... the varieties of transcendent beings ... [are] transcendent to one’s current experience. There is God as absolute, alethic, independent being; deities and avatars (manifestations and embodiments of God); and angels (aspects of God or the divine will).
Roy Bhaskar, From East to West: Odyssey of a Soul. New York: Routledge. 2000. Page 50.
Prudence
O Glory of the All-Glorious!
I will begin this book by getting a few cautions out of the way. First of all, I have no sources of supposedly inside or confidential information. Gaining access to outwardly undisclosed intelligence is not, in my opinion, so important. Since all of us are manifestations of the unity of humanity (“the essence of
man”) and share its attributes (“the rational faculty”), there are no esoteric secrets in the realms of spirit. Through meditation, a loving and prayerful communion between hearts becomes a natural process. It is, I also feel, one of the profound implications of servitude (Arabic★, al-ʿubūdīya).
Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty.
Perhaps similtaneous innovations or multiple discoveries can, in part, be explained by this spiritual fellowship or association among souls. These connections are, in my view, spiritually and objectively real, not entirely human constructions or willful contrivances. A discussion of this issue is also related to the sociology of knowledge or the social production of knowledge. As Mark Lemley has rightfully pointed out, the myth of the sole inventor is largely unsupported:
... the canonical story of the lone genius inventor is largely a myth. Surveys of hundreds of significant new technologies show that almost all of them are invented simultaneously or nearly simultaneously by two or more teams working independently of each other. Invention appears in significant part to be a social, not an individual, phenomenon....
... First, invention is not a discontinuity, but an incremental step in an ongoing process. Inventors are working with the tools they are given and trying to improve those tools or use them to make something new....
Second, invention by one and only one person or group is exceedingly rare. Far more common are different groups struggling with the same incremental problem, and achieving the same solution at roughly the same time. Far more common are different groups struggling with the same incremental problem, and achieving the same solution at roughly the same time....
Prior empirical evidence, then, suggests that inventions rarely occur in isolation. They are socially-derived in significant respects. They build closely on what came before. And inventions are quite often made by multiple actors at about the same time.
Mark A. Lemley, “The Myth of the Sole Inventor.” Stanford [University] Public Law Working Paper No. 1856610. July 21, 2011. Retrieved on July 3, 2012.
Although anyone can, God willing, receive inspiration through dreams or visions, personal experiences have no authority in the Baháʾí Faith. Critical reflection, or the subjective consideration of evidence, is a fallible human activity. However, it may, in certain cases, result in spiritual knowledge as well as intellectual clarity:
The inspiration received through meditation is of a nature that one cannot measure or determine. God can inspire into our minds things that we had no previous knowledge of, if he desires to do so.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.
Collective delusions or hallucinations may involve mass or collective wish-fulfillment:
Mass wish-fulfillment involves processes ... [in which] the object of interest is esteemed and satisfies psychological needs. Cases typically persist for a few weeks or months and recur periodically in clusters. Episodes involve a subconscious wish that is related to human mortality in conjunction with a plausible belief, fostering a collective quest for transcendence. Examples include Virgin Mary “appearances” ... [and] “moving” religious statues in Ireland ....
Robert Bartholomew, “Collective delusions: A Skeptic’s Guide.” The Skeptical Inquirer (magazine). Amherst, NY: Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Volume 21. Number 3. May/June 1997. Pages 29-33.
No one, whether a government or a private individual, holds a monopoly on access to knowledge. Awareness is an aspect of the human substance or reality of man. Contrary to popular, conspiratorial claims of hidden or veiled consciousness, knowledge includes all of us, especially in this Age of Unity, and embraces the universe:
Know that the reality of man embraces the realities of things, and discovers the verities, properties and secrets of things. So all these arts, wonders, sciences and knowledge have been discovered by the human reality. At one time these sciences, knowledge, wonders and arts were hidden and concealed secrets; then gradually the human reality discovered them and brought them from the realm of the invisible to the plane of the visible. Therefore, it is evident that the reality of man embraces things. Thus it is in Europe and discovers America; it is on the earth, and it makes discoveries in the heavens. It is the revealer of the secrets of things, and it is the knower of the realities of that which exists. These discoveries corresponding to the reality are similar to revelation, which is spiritual comprehension, divine inspiration and the association of human spirits.... It is, therefore, evident that the spirit has great perception without the intermediary of any of the five senses, such as the eyes or ears. Among spiritual souls there are spiritual understandings, discoveries, a communion which is purified from imagination and fancy, an association which is sanctified from time and place.
While the religion of God is the promoter of truth, the founder of science and knowledge, it is full of goodwill for learned men; it is the civilizer of mankind, the discoverer of the secrets of nature, and the enlightener of the horizons of the world. Consequently, how can it be said to oppose knowledge? God forbid! Nay, for God, knowledge is the most glorious gift of man and the most noble of human perfections. To oppose knowledge is ignorant, and he who detests knowledge and science is not a man, but rather an animal without intelligence. For knowledge is light, life, felicity, perfection, beauty and the means of approaching the Threshold of Unity. It is the honor and glory of the world of humanity, and the greatest bounty of God. Knowledge is identical with guidance, and ignorance is real error.
In my opinion, remote viewing (systematic clairvoyance), the spidey sense (a term, inspired by Spiderman, for precognition), and other psychic faculties are clearly unreliable and perhaps also spiritually treacherous. Cultivating these methods, in place of hard mental work and dedicated reflection, is unnecessary. From my observations, a failure both to think outside the box and to reject large-scale conspiracy theories might offer a cogent explanation for why so many people have failed to get a handle on some of the difficult subjects to be considered, speculatively, in this book.
Psychic research includes such phenomena as ... remote viewing or out-of-body experiences (seeing locations, objects or events shielded from ordinary perception in a spatial location separate from one’s physical body) ....
It should not be hard for anyone to envision potential military uses of the powerful psi capabilities discussed thus far. Telepathy, precognition, dowsing, remote viewing and psychokinesis offer an endless list of possibilities.....
... remote viewing and precognition can break through barriers of time and space to perhaps eliminate the word “secrecy” from our vocabulary. In 1976 CIA director George Bush enthusiastically gave retired astronaut Edgar Mitchell “permission to organize high-level seminars at the CIA to discuss possible intelligence applications of parapsychology” ....
Remote viewing is obviously a capability well suited to the intelligence business, and unobstructed by distance limitations....
Psi [psychicism] is frequently criticized because it is so unpredictable. Psychics are not always successful, experiments are hard to replicate, and therefore use upon demand is unreliable. But is that reason to exclude it all together? We see it used mainly in situations where there are no other alternatives.
Research in human pattern recognition and decision-making suggest that there is a “sixth sense” through which humans can detect and act on unique patterns without consciously and intentionally analyzing them. Evidence is accumulating that this capability, known as intuition or intuitive decision making, enables the rapid detection of patterns in ambiguous, uncertain and time restricted information contexts, that it informs the decision making process and, most importantly, that it may not require domain expertise to be effective. These properties make intuition a strong candidate for further exploration as the basis for developing a new set of decision support training technologies.
The proposed topic will lead to new insights into intuitive decision making, and develop new approaches for enhancing this process....
“In hindsight, some of the soldiers acknowledge their ‘spidey sense’ was tingling” [thestar.com].
Nevertheless, anything I write on, transterrestrials (extraterrestrials, subterrestrials, coterrestrials, transdimensionals, ultraterrestrials, or transtemporals), other angels, and the serious flaws in “alien” conspiracy theories is, I plainly admit, tentative. Much of the information presented here is, I must also acknowledge, highly questionable and, in all likelihood, inaccurate. By proposing some intriguing, though untested, possibilities, I will hopefully contribute to the marketplace of ideas. I am an intependent-minded person, not a one-dimensional man. Whatever other people think of me is none of my business. Materialistic attachments to the views of others are a waste of time.
I am also, for what it’s worth, an Autist. Thankfully, through the grace of my Lord and the prayerful intercessions by my spiritual family in the great world beyond, perhaps I am a something like an emancipated one. If you know even a little bit about Autism (from Ancient Greek, aútos, self), you are likely aware that many of us have extremely dedicated, though often novel, interests. I am no exception. Throughout my life, my brain has seemed to be, well, just wired unusually. Indeed, I have often felt as if I was born on the wrong planet. Although I generally appear to be a pretty ordinary fellow these days, I am actually very eccentric.
That said, I am, fundamentally, only reflecting on the spiritual and cosmic implications of evolution (al-taṭawwur):
I feel that regarding such interpretations (of verses from the Scriptures) no one has the right to impose his view or opinion and require his listeners to believe in his particular interpretation of the sacred and prophetic writings. I have no objection to your interpretations and inferences so long as they are represented as your own personal observations and reflections. It would be unnecessary and confusing to state authoritatively and officially a dogmatic Baháʾí interpretation to be universally accepted and taught by believers. Such matters I feel should be left to the personal judgement and insight of individual teachers.
Please bear in mind that, with the exception of the specifically social scientific and historical portions of the book, I will be imaginatively telling a story. Since I am not an astronomer, a biologist, a paleontologist, or a physical anthropologist, this book is not, and cannot be, a work in the physical or biological sciences. My academic credentials, which include a Ph.D. in sociology and history, have no relationship with the hard sciences, such as physics or geology. I shall not, therefore, be testing naturalistic hypotheses or making predictions of empirical or observable events.
In a word, the evidence I am providing, which is frequently anecdotal and unverifiable, does not, in most cases, meet even the minimum standards for rigorous empirical research. Some of the sources might, I am well aware, be little more than urban legends and folklore. Although nothing, in my view, is wrong with creative speculation, confusing it with legitimate science can be pseudoscience and quackery:
Pseudoscience and Quackery. Americans have long used these pejorative terms to designate scientific and medical theories and practices for which they have no respect. The meaning of the terms remains contested, however, because one person’s “science” and “medicine” is often another’s “pseudoscience” or "quackery.” Further, the line between pseudo-science and bad science, between quackery and malpractice, has always been blurry. Thus many late-twentieth-century scholars dismissed demarcating between science and pseudoscience as “a pseudo-problem.”
Ronald L. Numbers, “Pseudoscience and Quackery.” The Oxford Companion to United States History. Paul S. Boyer, editor. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2001.
pseudoscience A derogatory term for studies and their results based on dubious or spurious science; slipshod methods; false premises, axioms, and assumptions; sensational presentation of findings; predetermined outcomes; and various combinations of the above. Examples include claims for cures of incurable conditions, such as muscular dystrophy and advanced cancer, for human cloning, etc. Sometimes the term is an ad hominem defense of the indefensible, as when industry spokesmen use it as a label in attempts to discredit evidence on the harmful effects of environmental chemical pollution.
“Pseudoscience.” A Dictionary of Public Health. John M. Last, editor. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2007.
junk science A derogatory term for aspects of scientific inquiry and inference for which critics say the evidence is flawed or the interpretation of the evidence and conclusions based on it are unjustified. The term has been used mainly by hostile critics of particular varieties of scientific investigation, including critics of epidemiological evidence linking various exposures to outcomes such as cancer, and critics of climate scientists who have concluded from available evidence that the earth’s climate is changing as a consequence of human activities. When the accusation of “junk science” is leveled against articles in peer-reviewed journals, it is important to ascertain whether the accuser has a vested interest in discrediting the work.
“Junk Science.” A Dictionary of Public Health. John M. Last, editor. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2007.
Moreover, blindly accepting pseudoscience is superstition:
SUPERSTITIONS.... the havoc that is wrought by unintelligent applications of an unintelligent dogma.
H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage: The Classic First Edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1926. Edited by David Crystal in 2009. Page 586.
Astrology, as explained in letters drafted on Shoghi Effendi’s behalf, is mostly superstition:
There is no reference in the [Baháʾí] Teachings as to whether the stars have any influence on healing such diseases. These astrological ideas are for the most part sheer superstitions.
... the Guardian [Shoghi Effendi] considers “astrology,” which is a pseudo-science, as for the most part “non-sensical,” as it is mostly made up of superstitious beliefs and practices.
... it is absolutely essential that the [Baháʾí] teachings should not be confused with the obscure ideas related to numerology and astrology and the like. Individuals interested in them are free to believe in and credit such ideas and to make any inferences and deductions they desire from them, but under no circumstances are they expected to identify them with the principles and teachings of the Cause. We must at this stage preserve the purity and sanctity of the Baháʾí teachings. I will pray that you may be guided in your efforts, and may succeed in safeguarding and promoting the interests of our beloved Faith.
... [A] new study raises an intriguing but highly speculative possibility: seasonal variations in the day/night cycle that individuals experience as their brains are developing may affect their personality.
“We know that the biological clock regulates mood in humans. If an imprinting mechanism similar to the one that we found in mice operates in humans, then it could not only have an effect on a number of behavioral disorders but also have a more general effect on personality,” says [biologist Douglas] McMahon.
“It’s important to emphasize that, even though this sounds a bit like astrology, it is not: it’s seasonal biology!” McMahon adds.
With those important caveats, I believe that, very shortly, we will all begin to learn and relearn, through rapidly changing global affairs, the alphabets of just about everything. Many of the fundamental premises of modern Western civilization have, I feel, been misguided. Divisions, of all kinds, between people, between science (or human investigation) and Religion, and between women and men will be healed. By shifting paradigms, the Bāběl (Hebrew for Gate of the Almighty God) of disunity will be replaced by the heavenly language of unity with beings on this planet and, possibly over time, from other planets, moons, and star systems in God’s wonderful universe.
The dominant paradigm (worldview) or epistemology (rules of knowing) of the world is materialistic, divided into us versus them, and separated and alienated from our shared planetary life story. In my opinion, that old, irrelevant paradigm must, through dialectic (contradiction) and crisis, give way to a new paradigm, perhaps like The Unicentric Paradigm™, focusing on unity and harmony with all beings and things from the past, present, and future. Personally, through my own writing, I would rather, at this point in my life, contribute to developing a paradigm for the new world order than remaining entrenched in the paradigm politics of the old.
The transition from a paradigm in crisis to a new one ... is far from a cumulative process, one achieved by an articulation or extension of the old paradigm. Rather it is a reconstruction of the field from new fundamentals .... During the transition period there will be a large but never complete overlap between the problems that can be solved by the old and by the new paradigm.
Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Second Edition. Enlarged. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1970. Pages 84-85.
... critical realism is a philosophy of the left in so far as it favours more inclusive totalities and what it is doing is isolating absences that include social inequities and imbalances that exist in social life, and it is this that powers the system.
Roy Bhaskar with Mervyn Hartwig, The Formation of Critical Realism: A Personal Perspective. New York: Routledge. 2010. Page 205.
If I have a heuristic, or rule of thumb, when applying Heartfulness Inquiry, it is to continuously question the decaying paradigms and politics of the day and, at the same time, to question my own questioning. Loyalty to paradigms, and to their mortal leaders and followers, points to the highly political fallacy of appealing to authority, not to rational evidence. Personally speaking, I want to better understand and obey the wishes of the Universal House of Justice, including that blessed Supreme Body’s letter to me:
With regard to the harmony of science and religion, the Writings of the Central Figures and the commentaries of the Guardian make abundantly clear that the task of humanity, including the
Baháʾí community that serves as the “leaven” within it, is to create a global civilization which embodies both the spiritual and material dimensions of existence. The nature and scope of such a civilization are still beyond anything the present generation can conceive. The prosecution of this vast enterprise will depend on a progressive interaction between the truths and principles of religion and the discoveries and insights of scientific inquiry. This entails living with ambiguities as a natural and inescapable feature of the process of exploring reality. It also requires us not to limit science to any particular school of thought or methodological approach postulated in the course of its development. The challenge facing Baháʾí thinkers is to provide responsible leadership in this endeavour, since it is they who have both the priceless insights of the Revelation and the advantages conferred by scientific investigation.
From a letter, dated May 17, 1995, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to Mark A. Foster.
The organization of God is one; the evolution of existence is one; the divine system is one. Whether they be small or great beings, all are subject to one law and system.
Unific Evolution™ is my unauthoritative view that all life unfolds and cycles out of a single common ancestor. Beings and things are monitored and cultivated by Prophets and other angelic entities, such as departed souls and transterrestrials. Through numerous citations, from a variety of sources, I am making an exploratory personal interpretation of various Baháʾí texts and other spiritual sources, not conducting controlled experiments. Official Baháʾí references to transterrestrial life are, I believe, prophecies and verities (truth statements). They should not be confused with natural scientific theories or explanations.
u·nif·ic [yoo-NIF-ik]
adjective
unifying; uniting: the unific influence of a common language.
Furthermore, Unific Evolution, which will be specifically examined in this first part of the book, is a form of theistic evolution rather than a type of creationism. Personally speaking, I accept natural selection or the survival of the fittest, and I reject creationism. As opposed to creationists, I reject special human creation. All things are wrapped up in all things. However, like creationism in its various types, Unific Evolution is a hightly speculative protology or consideration of life origins. I do not, therefore, believe that either of these perspectives should be taught, or presented, in place of the modern evolutionary synthesis:
The main purpose of this paper is to defend the “chance” character of genetic mutations, which I claim is a Darwinian tenet and part of the Modern Synthesis’ consensus view, against recent challenges .... During the last thirty years, experimental research in molecular genetics, in particular on microorganisms, has shown that certain molecular mechanisms – the so-called “mutator mechanisms” – can regulate mutation rates (increasing or decreasing them) in response to certain selective forces.
Against those who said that the Darwinian theory implied atheism, [Asa] Gray [1810-1888] argued that “it is neither atheistical in statement nor in intent.” The theory could be given a nontheistic interpretation, but it could equally be given a theistic one. A central question was the presence or absence of design in nature as a whole, and this question was one for the natural theologian or the philosopher, not for the biologist. Gray himself favored a theistic interpretation, since the idea of a Designer of the universe “is most natural to the mind.“ It was not even true to say that Darwin’s theory was mechanistic. It assumed that adaptations produced by natural selection are useful to organisms, enabling them to achieve certain ends, and this assumption clearly reintroduced purpose or teleology into natural history. “If purpose in this sense does not itself imply design, it is certainly compatible with it and suggestive of it.”
Gray’s cool analysis of Darwinism coupled with his espousal of theism irked some of Darwin’s militantly agnostic supporters, though not Darwin himself, who valued Gray as a friend and searching critic.
T. A. Goudge, “Gray, Asa
(1810-1888).” Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Donald M. Borchert, editor. Volume 4. Second edition. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA. 2006. Pages 170-171.
... creation and Church are but the necessary antecedent and subsequent conditions: creation as the supposition and inception (protology) and Church as the consequence and completion (eschatology).
R. Kress and G. Malanowski,
“Communio.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Second edition. Berard L. Marthaler, executive editor. Detroit, MI: Gale, Cengage Learning. Second edition. 2003. Volume 4. Pages 27-31.
Unific Evolution is also not intelligent design (ID). Many of the problems with ID philosophy stem from the view that humans can discover unifying essences or the Unities of All Things. To its supporters, certain biological complexities point inevitably to a willful designer. This revised form of creationist theology illustrates the problems with the direct, commonsense, or naïve realism of observing essences. If God and His Primal Will can be fully grasped by simply perceiving the created attributes of unities, sending Prophets would be pointless.
To the contrary, essences, including the Deity, are unknowable. We learn about them through divine Revelation. Without revealed truth, we can only classify. Furthermore, claims for the complexity of existence are reflexive or self-referential. They point back to the logical assumptions of the individual making the argument, not necessarily to a designer:
Let us consider what it is that is being predicated of our Cosmic Designer, what I call the process of rarified design.
This designer, we are told, is unknowable. We merely know there is design if there is some measure of “specified complexity.” We know nothing about the design itself, about how it was implemented and when or where, nor anything about the nature of the designer (for ID is very careful, except when it isn’t, to not name the designer as God unless they are talking to a church group)....
Arguments may contain evidence, but they are not evidence. If a person has the appropriate credentials within a particular field, then seriously reviewing her arguments and evidence might be justified. However, authority, irrespective of the qualifications of the person making the argument, is not evidence either. ID, I would also suggest, is a modern example of the logical fallacy known as the cosmological argument. Beginning with a human definition of rationality or purpose and ending with the inevitability of a supernatural designer is circular reasoning.
... [The cosmological argument is a] term used to designate a type of argumentation whereby one reasons from observable aspects of the universe, or cosmos, to the existence of God....
... [One difficulty] is brought against it not so much by atheists and agnostics as by religious thinkers who, while themselves firmly convinced of God’s existence, do not see such existence as a subject for rational inquiry. They would object to the proof on the grounds that it operates in virtue of a suppressed major premise to the effect that the universe is rationally explicable. Logically, however, as they see it, there seems to be no way of ruling out the possibility that the world may be ultimately irrational or inexplicable; if one accepts the view that it is not, so their objection goes, he does so by virtue of his own individual belief and not from any objective necessity.
W.A. Wallace, “Cosmological
Argument.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Second edition. Berard L. Marthaler, executive editor. Detroit, MI: Gale, Cengage Learning. 2003. Second edition. Volume 4. Pages 27-31.
Instead, the design of the organized universe becomes known to us through the revealed Word of God with its authoritative interpretation and elucidation. By reading Sacred Scriptures and other inspired texts, a soul can learn about the divine direction of creation:
Nature is that condition, that reality, which in appearance consists in life and death, or, in other words, in the composition and decomposition of all things.
This Nature is subjected to an absolute organization, to determined laws, to a complete order and a finished design, from which it will never depart-to such a degree, indeed, that if you look carefully and with keen sight, from the smallest invisible atom up to such large bodies of the world of existence as the globe of the sun or the other great stars and luminous spheres, whether you regard their arrangement, their composition, their form or their movement, you will find that all are in the highest degree of organization and are under one law from which they will never depart.
But when you look at Nature itself, you see that it has no intelligence, no will. For instance, the nature of fire is to burn; it burns without will or intelligence....
It is said that Nature in its own essence is in the grasp of the power of God, Who is the Eternal Almighty One: He holds Nature within accurate regulations and laws, and rules over it.
Additionally, Unific Evolution, through the Will of God, is not exactlypanspermia, which is the proposition that transterrestrials have intentionally “seeded” life throughout the universe. In my opinion, transterrestrial engagement, or directed panspermia, is only one angelic dimension of the evolutionary process. I explore the issues of panspermia and transgenics or “hybridization” in my Contact Emancipation™ book (the chapter on Panspermia). Here, however, is a brief definition of directed panspermia:
The many inconsistencies in the evolution theory have been plaguing the scientists since the days of Darwin. On the other hand, the religious people, usually called creationists, believe that God created everything, of which there is no proof either.
... The solution to the creation-evolution problem is the following: intelligent beings from elsewhere in the universe who understand genetic manipulation and who are technologically very advanced have populated this planet with many life forms, microbes, plants, animals, humans, and human-like species at different times during the life of the planet, especially after world-wide catastrophes.
The modern evolutionary synthesis, the contemporary successor to Darwinianism, is not, in my opinion, wrong. It is, from one standpoint epistemology (Sanskrit, anekantavada, manifold thought or Jain perspectivism) or way of knowing, accurate. However, the process of evolutionary development is, to my understanding, signficantly more complex than many people imagine. For what it’s worth, since I accept that all things share a common ancestor, substance, or attributes, Unific Evolution is, to my understanding, a religious, theological, or metaphysical (speculative) perspective on evolution.
... Standpoint Epistemology is about situated knowledge systems that are intimately related to the person’s experience in question. The person’s context – their race, class, gender, etc. – provides a base that guides some of their worldview.
The central idea of biological evolution is that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor, just as you and your cousins share a common grandmother.
“An Introduction to Evolution.” Understanding Evolution: Your One-Stop Source for Information on
Evolution. University of California Museum of Paleontology. Roy Caldwell and David Lindberg, principal investigators. 2012. Retrieved on July 26, 2012.
However, if someone asked me, personally or academically, about the origins of life, my academic and professional response would be, “Since that subject is outside of my field, I am not qualified to comment on it. My views, as an amateur, are not relevant to any scientific discussion. According to my understanding, everything evolved from a common biological ancestor.” Perhaps in a similar vein, this writer has, it seems to me, demonstrated his intellectual honesty:
... as a student of biblical literature, Second Temple Judaism, and Christian doctrine I am not qualified to speak authoritatively on science. I know many pastors and professors who sense their role as interpreters of Scripture automatically qualify them to speak for the scientific, philosophical, sociological, and other communities. This is something that needs to be approached with caution. Sure, as a student of religion I can speak from this perspective against economic injustice, but I am not foolish enough to assume that I am an expert in economics. Likewise, I can speak to science, but only as an amateur ....
To my understanding, all the entities of existence, throughout each of the eternal worlds of God, are manifestations of essences, unities, unifying essences, or, in Aristotelian philosophy, species:
speciation The development of one or more species from an existing species
Elizabeth Martin and Robert Hine, A Dictionary of Biology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2008.
Therefore, on both microevolutionary and macroevolutionary levels, creatures are, through speciation, involved, entangled, or intertwined with each other. This universal interconnectedness, expressed by the love of Prophets, holy ones, and intelligent nonterrestial beings for the ongoing welfare of earthly life, is manifested as attributes, spirit, matter, or substance.
Indeed, the laws of God are like unto the ocean and the children of men as fish, did they but know it. However, in observing them one must exercise tact and wisdom.... Since most people are feeble and far-removed from the purpose of God, therefore one must observe tact and prudence under all conditions, so that nothing might happen that could cause disturbance and dissension or raise clamour among the heedless. Verily, His bounty hath surpassed the whole universe and His bestowals encompassed all that dwell on earth. One must guide mankind to the ocean of true understanding in a spirit of love and tolerance. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas [Most Holy Book] itself beareth eloquent testimony to the loving providence of God.
ʿAbduʾl-Bahá quoted in notes to Baháʾuʾlláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Page 6.
Evolution can be broken down into two categories. These are microevolution and macroevolution. Microevolution refers to changes in a population’s gene pool that lead to somewhat small changes in organisms in that population. The changes are small enough that they adapt the organism to the environment but the organism is still that same organism and not a whole new species. Examples of microevolution would be changes such as the color or the size of a species from generation to generation. In contrast, macroevolution refers to changes in organisms that over time will create a whole new species. This would mean if we were able to bring together an organism of the new species and one of its ancestors, they would not be able to mate. An example of macroevolution would be the appearance of feathers during the evolution of birds from a group of dinosaurs.
God’s grace encompasses and embraces the entire universe:
O heedless ones! Though the wonders of My mercy have encompassed all created things, both visible and invisible, and though the revelations of My grace and bounty have permeated every atom of the universe, yet the rod with which I can chastise the wicked is grievous, and the fierceness of Mine anger against them terrible.
Lift not the veil, O Thou Who art the Concealer! From eternity the tokens of Thy bounty have encompassed the universe, and the splendors of Thy Most Great Name have been shed over all created things. Deny not Thy servants the wonders of Thy grace. Cause them to be made aware of Thee, that they may bear witness to Thy unity, and enable them to recognize Thee, that they may hasten towards Thee. Thy mercy hath embraced the whole creation, and Thy grace hath pervaded all things. From the billows of the ocean of Thy generosity the seas of eagerness and enthusiasm were revealed. Thou art what Thou art. Aught except Thee is unworthy of any mention unless it entereth beneath Thy shadow, and gaineth admittance into Thy court.
In my view, all species, on both a small-scale and large-scale level, share a common ancestor or universal set of attributes. Everything is related to everything else. However, the attributes of humans and monkeys are obviously closer than, for instance, dogs and elephants. Species may be essences, but God is the innermost Essence of essences. In
ʿAbduʾl-Bahá’s interpretation of that shared origin, He appears to have adapted, as an analogy, Aristotle’s concept of the original matter:
It is necessary, therefore, that we should know what each of the important existences was in the beginning—for there is no doubt that in the beginning the origin was one: the origin of all numbers is one and not two. Then it is evident that in the beginning matter was one, and that one matter appeared in different aspects in each element. Thus various forms were produced, and these various aspects as they were produced became permanent, and each element was specialized. But this permanence was not definite, and did not attain realization and perfect existence until after a very long time. Then these elements became composed, and organized and combined in infinite forms; or rather from the composition and combination of these elements innumerable beings appeared.
