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The Philosophy of Spirituality; a Bahá'í Viewpoint.

William S. Hatcher
Professor of Mathematics,
Université Laval, Québec, Canada

A fundamental question of human existence is whether there exists a metaphysical

reality, that is, whether there are forces and entities whose existence is independent of and
beyond observable, material reality. A negative answer to this question yields a basically
materialistic view of life and of human nature, holding in particular that individual life ends
with physical death. From such a viewpoint, there can be no transcendental purpose to
human existence; humans are just conscious animals who can do no better than try to get
through their brief earthly lives with as much pleasure and comfort, and as little pain and
suffering, as possible.
Of course, belief in the existence of nonmaterial forces or entities does not in itself
lead to a transmaterial view of human purpose. For example, it can lead to superstition and
occultism. But, belief in a metaphysical reality is an essential component of any
transcendental view of human existence. In particular, all of the major religious systems of
history have taught that there is a nonobservable spiritual reality above and beyond material
reality, that this spiritual dimension of existence is more fundamental and more real than
the material, and that the basic task of human existence lies in learning how to relate
properly to spiritual reality. Any philosophy having this basic constellation of beliefs may
be said to constitute a spiritual philosophy (or conception) of human existence. Achieving
and maintaining the proper relationship with spiritual reality is what constitutes spirituality.
An important component of spiritual philosophy is the notion that spirituality is not
the naturally given condition of the human being, but must be achieved as a result of a
developmental process. In other words, we are not created in a state of spiritual perfection,
but rather with the potential for achieving spirituality. Without this potential, spirituality
would be an impossible ideal rather than a realistically achievable goal. The process of
achieving spirituality is called spiritual development or spiritual growth.
In a certain sense, we could say that the human being is not, in his naturally given
state, whole or complete. Spiritual development is thus a process of completion, a discipline
of self-definition. It is the basic purpose of human existence because only through this
process does the individual acquire or develop what is essential and universal, rather than
merely accidental and local, within the range of human potentiality. We define what we
truly are by becoming what we can most truly be. The process is often described as one of
"salvation", of being lifted above the condition of unregeneration (or spiritual death) to the
plane of a superior reality.
Even though the distinction between material and spiritual conceptions of life is the
most fundamental, there can be quite significant differences among spiritual conceptions
themselves. First of all, there can be significantly divergent views concerning the nature of
spiritual reality. On the one hand, a theistic conception considers that the ultimate reality is
a God who is ontologically superior to humans. In this view, spirituality consists ultimately
in submitting one's will to God's, for it is God as Creator who determines what constitutes
the proper relationship with spiritual reality.
On the other hand, a non-theistic conception considers that man is the ontologically
highest form of existence. In this case, the ultimate spiritual reality lies within man himself

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in the form of his soul or spirit, and spirituality is ultimately determined by human choice
alone. This might be called an existentialist conception of spirituality. Thus, in the theistic
conception, spirituality is a predetermined configuration or process, embedded in the very
structure of existence ("essence precedes existence"), whereas in the existentialist
conception, spirituality is whatever man makes of it by use of his free will ("existence
precedes essence").
A theistic conception of spirituality is determined primarily by its view of human
nature and human potential and, secondarily but importantly, by its view of the nature of
God. (The point is that significant differences in theological conceptions can coexist with
fundamentally identical conceptions of human nature and of spirituality.) Theistic
conceptions of spirituality thus differ primarily with regard to their respective views of
human nature, and, secondarily, with regard to their views of the nature of God.
In a general way, a theistic conception of spirituality sees the process of spiritual
growth as one in which the individual must develop, through discipline, the proper use of
the fundamental human capacities of mind, heart and will. One must learn to act in a proper
way (ethical behavior), to feel in a proper way (love and humility), and to think in a proper
way (the true knowledge of spiritual reality). Here, the "proper" use of one's faculties means
their "God-intended use", God's intention being expressed, among other things, in the very
structure of reality and of human nature.
We must also develop and expand our uniquely human consciousness (or self-
awareness) to include an authentic, conscious communion not only with other humans but
also with God Himself. Consciousness may be said to represent a primary intuition of being
itself, and communion with God thus represents a primary intuition of the Being of God.
Communion with God leads to an expansion of consciousness, i.e., to the meta-awareness
of our human spiritual potential (instead of just an awareness of the self's current state of
development).
In a theistic conception of human life and purpose, ethical norms are derived from
and depend upon the concept of spirituality: Whatever contributes to spiritual development
is good and whatever hinders or prevents it is bad. Spiritual development can thus be
viewed as a double process of actualizing the good and of defeating or overcoming evil.
A fundamental question is whether or not evil is inherent in the nature of man or
only the result of the misuse of human freedom. If evil is held to be inherent in man, then it
follows that we must overcome, suppress, or eliminate some part of ourselves in order to
achieve spirituality. Depending on what one considers the evil part of human nature to be,
this conception of spirituality can be very destructive both to self and to others.
For example, it has frequently been held that what is evil in man is precisely the
physical or material aspect of his nature. The underlying logic of this view would appear to
be that the physical is shared with animals and other lower forms of life, whereas the purely
spiritual or metaphysical is what is properly and specifically human, representing the Divine
within us.
However, physical reality is just as surely the creation of God as is spiritual reality.
The wholesale malefication of material reality thus engenders the problem of explaining
why a presumably all-knowing, all-powerful, all-beneficent, and all-loving God would have
done such a thing. Why would He have deliberately made part of His creation intrinsically
evil and thus inimical to the spiritual growth process that is the very purpose of His creation

