Spirit cannot be perceived by the material senses of the physical body,
excepting as it is expressed in outward signs and works. The human body is
visible, the soul is invisible. It is the soul nevertheless that directs a
man’s faculties, that governs his humanity.
The soul has two main faculties. (a) As outer circumstances are
communicated to the soul by the eyes, ears, and brain of a man, so does
the soul communicate its desires and purposes through the brain to the
hands and tongue of the physical body, thereby expressing itself. The
spirit in the soul is the very essence of life. (b) The second faculty of
the soul expresses itself in the world of vision, where the soul inhabited
by the spirit has its being, and functions without the help of the
material bodily senses. There, in the realm of vision, the soul sees
without the help of the physical eye, hears without the aid of the
physical ear, and travels without dependence upon physical motion. It is,
therefore, clear that the spirit in the soul of man can function through
the physical body by using the organs of the ordinary senses, and that it
is able also to live and act without their aid in the world of vision.
This proves without a doubt the superiority of the soul of man over his
body, the superiority of spirit over matter.
For example, look at this lamp: is not the light within it superior to the
lamp which holds it? However beautiful the form of the lamp may be, if the
light is not there its purpose is unfulfilled, it is without life—a dead
thing. The lamp needs the light, but the light does not need the lamp.
The spirit does not need a body, but the body needs spirit, or it cannot
live. The soul can live without a body, but the body without a soul dies.
If a man lose his sight, his hearing, his hand or his foot, should his
soul still inhabit the body he lives, and is able to manifest divine
virtues. On the other hand, without the spirit it would be impossible for
a perfect body to exist.
The greatest power of the Holy Spirit exists in the Divine Manifestations
of the Truth. Through the power of the Spirit the Heavenly Teaching has
been brought into the World of Humanity. Through the power of the Spirit
life everlasting has come to the children of men. Through the power of the
Spirit the Divine Glory has shone from East to West, and through the power
of the same Spirit will the divine virtues of humanity become manifest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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