When man becomes
conscious, then the very first assumption he must make is that Reality exists.
It is an assumption because it cannot be proved or explained, but everything
else is proved or explained in terms of it. It is self-evident.
"Allah, He is Reality, and that which they
invoke besides Him is the False." 31:30
"There is no God save Him, the One, the
Absolute." 38:66
"Say: He, Allah, the One. Allah, the
Eternally besought of all. He begets not nor was begotten. And there is non
comparable unto Him." 112:1-4
Consciousness is
part of Realty. If Reality did not exist, then consciousness would not exist.
But it is consciousness that tells us about Reality. There is, therefore, a
connection between the two.
When we examine
the content of consciousness we distinguish between:- (a) That which is
external to it and constrains consciousness and possesses inertia - we call it
material; (b) That which is internal and forms patterns and images and
thoughts. (c) That which refers to interactions between the other two and is
pliable, changeable and controllable and refers to behaviour and action. These
are not completely separate but are aspects of all experiences to different
degrees.
Total Reality,
however, is much greater than what exists in our consciousness. We know this
because things keep entering and leaving our consciousness. We have new
experiences. Other people, who are within our experience and resemble us,
communicate with us and tell us that they also have experiences that are
different from our own. We have instruments, which react to forces that we are
unaware of. Research shows that we are sensitive to a small range within a very
wide spectrum of forces. Our consciousness is confined to intensities above
certain strength and things of sizes and speeds between certain limits. There
are all kinds of forces:- mechanical (pressures from solids, water, air),
gravitational (weights), electronic, electromagnetic (light, infra-red rays,
ultraviolet rays, radio waves and cosmic rays etc.), chemical (emitted by
plants, animals and the earth which may affect small and taste or not),
biological (we are surrounded by micro-organisms, pollen, bacteria, viruses),
psychological (the body language, ideas, attitudes), sociological (the laws,
institutions, culture) and spiritual (which may have something to do with a
fundamental quantum or sub-quantum field underlying all things). But,
nevertheless, though invisible to us these forces do affect us.
We, therefore,
distinguish between Absolute Reality
or the Real World A, as it is and as created and seen by Allah, and the world
as seen by human consciousness, W. There is a World of which we are unconscious
U, which is outside W. U=A-W.
Human
consciousness is variable. It varies from deep sleep, to light sleep, reverie,
wakefulness, attentiveness, and concentration. There are at least four states
of the mind:- the unconscious C1; the sub-conscious C2, the pre-conscious C3,
and the conscious C4. These could be regarded as corresponding to the
consciousness of minerals, plants, animals and human beings respectively.
Generally speaking, human beings spend their waking time in the pre-conscious
state and become conscious only when they have to pay attention to something.
They are in the animal state driven by external and internal stimuli without
conscious control. When they are asleep or in a coma they may be said to
vegetate and be in the sub-conscious state. When they are dead they may be
regarded as unconscious and in the mineral state. Every human being, however,
has parts that are in these different states. That is they are composed of
materials that are dead, as well as materials that are in the vegetative,
animal and human states.
Some human beings have flashes of higher
consciousness. These may be experienced as insights, visions, inspirations, and
revelations. The amount, quality, and frequency of these vary. It is possible
by special techniques to expand consciousness into the other areas of the mind.
When a person becomes conscious in the area normally preconscious, then this
may be called self-consciousness C5. When consciousness penetrates into the
area normally sub-conscious, then this may be called objective consciousness
C6. When it penetrates into the area normally unconscious then we have Cosmic or
Universal Consciousness C7. It is also possible to describe degrees of
consciousness between these states. They are not, therefore, completely
distinct. Each may be regarded as a subset of a higher consciousness. People
can and do move up or down this scale and have varying degrees of control over
this movement. The Fall of man from Paradise
and his ascent or return can be understood in this connection.
