Loh o Qalam [21]

Lecture 21

Types of Divine Light

Whenever the universe comes under discussion, we talk about it remaining confined in the limits of time and space. Life is known because of form and features and physical appearance. One aspect of life comprises of form, features and appearance and the other one is based upon the speed. We do note the change in features but the time (speed) upon which the features grow remains hidden from the sight. From where man comes and where his childhood, youth and old age vanishes are Time and the features that we see in different stages of life are the Space.

There are two aspects of life. One is constant and the other, on the one hand increases, on the other decreases and yet at another annihilates. The constant aspect of life is Time and the aspect upon which it is increasing, decreasing and annihilating is the Space.

Spiritual sciences guide us to know that light is the basis of the cosmic relationship. One type of light is visible for the physical eyes and only the inner sight can witness the other type of light. Root cause of light is invariant and the light where it is displayed, as Space is variable. The invariant light, too, contains the forms, features, shapes and bodies.

Every action or the movement of life is linked with thoughts. We cannot act upon anything if information about that action or movement is not provided. Movement is initiated as soon as information is received. Actions are manifestations of the information. Every moment of life on the one hand is increasing and on the other it is annihilating, that is, every moment is coming from somewhere and is being recorded. Development of the human life depends upon this upcoming and recording of the moments.

We have to admit that before his birth man existed somewhere, from there he came to this world and from here he has to go away. This coming into the world is the descending movement and going away from this world is the ascending movement. There exists another world besides this material world, which also is composed of two aspects. One is the Erebus (Burzakh) and the other is the Purgatory (Airaaf). Man in his individual capacity descends in this world from the Preserved Scripturum and the intermediary zone between them, where the information about Time and Space are provided to man, is called Erebus or Burzakh. And, the zone in which on stays after passing away from this world is called Purgatory or Airaaf. Life in the Erebus or the Purgatory is as busy and active as it is in this world. The difference between the life here and the hereafter is that here man accepts the information, which he receives from the Preserved Scripturum, after it passes through the Erebus and, he ascribes meanings to that information, either positively or negatively, whereas, in the Hereafter the information is simply acted upon without assigning any positive or negative meanings to it.

Ascribing meanings is also of two types; one, in which there is destructiveness and the other, which is constructive. But, when some actions are taken into consideration, it is observed that the action remains the same it is only the approach of ascribing meanings to that action that makes it either constructive or destructive. A person, for instance, lights fire so that he could warm himself or cook food but another person uses it to burn down a house. Now, the same one act of lighting fire is used in two different rather opposite manners.

Origin of all that exists in this universe is the information and this very information takes life into positive or negative direction. Before taking action, information is compulsory. We can see the action but the information remains obscure from our physical sight.

The positive and negative abilities mean that, on the one hand, we are negating every moment of life and, on the other we accept them to remain in action. Water exists because we know that water is inevitable for quenching thirst. The information-supplying agency is the soul and the ascribing meaning to the information is called water.

Thirst is the soul and water is the body. Water is one aspect ad the thirst is the other, which are apparently opposite to each other but they are two integral parts of the same one thing. Thirst from water and the water from thirst cannot be separated. Water will exist as long as the thirst or the urge to take water is there. Thirst is evident upon the existence of water and vice versa.

Two aspects combining together form a being and nothing exists without having these two aspects. Sometimes the spatial distance is there between these two aspects and sometimes it is temporal distance. And one of these two distances one dominates the other. A man born on this planet lives and then finally expires. The features of the temporal distance are the life of that person and the acts and deeds performed in life are the space.

Human and Angelic properties

Nasma is such a light that can be termed as void or empty space. It means that void is also an existing being and when it is a being it has to have movement in it. The void is such a being that is moving from the Eternity towards the Infinity. This movement is covered in stages. The first stage of this movement is the Angelic Realm, which is devoid of material elements.

Time is the origin and base and space is the features formed upon this origin or base. The physical eyes can witness space but time remains obscure from the physical sight. Time is nasma, a light and a void. Space is an existent having movement in it and the physical sight can see the display of this movement. Concentration of lights increases in nasma with the increase of its inclination towards the compound nasma (space). The concentration of lights also has two stages of ain (substantiality) and makan (spatiality). Ain is the structural formation and the makan is the manifestation. The formation remains obscure but the object can be sighted. If a things, for instance, has the cooling effect. The thing is witnessed but the coolness cannot be sighted, it can only be felt through other senses. We see the rose flower but its smell cannot be seen. When see a beautiful person, the face and figure is seen but the attraction of the beauty is not seen, it is only felt.

Everything existing in the universe has senses and every sense is bi-folded. One side of the sense is its inner dimension and the other one is the manifested. The inner side is the time and the outer side is the space. Whenever life is mentioned, both these two sides; Time and Space are referred. All the movements of the physical body, the parts and limbs, features, shape, structure and the form of body are all space and the base upon which all these things exist is Time. No action, movement and the form can exist without the base, which is hidden from the physical eyes. Technical name of time is nasma. Nasma is such a light that acts in two opposite ways, known as attraction and aversion. Human self is a combination of lights and these lights are moving under the influence of two forces of attraction and aversion. Attraction means that man is drawing towards his base. And the other movement is that man is absorbing lights to live. The movement, which draws towards that entity upon whose behest the universe has come into being, is the angelic property and the light that is taking away from the lights is the human characteristics. Both of these properties are functioning according to certain rules and laws. The more a person is engrossed in the external world, the more away he gets from the lights of attraction. The more one is closer to aversion the lesser becomes the angelic property in him because of the wastage of the lights of attraction. And, the result is that he gets so much away from the angelic realm that he is no longer mindful of the angelic property, which actually is the basis of man. Finally he is distracted from the right path and all his interests become focused in the space and he negates the angelic property altogether. God has said, “And we have put a seal on their hearts and ears and veils have drawn over their eye and they will suffer a grave penalty.”

Grave penalty means that they have deprived themselves from the angelic characteristics.

Explanation of the formula to live the life in the material world remaining in touch with the angelic world is that the lights responsible for maintaining the balance between the angelic and the human characteristics have their specific values. If the balancing values of these lights are decreased then the animal and material urges are increased many fold. It must be kept in mind that the angelic properties make a person to ascend in the Realm of Behest. Contrary to earthly characteristics it is the angelic property that pulls a person towards God Almighty and this pulling towards God is the ascent in the Realm of Behest.

But, when the earthly urges are increased in a person and he is engrossed in space then the material and worldly urges replace the angelic characteristics to such an extent that he is trapped in the world of matter only.

God had told Adam, “Reside in the Paradise along with your spouse and eat wherefrom you please but don’t go near that tree or you will be among the transgressors.” The moment the mind drifted away from the Most Sublime God, the balance of lights got upset and the earthly characteristics took over Adam and he felt the nudity and a burden of density. Because of concentration of density Adam considered himself no longer worthy of living in Paradise.

God says:

“We created man in the best of proportions and then threw him in the lowest state of all.” That is, when the correlation of attraction lost its balance, Paradise rejected Adam.

It is elaborated for those who are keen to learn the formulae of ruling the universe that Adam can enter into the angelic world by getting rid of the aversion using the forces of attraction just as he closed down the angelic realm for himself by averting from the attraction.