Then it is clear that original matter, which is in the embryonic state, and the mingled and composed elements which were its earliest forms, gradually grew and developed during many ages and cycles, passing from one shape and form to another, until they appeared in this perfection, this system, this organization and this establishment, through the supreme wisdom of God....
... man’s existence on this earth, from the beginning until it reaches this state, form and condition, necessarily lasts a long time, and goes through many degrees until it reaches this condition. But from the beginning of man’s existence he is a distinct species. In the same way, the embryo of man in the womb of the mother was at first in a strange form; then this body passes from shape to shape, from state to state, from form to form, until it appears in utmost beauty and perfection.
The theory proposes that a so-called Higgs energy field exists everywhere in the universe. As particles zoom around in this field, they interact with and attract Higgs bosons, which cluster around the particles in varying numbers.
Imagine the universe like a party. Relatively unknown guests at the party can pass quickly through the room unnoticed; more popular guests will attract groups of people (the Higgs bosons) who will then slow their movement through the room.
The speed of particles moving through the Higgs field works much in the same way. Certain particles will attract larger clusters of Higgs bosons – and the more Higgs bosons a particle attracts, the greater its mass will be.
The inherent original matter, which is manifested by all species or unifying essences, has always existed, in one form or another, within the everlasting universe or universes of God. However, that matter on any celestial sphere is, in my opinion, carefully and distinctly created, by the Will of God, to suit particular climates and geographical regions. According to the divine Plan, these material attributes of species are adapted, genetically engineered, through transgenics, by advanced souls. The development of this matter into species is then nurtured, modified, and, when required, re-engineered by them.
The Baháʾí Faith teaches man was always potentially man, even when passing through lower stages of evolution. Because he has more powers, and subtler powers than the animal, when he turns towards evil he becomes more vicious than an animal because of these very powers.
That human life emerged from primitive hair-covered hominoids (upright walking apes) after human-like entities (aliens or gods, with a small “g”) intervened genetically (with test tubes) to create a new hybrid being (humans) with genes from themselves and the primitive hominoids.
(functioning as singular) the branch of biology concerned with the transfer of genetic material from one species to another
Collins English Dictionary. Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2009.
The obvious similarities between the attributes of different species, such as humans and other great apes (bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans), could, I feel, present intuitive
(not scientific) evidence for the divinely ordained unity, or patterning, of existence. Some species might contain similar combinations of original matter or attributes. However, the great apes are a nominal category (a name), not an essence. Although the attributes of species (essences) may evolve over time, through the Will of God, and be modified by natural selection or a survival of the fittest, one species essence does not evolve into one another:
All things share a common ancestor. The beginning, or collective center, of existence is the preexistent, ever-present original matter. Phrased a bit differently, and more succinctly, the attributes of unifying essences (unities or species) are universal. Although these species, with their attributes, do not descend from one another, they are, nonetheless, wrapped up, enfolded, or interconnected into one. Therefore, we might be, literally, variations, or specifications, of the same genetic material. God, however, is the innermost Essence of all created things:
When, however, thou dost contemplate the innermost essence of all things, and the individuality of each, thou wilt behold the signs of thy Lord’s mercy in every created thing, and see the spreading rays of His Names and Attributes throughout all the realm of being, with evidences which none will deny save the froward and the unaware.
... the question of the Real Existence by which all things exist—that is to say, the reality of the Essence of Unity through which all creatures have come into the world—is admitted by everyone.
Potentially, each and every being and thing is also in a continuous process of emergence from the original matter. Therefore, ʿAbduʾl-Bahá’s perspective on evolution is not, it seems to me, a form of creationism. In spite of that shared origin, however, man did not descend from the animal:
As the serpent took refuge under the ground and became a creeping animal, it was no longer in need of feet, so they disappeared; but their traces survive. The principal argument is this: that the existence of traces of members proves that they once existed, and as now they are no longer of service, they have gradually disappeared. Therefore, while the perfect and necessary members have remained, those which are unnecessary have gradually disappeared by the modification of the species, but the traces of them continue.
... the fact that the animal having preceded man is not a proof of the evolution, change and alteration of the species, nor that man was raised from the animal world to the human world. For while the individual appearance of these different beings is certain, it is possible that man came into existence after the animal....
...Although it changes in all ways, and grows and develops until it reaches the perfect form, from the beginning it is a special species. We also see in the vegetable kingdom that the original species of the genus do not change and alter, but the form, color and bulk will change and alter, or even progress.
All life on Earth evolved from a single-celled organism that lived roughly 3.5 billion years ago, a new study seems to confirm.
The study supports the widely held “universal common ancestor” theory first proposed by Charles Darwin more than 150 years ago....
[Biochemist Douglas] Theobald also tested the creationist idea that humans arose in their current form and have no evolutionary ancestors.
The statistical analysis showed that the independent origin of humans is “an absolutely horrible hypothesis,” Theobald said, adding that the probability that humans were created separately from everything else is 1 in 10 to the 6,000th power.
(As of publication time, requests for interviews with several creationist scientists had been either declined or unanswered.)
All of the physical and spiritual attributes of one or more essences, as in the essence of humanity, are acquired by beings and things throughout their general evolution and their specific development. Because essences are unknowable, scientific explanations of physical and biological origins, or of any other empirically observable object, will inevitably be limited:
All beings, whether large or small, were created perfect and complete from the first, but their perfections appear in them by degrees. The organization of God is one; the evolution of existence is one; the divine system is one. Whether they be small or great beings, all are subject to one law and system....
In the same way, the embryo possesses from the first all perfections, such as the spirit, the mind, the sight, the smell, the taste—in one word, all the
powers—but they are not visible and become so only by degrees.
Similarly, the terrestrial globe from the beginning was created with all its elements, substances, minerals, atoms and organisms; but these only appeared by degrees: first the mineral, then the plant, afterward the animal, and finally man. But from the first these kinds and species existed, but were undeveloped in the terrestrial globe, and then appeared only gradually. For the supreme organization of God, and the universal natural system, surround all beings, and all are subject to this rule. When you consider this universal system, you see that there is not one of the beings which at its coming into existence has reached the limit of perfection. No, they gradually grow and develop, and then attain the degree of perfection.
When we consider beings with the seeing eye, we observe that they are limited to three sorts—that is to say, as a whole they are either mineral, vegetable or animal, each of these three classes containing species. Man is the highest species because he is the possessor of the perfections of all the classes—that is, he has a body which grows and which feels. As well as having the perfections of the mineral, of the vegetable and of the animal, he also possesses an especial excellence which the other beings are without-that is, the intellectual perfections. Therefore, man is the most noble of beings.
The most noble being on the earth is man. He embraces the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms—that is to say, these conditions are contained in him to such an extent that he is the possessor of these conditions and states; he is aware of their mysteries and of the secrets of their existence.
Moreover, the ultimate purpose of creation is to enable human souls to gather their attributes:
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.
Man is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of spirituality—that is to say, he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection.
You have asked as to what point in man’s evolution he becomes conscious of self. This consciousness of self in man is a gradual process, and does not start at a definite point. It grows in him in this world and continues to do so in the future spiritual world.
Man can certainly recall past experiences in his evolution, and even when his soul leaves this world it will still remember the past.
Through the processes of evolutionary and fetal development, humanity has acquired its physical attributes from the lower kingdoms of creation. Crucially, each of us can now, on an individual basis, secure the virtues or qualities we need now, and which we will require in the world to come, by living our human lives within the Spiritual Kingdom (our shared, nondual higher nature):
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.
All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.
... the centre of the Sun of Truth is in the supernal world—the Kingdom of God. Those souls who are pure and unsullied, upon the dissolution of their elemental frames, hasten away to the world of God, and that world is within this world. The people of this world, however, are unaware of that world, and are even as the mineral and the vegetable that know nothing of the world of the animal and the world of man.
The universe, in my opinion, is literally teaming with life:
... some ..., like the Druzes [al-Durūz, plural of al-Durzī] and the Nusayris [al-Anṣāriyyah, plural of al-Nuṣayrī], think that existence is restricted to this physical world. What an ignorant supposition! For in this universe of God, which appears in the most complete perfection, beauty and grandeur, the luminous stars of the material universe are innumerable! Then we must reflect how limitless and infinite are the spiritual worlds, which are the essential foundation.
In these three screen captures from an MP4 video, followed by a description, an insect-like entity allegedly swam, or perhaps flew, passed the International Space Station:
Incredible footage of a translucent type entity caught briefly on NASA’s live stream of the International Space Station. The footage cuts off due to NASA pulling the plug on the transmission and replacing it with the infamous static bar screen. If this is genuine footage then it proves yet again that NASA have failed to inform the people of the world that life exists outside planet Earth, albeit in this case, a possible proteus life form or invertebrate.
As commanded by God’s Will, biological and cultural evolution might be interplanetary or interstellar. Life could be periodically nurtured, even in direct interactions with people, by Prophets and Messengers, as well as by transterrestrial beings, including extraterrestrials, transdimensionals (on different frequencies), transtemporals (time travelers in their time ships), or beings, now relocated, from a planet’s own chronological past. Certain advanced entities might then clone, genetically re-engineer, artifically select, and adapt those attributes for the changed physical environment.
[Dr. Peter] Gariaev and his colleagues ... studied DNA’s electromagnetic behavior. They concluded, “Living chromosomes function just like holographic computers using DNA’s own laser radiation.” The Gariaev team modulated certain linguistic frequencies onto a laser. With this technology of language-modulated radio and light waves, they were not only able to heal damaged chromosomes, they also successfully altered genetic expression. Amazingly, they obtained results similar to those documented by Dr. Yu Dzang Kangeng, who was the first to employ torsion energy to transfer DNA between organisms. Using radio and light waves keyed to human language frequencies to reprogram DNA, as opposed to gene splicing, Gariaev’s team literally transformed frog embryos into healthy salamander embryos in the laboratory!
Some celestial bodies could even serve as laboratories of life. Civilizations develop and, following the struggles of adolescence, reach their ages of maturity. At the ends of great Universal Cycles, the planet’s inhabitants leave behind their home worlds to join God’s other creatures throughout the universe. The artifacts of the previous cycles are destroyed, and, in conformity with the divinely ordained arrangement, new cycles begin. Indeed, the ongoing philosophical, religious, and scientific discussions of a cosmic origin in time may be misplaced. The universe, explained ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, has no beginning:
Each of the Divine Manifestations has ... a cycle, and during the cycle His laws and commandments prevail and are performed. When His cycle is completed by the appearance of a new Manifestation, a new cycle begins. In this way cycles begin, end and are renewed, until a universal cycle is completed in the world, when important events and great occurrences will take place which entirely efface every trace and every record of the past; then a new universal cycle begins in the world, for this universe has no beginning.
Perhaps, and I am just continuing to speculate, our exceptional transterrestrial residents and visitors are, through Unific Evolution, the mortal instruments of divine providence and the cosmic caretakers for God’s creation and for the dawn of a new Day. Our own descendents will, I would imagine, serve in a similar custodial capacity to other planets during future Prophetic Dispensations or Universal Cycles. Given a sufficient amount of energy, entities might be able to live anywhere they wished, including underground. As dear Baháʾuʾlláh wrote to us, all planets have creatures:
Thou hast ... asked Me concerning the nature of the celestial spheres. To comprehend their nature, it would be necessary to inquire into the meaning of the allusions that have been made in the Books of old to the celestial spheres and the heavens, and to discover the character of their relationship to this physical world, and the influence which they exert upon it. Every heart is filled with wonder at so bewildering a theme, and every mind is perplexed by its mystery. God, alone, can fathom its import.... Consider, moreover, the manifold divergencies that have resulted from the theories propounded by these men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute.
Regarding the passage on p. 163 of the “Gleanings”: The creatures which Baháʾuʾlláh states to be found on every planet cannot be considered to be necessarily similar or different from human beings on this earth. Baháʾuʾlláh does not specifically state whether such creatures are like or unlike us. He simply refers to the fact that there are creatures on every planet. It remains for science to discover one day the exact nature of these creatures.
Some of these creatures may have sent spaceships, probes, and drones to this world:
As you rightly state, Baháʾuʾlláh affirms that every fixed star has its planets, and every planet its own creatures. The House of Justice states however, that it has not discovered anything in the Baháʾí Writings which would indicate the degree of progress such creatures may have attained. Obviously, as creatures of earth have managed to construct space probes and send them into outer space, it can be believed that creatures on other planets may have succeeded in doing likewise.
Regarding the attitude Baháʾís should take toward unidentified flying objects, the House of Justice points out that they fall in the category of subjects open to scientific investigation, and as such, may be of interest to some, but not necessarily to everyone. In any case, Baháʾís have a fundamental obligation at this stage of the development of the earth’s people, that is, the responsibility of spreading the unifying Message of Baháʾuʾlláh.
From a letter, dated January 11, 1982, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual Baháʾí.
Recent scientific discoveries would seem to confirm what Baháʾuʾlláh had revealed in the nineteenth century. The planets, and maybe other celestial bodies, within God’s physical creation are not, it seems to me, wasted by spiritually and technologically sophisticated souls:
Every star twinkling in the night sky plays host to at least one planet, a new study suggests....
The findings were released at the 219th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting, alongside reports of the smallest “exoplanets” ever discovered.
Jason Palmer (science and technology reporter), “Study Says Every Star has Planets.” BBC. January 11, 2012. Retrieved on January 11, 2012.
Likewise, His angelic Presence ʿAbduʾl-Bahá said:
Consider the world of existence—that is to say, the world of material things. The solar system is dark and obscure, and in it the sun is the center of light, and all the planets of the system revolve around its might and are partakers of its bounty. The sun is the cause of life and illumination, and the means of the growth and development of all the beings of the solar system; for without the bounty of the sun no living being could exist: all would be dark and destroyed. Therefore, it is evident and clear that the sun is the center of light and the cause of the life of the beings of the solar system.
Many other prophecies have also been recorded in the Baháʾí Sacred Texts. Given that their full implications may only be understood in hindsight, and disclosed to humanity by a Prophet in the future, too much speculation on possible outcomes is, in my view, a pointless waste of time. However, one thought, which came to me during my meditations, is that life on many celestial bodies (including ours), whether as advanced civilizations or interplanetary bases, might, in some way, be cloaked, stealth, extradimensional, or otherwise hidden from us. What’s more, perhaps as illustrated below, prophecies are not usually testable natural scientific hypotheses:
As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.... Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the All-Searching, the All-Wise. Do thou meditate on that which We have revealed unto thee, that thou mayest discover the purpose of God, thy Lord, and the Lord of all worlds.
