Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Lesson 4: Humanology (Anthropology) Part 3

In the previous lesson we concluded that the human being is different from other animals in the three dimensions of: insight or attitude, inclinations and action or performance. What causes the human being's superiority in the area of insight is not sensory organs and comprehension, for there are many animals whose sensory range far surpasses that of the human being. The secret of the human being's superiority in the dimension of insight and awareness lies in the power of thinking, deduction, reasoning and understanding the unknown through what is known. It is this very same factor which broadens the human being's knowledge and creates new awarenesses which are followed by new innovations.

When we look into the area of inclinations, we observe that it is true that the human being possesses a series of inclinations towards the exalted and the metaphysical, seeking the transcendent, love for the good and the benevolent, humanitarianism, seeking the truth and other human inclinations and emotions. But if these tendencies are merely seen as being esoteric and natural inclinations not concerned with awareness, they will be unconscious and sometimes very weak just as instinctive perceptions are.

These tendencies are most readily suppressed in face of the human being's animal tendencies. Therefore the human being 's tendencies und inclinations can emerge, actualize and grow in the correct direction when they are concerned with awareness and controlled by reason.

Also in the area of action, it is correct to say that the scope of action of the human being is much greater than that of the animal, but it is quite obvious that the human value of these acts depends to what extent they have been Influenced by human motives and to what extent the human being has, in practice, succeeded in freeing the self from the compulsory web of inhuman instinct and motives.

For instance, the human being becomes thirsty and hungry as his or her instincts dictate or even becomes inclined to help the wretched and the infirmed by arousing his or her emotions. The sensory inputs then recognize the need and will perform the required action through the hands, feet and other bodily organs. But the 'human' peculiarity of these actions emerges when the will and decision for action depends upon reason and logic in addition to instinctive and emotional motives. For example, eating and drinking is done to keep healthy and the satiation of emotions and sentiments is done in a framework of logical laws and relies upon the guidance of reason.

We can now conclude that first, the basic factor of the human beings advantage in all areas including insight, (inclinations and performance) is when all the human being's forces and dimensions of existence be covered by knowledge and thinking, be in the framework of rational laws and be controlled and governed by reason. But should the human being's reason, on the contrary, be condemned by his or her instinctive and emotional inclinations, he or she would be placed on a slope of decline and be lower and more misled than animals because of the damage that would incur to his or her human and evolutionary talents. Of course, the sense of judgment of the mind follows a series of basic criteria and principles which we will discuss in the next lesson entitled 'world view'.

Second, from what we have understood about the human being, we can gather that while having many things in common with animals, the human being has privileges particular to the self. Consequently, a kind of dualism emerges from human life and existence. The human being comes to possess two kinds of lives and two kinds of actions. One is the material and animal life. The other, a spiritual and religious or cultural life. It is at this point that one of the most basic and fundamental issues in humanology is brought up. That is, where lies the originality of the human being. Is the human being's material dimension primary or his or her spiritual dimension? Which of these two form the infrastructure of human life? Are these two aspects independent or is one the variable of the other? It is at this crucial point where the path of many schools of thought separate one from the other.

Is humanity the infrastructure or the suprastructure?

The schools of thought which are popular today unanimously accept this fact that besides the material, physical and animal interests and needs, the human being also possesses a series of needs, emotions, inclinations, pains and cures which do not directly spring from his or her material and animal desires. It is these very same tendencies and perceptions that construct humane cultural life and later shape the spiritual aspect of human life. Science, philosophy, art, literature, ethics, etc., are all different facets of the human being's cultural life.

What is under dispute is this: Are these facets which make-up the spiritual dimension of human life dependent upon the human being's material and animal life, or rather do they enjoy originality and independence?

Naturally, from the point of view of the world view of materialism, the materialistic aspect is primary in human life. Marxism, as the most common materialistic school of thought, believes in the primacy of an economic monopoly in human life.

Based upon this idea, all human activities, views and inclinations solely move upon and are dependent upon economic production. What forms the infrastructure of a change in society is the improvement of the tools of production. The result of this view is that, essentially, there is no fundamental difference between the human being and the animal, for although a cultural and immaterial dimension in the human being exists, this dimension is totally dependent upon the human being's material and animal life and possesses no independence.