The Absolute
Consciousness of Allah should be regarded as beyond all these and containing
all the others. If we represent it by a large circle, then other smaller
circles can be drawn within it, each of which has still smaller circles in
them. And so on. Each circle is limited and separated from others by the
circumference. Surrender requires that these limits should be dissolved. The
motion from Allah to the world consists of the progressive appearance of these
lesser circles, and the motion back to Allah is a process of the progressive
dissolution of these circles.
The world we see
depends on the state of consciousness. There are, therefore, 7 created worlds
W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7 corresponding to the levels of consciousness. Each
previous one is a subset of the higher, and all are contained in the Absolute
World A.
There are
persons with states of being, or beings with states, corresponding to these
worlds. These may be referred to as the mineral, vegetative, animal, human,
jinn, angelic, and arch-angelic states, or B1 to B7. The interaction between a
person and the world is called Life. There are, therefore, seven corresponding
levels of life and living, L1 to L7. The process of life is part of the world
and transforms it. The world is not, therefore, static. It is dynamic. But more
than this, it has pattern and order by which things are recognized. The World
is not, therefore, independent of the Beings in it and their Lives. WBL form a
single system.
The more
comprehensive the knowledge of Reality and the more appropriate the motives and
actions the better can human beings adjust to it. The greater is the harmony
and self-consistency and absence of contradiction and conflict, the less the
suffering, the greater the peace and Unity. It is the achievement of this that
provides the motives and drives conscious beings, and indeed, all things. There
must have been, in the beginning, a State of Unity and Equilibrium X. The disturbance of
this by an impulse from outside, will have caused the system to readjust and
find a new equilibrium, thereby neutralizing the impulse. Taking the whole of
reality into consideration, there cannot be anything outside it by definition.
Therefore, the impulse comes from within and can be called the Original
Intention I. The Intention produces a new State of equilibrium which contains
the World U. In so far as it is created out of Nothing,
the Original Impulse creates a pair of opposite and equal forces F+ and F- that
try to recombine, or reach various states of balance which account for the
existence of subsystems. There is an in-built urge in all things to return to
the Unity or State of equilibrium from whence they arose. It is this that
drives Evolution.
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only. Allah the
Eternal, besought by all!” 112:1-2
Religions and
associated mystical systems have provided several techniques by which human
beings can develop. This involves contacting their preconscious, sub-conscious
and unconscious areas, and through these, the corresponding worlds W, and
interaction with these L. Methods include prayer, meditation, the study of
transcendental ideas, extension of experiences, self-extension through
conscious and unusual works and activities. (See also 34:46, 50:22, 16:2,
23:17)
These 7 levels
of reality correspond to the 7 heavens, the 7 earths and to 7 states or types
of the soul. In some systems of thought they are regarded as 7 independent
bodies. According to other systems they are possibilities which have to be
constructed by suitable work. According to Hindu Yoga systems the body also has
7 centres of control called Chakras, which also correspond to these. They are
said to correspond to, but are not identical with, the 7 Endocrine glands:-
from bottom to top the Gonads, the Supra-renal, the Pancreatic, the Thymus, the
Thyroid, the Pituitary and the Pineal. There are also said to be 7 nervous
plexuses associated with these e.g. the Solar and Cardiac Plexuses.
There is a
descent from the Absolute by progressive limitation through 7 stages and there
is an ascent through the same 7 stages back to the Absolute. According to some
systems of thought the 7 bodies exist independently.
These levels of
Reality have been described in different ways by different systems. The
following description is only an illustration.
1. Alam-i-Nasut, the Material World, the
World of Action. At this level Man exists as Physical body with its sense
organs. Physical existence is the result of reproduction and the sex drive is
the most important drive at this level. The growth and the processes of the
body require the constant death and reproduction of cells. We mature when the
sex drives develops and many spend the rest of life in the married state to
produce and bring up children. Pain and pleasure are connected with it. The
normal human consciousness is driven by impulses dominated and driven by the
sexual centre. The proper functioning of sexuality and the control, and
sublimation of its energy is the first step on the ladder of spiritual
evolution and expansion of consciousness.
