ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imamate and Leadership The Imam's Communication With the World of the Unseen ( 213 ) Lesson Twenty-Three There are those to whom a gate is opened onto the treasuries of the unseen and who become aware thereby of certain hidden truths. This takes place by means of inspiration and illumination for entry into that sphere by means of mental activity and ratiocination is completely impossible.

Such non-sensory and non-rational perception made possible by flashes of illumination and inspiration is a valid way of knowing reality for although it might appear difficult to justify from the point of view of a monodimensional and materialist worldview there is no scientific reason to deny it. Dr. Alexis Carrel is one of the well known scientists who assign a particular value to inspiration and gnostic perception regarding it in fact as a divine gift.

This is what he says: "Scientific geniuses in addition to their great capacities for research and perceptive insight also possess qualities such as illumination by means of which they discern things that are hidden from others. They see connections between phenomena that are apparently unconnected and instinctively perceive the existence of unknown things.

Thanks to their clear vision they are able to read the thoughts of others without recourse to their sensory faculties; to observe phenomena that are more or less distant in terms of time and space; and to provide more definite information concerning certain things than that which is yielded by the senses.

"For one illumined in this sense it is as easy to read ( 214 ) someone's thoughts as to describe his face and in fact it is misleading to use the words 'see' or 'feel' in connection with what passes through his consciousness for he neither sees anything nor seeks it in a given place - he simply knows it. "Numerous are those people who under normal circumstances do not have this kind of illumined vision but have experienced it once or twice during their lives.

It sometimes becomes possible for us to perceive the outer world by means other than our outer senses. There is no doubt that the mind can sometimes establish communication between two individuals over great distances and instances of this type the study of which is known to present day science as metapsychics have to be accepted just as they are. For they contain truths within them and present us with a dimension of human existence that is not yet properly known.