…man is possessed of two realities, as it were: a reality
connected with the senses which is shared in common with the animal, and
another reality which is conscious and ideal in character. This latter is the
collective reality and the discoverer of mysteries. That which discovers the
realities of things undoubtedly is not of the elemental substances. It is
distinct from them. For mortality and disintegration are the properties inherent
in compositions and are referable to things which are subject to sense
perceptions, but the collective reality in man, not being so subject, is the
discoverer of things. Therefore, it is real, eternal and does not have to
undergo changes and transformations.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, 9 November
1912, Washington, D. C.; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered
by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)
