly interpreting it. If Western thoughts were based on the premises that mere emphasis upon abstract concepts is not the only way to practically use true facts, and an intelligible interpretation of the facts of the universe were presented, the West would never be what it is today. Unfortunately, the current trend is judging as true or false based upon only observable actions. Thus, the criterion for being the truth is only observable actions.

8- Ignorance toward the limitations of science: In the West, man pays attention to only science and what he gets from his physical senses and laboratory devices. Religion, moral ethics, philosophy wisdom and mysticism are overruled because they are regarded as non-scientific.

9- The incapability of Western philosophies: There is no question that ever since many years ago, not only has the West failed to present a systematic philosophical school of thought or world-view to man, but has even been unable to provide a significant number of profound, meaningful - though scattered - material. Alas, man cannot interpret or freely choose his way of life without a general understanding of the four relationships (man-himself, man-God, man-his fellow beings and man-the universe).

10- Prolific, profane arts become popular: Although there is a concept of perfection hidden in art, what exists in the West today is prolific art. Lowly, decadent concepts are presented in the most attractive form to fascinate people. Prolific art and using culture in the service of one's desires and lusts is a factor that can destroy original human cultures.

Man and the Universe: What Should Man Do?

There are four basic aspects to man's relationship with the universe:

1- Knowing the universe

2- Perceiving the universe

3- The changes in the universe

4- Changing the universe

The factors that can activate the four basic aspects mentioned above are:

1. Scientific, 2. Philosophical, 3. Intuitive, 4. Moral, 5. Wisdom, 6. Mystical, 7. Religious.

There are several points we must consider when discussing the aspects and factors mentioned above:

1- The identity and boundaries of these aspects and factors is not so clear-cut to make it impossible for them to become distinct and unmixable in the human mind or spirit. For example, we may have both scientific and intuitive knowledge of a fact; however, some people may not be capable of understanding one thing by two different ways simultaneously, so they must sacrifice one to gain the other.

2- The criterion for categorizing the aspects into these four kinds is that when the “self” encounters “anything other than the self” - the world outside and the world inside - it either engulfs and dominates it, thus gaining knowledge about it, or understands anything other than the self by the powerful universe-discovering senses it has in it, which is called receiving the universe. The human self-gains knowledge about facts by means of its communication with the human mind. If it proceeds to abstract, judge, compare, analyze, prioritize and theoretically select, and achieve a supreme kind of influence by means of extremely high feelings, it will have achieved reception.

3- There is a time in every human being's life when one realizes that there is a much higher state than their current one, and if the human being decides to achieve that more elevated position, the changing process has already begun. Free will, of course, plays a highly significant role in man's changing process.

4- Man cannot change evolutionarily unless he recognizes his unity with others. In other words, the “self” (the ego) must be harmonious with other “selves;” the “self” cannot change without changing the other “selves.”

Thus, man cannot be indifferent about others on the path to evolution. For a developed, elevated human being cannot bear to see others suffer or be oppressed, and always endeavors to help them develop. Man will never change without trying to change others, too. There is also a good deal of hadith supporting this:

    من اصبح و لم يهتم بامور المسلمين فليس بمسلم

“Muslim is not the one who wakes up in the morning without caring about other Muslims.”

5- Now let us take the seven factors into more detailed consideration:

a) Scientific knowledge: includes making contact with facts about the universe by means of observation and experiment.

Generally, any form of scientific knowledge consists of contact with facts about the universe for the purpose of learning them, by means of experiments, observations and conclusions about directly or indirectly observable topics or phenomena concerning the universe, whether in the world inside or in the world outside.

b) Intuitive knowledge: involves direct reception of facts without making use of sensory or experimental observations; i.e., Perceiving the truth beyond qualitative or quantitative phenomena and observable beauties. Intuitive reception requires going through the appropriate preliminaries and paths. Intuitively recognizing beauty, for instance, it is necessary to make sensory contact with beautiful phenomena.