... the Divinity ... has organized this infinite universe in the most perfect form, and its innumerable inhabitants with absolute system, strength and perfection.
When man looks at the beings with a penetrating regard, and attentively examines the condition of existences, and when he sees the state, the organization and the perfection of the world, he will be convinced that in the possible world there is nothing more wonderful than that which already exists. For all existing beings, terrestrial and celestial, as well as this limitless space and all that is in it, have been created and organized, composed, arranged and perfected as they ought to be; the universe has no imperfection, so that if all beings became pure intelligence and reflected for ever and ever, it is impossible that they could imagine anything better than that which exists.
In addition, according to Shoghi Effendi, an interplanetary Prophetic Revelation, in half a million years, is possible. Likewise, Baháʾuʾlláh Himself might have appeared on other planets or, perhaps, in other dimensions or unity, frequency resonances, or harmonies of the spheres:
Regarding your questions: There is no record in history, or in the teachings, of a Prophet similar in station to Baháʾuʾlláh having lived 500,000 years ago. There will, however, be one similar to Him in greatness after the lapse of 500,000 years, but we cannot say definitely that His Revelation will be interplanetary in scope. We can only say that such a thing may be possible. What
Baháʾuʾlláh means by His appearance in “other worlds” He has not defined, as we could not visualize them in our present state, hence He was indefinite, and we cannot say whether He meant other planets or not....
In the superficial course of our existences, there is a difference between seeing and thinking, between understanding and loving, between giving and receiving, between growing and shrinking, between living and dying. But what will happen to all those contradictions once their diversity has revealed itself in Omega as an infinite variety of forms of a single universal contact? Without any sort of radical disappearance they will tend to combine into a common sum, in which their still recognizable plurality will burst forth in ineffable riches. Not any sort of interference, but a resonance....
Under Omega’s influence, we said, each separate soul becomes capable of breathing itself out in a single act into which the incalculable plurality of its perceptions and activities, its sufferings and desires, passes without confusion.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, On Love & Happiness. New York: Harper & Row. 1984. Pages 30-31.
The unity of humanity is universal, not limited to this globe. According to my understanding of ʿAbduʾl-Bahá’s comments below, a celestial sphere cannot contain animal species without also including human populations. The implications are clearly remarkable. Apparently, creatures exist on every planet, possibly past, present, and future. Therefore, beings with human souls, even if only in potential or embryonic form, can presumably be found there, as well:
Let us suppose that there was a time when man walked on his hands and feet, or had a tail; this change and alteration is like that of the fetus in the womb of the mother. Although it changes in all ways, and grows and develops until it reaches the perfect form, from the beginning it is a special species. We also see in the vegetable kingdom that the original species of the genus do not change and alter, but the form, color and bulk will change and alter, or even progress.
To recapitulate: as man in the womb of the mother passes from form to form, from shape to shape, changes and develops, and is still the human species from the beginning of the embryonic period—in the same way man, from the beginning of his existence in the matrix of the world, is also a distinct species-that is, man—and has gradually evolved from one form to another. Therefore, this change of appearance, this evolution of members, this development and growth, even though we admit the reality of growth and progress, does not prevent the species from being original.
His Exemplary Presence ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, peace be upon Him, also explained that the maneuvers of the spheres, within the celestial realms, are directed by the highest magnetic force of love:
Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.
Briefly, Unific Evolution might be a tangible sign of the unity, the interconnectedness, of existence. Speculatively, individuals similar to ourselves might even reside on apparently uninhabitable worlds. Perhaps they utilize some form of climate modification or live within protected artificial environments. In any event, according to ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, although this particular planet originated at a certain moment in time, beings and things, including “man,” are not limited to the Earth:
In the same way the species existing on this earth are phenomenal, for it is established that there was a time when these species did not exist on the surface of the earth. Moreover, the earth has not always existed, but the world of existence has always been, for the universe is not limited to this terrestrial globe.
... ʿAbduʾl-Bahá stated there are other worlds than ours which are inhabited by beings capable of knowing God.
From a letter, dated March 31, 1949, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi The Light of Divine Guidance. Volume 2. Page 82.
Some animals survive not only in environments below freezing, but in bodies below freezing. Spiders and insects produce antifreeze that prevent them from freezing solid. The larvae of certain Arctic flies can survive being chilled to about −76 Fahrenheit.
Many species of frogs, newts and turtles do freeze—more than 50 percent of the water in their bodies may be ice. The trick is that they carefully control where the ice forms. As the animal cools, its cells and organs squeeze out water and shrink. Only water outside of the animal’s cells freezes; the crystals may grow in between muscle fibers or around organs.
Although the Revelation of the Best Beloved is primarily intended for the Earth, that Revelation’s transterrestrial influence cannot be limited by us:
As to your question whether the power of Baháʾuʾlláh extends over our solar system and to higher worlds: While the Revelation of Baháʾuʾlláh, it should be noted, is primarily for this planet, yet the spirit animating it is all-embracing, and the scope therefore cannot be restricted or defined.
Yet, all souls, throughout “the immensity of space,” submit to God’s Will and are humble before Him:
O SON OF MAN! Wert thou to speed through the immensity of space and traverse the expanse of heaven, yet thou wouldst find no rest save in submission to Our command and humbleness before Our Face.
There is nothing in the Teachings about spaceships; and the Guardian [Shoghi Effendi] does not feel this is a subject on which he can offer the friends any advice whatsoever. Indeed, to be frank, he is so busy with the work of the Cause that he seldom has time to devote much thought to speculation of this nature, however fascinating it may be.
From a letter dated February 15, 1957, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual Baháʾí.
Intelligent Transterrestrials on Earth?
Earthly humans are, of course, carbon-based entities. If, however, we geocentrically expect all other residents of this vast universe to look anything like us, we could inadvertently miss them:
ge•o•cen•tric (dʒi oʊˈsɛn trɪk)
adj.
1. having or representing the earth as a center: a geocentric theory of the universe.
2. using the earth or earthly life as the only basis of evaluation.
3. viewed or measured as from the center of the earth: the geocentric position of the moon.
[1680-90]
ge`o•cen′tri•cal•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. Tel Aviv, Israel: K Dictionaries Ltd. 2010.
Recently, tiny hominins, hominids, or humanoids have allegedly been found. They could, I suppose, be either a species of transterrestrials or the remnants of a previous civilization and universal cycle. On the other hand, they might, medically, be dwarfs or “little people,” with atypical growth patterns, or physically disabled homo sapiens. In any case, legends of leprechauns, elves, pixies, imps, gnomes, sprites, wee folk, hobbits (author J.R.R. Tolkien’s term), and similar intelligent, diminutive beings are recorded throughout the world.
The most well known of Irish fairies has to be the Leprechaun. A close second is the Banshee. You may or may not have heard of the Pooka. These are some of the solitary fairies. The Merrow are Irish sea fairies or I should say the sea fairies of Ireland. The Dullahan are the most feared fairies....
There are two thoughts on the origin of the fairies.
The first thought is they are the Túatha Dé Dannan. The Túatha Dé Dannan were in original gods of Ireland. They were defeated by the Sons of Mil thought to be the final Gael conquers of Ireland. The Túatha Dé were not banished from the land. They were diminished in size and told to go live among the hills, mounds and plains. They do not die of old age. They are not visible to humans but they can be seen if they want to. They have supernatural powers, they are gods after all.
The second thought of their origin is that they are fallen angels. This idea probably came with the coming of Christianity in the fifth century. After all everyone knew fairies existed so they had to conform to the new Christian belief. When Lucifer rebelled against God some of the angels hesitated about which side to join. For this behavior they were cast from Heaven. Some fell on land to live in elf mounds called Sidh. Some fell into the seas, lakes and rivers of Ireland and are bound to live there. A few fell into Hell and were taught by the devil to do ill to mankind, these are the malevolent fairies.
This alleged elfin creature is 6-feet or 15-centimeters tall:
A reported seven-year-old elfin creature (18-inches or 46-centimeters tall), discussed by Steven M. Greer, M.D. (MP3 audio file 1 and file 2), was found in the Atacama Desert, located in Chile. The CT (computed tomography) scan of the individual’s remains, also known as a CAT (computed axial tomography) scan, is displayed at the top right. The images are followed by a description:
Clinically, given that this humanoid lived many decades to centuries ago (exact date remains unknown but it is not a recently living specimen) it is hard to understand how a 6 inch baby or child could have lived to be 6-8 years of age in such a remote and undeveloped part of the world. Even in today’s best Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) we would hardly be able to keep such a specimen alive. As an emergency physician, I have delivered premature infants, as well as a significantly deformed one with anencephaly, and am struck by how small and fragile this humanoid is. Medically speaking, IF this is merely a deformed human, it does not seem feasible that he would have lived to be 6-8 years of age. Speaking as a clinician, I, as well as other doctors with whom I have spoken, doubt he would have lived 6 hours. consistent with a human fetus of this size.
Given how long ago he lived and how primitive that area would have been- totally lacking in modern medical technologies and facilities—how would this child have lived? And with whom? Certainly there are many more questions than answers at this juncture.
The mystery is further compounded by the reports from Ramon Navia-Osorio Villar and his associates who traveled to the region and obtained information from local native peoples of sightings of UFOs and very small living creatures fitting the general description of this humanoid. There are also reports that other intact humanoids may be stored in various remote sites and locations. These reports have not been confirmed, however.
This alleged tiny creature (MP4 video) appears to have wings:
In addition, apparent horned beings have allegedly been discovered. Of course I am only guessing, but they could have been the inspiration for some legends regarding devils:
Obviously, if you dream of monsters devouring you, or of experiencing some kind of violence, such as being in a shipwreck, drowning in the ocean, or being pursued by anything ranging from murderous people to demons and devils with horns, you are having a classical nightmare.
Hans Holzer, Hans Holzer’s the Supernatural: Explaining the Unexplained. Franklin Lakes, NJ: The Career Press. 2003. Page 78.
Several human skulls with horns protruding from them were discovered in a burial mound at Sayre, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, in the 1880’s. With the exception of the bony projections located about two inches above the eyebrows, the men whom these skeletons belonged to were anatomically normal, though at seven feet tall they were giants. It was estimated that the bodies had been buried around A.D. 1200. The find was made by a reputable group of antiquarians, including the Pennsylvania state historian and dignitary of the Presbyterian Church (Dr. G.P. Donehoo) and two professors, A.B. Skinner, of the American Investigating Museum, and W.K. Morehead, of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. The bones were sent to the American Investigating Museum in Philadelphia, where like so many finds that question anthropology, they were stolen and never seen again.
alleged two-horned skull found in archaeological dig, Sayre (Bradford County, PA), 1880s
These photographs are screen captures, from three MP4 videos (file 1, file 2, and file 3), of alleged transterrestrials in Mexico and Brazil:
This image is a screenshot, from an MP4 video, of the reported capture, or perhaps kidnapping, of a transterrestrial in Varginha, Brazil:
This image (MP4 video) shows an alleged transterrestrial photographed with a deer camera:
In 2011, the corpse of an elegant transterrestrial being (MP4 video), with an apparently severed right leg, was reportedly found in Italy:
Then, in 2012, a transterrestrial corpse (MP4 video) was allegedly spotted, also with a severed right leg, in the Irkutsk region of snowy southern Siberia, Russia:
This being was allegedly photographed in a wooded area:
Next is a screenshot of one among several transterrestrials allegedly included in this MP4 video:
Floating transterrestrial beings were allegedly photographed on Luciano Medici’s property in Dolianuova, Sardinia, Italy in 2009. They appear, to me, to be wearing some type of space suit. The original image is embedded in the enlargement. Click to further enlarge it:
Two images of alleged transterrestrial mummies are displayed below:
This cropped and enlarged photograph (this original JPEG image or on NASA website) appears to show a transterrestrial face observing U.S. astronauts:
possible Greys on
Armenian Stonehenge in Sisian, Armenia (approximately 5,500 B.C.)
Intelligent Transterrestrials on Earth’s Moon?
If certain people are to be believed, the moon is already occupied. An hour-long MP4 video addresses this subject. Personally speaking, however, I am obviously unable to verify the following claims:
As a result of the NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] cover-up, all findings concerning other planets released to the public by NASA and orthodox scientists are to be viewed with suspicion. The Moon’s high gravity necessitates drastic revisions to cherished concepts of planetary gravity and atmosphere, as well as other cosmological concepts. The above considerations and a great deal of additional evidence suggests that a number of planets and moons in the solar system may be inhabited by intelligent people with technologies superior to ours. If so, the operations of the United States and Russia in space may be restricted by these people and limited to certain areas.
As far as the moon is concerned, I think they found when they got up there that there was already somebody there – and I woundn’t want to say anymore than that. But they got out of there, and they haven’t been back. But I have seen certain documents and read certain reports that indicate there is somebody already there – that knows a lot more than we do and would be willing to run us off if we didn’t go on our own. I doubt that we will go to the moon again.
Trevor James Constable in “UFO: The Greatest Story Ever Denied.” JEMWorks, LLC, and Jose Escamilla Works, LLC. 2006. YouTube. Retrieved on May 21, 2012.
Did you ever wonder why the Moon landings stopped and why we have not tried to build a Moon Base? It does seem like a better and easier idea than a floating space station with no access to any raw materials or supplies? According to the NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong the aliens have a base on the Moon and told us in no uncertain terms to get off and stay off the Moon!
Sound far fetched? Milton Cooper, a Naval Intelligence Officer tells us that not only does the Alien Moon Base exist but the U.S. Naval Intelligence Community refers to the Alien Moon Base as
“Luna,” that there is a huge mining operation going on there, and that is where the aliens keep their huge mother ships while the trips to Earth are made in smaller “flying saucers.”