2. Alam-i-Ajsam, the Causal World,
sometimes called the Astral World. Man exists in this world as a Subtle or Emotional
body. This refers to the world a seen by the sub-conscious mind. It is a world
of emotions and sentiments. It is concerned with self-preservation, the desires
of the body and the fight/defence/flight reaction. Here we find fear of death,
violence, greed etc. Work at this level consists of rectifying the system of
motives that have become corrupted. Consciousness, organization and control
over these leads to the next stage.
3. Alam-i-Mithal, the World of
Similitudes. Man exists here as a Mental body. This is where imagination takes
place and produces the world of concepts, thought and images. Inventors turn
images into actualities - i.e. transfer things from the mental to the physical
plane. Order and pattern can be discerned and gives rise to the perception of
consistency and the power to organize. Laughter and crying become possible
because they depend on the ability to appreciate comedies and tragedies. Doubt
and faith, trust and suspicion also exist here. The work at this level consists
of rectifying the malfunctions produced by prejudices, fantasies, defective
thinking and doubt, and providing a framework of ideas in which experiences can
be interpreted more beneficially.
4. Alam-i-Arwah, the Soul World. The third
limitation of Absolute Existence This world is the Middle one between the three
lower worlds of Creation and the upper three Divine worlds to be described
below. It is a bridge between them. Man is said to have a Conscious body. He
possesses consciousness, conscience and will. True empathy becomes possible,
the heart functions, and motives flow from love. It is he World of Light and
Creativity and the realm of Archetypes. This level requires exercises through
various forms of meditation, prayer and through positive and restraining
actions.
5. Alam-i-Wahdiyat, the Spiritual World. This
is the second limitation of Absolute existence, Non-duality. It is the Realm of
Purification, Bliss or Paradise, where desire
can be fulfilled directly. Ego disappears though there is a consciousness of I
or “self”. There is an awareness of existence and these are formulated and
described as the Myths of Religion. As the "Ego" has been
surrendered, there is no method or effort by which a person can go any further.
All further progress depends entirely on receiving from above. According to
some systems human beings cannot get above this world. The stages of
development then consist of a descent or fall and then an ascent as follows:-
The spirit
descends from this level 5, goes through the following 7 stages 4>3>2>1>2>3>4
and returns to this level. Going higher involves the destruction of a separate
identity or “self”.
The states of the soul at level 1 to 4 are
described as follows:-
(i)
Nafs-i-ammara (12:53). This is the Commanding soul,
which is selfish and pleasure-seeking, containing pride, vanity, lust, greed,
envy, laziness, and anger. It can be regarded as spiritually asleep or even
dead. It is the soul caught in the World
of Illusion, created by subjective likes and dislikes, addictions,
fixations, fantasy, prejudice, rationalisations etc, described as the
temptations of Satan. It is maintained by the whole of man's ordinary culture.
This creates a Barrier which must be shattered, or a Veil over the mind which
must be lifted before any further progress can be made. A person must die to
this world.
"Every
soul must taste of death; and ye shall only be paid what ye have earned on the
Day of Resurrection. But he who is forced away from the Fire and brought into Paradise is indeed triumphant; but the life of this world
is but a possession of illusion." 3:185
"Know
that the life of the world is only play, and idle talk, and pageantry, and
boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children; as the
likeness of vegetation after rain, whereof the growth is pleasing to the
husbandman, but afterward it drieth up and thou seest it turning yellow, then
it becometh straw. And in the Hereafter there is grievous punishment, and
(also) forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure, whereas the life of the
world is but matter of illusion." 57:20
"And
We place upon their hearts veils lest they should understand it, and in their
ears a deafness; and when thou makest mention of thy Lord alone in the Qur'an,
they turn their backs in aversion." 17:46 And see 6:25, 41:5
(ii) Nafs-i-Lawwama (75:2), a Self-accusing
soul, conscience is aroused and inner criticism and conflicts begin.