According to this thesis, not only the primacy of human tendencies and inclinations such as idealism, perfectionism, humanitarianism, ethics, love for beauty and the arts, inclination towards benevolence, the seeking of truth, etc., are negated but also that the human being's capacities, thoughts and ideas could never be observed as a reality since these views and thoughts merely reflect the economic condition of society and the progress of the tools of production.

It is surprising that when ethics and humanity are discussed, the advocates of these schools of thought, while considering human life as being dependent upon animal needs and introducing the human being as being merely a tool-making and productive animal, boasts about philanthropy and humanism and present themselves as the adherents of human values and would like to resolve this apparent contradiction with this wrong justification, "We are materialists in philosophy and idealists in ethics," unaware of the fact that they are destroying the foundation of their philosophy and prove that in their opinion, ethics has no philosophical or rational support.

The Human Being from the Point of View of Islam

According to Islam's realistic school of thought and action the human being is a being which is born of matter but takes steps towards emancipation from this bondage. The course of the human being starts from the world of matter and continues towards dominating it. The more the human being progresses in his or her evolutionary course, the more he or she frees the self from the bounds which ties the self to matter. It could be said, "It is true that in the past, the human being was more dependent upon material and animal conditions but after achieving the station of humanity, the human dimension, without being dependent on the material and economic aspects, could independently grow as a genuine aspect."

Therefore, the human being of the future will be a cultural person, free of the determination of matter, and will freely bow only before the ideals and values which are related to his or her human life. In our opinion, This belief would be nothing other than faith in God and serving Him which is accompanied by the human being's freedom from servitude to all his or her self-made idols and all kinds of multi-theism.

According to the humanology of Islam, the human being possesses a dual nature. He or she has been moulded from the earth and the soul of God. Thus, by using the God given talents and by utilizing his or her will-power and choice, he or she could move on the path of evil or good ad Infinitum.

Also from the view of Islamic philosophy, based on the hypothesis of the movement of essence, the human being arises from a material and physical origin and then ascends towards the metaphysical world.

By noting what we have so far understood about the human being, we can more than ever comprehend the importance of cognition, world view, and ideology in human life. Also, it would make us acknowledge the necessity of an ideological debate as, first, the human being has many deficiencies and short falls in his or her various dimensions of existence from the very beginning.

Secondly, the human being is naturally inclined to remove these deficiencies and raise the self towards perfection and prosperity.

Third, in order to achieve prosperity, the human being should inevitably choose a way and tread it.

Fourth, various religions, faiths and schools of thought set many different ways before the human being which sometimes are contrary and opposed to each other.

Fifth, these ways could not be experimentally travelled. Besides, the human life-span is too limited.

Sixth, knowing that all the ways cannot be treaded, the human being is compelled to select one (the necessity for selection).

Seventh, it is obvious that discernment is necessary for selection (the necessity for discernment).

Eight, in order to discern the correct path, he or she should have standards and criteria.

Ninth, gaining standards and criteria would necessitate fundamental and basic discussions, so that after accepting a definite world-view and ideology, we would recognize the correct path from a dead-end and find the way to prosperity and perfection.

Conclusion: Ideological discussions are of the utmost importance.

Summary of the Lesson

1. In the area of insight, the differences between a human being and an animal, rather, the secret to the higher position of the human being is comparison to other animals is the human being's power of thought, independence and ability to reach conclusions.

2. In the area of inclinations, the secret of the difference is the shelter of the human being's consciousness, intellect and thought which constructs or builds the human being's inclinations.

3. In the area of performance and action, also, act’s are human acts when will-power and intellect or reason dominate over instincts, not the reverse.

4. The human being contains two types of activity which, as a result, brings about two types of life, a material and animal and a spiritual.

5. From the point of view of materialism, primacy exists in the material dimension of the human being but from the Islamic point of view, the human being is a creature who is born into the material but then frees the self from the bondage of the material.

6. From the point of view of Islam, the human being contains a dual nature which consists of the earth and the Spirit of God. Thus, by taking advantage of his or her will-power and chasing either the good or the evil. In any case, it is the human journey towards gradual development and perfection.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What is the nature of the human being?

