The Master went into another room where a young man with a
striking personality and pleasing appearance asked Him in what school He had
studied philosophy. The Master answered: `In the same school where Christ
studied.' He then asked the Master, `What is the relationship between God and
nature?' The Master replied:
“Some of the philosophers believe that God is the Supreme
Reality and that every human being has a spark of this divine reality within
him; that He Himself is in a state of utmost power and that all things manifest
Him according to their different capacities. Therefore they hold that the
Supreme Being is dispersed into infinite forms. This is the position of Plato.
But we say that existence as conceived by man or comprehended through human reason
or intellect is a characteristic of matter. Matter is like unto essence, while
existence is its manifestation. The body of man is essence and existence is
dependent upon it. This human body is matter while existence is a power
conditioned on matter.”
“But it is not so with the Essential Self-Existent One. His existence is true existence which is self-subsistent, not an intellectually perceived and comprehended existence; it is an Existence by which all created things come into being. All things are like unto His handiwork and are dependent upon Him. We refer to Him as Self-Existent because we need to make use of a term but we do not mean that that Being can be contained within our comprehension. What is intended is the Reality from Whom all things emanate, the Reality through Whom all things exist.”
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, excerpt from a talk, August 9, 1912, Dublin, USA; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
