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SPIRITUAL NATURE OF MAN |
We have many times demonstrated and established that man
is the noblest of beings, the sum of all perfections, and that all
beings and all existences are the centers from which the glory of
God is reflected, that is to say, the signs of the Divinity of God
are apparent in the realities of things and of creatures. Just as
the terrestrial globe is the place where the rays of the sun are
reflected—as its light, its heat, and its influence are apparent and
visible in all the atoms of the earth—so, in the same way, the
atoms of beings, in this infinite space, proclaim and prove one of
the divine perfections. Nothing is deprived of this benefit; it is
either a sign of the mercy of God or it is a sign of His power,
His greatness, His justice, His lordship which imparts education;
or it is a sign of the generosity of God, His vision, His hearing,
His knowledge, His grace, and so on.
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Without doubt each being is the center of the shining forth of
the glory of God: that is to say, the perfections of God appear
from it and are resplendent in it. It is like the sun, which is
resplendent in the desert, upon the sea, in the trees, in the fruits
and blossoms, and in all earthly things. The world, indeed each
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existing being, proclaims to us one of the names of God, but the
reality of man is the collective reality, the general reality, and is
the center where the glory of all the perfections of God shine
forth. That is to say, for each name, each attribute, each perfection
which we affirm of God, there exists a sign in man; if it were
otherwise, man could not imagine these perfections, and could
not understand them. So we say that God is the seer, and the eye
is the sign of His vision; if this sight were not in man, how could
we imagine the vision of God? for the blind, that is one born
blind, cannot imagine sight; and the deaf, that is one deaf from
birth, cannot imagine hearing; and the dead cannot realize life.
Consequently the Divinity of God, which is the sum of all perfections,
reflects itself in the reality of man; that is to say, the
Essence of Oneness is the gathering of all perfections, and from
this unity He casts a reflection upon the human reality. Man
then is the perfect mirror facing the Sun of Truth, and is the
center of radiation: the Sun of Truth shines in this mirror. The
reflection of the divine perfections appears in the reality of man,
so he is the representative of God, the messenger of God. If man
did not exist, the universe would be without result, for the object
of existence is the appearance of the perfections of God.
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Therefore it cannot be said there was a time when man was not.
All that we can say is that this terrestrial globe at one time did
not exist, and at its beginning man did not appear upon it. But
from the beginning which has no beginning, to the end which
has no end, a perfect manifestation always exists. This man of
whom we speak is not every man; we mean the perfect man. For
the noblest part of the tree is the fruit, which is the reason of its
existence; if the tree had no fruit, it would have no meaning.
Therefore it cannot be imagined that the worlds of existence,
whether the stars or this earth, were once inhabited by the donkey,
cow, mouse, and cat, and that they were without man! This supposition
is false and meaningless. The word of God is clear as the
sun. This is a spiritual proof, but one which we cannot at the
beginning put forth for the benefit of the materialists; first we
must speak of the logical proofs, afterwards the spiritual proofs.
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