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Znajte da, općenito govoreći, postoji pet vrsta duha. Prva je biljni duh: to je moć koja je rezultat spajanja elemenata i miješanja tvari po zapovijedi Svevišnjega Boga, te utjecaja, učinka i veze ostalih stvorenja. Kad se te tvari i elementi odvoje jedni od drugih, prestaje postojati i sposobnost rasta. Dakle, poslužimo se drugim prikazom: elektricitet je rezultat spajanja elemenata, a kad se ti elementi razdvoje, električna sila rasipa se i gubi. Takav je biljni duh. |
Know that, speaking generally, there are five divisions of the spirit. First the vegetable spirit: this is a power which results from the combination of elements and the mingling of substances by the decree of the Supreme God, and from the influence, the effect and connection of other existences. When these substances and elements are separated from each other, the power of growth also ceases to exist. So, to use another figure, electricity results from the combination of elements, and when these elements are separated, the electric force is dispersed and lost. Such is the vegetable spirit. |
| 2 |
Slijedi životinjski duh, koji je također rezultat miješanja i spajanja elemenata. Ova je kombinacija potpunija, a nalogom Svemogućega Boga došlo je do savršene izmiješanosti te je stvoren životinjski duh; drugim riječima – moć osjetila. On će opažati zbilju stvari iz onoga što se može vidjeti, čuti, jesti, dodirnuti i pomirisati. Nakon raspada i razlaganja spojenih elemenata – i taj će duh prirodno nestati. To je poput ove svjetiljke koju vidite: kad se spoje ulje, fitilj i plamen, rezultat je svjetlo; ali kad nestane ulja i potroši se fitilj, i svjetlo će nestati i izgubiti se. |
After this is the animal spirit, which also results from the mingling and combination of elements. But this combination is more complete, and through the decree of the Almighty Lord a perfect mingling is obtained, and the animal spirit—in other words, the power of the senses—is produced. It will perceive the reality of things from that which is seen and visible, audible, edible, tangible, and that which can be smelled. After the dissociation and decomposition of the combined elements this spirit also will naturally disappear. It is like this lamp which you see: when the oil and wick and fire are brought together, light is the result; but when the oil is finished and the wick consumed, the light will also vanish and be lost. |
| 3 |
Ljudski se duh može usporediti s raskoši sunca koje sja na zrcalu. Tijelo čovjeka sastoji se od elemenata koji su spojeni i pomiješani u najsavršeniji oblik; to je najčvršća konstrukcija, najplemenitija kombinacija, najsavršenije postojanje. Ono raste i razvija se kroz životinjski duh. Ovo usavršeno tijelo može se usporediti sa zrcalom, a ljudski duh sa suncem. Ako se zrcalo razbije, raskoš sunca i dalje traje, a ako se zrcalo uništi ili prestane postojati, to nikako neće naškoditi suncu koje je vječno. Taj duh ima moć otkrivanja; on obuhvaća sve stvari. Svi ti čudesni znaci, ta znanstvena otkrića, veliki poduhvati i važni povijesni događaji koje poznajete – njegov su učinak. Iz kraljevstva nevidljivoga i skrivenoga, kroz duhovnu moć, on ih je prenio u područje vidljivoga. Tako je čovjek na zemlji, a ipak dolazi do otkrića u nebu. Iz poznatih stvarnosti – što znači, od stvari koje su poznate i vidljive – on otkriva nepoznate stvari. Na primjer, čovjek živi na ovoj hemisferi, ali, poput Kolumba, snagom razbora on otkriva drugu hemisferu – tj., Ameriku – koja je do tada bila nepoznata. Njegovo je tijelo teško, ali pomoću vozila koje pronalazi, putuje na Istok i Zapad istom brzinom. Ukratko, ta moć obuhvaća sve stvari. |
The human spirit may be likened to the bounty of the sun shining on a mirror. The body of man, which is composed from the elements, is combined and mingled in the most perfect form; it is the most solid construction, the noblest combination, the most perfect existence. It grows and develops through the animal spirit. This perfected body can be compared to a mirror, and the human spirit to the sun. Nevertheless, if the mirror breaks, the bounty of the sun continues; and if the mirror is destroyed or ceases to exist, no harm will happen to the bounty of the sun, which is everlasting. This spirit has the power of discovery; it encompasses all things. All these wonderful signs, these scientific discoveries, great enterprises and important historical events which you know are due to it. From the realm of the invisible and hidden, through spiritual power, it brought them to the plane of the visible. So man is upon the earth, yet he makes discoveries in the heavens. From known realities—that is to say, from the things which are known and visible—he discovers unknown things. For example, man is in this hemisphere; but, like Columbus, through the power of his reason he discovers another hemisphere—that is, America—which was until then unknown. His body is heavy, but through the help of vehicles which he invents, he is able to fly. He is slow of movement, but by vehicles which he invents he travels to the East and West with extreme rapidity. Briefly, this power embraces all things. |