LUNA: The Alien base on the far side of the Moon. It was seen and filmed by the Apollo astronauts. A base, a mining operation using very large machines, and the very large alien craft described in sighting reports as mother ships exist there. – Milton Cooper
an anomalous structure (10 miles/16 km. wide and 6 miles/9.7 km. high), possibly a crashed or docked spacecraft with cables, discovered (during the Apollo 17 mission) in the Lobachevsky Crater of Earth’s Moon (click to enlarge)
The following photographs were taken of possible huge domed craters on Earth’s Moon. The three furthest to the right also seem to contain visible structures. Click to enlarge them:
This photograph is an alleged lunar base on the far-side of the moon:
This picture reportedly shows a bridge (21-miles or 34-kilometers long) on the Moon:
This image allegedly displays a temple and other structures on the Moon:
In a screen capture from an MP4 video, which is followed by a description, a NASA employee appears to accidentally confirm the existence of lunar structures. The photograph, enlarged to the right, is shown laying upon his desk:
click to enlarge each of the photographs
NASA accidentally confirms what we have known all along, that there are indeed structures on the moon. In this picture taken at the NASA Ames Research Center, we can clearly see a two possible structures, one is quite clearly a square shaped building, the other to the right of the building looks like a triangular shaped structure.
In a screen capture from an MP4 video, using an individual’s personal telescope, a fleet of spacecraft were allegedly observed leaving the Moon on September 15, 2012:
This image, from Earth’s Moon, was captured by the U.S. Clementine spacecraft (Deep Space Program Science Experiment, 1994). The original phototograph was allegedly blurred by NASA and later recovered using Photoshop. It appears to depict a humanoid, wearing a full-bodied green suit, leaning over a vehicle or, perhaps, some other type of machine:
U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts have reported seeing transterrestrial spacecraft (MP4 video 1, video 2, and video 3 and an MP3 audio file from NASA’s Space Station mission, STS-21). The following image, from November, 1969, displays what seems to be an inquisitive creature reflected in the visor of Apollo 12 astronaut Alan LaVern Bean (born, 1932). The photograph was taken by fellow astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. (1930-1999). Both men were standing on the lunar surface:
Here is another alleged humanoid on the moon:
click on each photograph to enlarge
A possible blue light ship was photographed during NASA’s Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969. I have enlarged the picture (original JPEG image), but I have not modified it in any other way:
The planet Mars could also have a colorful history:
We describe aspects of a skull-like feature found in Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) image AB108403. The skull-like feature becomes face-like when one recognizes the presence of component facial features of appropriate size and shape, features such as cheek, chin and neck. Further component features of the image including eyes, nose, and mouth combine to give the impression of a human-like face. A special analysis of the eyes is undertaken, one involving two independent eye specialists. We then undertake a critical analysis including a comparison of natural head or face-like features on earth as well as a probability analysis of the possibility that the features could have appeared randomly. Our analysis suggests that natural and/or random processes fail to provide a satisfactory explanation for its formation. Among others, we also describe a flat facial profile found in a statistical survey for other eye-like features on Mars. The Profile has an identifiable eye, nose, lips, chin, cheek, and neck. Unlike natural head-like features found on earth, which tend to be grotesque and quite angular, both the Skullface image and the Profile image have relatively smooth and proportionate facial features.
Horace W. Crater (The University of Tennessee Space Institute), “Face-Like Feature at West Candor Chasma, Mars MGS Image AB108403” (abstract). Journal of Scientific Exploration. Volume 16. Number 3. 2002. Pages 413-437.
Evidence suggesting a past humanoid civilization has been found at several sites on Mars. In particular, what appear to be large carved faces, with similar details, have been found at two separate sites. Together with geochemical and geological evidence that suggests Mars was once more Earth-like in climate, the images of the objects support the Cydonian Hypothesis: That Mars once lived as the Earth now lives, and that it was once the home of an indigenous humanoid intelligence.
John E. Brandenburg, Vincent DiPietro, and Gregory Molenaar, “The Cydonian Hypothesis” (abstract). Journal of Scientific Exploration. Volume 5. Number 1. 1991. Pages 1-25.
“This massive nuclear explosion on Mars seems to defy natural explanation.” – Dr. John Brandenburg, senior propulsion scientist at Orbital Technologies Corp Brandenburg – who once worked at Livermore – defended his research, arguing that defense experts he talked to off the record said they agreed there are signs of a nuclear reaction.
Below are, on the left, a seemingly lizard-like creature and, on the right, a being, which I personally noticed, apparently looking into the camera (with an embedded image which I edited using contrast enhance and other tools). Both images were taken from the same original NASA JPL photograph, by the Mars Rover Curiosity, on or around February 3, 2013:
A puzzling radiant angel-like figure (original JPEG image) was captured, using Panoramic Camera Sol 123, by the Mars Rover Opportunity. I cropped and enlarged the photograph, but I have not modified it in any other way:
This image taken by Curiosity, which I also downloaded from NASA’s website, appears to show a pyramid city and a submerged metalic object:
A possible metalic object, with two embedded enlargements, was found by Mars Rover Curiosity on January 30, 2013:
The existence of starry life is, no doubt, highly speculative. That being said, the reference included below, taken from an old and outdated Baháʾí compilation, appears to describe sentient creatures on the luminous stellar bodies, including the Sun, through adaptation. I will note, however, that, because some (not all) of the sources used in early Baháʾí publications lack authenticated Arabic or Persian versions, they are not defined as scriptural. In addition, many of the early English-language translations were relatively poor in quality. With those important qualifications, I decided to quote a portion of the passage anyway.
In my humble opinion, ʿAbduʾl-Bahá’s first comparison of “sea birds” with birds in the sky and His second comparison of “sea-horses” with horses and fish refer to the divinely ordained patterns or correspondences in existence, not to literal Platonic ideal forms (Ancient Greek, eídē). In other words,
ʿAbduʾl-Bahá is, it seems to me, using Platonic idealism as a metaphor or as linguistic context:
The earth has its inhabitants, the water and the air contain many living beings and all the elements have their nature spirits, then how is it possible to conceive that these stupendous stellar bodies are not inhabited? Verily, they are peopled, but let it be known that the dwellers accord with the elements of their respective spheres. These living beings do not have states of consciousness like unto those who live on the surface of this globe: the power of adaptation and environment moulds their bodies and states of consciousness, just as our bodies and minds are suited to our planet.
For example, we have birds that live in the air, those that live on the earth and those that live in the sea. The sea birds are adapted to their elements, likewise the birds which soar in the air, and those which hover above the earth’s surface. Many animals living on the land have their counterparts in the sea. The domestic horse has his counterpart in the sea-horse which is half horse and half fish.
The components of the sun differ from those of this earth, for there are certain light and life-giving elements radiating from the sun. Exactly the same elements may exist in two bodies, but in varying quantities....
... Beings who inhabit those distant luminous bodies are attuned to the elements that have gone into their composition of their respective spheres.
In my opinion, idealism, of any variety, is problematic:
The theory of forms is probably the most characteristic, and most contested of the doctrines of Plato.... Ordinary things gain their natures by either “imitating” forms (which then become thought of as transcendent and somehow independent of the sensible world) or “participating” in them (in which case they are immanent, present in things, and perhaps less mysterious). The train of thought is illustrated with both geometrical and ethical examples. The plate that the potter makes is not itself perfectly round, but perfect roundness is an ideal. It may not be found in the world, but it is something to which things approximate, and it plays a role in rendering intelligible the world in which they do so. Similarly actual human institutions may only approximate to the ideal of justice, but the ideal or form provides an intelligible dimension of description and criticism.
Simon Blackburn, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Second edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2008.
The word idealism is derived from the Greek word ἰδέα, which simply means something seen, or the look of something. Plato used the word as a technical term of his philosophy to mean a universal (such as whiteness) in contrast to a particular (such as something white) or to mean an ideal limit or standard (such as absolute Beauty) in contrast to the things that approximate or conform to it (such as the more or less beautiful things). According to Plato an Idea, or Form, is apprehended by the intellect, does not exist in time, and cannot come into existence or cease to exist as temporal things do and is hence more real than they are. In medieval philosophy Ideas or Forms were regarded as the patterns in accordance with which God conceived of things and created them, and hence they were thought of as existing in the mind of God.
H.B. Acton, “Idealism.” Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Donald M. Borchert, editor. 2nd edition. Volume 4. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA. 2006. Pages 552-562.
subjective idealism, a philosophy based on the premise that nothing exists except minds and spirits and their perceptions or ideas. A person experiences material things, but their existence is not independent of the perceiving mind; material things are thus mere perceptions. The reality of the outside world is contingent on a knower. The 18th-century Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley succinctly formulated his fundamental proposition thus: Esse est percipi (“To be is to be perceived”). In its more extreme forms, subjective idealism tends toward solipsism, which holds that I alone exist.
“subjective idealism.” Encyclopædia Britannica: Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica. 2013. Retrieved on April 7, 2013.
Mrs. Isabella D. Brittinghmam, peace be upon her, asked His Exemplary Presence ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, ”Are the planets or stars the many mansions in heaven of which Christ spoke, telling the disciples that He went to prepare a place for them?” ʿAbduʾl-Bahá replied:
As to thy question regarding the stars: Know that these brilliant stars are numberless and their existence is not void of wisdom both useful and important (i.e., their existence is of great importance.)
Rather they are worlds, as this world of ours. But they differ in their bodies, by the difference of elements, from this earthly body. They differ in (their) formation. The beings existent upon these bodies are according to their formation.
As to the worlds whereunto Christ (unto whom be the great glory) referred: They are spiritual, divine, heavenly, single, unlocated; neither the imperfect mind can commprehend them, nor the shining soul can know them. But, verily the sights of the people of the Kingdom of El Abha [al-Abhā, the Most Glorious] perceive them and the intellects of the people of the Supreme Concourse apprehended them.
From a Tablet by ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, dated 1902, written to Isabella D. Brittinghmam. Provisional translation by Mirza Ameen Ullah, Chicago, IL, August 15, 1902.
Although this third statement, like the previous quotation, may not be as explicit as the first, since “stars” might refer to solar systems, it is taken from an authenticated source:
... 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.
This MP3 audio file, from March 17, 2012, describes beings which are allegedly living on the surface of the Sun. I personally captured the following solar images from Helioviewer.org on November 17, November 18, and December 2, 2012, and on January 10, January 13, March 9, April 6, May 5, May 7, and May 12, 2013:
For what it’s worth, I am not a ufologist. That subject was, in fact, one of my major Autistic special interests when I was a preteen and early teen from 1967-1970. (Special interests are a bit like hobbies but much more intensive and encompassing.) Even though I read about ufology, including ancient astronauts, quite a bit at the time, I have never, as an adult, systematically studied the field’s literature. Since spaceships have, in my view, been identified, and they manifest, not fly, I have no interest in considering the evidence for unidentified flying objects (that offensive, four-letter word, UFOs). My objective is to spiritually identify, and inwardly commune with, other beings.
Nevertheless, returning to the topic of transterrestrials and their spaceships has allowed me to integrate this childhood fascination with my evolving approach to reality, now called The Unicentric Paradigm™, since becoming a Baháʾí. More often than not, my views on this subject are, admittedly, little more than speculative hunches. Still, they are the result of spending many hours reading and pondering various texts, including
Baháʾí literature. Efforts, however, prove nothing. Ideas which have not been supported by hard empirical evidence are speculations.
drawings of possible spacecraft
four Mayan artifacts of alleged spacecraft (one on top right apparently exiting the Sun)
An image of an apparent space traveler was allegedly found on a Sumerian tablet. Here are two resolutions of the photograph:
The word, angel, is from the Late Greek, ángelos (literally, messenger). Although I am extremely skeptical of alleged, unsubstantiated reports by governments on transterrestrials, these angelic protectors could conceivably represent numerous intelligent species:
John Lear claims there are 18 extraterrestrial races monitoring us and Sergeant First Class Cliff Stone claims they had catalogued 57 species of humanoid extraterrestrial by 1989.
The angelics appear to have become considerably more active. More and more representatives of their ranks and species, both from this world and the luminous worlds to come, are, I intuitively feel, visiting this planet. In this age of earth-shaking crises, they are with us. During the current transitional period, between the old order and the new one in formation, they are affirming their divinely ordained authority. My focus on cosmic unity and my efforts to draw spiritually close to these loving beings, among the blessed angels of this world, have brought me much closer to angelology than to so-called ufology.
Gods who used to walk the face of the earth have not been seen in a long time, but our UFO visitors are surely agents of more powerful extraterrestrials historically called gods. Contacts between humans and extraterrestrial beings are increasing ....
... A growing number of us are joining the Sumerians, Egyptians, Hindus, Olmecs, Mayans, Aztecs, and Toltecs in believing that the gods will soon return to earth.
Robert Berringer, The Age of Aquarius is Near. Carrollton, VA: Cloudrider Books. July 10, 2006. Retrieved on August 2, 2012.
In the Jewish mysticism of the Qabbalah [Hebrew, Qabbālāh, receiving], angelology is developed starting from the episode of the struggle between Jacob [Hebrew, Yaʿăqōb] and the angel (Gn. 32: 27) ....
Christianity accepted and redeveloped aspects of Old Testament angelology according to its new requirements. Angels intervene in the central events involving the coming of the Messiah ....
There are elaborate angelologies to be found in Islamic philosophical and religious writings.... In the philosophy of Sohrawardi [Suhrawardī] there is a complex and well-developed angelology which contains elements of Neoplatonic and Zoroastrian influence .... All sensible and material reality is created and controlled by a particular type of archangel. These archangels occupy a mundus imaginalis [Latin, imaginal world, elegance, or order] between the physical and spiritual worlds and can be perceived by the sage by means of imagination.
Andrea Piras, “Angels.” Encyclopedia of Religion. Edited by Lindsay Jones. Volume 1. Second edition. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA. 2005. Pages 343-349.
In the TaNaḤ or Old Testament, apparent angelic beings are described as riding upon chariots of fire:
... a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
... Elisha prayed, and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Mahāyāna (Sanskrit for Greater Vehicle), the largest branch of Buddhism (Sanskrit, Buddha Dharma, sustenance of the Awakened One), focuses upon the spiritual awakening, enlightenment, or emancipation of all sentient (conscious) beings. Many Mahāyāna Buddhists believe in, and strive to become, bodhisattvāḥ or bodhisattvas (Sanskrit for awakened beings):
The Tibetan texts speak of extraterrestrial Bodhisattvas, that come down in their own wheels or Spheres, spinning self generated Star Ship wheels, or even cities generated from their thoughts into real physical vehicles, who than descended on Earth, were self born and then passed on these techniques to sages, to Lamas, who than themselves would implement this.