This contact is not, however, in manner in which man can understand how and when he will intuitively recognize beauty. In other words, specific intuition about beauty cannot be regarded as a synthesis based on the previous interaction of several units, or as a certain result of direct logical comparison arising from two major and minor premises.

c) Moral knowledge consists of the development and flourish of knowledge gained by the senses and other tools of knowledge and intellect in an inside guided by conscience. Thus, when a human being of high moral ethics and values gains knowledge of mankind and the universe, the knowledge will always flow through him like something that is continually renewing itself. The knowledge will never form a barrier between man and the truth; it will never be used for selfish desires.

d) Knowledge by wisdom: If we consider the first four forms of knowledge mentioned above as man's motive and guide in life, the mystic knowledge they acquire can be called wisdom. Here, man harmonizes the four kinds of knowledge, and uses them in order to move toward intelligible life.

e) Mystical knowledge: If the aspects mentioned above are accompanied by a divine light than places man in the domain of the attraction of the truth, making man move toward it, man will achieve mystical reception and understanding.

f) Religious knowledge: Religious knowledge consists of faith in the properness of acquiring these six aspects in order to move along the path of divine attraction with the determined principles based upon what holy prophets of God preached.

6- None of the seven factors are produced by the human mind. One or several factors of knowledge have arisen and been used by man depending on the conditions of the time and locations he existed in. Most people have only used some of them; very few have been able to gain them all; Jalal-addin Muhammad Molawi (Rumi) and Avicenna were among those very special ones.

The seven factors can support and complete each other. Some thinkers believe that each of the seven factors have a specific, distinct identity, and conflict with each other, but this calls for criticism and further consideration. In fact, the seven factors cannot be separated, for each completes the other. For instance, man can use technology to discover some aspects of the human nature, but he can never claim that he has discovered

man scientifically as man really is. Likewise, it is wrong to claim that one has explored the entire universe intuitively. When the human character gains one of the factors, in fact, if it realizes what other factors exist and what they can do, it will feel insufficient, and attempt to achieve the other ones, too. If man only pays attention to philosophical knowledge of the universe but knows that some of his research must rely on scientific data, he will feel that his explorations are not complete unless he gains scientific knowledge, too.

Knowledge of the Universe by means of the Seven Factors

1- Scientific knowledge of the universe: consists of identifying the phenomena in the universe in order to discover the laws and principles that control them. The fact that water boils at 100 degrees Centigrade is a natural reality, and understanding it is a purely scientific issue. Likewise, 2×2=4 is a mathematical fact, for first we make contact with the limited by means of our senses, and then our mind abstracts from them.

2- Philosophical knowledge of the universe:The fact that we mentioned above - water boiling at 100 degrees - has several aspects, and one of them is philosophical. Heat involves motion, and motion is a philosophical issue. 2×2=4 also can be considered from a philosophical point of view, for the question arises whether these numbers are conventional or abstract.

3- Intuitive knowledge of the universe: It may be imagined that the examples given above have no room for intuition, but if we look at scientific contact from a much higher point of view, intuition will also play its part. As Jalal-addin Muhammad Molawi says:

    ذرّهها ديدم دهانشان جملـه باز گـر بگويم، خردشان گردد دراز

I saw tiny, open-mouthed particles. If I were to tell you everything about them, it would take ages.

The above verse implies intuition.

Intuition involves the reality that activates interaction of substances from movement or movement out of substance interaction, guiding particles toward the field of factors that prolong and preserve their existence and also guiding the preserving field toward the particles. In a nutshell, it moves the identity of every being.

Thus, we must say that all scientific theories involving nature and its relationship with man, include a general subject upon which intuition is possible, and other subjects concerning the world of nature where intuition is possible are those that enter science by means of discovery. As we know, no discovery is possible without intuition.

Intuition also takes place in discoveries, too. Abstraction, which takes place in mathematical theorems, is an intuitive matter, for the truth of numbers cannot be reflected in the mind by any qualitative or quantitative aspects at all.