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of humanity? After all, if He is capable of creating the purely spiritual, He could have just
as well made us purely spiritual and therefore purely good in the first place.
A particularly acute form of this contradiction obtains when, as frequently happens,
it is the human sexual impulse that is considered inherently evil. Of course, no one doubts
that ignorant misuse, promiscuous indulgence and willful exploitation of the sexual impulse
can and do engender serious personal and social destruction. But this understanding is quite
different from the view which culpabilizes the sexual impulse itself. In this latter view, the
very God-given impulse that engenders life, procreates the race and helps forge the essential
link between husband and wife __ the couple forming the basis of the family, which is the
spiritual, emotional, and physical matrix of human life – is evil and thereby inimitable to
the spiritual growth of man. Since attainment to spirituality involves overcoming evil, it
follows from this view that spiritualization necessarily implies the suppression and
eradication of the sexual impulse from one's nature. The Augustinian doctrine of original
sin, as adopted by the major denominations of Christianity, is an historical example of a
doctrine that enshrines such views. It considers that humans are "conceived in sin" and that
evil is an intrinsic part of human nature.
In opposition to this malefic view of human nature and of material reality is the
eucratic conception that evil is not inherent in (physical or spiritual) creation (and thus not
in human nature) but results from man's misuse of his free will. In this view, evil has no
objective existence and does not have to be overcome through suppression of any part of
one's essential nature. The process of choosing the good – of learning the proper use of the
will – is in itself the process of overcoming evil. When properly disciplined and channeled,
the physical capacities and impulses of one's nature are helpful to the spiritual growth
process.
Another fundamental question regarding the spiritual growth process concerns the
degree of human participation. On one hand is the view that spiritual salvation is a
unidirectional gift from God to humanity in which the only role played by humans is that of
accepting or rejecting the gift. In such a view, an extremely sharp distinction is made
between the "saved", who have accepted the gift of salvation, and the unsaved, who have
not. Certain strains of Christian theology articulate this passive view of human participation
in the spiritualization process. Among them is the well-known Calvinist view that salvation
is totally "elective", i.e. predetermined by God for each individual.
On the other hand there are views that consider the spiritualization process to be
primarily the result of individual effort, but based on the individual's perception of God-
given principles underlying the process. Such an active view of human participation in the
spiritual growth process is still within the framework of the theistic conception that sees
God as the initiator of the process and the One who establishes its parameters and rules and
who actively helps and assists the individual in his pursuit of spirituality.
Indeed, according to the active view of spirituality, it is to give us the opportunity to
participate, to the fullest possible extent, in the process of our own becoming that God has
subjected humanity to the tests and trials of life in the material world (in this initial stage of
the eternal spiritual journey). The active viewpoint tends to see human nature as laden with
virtually unlimited potential for self-actualization, whereas the passive view tends rather to
see man as corrupt (the malefic view of human nature) or extremely limited in his potential
for good.