(iii) Nafs-i-Mulhima (34:2), the Inspired
Soul - the Spirit begins to function on its own account and throw off the
control of conditioning.
(iv) Nafs-i-Mutmainna (89:27), The Perfect Soul, the soul at Peace - conflict ceases
and victory is gained. The soul has become free and is in heaven.
“O! Thou
soul at Peace! Return unto thy Lord, content, thou with Him and He with thee!
Enter thou among my chosen servants! Yea, Enter thou My Garden!” 89:27-30
Some systems add three
other steps by taking each verse in 89:27-30 separately. We then have Nafs-i-radhiya, Nafs-i-mardhiya and
Nafs-i-safiya. These would correspond to the next levels but depend entirely
on Allah.
6. Alam-i-Wahdat, the Cosmic World, the
first limitation of Absolute Existence. The World of Potentialities and of
Truth. The distinction between oneself and others disappears. There is a
surrender of "I" and a person sees himself as part of the Collective
Human soul.
7. Alam-i-Ahdiyat, the Unitary or Absolute
World. Universal Consciousness, the Unlimited, Self-existent, Causeless Eternal
Realm. All the other worlds and souls may be regarded as arising by progressive
limitations of this world. Therefore, the upward climb is a progressive
discarding of limitations.
8. Zat, the Essence of Allah.
There is
difference between Reality R, the experience of Reality E and the thoughts or
verbal description of Reality D in several ways:-
(1) There is,
for instance a difference between the experience of the colour red, the
frequency of electromagnetic vibration which gives rise to it, and the
description in words and units of measurements. The object itself may have
multiple effects on the person of which he is quite unaware. What one
experiences involves the senses and affects thought, feeling and action, even
if it is merely to cause muscle tensions. The experience has significance for
the person, the subject of the experience. But that which we hear or read about
only has an indirect and much milder effect, though the meaning of the
description is true in so far as it is associated with the corresponding
experiences. The verbal description is a translation into symbols and has to be
deciphered. There is a similar difference between the object and the
experience. It is also a translation. It is not the real thing. An experience
is an affect on a person that depends on the object, the medium of transmission
such as light and the nature of the mind. The real object O(1) must have
effects in the environment in which it exists and these effects vary with the
environment or context. The object is seen though these effects and this
provides us with O(2). These must affect our minds to create an experience of the
object O(3). This is interpreted through previous knowledge of its relationship
with other things and ourselves O(4). When we recognize a thing as a table for
instance, we are not speaking of its shape, but also its function. In order to
communicate our experience we have to describe it and this constitute O(5). The
nature and function of the object can also be understood at higher levels.
These could be denoted by O(6) and O(7). The experience is true in so far as it
corresponds to the reality. A description can be said to have Truth when it
corresponds to the experience. But if it corresponds to an experience which
itself corresponds to the reality then this is a truth of a higher level. It
follows that we have to distinguish between several real levels of truth.
(2) The same
real event or object can be experienced in different ways by different people
and the same experience can be described in many different ways by different
people. But the experience and the description are also truths, though of different
kinds.
(3) There is
more to Reality than is experienced, and there is more to experience than can
be described. One leads to the other, which is a subset of the one before. R
> E > D. But these three cooperate. We get our view of reality from D which
arouse corresponding E in us and we assume that E corresponds to something R. But
it is necessary to be wary. It is perfectly possible and even usual that verbal
descriptions are misunderstood and may lead to delusions, illusions, fantasies
and even hallucinations. People see what they have been told to see.
Experiences may also be misinterpreted. The image produced by the mind because
of fear or desire or association with some accidental inner or outer stimulus
may be mistaken for something external. All experiences are real and must, of
course, have a cause. They are necessarily produced by something real. But the
thing they correspond to may be mistaken. An image in the mind, for instance,
may be mistaken for a sense object.