2. What does a materialist think about a human being?

3. Prove the necessity for reasonable and logical ideological discussions.

4. What is meant by the word 'criteria’?

Lesson 5: World View

Just as we mentioned in the first lesson, a world view consists of a fundamental universal view of the totality of existence. In order for such a view to take shape, we arc compelled to answer three questions that are naturally considered by every human being. In other words, the answers to these three questions become the fundamental basis of the world view for each human being. These questions are as follows:

1. Are the phenomena of the world (in general and ignoring their particularities which would relate them to particular sciences like Physics, Chemistry, Biology or other fields of science) merely created as a result of material interactions and does no other force, which is not in the category of matter, play a role in their creation or even the very being of matter? And essentially, is existence equal to matter or is it that matter merely constitutes a part of the world of existence and that it is in need of what is beyond it in order to be realized? This is a philosophical question which the mind should answer through intellectual investigations and analyses, even though empirical knowledge (in its widest sense) constitutes the starting point of these investigations. The arguments which we will bring up in search of the answer to this question relate to ontology.

2. Is the life of each individual of Ute human race confined merely to these few years of worldly existence, or does the possibility of life after death exist, which is longer and possibly eternal?

The issue, of and by itself, brings up yet another issue as to whether or not there is a thing named spirit which survives in addition to the material body of the human being? This is linked, in part, to the previous issue as to whether existence itself is equivalent to matter or more extensive than that. The arguments which are presented in this section relate to humanology.

3. Which is the surest way of recognizing the correct program of individual and social life? Are there any correct ways other than the orthodox ways which are commonly available and from which contradictory results are actually achieved? We could relate this issue to something called 'recognizing the way' or simply, 'recognition'.

Thus, to this point, we can conclude that a world view consists of having an opinion or point of view about three fundamental subjects: ontology, humanology and recognition.

Should it be proven in the discussion of ontology that existence is not the equivalent of mutter and that the world has a Creator who is the Maintainer and Nourisher of all creatures and Who is Omniscient and Omnipotent; should it be proven in the discussion of humanology that human life is not merely confined to this short period of worldly life, but rather there is an eternal life coupled with well-being, that adversity will exist, the preliminaries of which are provided in this world and that life is but an initial stage for the building of one's eternal destiny through one's own actions, and, also, should it be proven in the discussion of 'recognizing the way' that in order to recognize the correct program of a life, in order to be able to provide well-being in both worlds, there is a guaranteed way which is placed before all people by God, the Most High, and through His special Prophets; if all of these are proven, they will have a great affect upon the life of the human being.

They will give a value to life's activities which is incomparable with any of the achievements of the human sciences, discoveries and inventions for however great the values of the latter may be, they are still finite and limited, but the value of this recognition is an infinite one as it provides the possibility for human beings to achieve an unlimited and eternal wellbeing, and it is clear that there is no proportional relationship between the finite and the infinite.

Divine and Material World View

Although different answers have been given to the fundamental issues and the difference in these answers have led to various philosophies and schools of thought, however, in considering the negative and affirmative aspects of the answers, two opposing poles can be deciphered. World views can then be divided into two groups, the material and the Divine. The perfect example of the Divine school of thought is Islam and the most prevalent materialistic school of thought in our time is Marxism.

It is suitable to call your attention to a delicate point and that is that materialism has had a long record, its extent of which cannot be determined. We should consider this world view to be one which opposes a belief in metaphysics and not as a view which is opposed to belief in God for some people consider themselves to be monotheists but have a materialistic notion about God. Our reason for placing the Divine world view vis-a-vis materialism is because we believe that monotheism logically requires a belief in metaphysics and those who consider themselves monotheists but, at the same time, choose a materialistic world view, are logically afflicted with contradictions. They pay no attention to the correct meaning of the terms which they use and in fact they are playing with words.

In stating the principles of the world view or Islam we should briefly say that Islam gives positive answers to all these three questions. It answers ontology with monotheism, humanology with resurrection and recognition of the way with prophethood.

Summary of the Lesson:

1. The fundamental issues of a world view consist of ontology, humanology and recognition of the way.

2. These issues are in a primordial way, naturally pertinent for all human beings.

3. The fundamental issues, in addition to having the value of providing an infrastructure, are of utmost importance due to the quotient factor of infinite values.

4. Although schools of thought differ and are numerous, there are not as many world views because a world view is a universal view. Thus, world views are either based on the Divine or on the material.