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No, ljudski duh ima dva aspekta: jedan božanski i jedan sotonski, što znači da je sposoban za najveće savršenstvo ili za krajnje nesavršenstvo. Ako stječe vrline, najplemenitiji je od svih postojećih bića; a ako stječe poroke, postaje najnižim oblikom postojanja. |
But the spirit of man has two aspects: one divine, one satanic—that is to say, it is capable of the utmost perfection, or it is capable of the utmost imperfection. If it acquires virtues, it is the most noble of the existing beings; and if it acquires vices, it becomes the most degraded existence. |
| 5 |
Četvrti stupanj duha je nebeski duh; to je duh vjere i milosti Božje; on dolazi od daha Svetoga Duha i kroz božansku moć postaje uzrokom vječnoga života. To je moć koja zemaljskog čovjeka čini nebeskim, a nesavršenoga savršenim čovjekom. Ona nečistoga čini čistim, šutljivoga razgovorljivim; ona čisti i posvećuje one koji su zarobljeni tjelesnim žudnjama; neznalice čini mudrima. |
The fourth degree of spirit is the heavenly spirit; it is the spirit of faith and the bounty of God; it comes from the breath of the Holy Spirit, and by the divine power it becomes the cause of eternal life. It is the power which makes the earthly man heavenly, and the imperfect man perfect. It makes the impure to be pure, the silent eloquent; it purifies and sanctifies those made captive by carnal desires; it makes the ignorant wise. |
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Peti je duh Sveti Duh. Sveti Duh je posrednik između Boga i Njegovih stvorenja. On je poput zrcala okrenutoga suncu. Kao što čisto zrcalo prima svjetlo od sunca i prenosi ovu raskoš drugima, tako je i Sveti Duh posredni prenositelj Svetoga Svjetla od Sunca Stvarnosti, koje daje posvećenim stvarnostima. On je urešen svim božanskim savršenostima. Svaki put kad se pojavi, svijet se obnavlja, i polažu se temelji novoga ciklusa. Tijelo svijeta čovječanstva zaodijeva se novim ruhom. To se može usporediti s proljećem; kad god ono dolazi, svijet prelazi iz jednog stanja u drugo. Dolaskom proljeća, crna zemlja, polja i divljina zazelenjet će i procvasti i niknut će svakovrsno cvijeće i miomirisne trave, drveće će zaživjeti novim životom te će se pojaviti novi plodovi i započet će novi ciklus. Pojava Svetoga Duha tome nalikuje. Kad god se pojavi, on obnavlja svijet ljudi i daje novi duh ljudskoj zbilji: odijeva svijet postojanja u skupocjenu odoru, raspršuje tamu neznanja i uzrokuje zračenje svjetla savršenstava. Krist je tom moći obnovio ovaj ciklus; nebesko proljeće s krajnjom je svježinom i slašću nadvilo svoj šator nad svijetom čovječanstva, a životvorni lahor zamirisao je u nosnicama prosvijetljenih. |
The fifth spirit is the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is the mediator between God and His creatures. It is like a mirror facing the sun. As the pure mirror receives light from the sun and transmits this bounty to others, so the Holy Spirit is the mediator of the Holy Light from the Sun of Reality, which it gives to the sanctified realities. It is adorned with all the divine perfections. Every time it appears, the world is renewed, and a new cycle is founded. The body of the world of humanity puts on a new garment. It can be compared to the spring; whenever it comes, the world passes from one condition to another. Through the advent of the season of spring the black earth and the fields and wildernesses will become verdant and blooming, and all sorts of flowers and sweet-scented herbs will grow; the trees will have new life, and new fruits will appear, and a new cycle is founded. The appearance of the Holy Spirit is like this. Whenever it appears, it renews the world of humanity and gives a new spirit to the human realities: it arrays the world of existence in a praiseworthy garment, dispels the darkness of ignorance, and causes the radiation of the light of perfections. Christ with this power has renewed this cycle; the heavenly spring with the utmost freshness and sweetness spread its tent in the world of humanity, and the life-giving breeze perfumed the nostrils of the enlightened ones. |
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Na isti način, pojava Bahá’u’lláha bila je poput novoga proljeća koje se pojavilo sa svetim lahorima, s vojskama vječnoga života i s nebeskom moći. Ono je postavilo Prijestolje Božanskoga Kraljevstva u središte svijeta i snagom Svetoga Duha oživjelo duše i uspostavilo novi ciklus. |
In the same way, the appearance of Bahá’u’lláh was like a new springtime which appeared with holy breezes, with the hosts of everlasting life, and with heavenly power. It established the Throne of the Divine Kingdom in the center of the world and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, revived souls and established a new cycle. |