(4) (a) Methods
of rational or Logical reasoning refers to descriptions. These are meant to
ensure that descriptions correspond to experiences. (b) There is a different
set of methods concerned with ensuring that experiences correspond to
realities. This involves methods of observation, the avoidance of the sources
of distortion in the senses, conditions of observation, the media of
transmission of information such as light, and differentiating between the
apparent and real. The study and awareness of mental mechanisms that cause distortion
and control over them is also of great importance but seldom undertaken. These
consist of things such as addictions, obsessions, fixations, fantasies,
rationalizations of pre-suppositions, prejudices, self-interest, desires etc.
The method requires self-awareness and control. (c) Real human interaction
with, and adjustment to, Reality itself requires another set of methods which
can, of course, only be understood as awareness of reality, both external and
within ourselves expands. Until then it has to be taken on faith. The method
requires a more direct awareness sometimes known as gnosis or knowledge of the
heart.
(5) (a) Reality
refers to the self-consistent wholeness of existence in which all things have
their place and function (Quran 10:6, 13:8,17, 15:19, 25:2, 54:49-50, 65:3,
67:3, 71:15). (b) Truth refers to the nature of things, which is defined by
their functions, interactions and effects on one another. (c) Knowledge refers
to awareness of Truth. The purpose of the description is to communicate,
interact, and produce effects in order to increase the knowledge of the
receiver or to create a response to get back some information that will
increase the knowledge of the provider. The increase in knowledge depends not
only in (i) the increase in the data and (ii) its interconnections, but also on
(iii) the increase in consciousness. (d) The purpose of knowledge is to enable
a person to adjust to Reality. This adjustment consists of correct knowledge
but also correct motives and action, and these three interact and are
interdependent.
(6) As all
things form a unitary system, the purpose of existence is to have a function
with respect to the Cosmic Process, ultimately with respect to Allah. This
requires adjustment to reality. The degree of adjustment gives its absolute
value AV. This will affect the degree to which experiences correspond to
Reality and, therefore, the Truth Value TV, of these experiences. This in its
turn will affect the degree to which descriptions correspond to experiences,
and therefore, their meaning or communication Value CV. But the provider of the
communication and the receiver may not be in the same state. The meaning
encoded by the provider will not be the same as the meaning deciphered by the
receiver. The same may be true between the real object and the real person. The
information encoded in the medium of transmission by the object may not be the
same as the information extracted by the person.
(7) (a)
Descriptions may form a system, a network of connected concepts depending on
what we have studied and how intensely. The meaning of each item is connected
with the nature of the system to which it belongs and its position in it. Here
consistency is important. (b) This system differs from the net work of
experiences which depends on what we do and what environment we seek and go to
or make, and where our attention is placed and to what degree. All this, in
turn, depends on motives. Here, too, each item has significance with respect to
the nature of the system and its position in it. It also has significance for
the person whose experience it is. Experiences include his own actions, feeling
and thoughts. Faith refers to things that are consistent with the experiential
system. However, there may be several complexes or self-consistent systems
within a person and they may overlap or be mutually exclusive to various
degrees. (c) The real world also forms a system of interconnected events that
may be different from the system of experiences. It will be necessary to have a
flexible experiential system that can be modified in accordance with the
Reality system. All forms of rigidity and fixations are obstructions to this.
Ever since the
time of Descartes a division has been made in the West between the observing
mind or consciousness and the object observed which is considered to be
material.
But this kind of
dualism is unsatisfactory for several reasons. We must make two unproved
assumptions instead of only one and we must explain the connection between
these two. Self-consistency of thought implies only one system. As it is, there
is no guarantee that what we see has any resemblance to the object.
This has led to
a controversy as to which of these is primary and the other derived. Thus a
conflict occurs between materialists who think the material is the real and
that consciousness is epiphenomena of it, and the idealists who think that
consciousness is primary and all material things are phenomena in it. Between
these two a third set of Philosophers also arose - the Vitalists who saw the
world as energy, action, interaction, dynamism, and life.