The term, angels (Arabized Hebrew, al-malākūt, the messengers, often translated as the Kingdom), is the condition of Angelhood (the Angelic World). It might designate attributes, souls (as individualized attributes), and perhaps even sacred objects that conform to the Spiritual Kingdom. They are, as a result, angelic or spiritual. Therefore, Angelhood could refer, in some textual contexts, to exceptional persons, including the Prophets and Their servants, both in this world and in the next. Angelhood, in my view, is servitude before God.
O thou who hast addressed ʿAbduʾl-Bahá!
Verily, I pray my Lord to teach thee a language and writing of the Kingdom which will satisfy thee, so as to dispense with all things; for that spiritual writing and instructive tongue are eloquent, clear, laudable, legible, read by the tongue and preserved in the heart. Blessed is he who knows it in the world of man!
Know, verily, that the Ocean is waving, the Sun shining, the Stars dawning. (Understand what I say!)
The tree will grow, the earth will send forth hyacinths 1 and give blessings, and man will become of the heavenly angels. Feed on the light of guidance and impart light to the people. The bird will warble melodies unknown save by the birds of heaven; then tear asunder the veil and see the realities of things with the eye of God. Verily, thy Lord guideth whomsoever He willeth unto the Straight Path!
The Promised Spot will be made a racecourse for the steeds of the race of Knowledge and the lights of the Merciful will shine upon it. The dispersed ones will return to the Center of Gathering and the birds will return from the meadows of the world unto the Nest of Harmony. This is a preordained matter.
As to thee: Thou hast borne every difficulty and hardship and soon will be rewarded by God with a good reward. He will destine to thee all that is good, and choose for thee the manifestation of His mercy among the servants; that they may thus see that the Sons of the Kingdom have gone out, while there hath come a soul from the remotest horizon who hath entered the Kingdom of God.
1. the state or condition of being an angel; angelic nature.
2. angels collectively: the angelhood of heaven.
3. an angelic being.
Random House
Dictionary. New York: Random House. 2012.
Nevertheless, I see no requirement to limit the angels before death to ordinary earthly humans. An angelic being is, to my understanding, any virtuous entity who represents or teaches God’s sovereign Will:
Issue forth from your cities, O peoples of the West and aid God ere the Day when the Lord of mercy shall come down unto you in the shadow of the clouds with the angels circling around Him, exalting His praise and seeking forgiveness for such as have truly believed in Our signs.
The meaning of “angels” is the confirmations of God and His celestial powers. Likewise angels are blessed beings who have severed all ties with this nether world, have been released from the chains of self and the desires of the flesh, and anchored their hearts to the heavenly realms of the Lord. These are of the Kingdom, heavenly; these are of God, spiritual; these are revealers of God’s abounding grace; these are dawning-points of His spiritual bestowals.
Now is the time to divest yourselves of the garment of attachment to this phenomenal realm, be wholly severed from the physical world, become angels of heaven, and travel and teach through all these regions.
ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, as quoted in a message, dated May 1971, written by the Universal House of Justice to the Caribbean Conference, Lights of Guidance: A Baháʾí Reference File. Number 1778.
Indeed, the heavenly hosts in the concourse of angels stand rank upon rank:
The angels and the spirits, arrayed rank upon rank, descend, by the leave of God, upon this Gate and circle round this Focal Point in a far-stretching line.
The Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings has pledged unfailing aid to every crusader battling for His Cause. Invisible battalions are mustered, rank upon rank, ready to pour forth reinforcements from on high.
Baháʾuʾlláh’s army of light is standing on the threshold of the Holy Year [1953].
The unseen legions, standing rank upon rank, and eager to pour forth from the Kingdom on high the full measure of their celestial strength on the individual participants of this incomparably glorious Crusade, are powerless unless and until each potential crusader decides for himself, and perseveres in his determination, to rush into the arena of service ready to sacrifice his all for the Cause he is called upon to champion.
Certain visible signs could, I feel, represent various means by which our angels are communicating their presence to us. The best known have, of course, been the spacecraft, interdimensional starships, or so-called UFOs. Public domain 1979 film footage, which was converted into MP4 format, can be watched in parts file 1, file 2, and file 3. Below is an animated image of that alleged spaceship along with a description:
In 1979, some friends and I were messing around with a video camera in a slum area of town that had largely burned down and never been rebuilt.
The video camera was old, with a heavy, over the shouder separate deck, obsolete even then. We saw some stuff flying around the buildings. At first we thought they were kites or maybe some radio controlled toy planes. We never did figure out what they were, but we got some of the stuff on video. It appeared as if there were two things, one smaller than the other. They moved pretty fast, so we guessed they were light, like balloons. They would fly away, then come back, for about a half hour.
The tapes and camera ended up forgotten in a pile of junk in the basement.
I just dug out the tapes, which are disintegrating. Unfortunately, I can’t get the audio to work, so the weird noise can’t be heard. The old deck functions just well enough to watch a few inches at a time of the tape. After playing a few seconds, the heads have to be cleaned, and the tape has snapped in a few places. I’m transferring what survives to digital format, and posting it here for anyone who’s interested in this sort of thing.
UFO Footage. Filmed in 1979. Retrieved on September 8, 2012.
George Filer, the director of the National UFO Center, reports that sightings of “UFOs” have been increasing:
... my hypothesis is that the over a thousand UFOs reported each month represent technologically advanced spacecraft conducting surveillance of Earth. I personally became interested in UFOs when London Control ordered me to intercept one over England while flying for the US Air Force under Project Blue Book, the US Air Force investigated UFOs for more than twenty years; and we continue this advanced research. I believe the God of the universe has spread life throughout the cosmos and UFOs are visiting us in ever-increasing numbers.
In this sequence of three images (MP4 video), taken at James Gilliland’s ECETI (Enlightened Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Ranch in Trout Lake, Washington, a spacecraft is described as powering up:
On May 25, 2013, this possible spacecraft (or earthly drone) was photographed by Corinne Federer over the Muiderslot Castle in Holland:
Here is another alleged photograph of a spacecraft:
It’s a mystery that hung over the Fresno sky Wednesday afternoon.
Several Fresno residents reported seeing a bright, spherical-shaped object in the sky. The low-hovering object remained visible for hours.
KMPH reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Fresno Air Terminal and the Army National Guard Wednesday afternoon. The agencies could not provide an explanation for the object.
The next photograph is accompanied by an explanation:
Allegedly, a spherical spacecraft (embedded) was traveling to a “UFO fleet container” (MP3 audio file):
These are screen captures from two MP4 videos (file 1 and file 2 of alleged spaceships observed from the International Space Station on March 31, 2013:
STS-113 was a U.S. mission by space shuttle Enterprise to the International Space Station in 2002. Although I enlarged the following photograph from the mission (original jpeg), I did not otherwise retouch the image:
This alleged spherical, metallic spacecraft, from January 18, 2010, has a diameter of 865,000 miles (1,392,083 kilometers) or about the size of 109 earths:
In the next picture, captured from an MP4 video, allegedly shows, surrounded by tree branches, a spherical craft:
Here is another alleged spherical ship (MP4 video):
This next photograph (original NASA image) reminded someone of a Klingon “Bird of Prey,” a fictional spacecraft portrayed in the Star Trek™ television franchise. I cropped and enlarged the picture, but I did not alter it in any other way. The picture, in its original size, is embedded at the bottom right:
This next object (MP4 video), captured during a Russian spacewalk from the International Space Station, also appears, at one point, to resemble a Klingon Bird of Prey. It is followed by a description:
Not sure of the date but there’s much more to the video I haven't shown here with TONS of other objects and weirdness (maybe later). “It’s a washer.” “It’s a handle.” “It’s a large wrench” are just a few of the explanations supposedly given by NASA.
From the submitter – “I can’t believe NASA let’s these videos out.”
The screen capture below is a reported triangular or delta spaceship (MP4 video):
This quotation describes another apparent triangular or delta craft:
There has been a large UFO sighting over Texas, USA recently.
Red lights appeared over the sky and have been witnessed by multiple people all over the City. Whitnesses claim mysterious lights were hovering over lake Moses. The UFOs apparently formed a triangle shape as well as a “Z” shape.
These solar images from SOHO LASCO (the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory’s Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph), operated jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), appear to show transterrestrial “rods” near the Sun. The photographs were captured on May 23, 2013:
click to enlarge
This image of rods, allegedly observed in Basheria, Italy, was captured from an MP4 video
Here is another alleged rod-shaped craft:
Another MP4 video allegedly portrays a single transterrestrial being within a spaceship pod or capsule:
As detailed by U.S. Air Force Colonel Frank B. McKenzie, a “UFO” was reported on September 19, 1976, in Ṭihrān, Īrān:
At about 12:30 on 19 Sep 76 [September 19, 1976] the Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) received four phone calls from citizens in the Shemiran [Šamīrān] area of Tehran saying that they had seen strange objects in the sky. Some reported a kind of bird-like object while others reported a helicopter with a light on. There were no helicopters airborne at that time.
U.S. Air Force Colonel Frank B. McKenzie, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Reported UFO Sighting. Department of Defense. Official U.S. government document. September 20, 1976. Retrieved on October 26, 2012.
Since capturing this anomalous, apparently metallic, entity (Google Earth, June 30, 2012) in the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica, I fell in love with it. Once in a while, I admit, I have even meditated on the photograph. On face value, I realize that the object is ostensibly a submarine or some other mundane vehicle. Admittedly, however, I have hoped, on occasion, that it is a transterrestrial or “alien” spaceship. In any case, the craft appears, to my eyes, to be partially immersed in the ocean. Click to enlarge the photograph:
official U.S. government photograph
A possible multi-colored, saucer-shaped light ship was captured by NASA (original JPEG image). Although I have enlarged the following image, I have not otherwise modified it. However, the photograph, in its original size, is embedded at the bottom right:
These photographs of alleged pulsating plasmatic saucers of light were taken by Carlos Diaz:
The following description of this MP4 video highlights a possible connection between the appearances of transterrestrial spacecraft and catastrophes. It is followed by a two screen captures:
The recent UFO sightings in the city of Santiago [Chile] are creating fear among the population, according to a TV news report. On the 30 November 2012, a huge glowing disc and smaller craft were spotted over Santiago, multiple witnesses claim the object was massive, possibly the size of a football field, and seemed to glow. It was followed by a smaller craft or orb.
Experts do not know why these unidentified flying objects appear during or after any disaster. What is the relationship between UFOs and natural disasters, catastrophic events such as earthquakes, and why such interest in Santiago, a huge hotspot for UFO activity.
The result of a survey of public opinion in Chile, clearly says that 85% of the population of this country believes in extraterrestrial presence on our planet.
Several people have speculated that, on February 15, 2013, a transterrestrial spacecraft impacted a meteor, bound for Siberia in Russia, and smashed it into pieces (MP4 videos file 1 and file 2). These are screen captures:
The following cropped images of the alleged Black Knight Satellite (MP4 video), orbiting earth, were downloaded from the NASA website. They were taken during STS-88, the first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station, in 1998. A description will follow. Click on each of these full-resolution pictures for the complete, unaltered photograph:
Unknown mystery satellite orbiting the Earth has been detected astronomers as far back as 1927. Many astronomers reported mysteries radio signals transmitted by this satellite. Then 4 years before the launch of Sputnik I, in 1953 this object was discovered by Dr. Lincoln La Paz of the University of New Mexico. As reports of this object began to come in after this discovery from other scientists seeing the object, the Department of Defense apparently appointed astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh to run a search for the object. Then in 1957, Dr. Luis Corralos of the Communications Ministry in Venezuela photographed it while taking pictures of Sputnik II as it passed over Caracas. Unlike Sputnik I and II, this mysterious satellite orbited in east to west orbit. The Russian and American satellite till this time moved west to east thereby using the Earth's natural rotation stay in orbit speed.
Then in March of 1960, another mysterious satellite was discovered orbiting earth. This mystery satellite was in polar orbit feat that neither the US nor Russian were capable of at that time. The soviet satellites were inclined at 65 degree angle with the equator. It was calculated that the weight object to about 15 tons, which is far too heavy for rocket of that era. It also travelled twice as fast as any known satellite at the time. The object was sighted and studied by many of the astromoners across the country. This is what Robert L. Johnson, director of the Adler Planetarium had to say about the object,
“THE OBJECT,” JUDSON SAID, “DOESN’T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO MAINTAIN A REGULAR SCHEDULE, LIKE ANY OTHER HEAVENLY OR MAN MADE OBJECT HE’S EVER SEEN.” “WE DON’T KNOW WHEN TO WATCH FOR IT,” he says. “It appears some nights, and some nights it doesn’t.”
It was then photographed by the Grumman Aircraft Corporation. The military attached so much importance to this mystery satellite that they created special committee to gather information and study the mystery satellite. The committee’s findings were kept secret and the sightings were forgotten. That is till HAM operator intercepted a strange signal from this mystery satellite. The signal was later studied by Scottish astronomer Duncan Lunan. The decoded massages show a star map centered on Epsilon Boštes as seen from the earth 13,000 years ago. This mystery object was name the Black Knight. Is it possible that the Black Knight is alien satellite and was sending information about them?
Looking at signals that we have received from space it is a good indication that somebody out there is trying to communicate with us. Is it possible that this is the same signal that both [Nikola] Tesla [1856-1943] and [Guglielmo] Marconi [1874-1937] intercepted years earlier?
This spacecraft was allegedly found on security camera footage (MP4 video), in Sandusky, OH, on May 6, 2013:
Some of the saucer-shaped spacecraft, including both transterrestrial and earthly reverse-engineered vehicles, may, as certain writers have suggested, be powered by plasma:
... the saucer was mostly one big plasma motor.... enveloping the whole craft in a ball of light.
You do realise the building of “flying saucers” by humans is already a confirmation of an alien presence in the Solar System? ... [T]he TR-3B Astra for instance ... [is] engine powered by plasma-based mercury that helps to nullify gravity. That’s back-engineered technology; guess where from?