5. Through monotheism, resurrection and prophethood, Islam has given positive answers to the three questions discussed.

6. Materialism, whose most common example today is Marxism, gives negative answers to all these three questions.

Questions to ask yourself

1. How are issues of one's world view explained?

2. How valuable are you in answering questions in the area of world view? Why?

3. Write down the divisions of world view.

4. How has Islam answered the three questions of world view?

5. How has the world view of materialism answered them?

Lesson 6: Monotheism: Part 1

Islam as an ideology has its own particular world view. This world view with its basic principles answers the essentials of the infrastructure of human beings. Our present lesson is the parameters of monotheism as the most basic principle of the Islamic world view. A world view is a perspective whereby an ideology looks upon the world.

From the point of view of Islam, the world of nature is a dependent reality and creation can only exist by relying upon the principle source of existence. The realities which are comprehended by a human being through the senses, without exception, consists of the following particularities:

First, limitation. Take any phenomenon, from the largest planet to the smallest atom, all are limited from the point of view of place and space, that is, they occur in a special time and place and beyond that, they do not exist

Second, general movement and transformation. All of the phenomenon of nature follow or obey general movements and transformations and they are continuously changing. No creature in this world remains exactly the same from one moment to the next. The human being one day comes into this world, passes through the age of youth, and, finally, reaches old age. All plants and animals also follow the same pattern moving from growth and transformation or towards destruction. This is a general law for all phenomenon.

Third, being dependent and conditional. Look at yourself. See to what extent you are dependent and conditioned by others. If your father had not existed, would you have existed? If your mother had not existed, would you have existed? How about if your grandfather and grandmother had not existed? If sufficient food, air, housing, clothes and temperatures not be provided for you, would you be able to continue existing? All other creatures are the same. All of these 'ifs' which relate to you and other creatures have, in reality, made you very dependent and your existence dependent upon numerous conditions, one of which plays a major role in the continuation or your life.

Fourth, is need. It is clear that a conditional and dependent creature will also have needs. All of the bonds and chains by which nature keeps you enchained and imprisoned are proof of your being in need. If anyone of these ties should be cut; you would not continue to exist. For instance, the need for air, nourishment, special temperatures. Each is an example of the human beings' needs. Without air, how long can you live?

If the earth's temperatures were to change just a fraction, no living creatures would remain. All other phenomenon are the same. This is a general law. No creature can live independently and without the need of something other than self.

Fifth, relativity. Take any phenomenon into consideration whose existence and completion or gradual evolution is relative, not absolute. When we compare a 15 year old child with a 5 year old child, the first is bigger, but this difference is relative and this same 15 year old is smaller in relation to a 22 year old, that is, the smallness of one is transformed into the largeness of the other. This is relative. All phenomenon of nature have the same qualities, in their existence, in their qualities. When we say so and so is very strong, we must realize that he is relatively stronger than those under him but in relationship to a creature which is above him, he is weak. Taking the strongest person we can imagine, we can still imagine a person stronger. This is proof of relativity. No matter who one assumes to be the most perfect in this world, we can always assume another to be more perfect.

Thus, these particularities which we have gathered from information of the creatures of the world of being, when placed next to each other, we reach the following conclusion.

Limitation, movement, transformation, dependency, being conditional, having needs and relativity, the intelligence of the human being concludes that taking these particularities into consideration, one must follow something unlimited, eternal, absolute, without need and unconditional. Without this, the human being cannot remain and will be destroyed.

The phenomena of this world are like worthless journeys which when placed before the number one, they have meaning and find value but without the number one, they are nothing, no matter how many they may be.

This is why we say that the world exists through God and God is the Nourisher. That which the Creator makes special for His creatures is that the Creator is the essence of existence and being comes from Him. But the existence of creatures does not come from themselves and they must drink of the water of life.

If we turn to the Quran, it refers to all phenomena as signs or a sign. This is because before any of the phenomena of the world appear, by having need, they prove the existence of their Creator. Hadrat Ali said. "I never saw a creature unless I first saw God; with that creature I saw God and after that creature, again I saw God." This is the meaning of the world view of Islam.

Summary of the Lesson

1. The realities which the human being comes to understand through the senses, without exception, contain the following: limitation of general movement and transformation, dependency and being conditional, being in need or having needs and relativity.

2. These particularities make the human being aware that this world must then be supported by an unlimited, endless, absolute, needless and unconditional Being.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What particular qualities do sensual realities contain?