A compromise was
made and a division arose between religious and secular systems (science,
politics and commerce) in which the religious authorities assumed the right to
pronounce upon spiritual matters ignoring the material, while the secular
systems ignored the spiritual and concentrated their attention on the worldly
and material. The former ignored facts and the latter ignored values. The Unity
of life was destroyed and we have a Schizophrenic world. We also get the
differences between classes and between work and its reward, between cause and
effect, between the worker and the controller, between irksome toil on the one
hand and entertainment and pleasure on the other, between those who provide and
those who are provided for, between production and consumption, between the
physical and the intellectual and between the worldly and heavenly and so on.
The Islamic view
is unitary. All things were created from a single act and with Truth (or
information or order).
"And Our commandment is but one, as the
twinkling of an eye." 55:50
"Allah created not the heavens and the
earth, and all that which is between them save with Truth, and for a destined
end." 30:8, 38:28, 39:5, 46:3
"He is Allah, the Creator, the shaper out
of Naught, the Fashioner." 59:24
Islam makes no
absolute distinction between consciousness, behaviour and matter. There are
only different kinds of phenomena, and these are only different aspects or
properties of things. There does appear to be a distinction in the creation of
man between clay, spirit and mental faculties in 32:7-9. But these refer to
different kinds of substances and to stages in creation. There are a range of
substance from the most refined to the densest and these properties vary
accordingly. It is probably correct to say that owing to interaction between
things, energy, life or mind, arises as a third factor between consciousness
and materiality. In these interactions any one can be regarded as the observer
with respect to the other which becomes the object. There is, therefore, a
triad - observer, observation and object (or knower, knowledge and known) and
these three ultimately derive from a single Unitary reality, namely Allah or
God. Islam requires us not to confuse the triad with Allah. The triad could be
interpreted as corresponding to the Christian Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
"So believe in Allah and His Messengers,
and say not "THREE" - Cease! It is better for you. - Allah is only
One God. Far be it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have
son. His is all that is the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is
sufficient as Defender." 4:171
Western science
takes the materialist view and calls this view "objective" because it
is object orientated. It tries to ignore the observing mind altogether.
Anything that comes from human imagination it calls "subjective". It
cannot be seen by others and is regarded as imagination or fantasy. But it is
evident that we cannot know anything that is not an affect on our
consciousness. This knowledge must, therefore, be a result of something from
the external world and something from the nature of our minds. It is also
obvious that our imagination affects our behaviour and, therefore, produces
real material affects. It is further evident that when something is produced by
our imagination or cannot be seen by others then this too depends on data which
we have acquired from experience and has causes in our psyche or nervous system
which may, like what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears, have causes in
the rest of the external world. We can call this kind of thinking
"realistic" thinking.
Science admits,
indeed, it presupposes that the objective world can be understood rationally.
But it does not suppose that the events in the world happen rationally.
Scientists explain why the rational mind can understand the world as follows:-
Human beings are
created from the materials, forces, processes and laws of the Universe and they
have arisen through a long process of evolution in adjustment to the world.
This evolution takes place gradually in steps by random mutations and natural
selection. Those organisms which did not develop faculties which enabled them
to deal with the environment for their own survival perished. Only those which
developed appropriate faculties survived. Therefore, our minds have the
faculties for understanding the Universe.
This
explanation, however, is not quite satisfactory. We have to explain how creatures
possessing consciousness and desiring to survive came about. In the first place
our minds developed in contact with this planet for the purpose of making a
living here. Conditions elsewhere in the Universe are not the same, and in
science the mind is dealing with problems other than making a living. It seems
much more likely that the same laws and processes which account for the
phenomena in the universe also account for processes within us and that we
become progressively more conscious of these. A kind of resonance builds up
between our inner and outer world and this allows the arising of intuitions or
inspirations by means of which we invent theories. Moreover, we are part of the
creative process of the Universe. We create the world we see by selecting data
for attention; we create our system of ideas about the Universe through
science; we organize our lives by laws; we invent things and change our
environments.
