There must therefore be an essence which is autonomous and...

There must therefore be an essence which is autonomous and separate from the body and yet accompanies it while possessing the attributes just mentioned. Matter reacts in a uniform and predictable way to external stimuli. Water solidifies when confronted with extreme cold; metals expand when confronted with extreme heat these reactions are natural and unchanging.

But man is capable of manifesting the most varied and even contradictory reactions, and this is in itself a proof that the powerful spirit and will of man are non-material, for they transcend the properties of matter. * * * * * The process whereby perception takes place shows that there are two factors involved: the means of perception (the eye, for example) and the faculty of perception.

It is a law of physics that you can never perceive a motion while you are yourself a part of that motion; the motion can be perceived only outside itself. It is possible for you to perceive a moving object only when you stand, as it were, on a platform that is outside the sphere of the motion. This enables you to see the passage of things in front of you and to sense the motion of time.

It is not possible for man to sit down on the ground and measure the rotation of the earth, nor can he stand on the moon and measure its rotation. Motion is visible only from outside itself. So if our faculty of perception were not located outside the range of unceasing motion, we would never be able to perceive motion and the passage of time; the fact that we are able to perceive the passage of time is a clear proof that our faculty of perception is beyond the reach of time.

If, for example, our faculty of perception were to change and to move each instant, in keeping with the perpetual motion of time, we would be unable to perceive the passage of time, for our faculty of perception would be shattered into disconnected fragments. So since we perceive time, our faculty of perception must exist outside the scope of time and transcend it.

This distinguishes our faculty of perception from our bodily form, and it might be said, indeed, that one half of the reality of man becomes worn out, old and exhausted, while the other half escapes dissolution in the whirlpool of time and pursues its own life. The Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, said: “O people, we have been created to live eternally, not to perish. However, you will change your place of residence, and move forward from one stage to another.