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) posted a fascinating solar video, from June 18, 2012, on YouTube. SDO called it, Alien Prometheus Prominence (MP4 video). My impression is that it displays, in the first few moments, a colossal saucer-shaped vehicle. Speculatively, it, and perhaps even its crew or passengers, could be powered, nurtured, and “fed” by the Sun’s plasma or electricity. Below is a rather impressive screen shot of the craft, possibly with its landing gear lowered, and two embedded enlargements:
The video might, I am guessing, have come from one of NASA’s younger generation of paradigm busters. Given the clarity of the image, the agency’s qualified description, extreme caution is somewhat surprising. Perhaps they were exercising due diligence or, in other words, covering their butts:
This movie covers almost 15 hours from the early hours of June 18, 2012. These UV [ultraviolet] views from the AIA [Atmospheric Imaging Assembly] instrument on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory in the 304 angstrom wavelengths show a beautiful prominence eruption. We called it the “Alien Prometheus Prominence.” Why? Watch the movie and find out.
This 304 angstrom channel (red Sun) provides us a very good way of seeing areas where cooler dense plumes of plasma, filaments and prominences, are located above the visible surface of the Sun.
There is a also a close-up view in 171 angstrom of this prominence showing the arcs extending off of the Sun where plasma moves along magnetic field lines.
A solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun’s surface. Prominences are anchored to the Sun’s surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun’s hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space. Scientists are still researching how and why prominences are formed.
The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas comprised of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. The prominence plasma flows along a tangled and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun’s internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.
These LASCO C3 photographs (original image 1, image 2, and image 3), which I also spotted on my own, are from SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory). It is jointly operated by NASA and the European Space Agency. I have cropped and enlarged these images of a possible spacecraft (all timestamped from shortly past midnight on April 29, 2013), but I have not otherwise modified them:
According to a writer:
For some time there has been strong speculation that our Sun is a portal (doorway) to other worlds. We have even posted large planet size spaceships near the Sun. We have been watching this phenomenon for several years on SOHO-NASA [Solar and Heliospheric Observatory of NASA] satellites. This type of activity has increased over the past few months. Of course, images that were extremely clear they have scrubbed them from time to time, but all the evidence is hard to get rid of with so many literate arm chair astronomers these days.
Click to enlarge these images of cube-shaped objects near the Sun. They were photographed by SOHO in June, 2011:
This apparent image of a saucer around the Sun, with two embedded enlargements, is from January, 2010:
The following solar images were also allegedly captured by SDO in 2012:
Furthermore, two MP4 videos (file 1 and file 2) appear to show a huge flying-saucer craft with a plasmatic connection cable to the Sun. Here is a screen capture:
In this screenshot from an MP4 video, a spacecraft is allegedly using the Sun, or its plasmatic energy, as a stargate, portal, or wormhole:
These are screen captures from four additional MP4 videos (file 1, file 2, file 3, and four) which allegedly show spacecraft near the Sun and its plasmatic energy:
In a screenshot taken from another MP4 video, which was made on May 25, 2012, a craft, after apparently emerging from the Sun, might have been deflecting harmful solar radiation from the Earth:
As shown in another MP4 video, from May 19, 2013, a spacecraft possibly shown at the bottom left may be performing a similar activity:
Likewise, Manny, a videographer, appears to have argued (MP4 video 1 and video 2 on May 7, 2013) that conspiratorial reports of chemtrails are actually the benevolent handiwork of transterrestrials or orbs. Nothing, he suggested, is being “sprayed.” For instance, he marvelled that the “line makers” as he calls them, at the left and top right, with their seeming “contrails,” and the plane at the bottom right do not resemble any known earthly aircraft. Speculatively, their bountiful activities, as protections or shieldings from coming Earth changes, might even be described as physical expressions of emancipation by angels:
Additionally, Norman Bergrun believes that the rings around planets may also contain plasmatic lifeforms. Electromagnetic vehicles (EMVs), as developing entities, are, he suspects, being powered by, or “nursing from,” the energetic plasma in the rings:
The implication is that orbital radius of vehicle position is set very precisely in order to have a gap produced. Inspection of the vehicle reveals numerous jets issuing from many different positions around and along the body [of the vehicle]. A fan of three jets appears to form the inboard part of the trailing efflux. Each jet appears to consist of a series of bulbous swellings. Such swellings are indicative of the form of electricially charged flows known as pinched plasmas.
Norman R. Bergrun, Ringmakers of Saturn. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Pentland Press. 1986. Page 21.
Saturn investigations for years have portrayed the ring system as comprised of primordial matter. The utter idea that the rings might be quite young is uncomfortable to primordial advocates because a key assumption is placed in jeopardy.... [S]everal different electromagnetic vehicles [are] actually depositing the A and B rings .... These fortuitous pictures [in the book] say not only that the ring material is quite new, but also that continuous regeneration can occur.
Norman R. Bergrun, Ringmakers of Saturn. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Pentland Press. 1986. Page 34.
Well, sure, it’s [the rings around planets like Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter are] just the exhaust.... It’s [Jupiter is] getting rings.... I can tell you that when there are these rings, there are these things [electromagnetic vehicles].... I would say, I don’t think they’re mining the rings. I think they’re nursing from the rings.... That’s where new ones [electromagnetic vehicles] are getting their energy.... You start out small, just like a baby, and you get bigger.... I wouldn’t be surprised [if the vehicles go by the Sun to get powered] .... It means
they’re capable of withstanding the high temperatures.... Yeah, they could get pumped up really nicely.... The objects that I saw were very small inside the ring, and they were connected to the inside ring.... It just seemed to me, like, well, these are babies.... That’s how I came up with the idea that they’re nursing from the ring. Now, they’re getting life strength – whatever you want to call it.... I think that’s how they are growing is using the rings.... You don’t have to be very bright to do mining. How do I know? Because I have worked in a mine. So, we’re dealing with lots of smarts.... I think what we’ve got there is a life form.... We are not capable of doing that [communicating with these life forms].... [There is] organized structure of some sort. I mean, there’s lines going this way and ... perpendicular .... There can be straight lines out there.... And almost any formation can be made that is desired.... I see the rings, and there’s an EMV [electromagnetic vehicle], and they’re never where you think they are going to be.
Norman R. Bergrun, “Ringmakers of Saturn Interview.” Project Camelot. Kerry Cassidy, interviewer. June 29, 2012. Retrieved on June 29, 2012.
2 photos allegedly showing electromagnetic vehicles in the rings of Saturn
Prophets
The angelic Voice, the Word of God revealed by His Prophets, speaks to us from the highest realm in the heavenly Kingdom of Angels:
O Thou kind and loving Providence! The east is astir and the west surgeth even as the eternal billows of the sea. The gentle breezes of holiness are diffused and, from the Unseen Kingdom, the rays of the Orb of Truth shine forth resplendent. The anthems of divine unity are being chanted and the ensigns of celestial might are waving. The angelic Voice is raised and, even as the roaring of the leviathan, soundeth the call to selflessness and evanescence. The triumphal cry Yá Baháʾuʾl-Abhá [O Glory of the Most Glorious, Baháʾuʾlláh] resoundeth on every side, and the call
Yá ʿAlíyyuʾl-Aʿlá [O Exalted of the Most Exalted, the Báb] ringeth throughout all regions. No stir is there in the world save that of the Glory of the One Ravisher of Hearts, and no tumult is there save the surging of the love of Him, the Incomparable, the Well-Beloved.
Yet, there are Messengers (or Angels), and there are messengers (or angels). The context is important:
He [God] hath sent forth His Messengers, His Prophets and chosen ones that they might acquaint the people with the divine purpose underlying the revelation of Books and the raising up of Messengers, and that everyone may become aware of the trust of God which is latent in the reality of every soul.
It is for the future historian to appraise the value of the mission of each of the four chosen messengers of ʿAbduʾl-Bahá who, in rapid succession, were dispatched by Him to pacify and reinvigorate that troubled community. His will be the task of tracing, in the work which these deputies of ʿAbduʾl-Bahá were commissioned to undertake, the beginnings of that vast Administration, the corner-stone of which these messengers were instructed to lay—an Administration whose symbolic Edifice He, at a later time, was to found in person and whose basis and scope the provisions of His Will were destined to widen.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues.
All Prophets, I would suggest, are Angels (as divine Messengers). However, not all angels are Prophets. Some of the celestial, angelic populations, possibly from other star systems, may have always been with us. These transterrestrial friends are gathered, I believe, within the hierarchy of celestial angels. They monitor and protect us:
... [There was] a UFO sighting in the year 776, during the siege on Sigiburg castle, France. The Saxons besieged and surrounded the French people. They both were fighting when suddenly a group of discs (flaming shields) appeared hovering over the top of the church. It appeared to the Saxons that the French were protected by these objects and the Saxons fled.
If the powers-that-be on earth continue to ... disregard the continued efforts of the Space Brothers, then they may expect to receive even more startling and dramatic visitations in the near future.
Within the following two distinctions between Prophets of God, independent and dependent, is a marvelous Unity in diversity:
These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same attributes, thou hast not erred from the truth....
The other station is the station of distinction, and pertaineth to the world of creation, and to the limitations thereof. In this respect, each Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a predestined revelation, and specially designated limitations. Each one of them is known by a different name, is characterized by a special attribute, fulfils a definite mission, and is entrusted with a particular Revelation.
Baháʾuʾlláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʾuʾlláh. Pages 50-52.
Universally, the Prophets are of two kinds. One are the independent Prophets Who are followed; the other kind are not independent and are themselves followers.
The independent Prophets are the lawgivers and the founders of a new cycle. Through Their appearance the world puts on a new garment, the foundations of religion are established, and a new book is revealed. Without an intermediary They receive bounty from the Reality of the Divinity, and Their illumination is an essential illumination. They are like the sun which is luminous in itself: the light is its essential necessity; it does not receive light from any other star. These Dawning-places of the morn of Unity are the sources of bounty and the mirrors of the Essence of Reality.
The other Prophets are followers and promoters, for they are branches and not independent; they receive the bounty of the independent Prophets, and they profit by the light of the Guidance of the universal Prophets. They are like the moon, which is not luminous and radiant in itself, but receives its light from the sun.
The Manifestations of universal Prophethood Who appeared independently are, for example, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muḥammad, the Báb and Baháʾuʾlláh. But the others who are followers and promoters are like Solomon, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. For the independent Prophets are founders; They establish a new religion and make new creatures of men; They change the general morals, promote new customs and rules, renew the cycle and the Law. Their appearance is like the season of spring, which arrays all earthly beings in a new garment, and gives them a new life.
With regard to the second sort of Prophets who are followers, these also promote the Law of God, make known the Religion of God, and proclaim His word. Of themselves they have no power and might, except what they receive from the independent Prophets.
The Prophets “regarded as One and the same person” include the Lesser Prophets as well, and not merely Those Who bring a “Book”. The station is different, but they are Prophets and Their nature thus different from that of ours.
Speculatively, Mesoamerican Lesser Prophets or Angels could have included Quetzalcoatl (Aztec or “Nahuātl,” Quetzalcohuātl, plumed or feathered serpent), peace be upon Him, at or around the time of Jesus Christ. Although the Major, or Independent, Prophets have come from the East, perhaps certain Dependent Prophets, transterrestrial angels, divinely inspired seers, and other special beings have represented God, from time to time, throughout the Western hemisphere:
“From the beginning of time until the present day,” ʿAbduʾl-Bahá Himself affirms, “the light of Divine Revelation hath risen in the East and shed its radiance upon the West. The illumination thus shed hath, however, acquired in the West an extraordinary brilliancy. Consider the Faith proclaimed by Jesus. Though it first appeared in the East, yet not until its light had been shed upon the West did the full measure of its potentialities become manifest.” “The day is approaching,” He, in another passage, assures us, “when ye shall witness how, through the splendor of the Faith of Baháʾuʾlláh, the West will have replaced the East, radiating the light of Divine Guidance.” “In the books of the Prophets,” He again asserts, “certain glad-tidings are recorded which are absolutely true and free from doubt. The East hath ever been the dawning-place of the Sun of Truth. In the East all the Prophets of God have appeared ...The West hath acquired illumination from the East but in some respects the reflection of the light hath been greater in the Occident. This is specially true of Christianity. Jesus Christ appeared in Palestine and His teachings were founded in that country. Although the doors of the Kingdom were first opened in that land and the bestowals of God were spread broadcast from its center, the people of the West have embraced and promulgated Christianity more fully than the people of the East.”
From the point of view of religious history, the successive banishments of Baháʾuʾlláh to Constantinople and Adrianople have a striking symbolism. For the first time, a Manifestation of God, Founder of an independent religious system which was soon to spread throughout the planet, had crossed the narrow neck of water separating Asia from Europe, and had set foot in “the West.” All of the other great religions had arisen in Asia and the ministries of their Founders had been confined to that continent. Referring to the fact that the dispensations of the past, and particularly those of Abraham, Christ, and Muḥammad, had produced their most important effects on the development of civilization during the course of their westward expansion, Baháʾuʾlláh predicted that the same thing would occur in this new age, but on a vastly larger scale: ”In the East the Light of His Revelation hath broken; in the West the signs of His dominion have appeared. Ponder this in your hearts, O people....”
Terrestrial humans have been invited into the celestial ranks. Thankfully, I have been blessed to know many earthly angels throughout my life. Even while in this world, souls can, as these divine angels, work with members of the Supreme Concourse in the world beyond:
Can any power withstand the penetrative influence of the Word of God? Nay, by God! The proof is clear and the evidence is complete! If anyone looketh with the eyes of justice he shall be struck with wonder and amazement and will testify that all the peoples, sects and races of the world should be glad, content and grateful for the teachings and admonitions of Baháʾuʾlláh. For these divine injunctions tame every ferocious beast, transform the creeping insect into a soaring bird, cause human souls to become angels of the Kingdom, and make the human world a focus for the qualities of mercy.
... it behooveth him to seek only the divine bounties and subjects which lead to the real knowledge of the invisible (world of God), through the mediation of the Holy Spirit. Then he will perceive the reality of the triune powers in man, through his innate perception. For, verily, the sign of these triune powers which exist in mankind are spirit, mind and soul. The spirit is the power of life, the mind is the power which apprehendeth the reality of things, and the soul is an intermediary between the Supreme Concourse (or Spiritual World) and the lower concourse (or material world). It, i.e., the soul, hath two phases: The higher aspireth to the Kingdom of El-Baha [al-Bahāʾ, the Glory or Splendor], and the lights of the mind shine forth from that horizon (or kingdom) unto its higher sphere; the other phase inclineth to the lower concourse of the material world and its lowest sphere is enveloped in the darkness of ignorance. But when light is poured upon this phase, and if this phase of the soul is capable of receiving it, then “truth hath come and falsehood vanisheth, for falsehood is of short duration”—otherwise, darkness will surround it from all directions and it will be deprived of association with the Supreme Concourse and will remain in the lowest depths.