The Islamic view
is that man possesses the same spirit by which the universe was made. The
universe is, therefore, explicable in rational terms because it is rational,
and rationality is merely a term which refers to a faculty man possesses by
virtue of being made of the earth and spirit. But it also has sub-rational and
supra-rational elements in it. There is a spectrum and we have not necessarily
reached the highest possibilities. The same processes, which operate in our
minds, are also responsible for the arising of the Universe and all things in
it. The processes in our brains are not different from the processes that take
place on this planet or in the Universe. There are all kinds of complex
interactions of chemical and other materials, electrical currents,
electromagnetic radiation and patterns in electrical and quantum fields.
Scientific
research shows that the conditions required in order that we should arise on
this planet and be able to wonder about and explain the Universe, are very
strict and only a very small range in the total number of possibilities. There
seems to be no reason why the Universe should be as it is and science has no
explanation for it. In other words it seems as if the Universe has been
specially set up in order that we should arise. But this idea can be dismissed
on the grounds that if another set of conditions had existed then another
creature would have arisen with faculties adapted to understand the universe
created by that set of conditions. These creatures too could have thought that
the universe was made just for them and then dismissed the idea in the same
way. Or, perhaps no intelligent creature would have arisen to think anything at
all.
The Islamic
explanation is that Allah can do as He likes and He had a purpose for creation.
The purpose is, of course, a cause but it is an inner, not an external one.
There is nothing outside the original totality, Allah, to be a cause for the
arising of the Universe, so the cause must be inherent in Allah. Since, the
Laws of the Universe exist, and matter, energy, order, intelligence and
consciousness also exist, then they must all have been potentialities from the
beginning. It is only the creative impulse that gradually actualized them. The
word Reality, therefore, includes not only that which is actual in any given
time and space, but also everything which is possible given the laws and
characteristics of things, but also beyond that which may not be possible in
this Universe but may be possible elsewhere when the laws are different or even
before that when there were no Laws. The arising of laws which restrict
possibilities have also to be explained. Allah is the ultimate mystery.
It could be the
case that the Universe consists of regions where all possible conditions exist,
and all kinds of intelligent creatures exist in various regions but each
variety is aware only of the set of conditions appropriate to its own arising.
They are largely unaware of each other. This could be like a paper full of
different coloured dots. We could give our attention to a particular colour and
join the dots to make a pattern. Others could do the same using another colour.
There would be several different worlds in the same area. Each would be a
rational world but the rationality will be different because it simply refers
to the fact that the creatures thinks about the environment in a manner which
allows it to adapt, survive and develop. Each would be a system within a
greater more general system just as this planet together with others forms the
solar system. There might be systems of systems to many levels.
It might also be
possible for creatures to move consciously from level to level. This is similar
to first learning to add numbers, then to multiply them, and then performing
other more complex mathematical operations. Or it might be like first thinking
in terms of particular objects, say a particular chair, then of chairs in general,
then furniture in general, and so on, until one comes to the ultimate unity
which includes all, but is independent of all particular things. Given the
concept chair, which is independent of any particular chair, we can create many
particular chairs even those that did not exist before. The power of creativity
increases the higher up we go. This is because the number of potentialities
increases and the number of restricting rules diminish.
We can see
Reality as having several levels such that the events at one level can be
regarded as superficial or surface manifestations of events taking place at a
deeper level. There is nothing unusual about this. Even in human affairs what
happens in a country at the more obvious level is in fact merely the result of
decisions being made in control centres such as government departments or
industrial board rooms. And these depend on various economic and social forces
which in their turn depend on the actions of the laws of the universe as they
act in this planet. Ultimately, we have a Quantum or sub-quantum field in which
the fundamentally real events are taking place.