Purpose of Life
Without a basic understanding of why we are alive, life has no particular meaning—life is meaningless. Little children want to know why they are here, but this question doesn't get answered, except perhaps it is put off by saying, "The stork brought you," or, "We wanted a little child." Of course, these answers aren't really answers, and the child wants to know the real reason why he or she is alive. But throughout a person's life, this question is never answered: not in church, not in the streets, not in school. So because life is meaningless to people, we have wars and pillage and carnage, and a lot of suffering . All this suffering exists because people don't have an understanding of the role they play in the scheme of the universe.
We know that nothing creates itself, therefore everything has to have a creator, including us. As we can see the genius of the artist in a masterpiece of art, so too in observing the world can we see the genius of the creator of everything. God is the invisible, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Creator who is responsible for the ordered design of the natural world and the ingenious perfections of all living and non-living things.
So the question is, why would God bring you into existence?
In order to understand why we were created, we need to understand the creation in general. The first kingdom is the mineral kingdom which consists of the elements, the things that other things are made of, such as iron, calcium, and phosphorus . These elements have a life, an existence, but it is a static existence. they don' t have growth and movement. They come into contact and form compounds, but they don't have organic organization as do the other kingdoms.
An element in the mineral kingdom can evolve within its own kingdom. That is, a piece of coal, or carbon, under the influence of heat and pressure, can be perfected into a diamond. But no matter how perfect a mineral may become, it can't become a vegetable.
What is the difference between the mineral and the vegetable? The vegetable has growth and reproduction, which are due to the vegetable spirit. Because a seed has the vegetable spirit, it sends its roots into the mineral and absorbs the mineral up into itself making vegetable. We call this organized or organic chemistry. While the mineral is unorganized—dirt falls however you happen to throw it and cannot change—the vegetable changes the organization to the mineral, and the vegetable grows and reproduces.
Is there any difference between the vegetable and the animal? The animal has something that the vegetable doesn't have. The animal grows and reproduces, it's composed out of mineral, but in addition the animal has the five senses—hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. These five senses are the attributes of the animal spirit, and they give the animal consciousness of its particular existence—the animal can hear it, see it, smell it, taste it, and feel it. The vegetable does not have the central nervous system to record this information, so it is unconscious of its existence. Because it doesn't have a recognition of its existence, no matter how far the plant may evolve, no matter how sweet the orange, of its own volition it cannot become an animal. But the animal can smell it, at the vegetable and in this way the vegetable becomes animal.
The purpose of the mineral is known, because without the mineral, we can't have the vegetable. The minerals are the building blocks from which everything else is made. For example, iron, phosphorus, and calcium go into the plant, and then on into the animal kingdom. Without these minerals, the vegetable and the animal couldn't exist. The purpose of the vegetable is for the animal to eat the vegetable—without the vegetable, the animal couldn't exist. Now we're coming to another kingdom—mankind. Is there any difference between man and animal? Man has the five senses of the animal, he has the growth and reproduction of the vegetable, and he's composed out of minerals, but he has something more than these kingdoms—man is able to think in the abstract.
The animal's reason is limited to the five senses. You couldn't go up to a cow and prove that the earth is round—in million years you wouldn't be able to do this. No matter how you tried to explain that the earth is round, the cow could not comprehend this because the cow cannot think in the abstract, it cannot think beyond its five senses.
Man having the capacity to think in the abstract makes him different than all that other kingdoms. The existence of man answers the question of why the other kingdoms are here, because without the mineral, the vegetable and the animal, man couldn't exist. But the reason for going through this is to find the reason for the existence of man. If the lowest kingdom, such as the mineral, has a reason to exist, then could we say that the highest of creation, does not have a reason for existence? We see no greater being in creation than man, therefore, we cannot come to the conclusion that man has no purpose for existence. We can see that without the vegetable there would be no animal, and the animal supports man, so we know the purpose of the lower kingdoms. Therefore, the highest of all kingdoms must have a purpose for it existence. Have you any concept of why mankind exists?