4- Knowledge of the universe from a moral ethics point of view: Separating the moral aspect from the scientific and philosophical aspects has led to harmful effects on man's life. Those who defend such a separation believe, “When we are studying and doing experiments about an observable phenomenon in the lab, it does not matter whether our relationship with

people is based upon affection or hatred and revenge. It is not important whether we are using the lab by force or legally.

Even when we are busy testing, we should not think whether the results of our research will be advantageous to man or not.” Moral knowledge makes man accept facts are he has understood them, and reflect them to others. Such a human being will never make other facts fade away by learning about one fact; he will never let his character be imprisoned by a certain fact, making him fall behind other facts.

5- Wisdom and knowledge of the universe: Studying the two mathematical and natural theorems mentioned above from the viewpoint of wisdom makes man aware of the great potentials in his brain and soul that are activated by gaining knowledge of these two theorems; he also realizes that the universe is founded on a supreme wisdom that has made all creatures move toward a certain end.

Here, man realizes that knowledge of the two above mentioned theorems is the effect of a universal wisdom that has been presented to us.

    ای خدا ای خالق بی چند و چـون آگهـی از حــال بيــرون و درون

    قطرة دانش که بخشيدی ز پيش متصل گردان به درياهای خويش

    قطرة علـم است اندر جان مــن وا رهانـش از هـوی، وز خاک تن

O God, O Indisputable, O Aware of all inside and out Creator! Connect the drop of knowledge you gave us to your seas. Free the drop of knowledge in me from desires and lusts.

Here,Jalal-addin Muhammad Molawi (Rumi) means that if the knowledge man has gained is freed of lusts and desires with God's help and kindness, it will shine with wisdom and mysticism.

6- Mystical knowledge of the universe: here, man achieves an understanding beyond formal sciences, and sees a brilliant light in the universe that is not due to senses, reason or intellect; such a light can change what you know into what you see. Thus, in this form of understanding, man recognizes his dependency - and that of his knowledge - upon the universe in the form of intuitive knowledge.

7- Religious knowledge of the universe: Religion approves of any knowledge that reveals facts and knowledge of them to man. Religious knowledge creates a kind of light in man that makes his soul more fertile and productive. The religious aspect has all the other six aspects mentioned above.

Perceiving the Universe by means of the Seven Aspects

It seems that knowing differs from understanding (i.e. receiving). Knowing is the product of a fact arriving the mind and its awareness. Science and knowledge means man merely has a form of the fact in his mind, but when he understands it, the fact understood becomes a part of his character. He finds himself dependant upon it.

Those incapable of such understanding or reception had better go to the mountains one night of bright moonlight and put their physical, chemical, mathematical, astronomical and all their other viewpoints aside for a few

minutes, and observe the spectacularly harmonious flow of the stars, the glorious silence of the mountains, the beautiful silvery moonlight spraying over them, and the exquisite music of the waterfall which amplifies the meaningfulness of the scenery. If man's mind and soul is even normally sound, his reception of these units and their whole will reach a limit where he will wish to be a part of them, or feel them as a part of him.

1- Perceiving the universe from a scientific aspect: Scientific knowledge differs from understanding it. Scientific knowledge is mental understanding of facts, but scientific understanding means man's soul acquiring the facts. We must remember that scientific knowledge and scientific understanding and acquisition do not depend upon each other. Man may have scientific knowledge, but he can be quite far from scientific reception, or even vice versa. However, the more comprehensive and complete scientific knowledge is, its reception and understanding will also be greater.

2- Perceiving the universe from a philosophical aspect: Philosophy means the knowledge of the basics and fundamentals of the universe or its creatures as they are, so philosophy can provide the human soul with the factors needed for understanding the universe. Man can gain complete knowledge of the universe, and achieve internal recognition and understanding of the basics and fundamentals of the universe. The best reason for such reception in man is the unique sense of excitement and joy man feels when its basics are founded in him. No sound man would say:

    به جهان خرّم از آنم که جهان خرّم از اوست عاشقم بر همه عالم که همه عالم از اوست

I see the world lovely and beautiful because God, the most beautiful of all, has created it.

when watching beautiful scenery, Sa'adi must have received basic knowledge about the universe when he composed the above verse.