2. What conclusion do you reach from studying these particularities?

Lesson 7: Monotheism Part 2

Monotheism is the most basic principle of Islam. Based upon this, it is not simply a mental exercise and conclusion. Monotheism relates to all dimensions of human existence. It transforms the human being and the world. In all dimensions of our existence, insight, inclinations and actions, it plays an essential role.

Monotheism itself has multiple dimensions which are summarized in the testimony, 'there is no god but God.'

First: Oneness in Creation. That is, all of the world with all of its continuances and its single system which rules through the laws of nature and holds each phenomenon as its particular proof. Each phenomenon is a continuous truth but dependent upon the existence of the Absolute One, having knowledge, awareness, power and Absolute justice. The world is not empty and absurd but rather it is goal-oriented based upon that which the Creator determines who then gave human beings insight, wisdom, awareness and will-power. The responsibility of acting as His vice-gerent upon the earth was given to the human being.

Second: Oneness in obedience. That is, there is nothing other than God worthy of Absolute obedience. Obedience without questioning is special to God. Islam announces that it will war with all leaders or rulers who try to have absolute obedience to them.

Third: Oneness in worship. That is, no person or creature other than God who is Absolute Perfection, the Source of all Good and Beauty is worthy of worshipping. This principle also plays the important role of negating all of the temples and places of idol worship. Muslims who follow this principle must be in continual struggle with all of these who rebel against God's commands, all Pharaohs, Shah of Shahs and all satanic forces for it is these people and forces which seek to make human beings their Slaves and enslave people to themselves and try to have human beings bow before them. Based upon this dimension of monotheism, human beings are freed from any kind of bondage. That is, Muslims must also struggle against being enslaved by their own passions and desires and worshipping desires and ego-centeredness. This is the greater struggle (jihad al-akbar) and the fighting against the selfhood of the self.

Fourth: Oneness in Lordship. That is, no one but God is the Lord or Nourisher and Master of another. Only He is capable of Lordship.

Fifth: Oneness in power.

Sixth: Oneness in devotion. ("Praise belongs to God.") Taking the other principles of social, psychological, ethical roles of monotheism into consideration in the building of an ideal society and the ideal human, being becomes clear.

Based upon monotheism, all human beings, rather all creatures, are the created of the One God. All are only His servants. All superficial benefits and superiorities which exist in human society lose their color before monotheism and are negated.

The psychological examples of monotheism are also worthy of study. It consists of a monotheist blessed with faith in God and who has among the particularities and particular psychological conditions, the sense of responsibilities, commitment, endless hope and understanding of the self in relation to the world of existence, tireless efforts and love in reaching the ideals and beliefs, self-sacrifices and the giving to others of something which you yourself need, goal-oriented etc.

We have realized that God is the Source of existence. Whatever we have is from Him. He is Perfect and Absolute, a Being without needs and limitations. All the world of being which has a relative and imperfect existence stem from that Absolute and Perfect Source.

All goodness, beauty and perfection come from His existence. All lacks, insufficiencies and imperfections are from His non-being. We can conclude that God is the Source of life Who has Absolute Existence, Who is Eternal. Thus all goodness, perfections and beauty in an unlimited and endless sense stem from His Being. They reach other creatures through Him. He has no imperfection, insufficiency or ugliness because ever imperfection is from non-being or not having which does not exist in Absolute Beauty.

Yes. Knowledge, awareness, consciousness, power, life, wisdom, justice, creation and forgiveness are all from Him. God Who is the Absolute and Source of all Existence has Absolute Knowledge, Power, Life, Wisdom and Justice and Endless Grace. All ignorance, lack of power and injustice comes from His non-being and all are imperfect. The Divine is far from any of these insufficiencies and uglinesses.

The first group are called the Permanent Qualities of God and the, second, Privative Qualities of God.

Summary of the Lesson

1. Monotheism is not simply a mental exercise but rather a belief and an inner tendency which contains all of the existence of the human being in its various dimensions.

2. The monotheist human being finds oneness in all of creation, in obedience, in worship and finds an insight whereby the only conclusion is an Absolute truth which is the Source for all existence, perfection, beauty then turns to no other but God and submits to no other power.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What are the various dimensions of monotheism? What effect does a monotheistic insight have upon the behavior of a monotheist?

