The world is talking about AI, and a good deal of the talk is negative. Commentators warn that AI could threaten humanity itself, disrupt economic stability by replacing human labour, and diminish human creativity. These concerns have shaped a cultural atmosphere in which AI is often seen as a danger rather than a development. In…
Category: Baha’i Philosophy
Baha’i Philosophy gathers all pages and posts that relate to the general subject of philosophy, including all material on Alison’s ongoing study of Lepain’s work on Baha’u’llah’s metaphysics. It also includes a extensive list of links to articles by various authors available online, under the subjects: Shaykism, Alchemy, and General Philosophy.
Theosophy: Legitimizing the Inner Spiritual Life
Baha’i philosophers keep returning to one question: where does Baha’u’llah’s thought belong? Is he closer to Plato or Aristotle, or to the Islamic philosophers such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna)? Jean-Marc Lepain, in his study The Archeology of the Kingdom of God, argues that this debate is asking the wrong question because it assumes Baha’u’llah is…
A Guide to the Phelps Inventory of Baha’i Writings
Making a vast new resource less daunting Introduction Baha’i scholar Steven Phelps has in recent years undertaken a major cataloguing project that brings together publicly accessible works of the Bab, Baha’u’llah, and Abdu’l‑Baha. The work is titled A Partial Inventory of the Works of the Central Figures of the Baha’i Faith. It currently lists over…
Projecting our inner image of God onto the world
Projecting our inner image of God onto the world is something many people do without realising it. What happens is that they read scripture, have mystical experiences of the Divine, listen to what their coreligionists say, and then come up with an image, in their minds, of who God is and what God wants. With…
Exciting ways to think about the world of creation
Exciting ways to think about the world of creation—that is, all the worlds of God, not just the physical world—include likening it to our own solar system. At the centre of the solar system is the sun, and all other objects depend on it. The sun is the source of light, which reflects its light…
The human soul is the moral agent in creation
The human soul is the moral agent in creation. Recently, Baha’i-related forums have hosted discussion on how best to respond to the increasing chaos in the world. “Should followers of Baha’u’llah,” people ask, “participate in the political conversations taking place on social media?” Some argue that individuals should not participate in these conversations but, instead,…
We journey in spiritual worlds using our mind and imagination
We journey in spiritual worlds using our mind and imagination. We do not use our feet. This means that if we want to accept Baha’u’llah’s invitation to journey into the spiritual worlds, then we need to learn how to use our mind and imagination in ways that allow for spiritual travel. In my book, Paradise…
AI is no more conscious than quantum particles
AI is no more conscious than quantum particles. No one doubts that the quantum world is full of life. Its little occupants run around furiously, energising the reality we see as the outer world. Does that mean they are conscious? We know that entangled particles affect each other at distances. Does that mean they are…
How love drives the mystical process of creation
How love drives the mystical process of creation. This article (written in 2018) is about Baha’u’llah’s creation principle, which is a statement on how things come to be. The principle is found in Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of Wisdom, paragraph 9 of the official translation. For more articles on Baha’i philosophy, see Baha’i philosophy: general articles. The…
Two wings of a bird: science and religion
One of the principles taught by Abdu’l-Baha is that science and religion are one; that they are both representations of the one truth. Jean-Marc Lepain, in his Archeology of the Kingdom of God, page 177, has an interesting way of explaining this principle. He begins with the statement that Nature can be looked at from…