It is the concern of the True One to reveal, and the concern of men to spread what hath been revealed. He will, verily, promulgate His Cause by the hands of His scattering and wellfavoured angels. Spiritual souls will assuredly emerge from behind the veil of divine protection who will gather together the tokens and verses of God and put them into the most excellent order. This is His sure and irrevocable decree.
Baháʾuʾlláh, as quoted in Shoghi Effendi’s 1954 Naw-Rúz Message to the Baháʾís of the East (translated from the Persian), Lights of Guidance: A Baháʾí Reference File. Number 327.
Beloved angelic souls can be found throughout all regions:
The beloved of the Lord, with their musk-scented breath, burn like bright candles in every clime, and the friends of the All-Merciful, even as unfolding flowers, can be found in all regions. Not for a moment do they rest; they breathe not but in remembrance of Thee, and crave naught but to serve Thy Cause. In the meadows of truth they are as sweet-singing nightingales, and in the flower-garden of guidance they are even as brightly-coloured blossoms. With mystic flowers they adorn the walks of the Garden of Reality; as swaying cypresses they line the riverbanks of the Divine Will. Above the horizon of being they shine as radiant stars; in the firmament of the world they gleam as resplendent orbs. Manifestations of celestial grace are they, and daysprings of the light of divine assistance.
The concourse of angels (al-malāʾ al-malākūt), whether beings or spiritual confirmations, can assist us. However, through geocentric arrogance, earthly humans have, by and large, forgotten the dear nonterrestrial beings. We remembered them as friends, not foes, in ages past. They are, I feel, the angels who lie between the heavens beyond (the Abhā Kingdom) and earth below (this world):
O Lord! Assist those who have renounced all else but Thee, and grant them a mighty victory. Send down upon them, O Lord, the concourse of the angels in heaven and earth and all that is between, to aid Thy servants, to succour and strengthen them, to enable them to achieve success, to sustain them, to invest them with glory, to confer upon them honour and exaltation, to enrich them and to make them triumphant with a wondrous triumph.
When God created the Remembrance He presented Him to the assemblage of all created beings upon the altar of His Will. Thereupon the concourse of the angels bowed low in adoration to God, the Peerless, the Incomparable; while Satan waxed proud, refusing to submit to His Remembrance; hence he is identified in the Book of God as the arrogant one and the accursed.
In my opinion, throughout the TaNaḤ or Old Testament, angels, of one sort of another, are also referred to as the hosts or armies (Hebrew, hā-ṣəbāʾôt):
O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Psalms 84:12, King James (Authorized) Version.
Within the TaNaḤ and in the Baháʾí texts, another term used for certain angels (the Spiritual Kingdom, its attributes, and its individualized attributes) is cherubim (Hebrew, kərūvîm or cherubs, winged angels). They appear to variously refer to beings, spiritual qualities, and possibly even sanctified material things:
... as bidden by the Lord, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, did the heavenly Crier raise up his voice and cry out: “O Most Exalted Leaf [ʿAbduʾl-Bahá’s sister]! Thou art she who did endure with patience in God’s way from thine earliest childhood and throughout all thy life, and did bear in His pathway what none other hath borne, save only God in His own Self, the Supreme Ruler over all created things, and before Him, His noble Herald, and after Him, His holy Branch, the One, the Inaccessible, the Most High. The people of the Concourse on High seek the fragrance of thy presence, and the dwellers in the retreats of eternity circle about thee. To this bear witness the souls of the cherubim within the tabernacles of majesty and might, and beyond them the tongue of God the One True Lord, the Pure, the Most Wondrous. Blessedness be thine and a goodly abode; glad tidings to thee and a happy ending!”
He [Bezalel] made two cherubim of hammered gold; at the two ends of the mercy seat he made them, one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim at its two ends. The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were turned toward the mercy seat.
2 Samuel 22:11, New Revised Standard Version.
Through these two passages, the usage of cherubim, in the Biblical Book of Numbers, may be demonstrated as similar to the Revelatory language concerning the Blessed Muḥammad’s vision of the Angel Gabriel (Ǧibrāʾil al-Malāk):
When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he would hear the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the covenant from between the two cherubim; thus it spoke to him.
Numbers 7:89, New Revised Standard Version.
... Muḥammad when in the Cave of Hira, outside of the holy city of Mecca, the voice of Gabriel bade Him “cry in the name of Thy Lord” ....
Some of the cherubim could be this planet’s celestial souls or “watchers.” Perhaps they are related to the angelic entities who, according to the TaNaḤ or Old Testament, might have been observed with their flying spacecraft:
And He [Samuel] rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And is seen on the wings of the wind.
2 Samuel 22:11, New Revised Standard Version.
... five cubits is the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the second wing of the cherub, ten cubits from the ends of its wings even unto the ends of its wings; and ten by the cubit is the second cherub, one measure and one form are to the two cherubs, the height of the one cherub is ten by the cubit, and so is the second cherub; and he setteth the cherubs in the midst of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubs, and a wing of the one cometh against the wall, and a wing of the second cherub is coming against the second wall, and their wings are unto the midst of the house, coming wing against wing; and he overlayeth the cherubs with gold ....
1 Kings 6:24-28, New Revised Standard Version.
Similarly, in the Book of Ezekiel:
As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces thereof. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto a beryl: and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions: they turned not when they went. As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and they four had their rims full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
photo of wooden
artifact (the Ṣaqqara Bird from Egypt, 3rd Century A.D.)
The Biblical word, ʾĔlōhîm (Hebrew for Mighty Ones), is generally translated as “God,” but, as shown below, it is further applied to the “mighty ones” of this world. That is to say, ʾĔlōhîm seems to have been a wide-ranging term for governance, whether heavenly, commonplace, or perhaps transterrestrial. Using the plural of ʾĔlōah (Hebrew for Mighty One), even for a single “God,” may be a result of the polytheistic or monolatristic origins of
ʾĔlōhîm (from Bāʿal and other gods).
Monolatry (monolatrism) describes the affirmation that only one god of those admitted to exist (polytheism) is truly efficacious and therefore worthy of worship (Greek monos, “one only”;
latreuō “I worship”): “Our god” is greater than “your god(s).”
Dennis C. Duling, “Henotheism.” Encyclopedia of Anthropology. H. James Birx, editor. Volume 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference. 2006. Pages 1152-1153.
... henotheism or kathenotheism ... is a worship of one god after another ....
... henotheism was sometimes confused with monolatry, a term best applied to the religion of ancient Israel before it attained monotheism, when the existence of gods other than Yahveh [Yāhweh] was admitted but their worship was strictly forbidden ....
Michiko Yusa,
“Henotheism.” Encyclopedia of Religion. Edited by Lindsay Jones. Vol. 6. 2nd edition. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA. 2005. Pages 3913-3914.
Thus, in the following two passages, “ʾĔlōhîm” is applied, by a Psalmist, both to a single Mighty One (the Almighty) and to a divine council, assembly, or concourse of Mighty Ones:
God [Hebrew, ʾĔlōhîm, Mighty Ones] has taken his place in the divine council [Hebrew, hā-baʿădat-ʾēl]; in the midst of the gods [Hebrew, ʾĔlōhîm] he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? [Selah] Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I say, “You are gods
[Hebrew, ʾĔlōhîm], children of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.” Rise up, O God [Hebrew, ʾĔlōhîm], judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!
Psalms 82:1-8 (the entire psalm), New Revised Standard Version.
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD [Hebrew, YHWH, He is becoming], your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones [Hebrew, hā-biqhal qědēšîm]. For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD [Hebrew, YHWH]? Who among the heavenly beings [Hebrew, hā-běnêʾ ēlîm, sons of God] is like the LORD [Hebrew, YHWH], a God feared in the council of the holy [or consecrated] ones [Hebrew, hā-běsôd qědēšîm], great and awesome above all that are around him?
Psalms 89:5-7, New Revised Standard Version.
Similarly, Jesus, the heavenly Son of God, later interpreted the expression, “You are gods,” to include mortal humans, individuals in this world of existence, and, perhaps, their dominion or rulership:
Is it not written in your law, “I said, you are gods” [Koiné Greek, ϑeói or “theoi,” divinities]? If those to whom the word of God came were called “gods” – and the scripture cannot be annulled – can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, “I am God’s Son”?
Jesus quoted in John 10:34-36, New Revised Standard Version.
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique [Koiné Greek, monogenés, unique kind, previously mistranslated as “only begotten”] Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus quoted in John 3:16, International Standard Version.
Furthermore, in the sūrah (defense, apologia, or, roughly, chapter) of Ṣād (the name given to the Arabic letter ص) within the Sacred
Qurʾān, the Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon Him, referred to “the exalted chiefs” (al-Malāʾ al-Aʿlā). The term may identify similar spiritual realms as the divine council:
I had no knowledge of the exalted chiefs [al-Malāʾ al-Aʿlā] when they contended: It is revealed unto me only that I may be a plain warner.
Muḥammad, Qurʾān. 38:69-70. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, translator.
Various Baháʾí texts have elaborated upon al-Malāʾ al-Aʿlā. It has generally been translated as the Supreme Concourse, the Celestial Concourse, or the Concourse on high. The angels who inhabit al-Malāʾ al-Aʿlā may include the Prophets, peace be upon Them, His Exemplary Presence ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, and sanctified human souls in the worlds to come:
O ye that stand fast in the Covenant! When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken its flight into the Celestial Concourse, when it will have hastened to the Realm of the Unseen and its mortal frame will have been either lost or hidden neath the dust, it is incumbent upon the Afnán [Twigs or descendants of the Báb], that are steadfast in the Covenant of God and have branched from the Tree of Holiness; the Hands, (pillars) of the Cause of God (the glory of the Lord rest upon them), and all the friends and loved ones, one and all to bestir themselves and arise with heart and soul and in one accord, to diffuse the sweet savors of God, to teach His Cause and to promote His Faith. It behooveth them not to rest for a moment, neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every land, pass by every clime, and travel throughout all regions.
Purify ye your hearts, sanctify your souls and cleanse your spirits; so that ye may attain to this great success. Then ye will become the angels of heaven, will enter among the Supreme Concourse and will permanently abide in the paradise of union (with God), and will be associated with the Beauty of El-ABHA [al-Abhā, the Most Glorious].
The faithful are ever sustained by the presence of the Supreme Concourse. In the Supreme Concourse are Jesus, and Moses, and Elijah, and Baháʾuʾlláh, and other supreme Souls: there, also, are the martyrs.
The denizens of the Supreme Concourse are waiting to assist us:
May the hidden confirmations of God make each one of you to become a well-spring of knowledge. May your hearts ever receive inspiration from the Denizens of the Concourse on high. May the drop become as the great sea; may the mote dazzle as the shining sun.
Verily, We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favoured angels.
To Him [Baháʾuʾlláh’s] Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, had alluded in His Book [the Qurʾān] as the “Great Announcement,” and declared His
[Baháʾuʾlláh’s] Day to be the Day whereon “God” will “come down” “overshadowed with clouds,” the Day whereon “thy Lord shall come and the angels rank on rank,” and “The Spirit shall arise and the angels shall be ranged in order.”
In addition, within several branches of Mahāyāna (Sanskrit, Great Vehicle) Buddhism can be found an analogous concept to the Supreme Concourse or the divine council and the angels of this world. Most Buddhists either reject or are agnostic (unknowing) about a single Deity or Creator. Many Buddhists do accept, however, various Divinities or Gods with such titles as Buddha (Sanskrit, Awakened One) and Bodhisattva (Pāḷi and Sanskrit, Awakened Being who works for the awakening of all other sentient beings). Certain of these Deities have, like the Prophets, lived, some believe even live currently, as humans.
... bodhisattvas ... [are] those beings who have a strong motivation to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all living beings. By doing these bodhisattva practices, we will become bodhisattvas, advance on the bodhisattva path, and eventually become fully enlightened Buddhas ....
Bodhisattva Togmay Zangpo, The Thirty-seven Practices of Bodhisattvas. Ruth Sonam, translator. Commentary by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron. Singapore: Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery. March, 2009. Page 29.
... Buddhists often respect and honour gods and deities but do not take refuge in them....
The Buddhist Pantheon has a vast number of Deities in the seemingly endless variation of forms so that it is quite impossible to portray them in any one illustration. Most of these Deities fall into the category of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arahants [Pāḷi, Arahant, a worthy one or, alternately, a destroyer of enemies] and other Heavenly Beings.
★ I am not fluent in Arabic, but I can work with it. Unless otherwise stated, all English translations are from the Arabic or Persian languages (or, in some cases, a “Persianized” Arabic). There are differences, which will be evident, between the system of transliteration, or romanization, of Arabic and Persian words contained in official Baháʾí texts and the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) system (or the Tiberian system for some Hebrew words) adopted in other parts of this work. (See this page on verb conjugation.) Diacritics (the signs used in transliteration) for various languages have sometimes been modified in quotations. Focusing on both translation and transliteration has, from my perspective, been a way to draw close, in my heart, to the individuals and ideas being discussed. Perhaps your experiences will be similar. Learning any “tongue” comes through love:
Speak in the Persian tongue, though the Arab please thee more;
A lover hath many a tongue at his command.
From Mawlānā (Our Master) Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī’s Maṯnawī (Persian, Maṯnavī), quoted by
Baháʾuʾlláh, “The Seven Valleys.” The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Page 58.
In 1979, some friends and I were messing around with a video camera in a slum area of town that had largely burned down and never been rebuilt.
Speculatively, Mesoamerican Lesser Prophets or Angels could have included Quetzalcoatl (Aztec or “Nahuātl,” Quetzalcohuātl, plumed or feathered serpent), peace be upon Him, at or around the time of Jesus Christ. Although the Major, or Independent, Prophets have come from the East, perhaps certain Dependent Prophets, transterrestrial angels, divinely inspired seers, and other special beings have represented God, from time to time, throughout the Western hemisphere:
