The Search for Intelligence and Wisdom
Finding a life of True Happiness and Peace - Part 1
By Rev. Paul Booth
Finding a life of True Happiness and Peace - Part 1
By Rev. Paul Booth
Is there some greater knowledge in the universe that when known will bring mankind into a new level of consciousness where man will have peace and live without the present toil, without the wars and disasters that we are plagued with today? Knowledge is a wonderful and important and necessary thing to have. If we can come to understand the mysteries of the world or just gain knowledge of our work or profession, we will ultimately benefit from it; our lives would be better. We would, so to speak, become the master of our life and overcome our problems that all religions and social programs promise us, such as a healthier life and inner happiness or the world's need for energy. But where do we start in our quest for greater knowledge or for that superior intelligence and divine wisdom that so many in the world are searching for? Is it somewhere 'out there' in the universe just waiting to be discovered? Will some advanced intelligence mysteriously reach someone and reveal such knowledge to them and, so, usher in a life of world peace and plenty through them?
In our search, in our quest let us not put the idea of God or of a Divine Being aside. Keep the idea of a Divine Being in your thought. Many believe that there is a God and that God possesses the ultimate knowledge that lies hidden from us that we search for. Let us think of that God as having the attributes of omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, that is, of being all wise, all powerful, and all present, and that in His Wisdom He rules the universe in Love, and that He is present with His universe, especially with mankind. Don't we want our God to be a loving God in His Wisdom? We think this way because we, ourselves, love or desire to be wise and to have power, peace, happiness, and to be secure and safe not only now, but in the future. We want love and we want life, its enjoyments, and delights.
Why is this? It is because man is a human being, and he is, so, from these very qualities - love, wisdom and use. Now, early according to religious history of mankind, man's life was separated 'as it were' from God. Man wanted to be as god himself, that is, he wanted the knowledge of God for himself and know this from himself. Thus, he wanted love itself which is life itself, even as God Himself is Love Itself and Life Itself. He wanted what was his own. No longer was man satisfied just being the recipient of Life. You see, love is the life of man and man came to love himself more than his neighbor or God.
Now, from a rational understanding man knows that God is Uncreated (He was not created). He is Infinite, and therefore He is Esse or Being Itself and Life Itself. This, let us call Divine. Thus, there is only one Divine un-measurable and un-definable Being, while mankind is many and, so, is created and finite - a measurable and definable being.
One of the Divine attributes of God we said was omnipresent, that is, that the Divine is not only present with every man, but with the whole universe. However, many would say that God is not with us, except maybe in our imagination, that we do not see or hear Him. Think, if man were life itself, if life were his wouldn't he would be Divine? Of the many qualities of God is that He is One, while, of course, mankind are many. Though a man may become conjoined and even communicate with God and become 'as it were' one with Him. We have pointed out that God is Life and Love Itself. This means God is Love in its very own Essence and, as such, the Divine Love, and it means God is Wisdom in its very own Existere or Existence.
Esse we said was Being - that Essence of life - and the essence of a thing in its inmost substance is its nature 'as it were'. But, how does God's essence, His Love appear or His present with man? Or how do those qualities of love and wisdom - that higher intelligence and wisdom - that man is searching for, become present with man? In other words, how can man become the recipients of such love and wisdom and, so, reach that spiritual and celestial intelligence that is necessary for his happiness and peace? For if he were to reach it, his search would over wouldn't it? What needs to happen that would make this possible? It can be seen that these qualities of God must somehow 'as it were' enter a man's mind. It was stated that the very esse and existere, that is, the very being and existence is substance itself. It is obvious that we are not speaking of natural substance or matter, but of spiritual substance. Now, we have said that a man is not of this Divine substance - Love and Wisdom - but, that he is only a recipient of them.
Therefore, creation, that is, what is of natural substances and matters, are formed that it may receive life, the spiritual substances of love and wisdom from God. To help us understand this, take the sun of this world. Its heat and light does not directly produce the germination of plant life in the earth, but only out of the natural matter or substance of the soil, in which the sun's heat and light is present. Now, if the natural world is such, what has caused it to be so? You can understand that it must have been created from where it came into being, that life comes into, yet, that life is not its own. In other words, the thing itself does not have its own life. Thus, it is like the next world, the spiritual world and its Sun where its heat and light causes productions of life there. Thus there is a spiritual world within man where there is spiritual life with him and by which is to become made into an image and a likeness of God. What we are speaking of here is that mankind is a recipient of love and wisdom and, therefore, of life. Man, therefore, has conception from the first and purest forms capable of receiving life, which successively accrue substances and matter in a form recipient of life in his or her order and degree. The universe's natural substance is just the ultimate of that Divine substance, and being the ultimate, it is dead having no life in itself at all.
The question we proposed was is God present with man and for that matter with man's spirit, which we showed was within man's natural body? We cannot answer this question from our natural senses because such an idea has within it the idea of space. We naturally see things in the world as existing in space and of being spatial - having length, breath, and height - and thus, having figure and form. Of course, most people know that the Divine is not in space. No one can see or hear Him, but still the Divine is present everywhere. As such, man is both natural and spiritual in order that he may exist, and that in man the Lord's love and wisdom lives and so is present. In natural thought man cannot comprehend how God is present with him, because man's thoughts come from things in this world and this includes the idea of space, but God is not in space; He is apart from space.