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Closely related to the distinction between active and passive is the distinction
between dynamic and static conceptions of spirituality. Passive conceptions, with their
sharp boundaries between the saved and the unsaved tend to give rise to static conceptions
in which spirituality is viewed as an absolute stasis that is achieved once and for all time.
Active conceptions tend rather to engender dynamic models of spirituality in which spiritual
development is seen as an ongoing process (both before and after physical death). The
dynamic model is more in keeping with the idea that man eternally approaches, but never
reaches, absolute perfection.
Yet another dimension of spirituality is the relationship between the individual and
society. Some conceptions of spirituality hold that spiritual development is a process that
takes place only within the individual and concerns only his or her inner life. These
individualistic conceptions of spirituality often hold that the external world of everyday
practical concerns is at best irrelevant, and at worse a substantial hindrance, to the
attainment of spirituality. They focus on such universal disciplines as prayer and
meditation, but also frequently involve elements of monasticism, asceticism, self-
mortification and other extreme forms of material self-denial and social withdrawal.
Opposite to these individualist conceptions are certain collectivist views. The
hallmark of collectivism is the notion that society – the collectivity – has moral value but
that the individual apart from society has relatively little value. In this view, spirituality is to
be achieved primarily through the proper socialization of the individual, who is seen as
having very little potential for autonomous, self-responsible personal transformation or
growth. The individual is seen rather as the product of social forces over which he or she
has very little control. There is a certain compatibility between collectivist and passive
conceptions of spirituality.
Intermediate between individualism and collectivism is what might be called an
interactive view of spirituality. The interactive conception holds that the individual does
have value independently of the collectivity, and that spirituality involves a high degree of
individual autonomy and responsibility. At the same time, the collectivity is held to have a
moral or spiritual value that exceeds the sum of individual values, because the integrity of
social structures has a moral influence on the collectivity (and thus individuals) that
transcends purely personal influence. From an interactive perspective, spiritualization
involves both a change of individual consciousness and the erection of social structures that
are favorable to cooperation and mutuality rather than competition and conflict.
Finally, we can judge spiritual conceptions according to criteria of objectivity vs.
subjectivity. Subjectivism holds that, although material reality may be ruled by rational,
lawful cause-and-effect relationships, spiritual reality is not. According to the subjective
view, material reality is ruled by laws only because material reality is without
consciousness, but a conscious, willing reality such as man cannot be constrained by exact
relationships of cause and effect.
The objective conception holds that spiritual reality is governed by lawful
relationships just as surely as is material reality, although the principles governing spiritual
reality may not necessarily be the same as those governing material reality. Thus, spiritual
laws must be learned and understood rationally and not just experienced subjectively. This
does not mean that spiritual reality can be totally described in purely rational terms any
more than material reality can be so described. It only asserts the essentially Platonic notion

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that the structure of spiritual reality is independent of whatever our temporary perceptions
of it may be.
Objective conceptions allow for a complete reconciliation of science and religion,
but subjective conceptions tend to see science and spiritual development as sharply
differentiated and perhaps even partially contradictory. Many non-theistic (existentialist)
conceptions of spirituality have significant subjectivist elements, but so do some theistic
ones as well.

The Bahá'í Concept of Spirituality.

The Bahá'í Faith, founded by the Prophet Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), articulates a
concept of human nature and human purpose that is spiritual, theistic, eucratic, active,
dynamic, interactive and objective. The Bahá'í Faith teaches that the seat or locus of the
human personality is each individual's soul or spirit. The soul is a noncomposite,
nonphysical, eternally enduring entity that comes into existence as a result of a special
creative act of God at the moment of physical conception (thus God, not physical
conception, is the cause of the soul's existence). Each individual soul is endowed with
intrinsic capacities (called the spiritual capacities of the person). The full development of
these capacities is the purpose, not only of human existence, but in fact of the whole of
creation.
Indeed, the human being, with his unique, immortal soul, is the highest form of
creation. The other (lower) forms of creation serve primarily to create an immense training
ground for the development of human spirituality, which continues in other dimensions of
existence after the death of the physical body. Not only the individual but also the collective
life of humankind should be based on spiritual principles, i.e., those which foster the
development of spiritual capacities:

Having created the world and all the liveth and moveth therein, He [God],
through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer
upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him – a capacity
that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose
underlying the whole of creation. . . . Alone of all created things man hath been singled
out for so great a favor, for so enduring a bounty.1