If you were the only person in this world, how would you feel? Lonely. There is only one invisible God that pervades the entire universe. There's not another God for Him to associate with. Without man, He would be lonely, because the rock can't comprehend God, the plant doesn't have the intellect and can't comprehend God, the animal doesn't have the intellect and it can't comprehend God. Only mankind has the capacity to comprehend the intangible. As God is intangible, God had to make man in order that He might be known. He had a need to have man. Otherwise the greatness of God would only be known to God alone. And he would be awfully lonely in this whole universe that has no end without a being capable of having the capacity to comprehend the intangible. Therefore He created the lower kingdoms so that man could exist, and He created man so that He Himself might be known.
We are the crowning point of existence in this contingent world. We see nothing higher in this contingent world than man. Mankind is the highest of God's creation in this world, but the beginning of another world which is spiritual. The reason man has the capacity to comprehend the intangible, the reason man has the intellect is that He possesses a soul. We call the intellectual capacity in man the soul. The body is tangible, but the soul is intangible. The intellect is intangible, the next life is intangible, God is intangible.
Man's physical body is the same as the animal's. But the soul, a breath of God, enters in at the time of conception, making him different. Eventually, as man progresses in his physical body, he resembles a man riding a horse—when the rider gets to his destination, his horse goes into the barn and the man goes on into the house—there's eventually a separation when man goes into the next life, which is intangible. But God starts out with man first being able to recognize that He is intangible. The purpose of the creation of man is so that God would be known. But God wanted something more than to be known. What do you think that is?
God left a defect in man. He gave man the freedom of choice. And if He only created man in order to be known, he wouldn't have left that defect in man— everyone would have to know God. But He took a chance on man, He gave him the freedom to turn towards Him or away from Him. He did this because He wanted something more than to the known, He wanted to be loved. All this existence without love is meaningless. God had a love to be loved. He loves us, that's why He called us into being. But in order for His love to reach us, we have to love Him. And in order for us to love Him, we have to have the freedom not to love him.
If someone wanted your love, they wouldn't hold a gun to your head, and say "You love me or I'll shoot you." You'd say, "Yes, yes, I love you," but that wouldn't be love—that would be fear. True love comes form the heart. So God places us on this earth and He spreads out the mountains, and the prairies, and trees, and the flowers..what is He doing? He's wooing man. Just like a lover might woo you by bringing you flowers, or inviting you out on a picnic. As you love your lover, your lover would love you. This is the relationship that God wants..He made man so he could love God. But sense man has the freedom of love, he may turn away from God.
When God created you, did he say, is it all right that create you? He didn't ask you or take you into His confidence, He just went ahead and created you without asking your permission. Would you sell your life for a million dollars? Here God has given you something you wouldn't sell for a million dollars, free without any reservation or even asking you. The most precious thing you have is life.
God gave you another gift, probably as great or even greater, your intellect. Without the intellect, you'd be like the cow not knowing if the earth is round. He didn't ask you if it was all right if He gave you the intellect, He gave it to you as a gift, for free. Would you sell your intellect for a million dollars?
Imagine if you were out in the desert, with nothing but sand, no vegetation, no water, and it was 120 degrees with no shade, and you were trudging along, looking for an oasis, a well, a river, a stream, a lake, or any type of water, and any water you saw would turn out to be a mirage. The whole day went by like this, and then the second day the same thing. The third day you were ready to take your last breath. And then someone came along and said, "Would you like to have a glass of water?" Would you thank that person? Yes, every time you saw that person, you would say, "You wonderful person, you wonderful person, you gave me a glass of water!"
God has given you two gifts, life and the intellect, which you wouldn't sell for a million dollars each. He spread out this beautiful world before you, and all the other gifts that he gives you. Would you thank him? Yes. The thanking of God is that you're turning to Him and worshipping Him. You're saying, "Thank you Oh Lord, for this life that I have."
God wants to give you another gift, a greater one, but for this particular gift He's going to take you into his confidence . He says, "I want to give you a third gift, it's greater than the other two, but this gift depends upon you. That is, in order to have this gift, eternal life, you'll need to come into an agreement with Me, enter into My Covenant, and turn to Me and worship Me. And then I will bring you into My Kingdom, in this life and the next. And you will live with Me in My felicity." But God makes this gift contingent, that is you can turn away from it, or you can accept it. This third gift is the gift that comes to us from the Holy Spirit.
God doesn't speak to us like that from a great voice in the sky. But from time to time God speaks to us through the mouth of the Holy Prophets, and through these Prophets the Thought of God becomes manifest to the world. Thus these Prophets are called Manifestations of God. The only knowledge we have of God comes from the Manifestations. God in His essence is unknown.
Let's look at a poem by Tennyson:
Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, I hold you here, root and all, in my hand. Little flower—but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is.
Tennyson is saying that we could dissect a flower, and find all of the elements that compose it, but its invisible life essence escapes us. If we can't find the essence of a plant, how can we know the essence of God? God is invisible—He pervades the entire universe—He' s closer to us than our own jugular vein and our own breath . But we can't just grab a hold of God and say, "Sit down here in this chair, God, I want to talk to you" God pervades the entire universe.
The only way we can know God is through His Spirit contacting us. In order for that Spirit to contact us, from time to time there is a person born with what we call the Holy-Spirit. This Holy Spirit is able to receive the logos-the logos is the thought of God. This person who has the Holy Spirit expresses God's thoughts in words, in a Revelation.
These people that are able to receive the thought of God have been created by God especially with something we don't have. We have the soul and the animal doesn't, the animal has the five senses and the plant doesn't, the plant has growth and reproduction that the minerals don't have. Likewise, the manifestation of God has a soul, he has the five senses, he grows and reproduces, and He's composed of minerals, but He also has the Holy Spirit. Therefore He receives the Thought of God, which is the logos, and He gives us a Revelation revealing God to us. And thus God becomes manifest. The only thing we can ever know of God is this logos, this thought of God expressed in a Revelation, because God is closer to us than our own breath, and our own jugular vein, but we don't know Him.
At the time of Adam, God revealed Himself to Adam as the One Invisible God. Before Adam, people didn't know about the One Invisible God. There were great civilizations before Adam. There is no recorded history of this, but there is evidence for it. We know that there was a civilization called Atlantis, another called Lemuria, another called Mu, and there was another one besides that—some people think it was called Titan. There were four universal Manifestations of God, one for each of these four civilizations. Each of these civilizations came to an end with a great catastrophe. These civilizations had not evolved to the point that we have.
Mankind came out of the sea as an ameba, just like the animals did. Over millions of years man evolved, just like at one time, a sperm and ovum came together inside your mother and you became a primal cell. At one time you were a primal cell so small it couldn't be seen by the naked eye—the primal cell can only be seen under the microscope. Yet everything that you were going to be like was in that primal cell: the color of your eyes, the color of your hair, how tall you were going to be, everything was in that cell. All your characteristics, your hereditary traits and your hereditary character going all the way back to the ameba, was in that cell. The experience of the human race all the way back to its origin in the sea is transferred to your soul when it comes into contact with the primal cell at the instant the sperm and the ovum come together.
Inside of an elephant, when the sperm and ovum come together, no soul is joined to that primal cell. In the womb of an elephant that cell is another elephant, in the womb of a lion it's another lion, in the womb of a giraffe it's another giraffe, but in the womb of a woman, it' s another person. That person differs from the animal in that it possesses the soul. The soul is a breath of God that comes in contact with the primal cell the time of conception.
The body is composed of elements. These elements are universal and continue to exist. That is, these elements existed before they came into the formation of your body. In the body these elements exist in a formation we call organic chemistry. After the body separates from the soul it goes back into the elements. These elements continue to exist, the only thing that dies is the form and shape of this combination. The single elements are indestructible—they continue forever. It is only the combination of the elements that has a beginning and has an ending.
Your soul is like a single element. The soul is an emanation of God. An emanation of God is different from the Manifestation of God—we've already seen what the Manifestation of God is. The emanation of God can be understood like this: speech is the emanation of the speaker, art is the emanation of the artist, and music is the emanation of the composer. But the music is not the composer, the art is not the artist, and the speech is not the speaker. Your soul is an emanation from God, but it is not God. It emanates from God, just like speech, art or music emanates from a person. And this emanation of God is a single element therefore it is eternal. When we were talking about eternal life, this eternal life is in the spiritual world, in the kingdom of God. Outside this Jesus said the people weep and gnash their teeth. Outside of this, the people aren't living in harmony and unity. We call one condition heaven and the other condition is hell.
Heaven is evolving towards God by turning to Him. You love Him, therefore His love reaches you and you evolve spiritually. But if you don't love God, this love doesn't reach you and you don't evolve spiritually. This is hell. Heaven is evolving to God hell is going the other way.
So God offers eternal life to you—to your soul, which is your individuality. You have three personalities. The first personality is inherited from the chromosomes and genes in the sperm and ovum, going all the way back to the ameba. This is an inherited personality. The second personality is the acquired personality, the chances of this world. Your parents educate you, you go to school, you have tests, trials and tribulations that you undergo, which are educational. In school, the teacher purposely gives you tests for your evolvement. God does the same thing—you have tests and trials in this life. These tests and difficulties are actually for your benefit and are educational. Baha'u'llah says, "When calamity exists in the greatest degree, rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for these are the gifts and favors of God."
These tests that you have ultimately lead you to God. They lead you to ask, 'God, where are you, I need your help, or "God, you created me, why am I here?"
These tests lead you to the third personality, which is the spiritual development acquired through turning to God. The Bible calls this becoming "created in the image of God"—God gives you His spiritual qualities and
attributes such as mercy, compassion, generosity, love, wisdom, justice, and so on.
At the time of Adam, man was in the image of the animal—he had two eyes, two ears, mouth, nose, arms, and legs. But through the Revelation of Adam and the succeeding Manifestations, man takes on spiritual qualities. These spiritual qualities prepare man for the next life. When we separate from the body, we lose the inherited personality and the acquired personality to a certain extent.
The first pages of the Bible mention Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They are told, " If you eat of the knowledge of good and evil you're going to die." Our second type of personality comes from eating of the knowledge of good and evil, that is, the opposites of this life.
Everything in this life is in the opposites. We have light and dark—dark is the absence of light, cold is the absence of heat, vacuum is the absence of atmospheric pressure, bad is the absence of good, evil is the absence of spiritual qualities. All of the negative is replaced by the positive—dark is replaced by light, cold is replaced by heat—light, heat, and knowledge are the positive qualities. Without these opposites, we wouldn't be able to know the positive qualities. If it wasn't for cold, we wouldn't know what heat is, if it wasn't for darkness, we wouldn't know what light is, and if it wasn't for ignorance, we wouldn't know what knowledge is.
The purpose of being in this world of opposites is for us to evolve far enough so that we can think in the abstract, turn to the Manifestation of God, and take on the spiritual qualities. Taking on the spiritual qualities prepares our soul for the next life. To the grave goes the physical body, but the soul, your individuality, continues on into the next life. Although in the next life we lose to some extent our inherited and acquired personality characteristics, we will have our individuality. You will always be you throughout eternity. You won't become Jesus, or Joan of Arc, or someone else. We get our individuality when the sperm and the ovum comes together, when the soul comes in contact with the primal cell and we receive our identity as an individual.
In the analogy of the horse and the rider, the horse or body finally goes on into the barn, and the rider goes on into the house, or into heaven. When you make your choice to turn to God, then you go into His house, which is what we call heaven. And hell is going the other way.
The only way, however, that we can know God, is through the Holy Spirit that comes to us through the Manifestations, that is the Prophets of God. They give you this spiritual education in order for you to evolve towards God. But in order to evolve towards God, you first have to love God, turn towards Him and supplicate to Him in order that you may receive these spiritual qualities. We can receive a branch of the Holy Spirit through the Manifestation of our day. The Manifestation are like a pure and polished mirror which reflects the light of God to us.
Spirituality does not consist of all the observances that they have you do in the Church such as baptism or confirmation. These things don't have anything at all to do with spirituality. Spirituality consists of taking on the spiritual qualities of knowing God and worshipping Him, and evolving towards Him. But the only way you can do this is through the Manifestation which receives the logos—the Revelation of God.