However, in a man's spiritual thoughts there is not this idea of space, but there is one of state. Now, we have said the Lord, that is, God is love, life, wisdom itself and, so, affection and joy, which are of love and, in general with man, these are good and truth, the things of God. There is a great difference between these two degrees of life - the natural and the spiritual. One is of spiritual substance, the other of natural substance. Basically, a spiritual idea of distance and of space is of good affections and of likenesses of truth. A man naturally thinks of space, while a spiritual man thinks of truth and good, not of distance and height, that is, of space and spatial.
In our search, in our quest let us not put the idea of God or of a Divine Being aside. Keep the idea of a Divine Being in your thought. Many believe that there is a God and that God possesses the ultimate knowledge that lies hidden from us that we search for. Let us think of that God as having the attributes of omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, that is, of being all wise, all powerful, and all present, and that in His Wisdom He rules the universe in Love, and that He is present with His universe, especially with mankind. Don't we want our God to be a loving God in His Wisdom? We think this way because we, ourselves, love or desire to be wise and to have power, peace, happiness, and to be secure and safe not only now, but in the future. We want love and we want life, its enjoyments, and delights.
Why is this? It is because man is a human being, and he is, so, from these very qualities - love, wisdom and use. Now, early according to religious history of mankind, man's life was separated 'as it were' from God. Man wanted to be as god himself, that is, he wanted the knowledge of God for himself and know this from himself. Thus, he wanted love itself which is life itself, even as God Himself is Love Itself and Life Itself. He wanted what was his own. No longer was man satisfied just being the recipient of Life. You see, love is the life of man and man came to love himself more than his neighbor or God.
Now, from a rational understanding man knows that God is Uncreated (He was not created). He is Infinite, and therefore He is Esse or Being Itself and Life Itself. This, let us call Divine. Thus, there is only one Divine un-measurable and un-definable Being, while mankind is many and, so, is created and finite - a measurable and definable being.
One of the Divine attributes of God we said was omnipresent, that is, that the Divine is not only present with every man, but with the whole universe. However, many would say that God is not with us, except maybe in our imagination, that we do not see or hear Him. Think, if man were life itself, if life were his wouldn't he would be Divine? Of the many qualities of God is that He is One, while, of course, mankind are many. Though a man may become conjoined and even communicate with God and become 'as it were' one with Him. We have pointed out that God is Life and Love Itself. This means God is Love in its very own Essence and, as such, the Divine Love, and it means God is Wisdom in its very own Existere or Existence.
Esse we said was Being - that Essence of life - and the essence of a thing in its inmost substance is its nature 'as it were'. But, how does God's essence, His Love appear or His present with man? Or how do those qualities of love and wisdom - that higher intelligence and wisdom - that man is searching for, become present with man? In other words, how can man become the recipients of such love and wisdom and, so, reach that spiritual and celestial intelligence that is necessary for his happiness and peace? For if he were to reach it, his search would over wouldn't it? What needs to happen that would make this possible? It can be seen that these qualities of God must somehow 'as it were' enter a man's mind. It was stated that the very esse and existere, that is, the very being and existence is substance itself. It is obvious that we are not speaking of natural substance or matter, but of spiritual substance. Now, we have said that a man is not of this Divine substance - Love and Wisdom - but, that he is only a recipient of them.
Therefore, creation, that is, what is of natural substances and matters, are formed that it may receive life, the spiritual substances of love and wisdom from God. To help us understand this, take the sun of this world. Its heat and light does not directly produce the germination of plant life in the earth, but only out of the natural matter or substance of the soil, in which the sun's heat and light is present. Now, if the natural world is such, what has caused it to be so? You can understand that it must have been created from where it came into being, that life comes into, yet, that life is not its own. In other words, the thing itself does not have its own life. Thus, it is like the next world, the spiritual world and its Sun where its heat and light causes productions of life there. Thus there is a spiritual world within man where there is spiritual life with him and by which is to become made into an image and a likeness of God. What we are speaking of here is that mankind is a recipient of love and wisdom and, therefore, of life. Man, therefore, has conception from the first and purest forms capable of receiving life, which successively accrue substances and matter in a form recipient of life in his or her order and degree. The universe's natural substance is just the ultimate of that Divine substance, and being the ultimate, it is dead having no life in itself at all.
The question we proposed was is God present with man and for that matter with man's spirit, which we showed was within man's natural body? We cannot answer this question from our natural senses because such an idea has within it the idea of space. We naturally see things in the world as existing in space and of being spatial - having length, breath, and height - and thus, having figure and form. Of course, most people know that the Divine is not in space. No one can see or hear Him, but still the Divine is present everywhere. As such, man is both natural and spiritual in order that he may exist, and that in man the Lord's love and wisdom lives and so is present. In natural thought man cannot comprehend how God is present with him, because man's thoughts come from things in this world and this includes the idea of space, but God is not in space; He is apart from space.
However, in a man's spiritual thoughts there is not this idea of space, but there is one of state. Now, we have said the Lord, that is, God is love, life, wisdom itself and, so, affection and joy, which are of love and, in general with man, these are good and truth, the things of God. There is a great difference between these two degrees of life - the natural and the spiritual. One is of spiritual substance, the other of natural substance. Basically, a spiritual idea of distance and of space is of good affections and of likenesses of truth. A man naturally thinks of space, while a spiritual man thinks of truth and good, not of distance and height, that is, of space and spatial.