The doctrine that all human beings, and only human beings, are endowed with this
innate capacity for spiritual development and communion with God is called by Bahá'u'lláh
the Oneness of Humankind. It is the pivotal principle of the Bahá'í teachings.
Essential to the Bahá'í concept of spirituality is the Bahá'í notion of progressive
revelation, which holds that religion is, in essence, a unitary phenomenon, that God has
periodically sent certain specially designated individuals to serve as His Prophets or
Manifestations. These figures are none other than the founders of the great religious
systems of history, for example, Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and, in the
nineteenth century, Bahá'u'lláh. These teachers are endowed by God with a superhuman
knowledge of the realities of existence (including the reality of human nature). By
articulating progressively their understanding of the fundamental structure of reality, the
Manifestations of God enable humanity to gain an ever more adequate grasp of the
objective laws governing spiritual reality and the sometimes subtle principles underlying

Copyright 2008, The Estate of William S. Hatcher. Source: The William S. Hatcher Library. Can be used
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the spiritual growth process itself. The body of truths about spirituality articulated by the
Manifestations is called revelation.
Thus, from the Bahá'í viewpoint, there are two sources of valid knowledge about
spirituality available to humanity: the revelations of the Manifestations, embodied in the
sacred writings of the world's great religions, and the practical and systematic (scientific)
knowledge of the principles of reality that results from our human experience and our
reflections about this experience. The combination of these two God-ordained sources of
spiritual understanding provides us (if we but use them) with all the tools necessary to
prosecute successfully (though not always painlessly) the spiritual growth process and,
thereby, to fulfill the purpose of our existence.

The Crucial Role of Philosophy.

From the Bahá'í viewpoint, the role of philosophy in the process of human spiritual
growth and development is fundamental. Only philosophy can provide a truly universal
language that allows us to understand and correlate the knowledge gained by religion on
one hand and science on the other. The lack of such a universal, culturally neutral language
has already had a disastrous effect on the modern world.
The lack of such a language in religion has had the effect of fostering the process by
which highly specific cultural prejudices have become mixed with the essentially universal
teachings of religion. This has engendered fundamentalism, in which literal interpretation of
powerful spiritual analogies has in many instances led to the evacuation of the universal
philosophical content of religion. Fundamentalism has, in turn, engendered dogmatism and
fanaticism where we witness the spectacle of professed believers in a religion of love who
give putative religious justification for murder, torture, rape and even systematic genocide.
The discipline of philosophy fosters the intellectual and moral autonomy of
believers of any religion. It thereby serves as a bulwark against manipulative (often
politically inspired) attempts to use religion and the power of human belief for immoral,
antisocial and inhumanitarian ends.
The lack of an adequate philosophical language has also had an extremely negative
influence on science. Indeed, during the greater part of the twentieth century, successful
scientific practice has become irrationally linked to a dogmatic philosophical materialism,
giving rise to various popular, but philosophically inadequate, notions such as
operationalism, behaviorism and positivism. In particular, the refusal of many practicing
scientists to give serious attention to fundamental philosophical and metaphysical questions
has undoubtedly retarded the development of science itself as well as creating an
intellectual milieu in which immoral and antisocial uses of science and technology are more
easily accepted both by the public and by intellectuals.
The Bahá'í Faith addresses this fundamental issue with its principle of the unity of
religion and science:

Religion and science are the two wings upon which man's intelligence can soar
into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to
fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he
would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with
the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the
despairing slough of materialism.2

Copyright 2008, The Estate of William S. Hatcher. Source: The William S. Hatcher Library. Can be used
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It is only philosophy that can develop the concepts and the tools necessary for an adequate
articulation of this complementary relationship between science and religion.3
Thus, there is no doubt that the Bahá'í Faith gives great importance to the
development and teaching of philosophy as outlined in the "Appeal for Philosophy."
Concepts and ideas that are truly profound and universal can, when properly articulated,
exert a powerful influence in the world. The Bahá'í World Community therefore not only
supports the appeal but also stands ready to contribute in any way it reasonably can to this
undertaking.

References

1. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi.

Wilmette, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1939. 2nd rev. ed. 1976, p. 65.

2. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, London, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969. 11th ed., p. 143.

3. For an example of work on this problem from a Bahá'í perspective, see William Hatcher,
Logic and Logos, Oxford, George Ronald, 1990.

Copyright 2008, The Estate of William S. Hatcher. Source: The William S. Hatcher Library. Can be used
under terms of the Library’s license found at http://william.hatcher.org/license.