3- Perceiving the universe intuitively: In intuitive understanding, man's inside makes direct contact with facts. In fact, intuition is the highest form of understanding, and it can discover the truth. Thus, the certainty it results in is clearer than that of science and philosophy.

4- Perceiving the universe with a moral aspect: Morals make the human soul flourish, so that it can attract the good and intelligible ideals with an aware conscience. Moral ethics clarify man's understanding of the universe. Those who do not have good manners and temper, see the universe as dark and illusive, for their internal refinery is unable to purify the facts about the universe pouring into them. Their inside is already full of wishes and desires, so they regard as facts as baseless; the world never seems serious to them.

5- Perceiving the universe by wisdom: Understanding the wisdom of the universe and man's own existence, which has been emphasized by the holy prophets and great men, too. One cannot understand the universe without recognizing its value. Here, man uses all of his potentials and powers to achieve the truth about the universe and his own existence. In philosophical recognition, man's existence understands the general basics of the universe without realizing its value and properness.

6- Perceiving the universe with a mystic point of view: Here, the brilliant light of the universe, which is a ray of divine glory and beauty, is realized. This form of reception of the universe cannot be put into words. One cannot possibly understand such an extreme feeling without getting a taste of it.

7- Perceiving the universe with a religious aspect: As religions aims to make the human character and all of its potentials and aspects flourish and develop, all of the six forms of reception mentioned above are necessary to man. In Islam, if one is to make contact with his own existence intuitively, one must take all of these forms of reception into consideration, and take any necessary measures to gain them.

Changing by means of the Seven Aspects

Gaining knowledge about the universe by means of the above seven aspects can bring about “change” in man. Such change, which includes development of man's spirit, is the ideal of all prophets and men of wisdom. No thinker familiar with man and his various aspects would ever doubt the innate desirability of this form of change. Generally, by change, we mean revolutions in the human ego, from degradedlevels to higher degrees of wisdom, reception and acquiring divine ways and values.

1- Change with a scientific aspect: If man separates his change and development from knowledge, and considers the two as totally distinct things, he is in fact battling his own self. Such a separation means, “I am a being for my own sake, and my knowledge of scientific issues, like 2×2=4 or explosives are dangerous are something totally separate.” We must remember that man gains knowledge and uses it to make weapons that can be used to save or destroy mankind. A human being full of animal desires and selfishness may take steps toward the annihilation of humanity. That is why we say that we must create the proportionate kind of development and change in each specific person by means of education or any other scientific knowledge.

2- Change with a philosophical aspect: Since the aim of philosophy is achieving general knowledge of the highest basics and concepts of the universe, and it saturates man's sense of seeking generalization and unity, philosophy can have a significant role in changing man profoundly.

3- Intuitive change: True intuition causes man's development.

4- Change with a moral change: Acquiring elevated moral values guides man toward perfection. Moral change provides the grounds for mystical change. Mystic ecstasy and excitement will be useless without man having purified himself of everything immoral. Alas, some jump to mystical change before achieving moral change, and this is premature maturity - better called “out-of-place” maturity.

They expose their soul to unreal expansions and contractions and fluctuations, and fall into despair and depression because they have not yet suitably adjusted or purified their own standing and duty with regard to the universe.

If man's internal wishes and lusts are not harnessed, he will fall for crude, mortal desires, and see himself and his personal ideals as the absolute. Such people will fall into conceit and arrogance, although it will seem like

extreme modesty and humbleness. All in all, man will never achieve mystical change and development unless he acquires moral values.

5- Change with wisdom: By wisdom here we mean not pretending to be wise or drowning in fascinating jargon, but awareness of the supreme aim of life and the universe, and acting based on that awareness. By awareness, of course, in wisdom we refer to mental and spiritual clarity, not usual awareness.

6- Change with a mystic aspect: In real mysticism, the human ego is not regarded as the end; in fact, the ego is put on the path of change and development, freeing it from its natural self. In this form of change, all of man's forces and potentials are attracted by God. In mystical development, man's knowledge shines with mystical intuition in any state he may be.

7- Change with a religious aspect: Here, all of the six aspects mentioned above receive attention, for religious change covers all aspects.

Changing Others by means of the Seven Aspects

When man is on the path of change and has achieved spiritual evolution, he can also guide others to the path. He cannot say, “Others are not my business, for I have achieved spiritual completeness.” It is only in negative mysticisms that those who claim to be perfect ignore others' development. In order to guide others toward perfection, the guide himself should be a total master. In other words, the trainer must have achieved what he intends to provide his trainees with. As the renowned Philosopher Mirdamad is believed to have said:

    ذات نايافته از هستی بخـش کی تواند که شود هستی بخـش

    خشک ابری که شود زآب تهی نآيــد از وی صفــت آبدهـی

How can one who has not been blessed try to bless others? How can a dry cloud ever produce rain?

1- Changing others from a scientific aspect: Scientific knowledge is as important in changing others as it is in changing oneself. Those who intend to develop other people should not separate people from the universe in their effort to help them focus on the domain of concepts and supernatural meanings.

2- Changing others from a philosophical aspect: As we know, by philosophical knowledge we do not mean mental chess games with a bunch of rigid concepts and sacrificing the facts of the universe with pleasant jargon; in fact, here we refer to understanding the basic fundamentals and principles of the universe. Philosophical training and development differs from teaching philosophy, for it requires preparing the trainees' minds to comprehend philosophical facts, and allow their human ego to develop having understood the basic fundamentals of the knowledge of the universe. Then, the great world inside man can flourish. Thus, philosophically developing and changing means the conversion of the little knowledge he has of the universe into its complete, detailed form.

3- Intuitively changing others: The trainer cannot create intuition in his trainees. What he can do, however, is to prepare their souls and minds to understand and receive intuitively. The trainer should intrigue mental

concentration and the ability to focus in his trainees, free them of their predefined principles and basics and make them aware of their hidden potentials. We must remember that two kinds of intuition can be possible in intuitive developing:

a) General intuition about the universe, which occurs in great explorers of mystic knowledge.

b) Intuition about some facts of the universe and the supernatural. However, intuition of all facts and realities without need for intellect, sensory preliminaries and experimental activities is possible - at least, on the path of normal life.

4- Changing others with a moral aspect: Acquiring moral qualities can make man's potentials flourish. In fact, man's life cannot be changed without developing his moral values. Those trainers and instructors who ignore man's great moral aspects and only focus on scientific and technical issues, achieve no more than preparing man for his battle for survival. Man cannot be made to develop mystically unless he is also morally developed, too.

5- Changing others by wisdom: Here, man must acquire the highest of human qualities, to such an extent that he uses the qualities for decorating and transacting with his own disposition. Trainers and instructors cannot guide their trainees toward this aspect merely through moral aspects, for the basic aspects of wisdom must exist inside the individual himself if he is to exactly feel the necessity to follow them. In fact, only wisdom can provide the basis for moral ethics; wisdom to moral ethics is as the soul to the body.

6- Changing others with a mystical aspect: Self-knowledge is the first step in mystical change. Perseverance - the preliminary to action - and accepting facts are other important steps.

7- Changing others with a religious aspect:This is the main goal of all prophets God has sent. The other six aspects mentioned above are added advantages for human life, which if added to the religious aspect, can bring about man's ultimate development and perfection. In this aspect, one can move on the path of divine attraction and reach intelligible life by means of belief in basic religious principles and observing its soul-developing mandates.