2. List the psychological results of monotheism.

3. What do you know about God's Qualities?

Lesson 8: Revelation and Prophethood Part 1

The Universal Law of Guidance

Throughout the world of nature, to the level of penetration of human awareness and knowledge, from the smallest particle to the largest stars and planets, every phenomenon, from the moment of the appearance of the phenomenon, grows according to special principles and laws, moves, seeks completion until, finally, reaches his or her final place.

This truth proves the fact that within every phenomenon there is an inclination and special pull which directs the phenomenon towards final completion. This universal law which is called 'the universal principle of guidance’ in our school of thought and action and includes the entire world of existence, which is the principle infrastructure of the world view of Islam, that is, monotheism, as the Source and based upon that, the Creator of the universe who is the Absolute Judge and Source of Knowledge and Wisdom and Eternity guides all of the creatures upon the way of completion, providing them with all of the means and possibilities for growth and completion.

The Holy Quran says,

'Our Lord is He Who gave unto everything its form and then guided it.’ (20:50)

It is because this that we say our world is the world of Divine law. Even people who deny the Source of the Creator believe that throughout the world of existence, there is one thing which rules and that is law.

These schools of thought make efforts to fill the vacuum created by dispensing with the belief in God with something in the name of the laws of the material world. As an example, the Marxists make efforts to introduce the contradictory laws of dialectics as the cause for being and completion in the world and replace God with that. They are negligent of the fact that assuming the correctness and accepting these laws is itself the best proof of His existence, not the other way around as they say that the existence of order in the universe does away with any need for a ruling Creator or a Power in Creation.

This universal law or universal principle of guidance acts in a uniform way in each kind of phenomenon in a proportion suitable to its structure. It is a fact that the universal law of guidance acts in a determined way in many phenomena like inanimate things or plants and even in many animate forms but within the human being we witness the fact that natural determination is broken or defeated. The law of attraction, forces stemming from a center, etc. discussed in physics are examples of the common laws whereby the earth, heaven, moon and sun are placed upon a determined course in a predetermined manner and in this way they continue their motion.

The Universal Law of Guidance in Plants

The special laws of plants which is to be discovered in the study of the physiology of plants are but a small example of a part of the extension of universal guidance. The wheat seeds, when placed within the heart of the earth, if the particular circumstances exist like sufficient humidity, the readiness of the earth, light and suitable temperatures blossom and bring forth new plants. Natural laws have determined the direction of the completion of these plants and all of its needs have been provided for it to grow as seed, sprout, leaf and flower and grow towards its final station.

The World of Animals

In the world of animals, the common law of guidance operates in another way. The Creator of the world in this phase has given instinctive forces so that with the help of the determination of instincts, the natural life of their development is made clear and they are guided towards the final goal. An animal instinctively knows from the very first moments of life what it must do to remain alive and what it must eat. In addition, having learned from its teacher, nature, it knows what its food is. It knows what things are suitable and what are harmful. At times of sickness, it can even and that which will act as a remedy. Thus, in truth, instincts are the principle guides of the life of animals. Of course, recognizing the instinctive forces is done with the help of the senses.

We can conclude at this point that the law of guidance and determination of the way is a common law. Inanimate objects obey determined laws of physics and plants have their own special Jaws. Even though animals act and move based upon their own particularities, but, in general, they are condemned to following their own instinctive forces and in no way can they show opposition to the rule of their instincts.

But what about the human being? When the turn of the human being comes in complete amazement we realize that the form of the determining laws of nature to a large extent give off color and are obliterated. No one way has been determined for human beings. The human being is a creature who often in life is faced by a cross-roads - no determined law is imposed.

Even the pulling forces of instincts which play a basic role in leading and guiding animals when it comes to human beings even though their needs are greater than animals and more extensive, not only do instincts not increase their activities but rather they are weakened.

Not only can a new born human being not determine its own food or separate out that which is harmful but it cannot determine what is to be consumed and the way of consuming. It must be show to learn. The human being is the only animal which can confront instinctive forces and not act according to them. Even though the human being shares the same senses as animals, the extent of them in some animals is far greater than that in human beings.

This question now arises that if the universal law of guidance is a universal law and the entire world of existence falls in its realm, how is this guidance felt in human beings? By recalling the fact that the movement of human beings is not predetermined and that the instinctive drives are not sufficient as guides, how can this vacuum be filled? What force can fill the losses?

Here two issues must be studied. First, the needs of human beings so that it becomes clear what needs one has in one's lifetime. Second, the power and possibilities of human beings until it becomes clear what power human beings have in order to meet their needs.

The Needs of Human Beings

All human beings despite of an of the differences that they have with one another as to shape, color, environment, civilization, culture and quality of life, all have one purpose which is behind their efforts in life and that is to reach well-being. What is this well-being that all are searching for? Even though opinions differ among the various groups and human societies in interpreting this ideal, all agree that in order to reach happiness, we must follow a way and laws and its guidelines. It is here that once again we reach the point that we began our discussion. The laws refer to that very leader of phenomena which rules over one's destiny.

Yes. The Human being, like other phenomena, in order to follow the way towards completion and in order to reach the final goal that is commonly known as well­being, it is one with the well-being of society, the importance and role of these universal guidelines will become more clear.

Now this issue arises, how can we find this way? How will we discover and recognize these laws? These laws are imposed upon other phenomena but the human being is not like other animals to hang its head and quietly follow the way nature has chosen for it. We know that nature has not done this in relation to human beings.

We have said that the laws of human beings cannot be unconscious. A human being is not blindly guided by instinct. The human being is a conscious being. He or she must recognize the way. Here we reach one of the most sensitive and important needs of human beings, that is, the necessity for consciousness and recognition. Yes. Human beings want to have well-being, that is, reach the highest of completions and in order to attain this, they must take the way or well-being because nature has not determined any certain way for them. To find the way of well-being means to discover its laws and find the clear and distinct guidelines which cannot be wrong. Thus before anything else, human beings need to have recognition, recognition of the way, of the laws.

What does the human being want: well-being. What is the way towards well-being: understanding the laws and universal guidelines.

Meeting Human Needs

Every phenomenon in finding its completion develops needs which have been met in nature in the best possible way. There is no creature which needs a certain kind of food and the need not be met by nature. We have realized that human beings need the sense of recognition. Now let us see how that need is met. In order to attain consciousness and have recognition, tools and a source for recognition is necessary. Without sight, things visible cannot be seen. Without the sense of hearing, nothing can be heard. What tools or source for attaining recognition and consciousness are placed at the disposal of a human being? How are his or her needs met?

The Source of Consciousness in the Human Being

In order to attain consciousness and the sense of recognition which is the most necessary and basic need he or she has, tools must be placed at his or her disposal. The most important of these are: The sense and experience; the intellect and the ability to think.

All of the achievements of the human being in the area of experimental science and also in the human sciences is responsible for these two. The human being with the senses and experiences of objective phenomenon understand something by direct witnessing. With the help of the intellect and thoughts of the truth, the non-sensibles are discovered by means of their effects and signs.

The eyes, ears and remaining senses are like an ocean which spreads from our inner self to the outside and makes us conscious of the world around us. But many things cannot be directly sensed by the eyes or ears but the human being with the air of the intellect by means of the signs seen come to know of their existence. For instance, you know a teacher who gives lessons is literate and has knowledge and consciousness but you do not see his or her knowledge or literacy. Why do we say so and so is a scholar?

As a result of his or her words or lessons because our intellect tells us that a person who is not literate, cannot teach others so they gain literacy. The human being with the help of the senses, experiences and the intellect understands a great many things. But in spite of all of this, we have to ask ourselves if the human being by only making use of these tools can meet all of his or her needs? Based upon the law of universal guidance, can the way to well-being and completion be attained with the help of consciousness and the sense of recognition? Or is there a need for outer ways and guidelines?

Summary of the Lesson

1. The law of universal guidance is a law which exists throughout nature.

2. The universal law includes .all of the phenomena whether they be animate or inanimate, even animals who move according to their own desire but in totality are condemned to their instincts.

3. The human being is the only creature which is not condemned completely to the 'predetermined guidance' and can even confront the tremendous pull of the instincts.

4. What does the human being want? Well-being. What is the way? Recognition of the laws and universal guidelines.

5. Because the needs of all phenomena are met in nature, the human being needs tools in order to develop the sense of recognition.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What is the universal law of guidance?

2. Can the existence of a law in the world of nature make the world needless of God?

3. How does the universal law of guidance work in plants and animals?

4. Taking the needs of human beings into consideration, how does the universal law of guidance relate to him or her?