The Essence of Man: Towards a Bahá’í Understanding of Human Nature and Psychology

Abstract

I. Towards Understanding Human Nature This presentation is a commentary on a section from Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to Mírzá Hádí, translated by Shoghi Effendi in the Gleanings of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, (GWB 164-165) about "the essence of man." This paper attempts to provide an understanding of what is expressed in these Words. Bahá'u'lláh's announcement, in these few verses, could change the understanding of "Who is Man." Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty. (GWB 163-166)