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The mention of human
consciousness and its evolution forces us to recognize that the state we are in
or the position that we hold today is attributable to our ancestors. When Adam,
the honoured ancestor of humankind, was thrown into this world, he was in a
state of awareness which today would be comparable to that of a newborn baby.
The instances of the life of this child (Adam) turned into moments. Moments
changed into seconds. Seconds became minutes. Minutes disappeared into hours.
Hours adorned the cloak of day and night. Day and night took the form of years.
Years saw their end within centuries. And so eras and ages came into being.
As Adam's
consciousness awakened, the need arose to sustain life - to do something, to
eat something, to cover up. As the demand to fulfil this need grew more
intense, tenderness was born. This tenderness started to flow from the eyes. To
halt this surging flow, Angel Jibraeel(as) ['Gabriel'] descended from the
heavens and so addressed Adam:
"O innocent
person, crying and lamenting will not do. You have wronged your own self. To
pay the consequences, you must obey the principle of giving something in order
to gain something, and only thus shall you obtain for your needs. Rise up and
pay for your disobedience by working the land and thus gathering your
food."
Qalander Baba Auliya"
states that,
"I have seen
such examples where Angel Jibracel (as) walked ahead and Adam slowly walked
behind him following his footsteps. Hadhrat Jibraeel"' stood on a parcel
of land and said, "This is a field, sow seeds in it and give them water so
that they grow. Eat and drink!"
Adam quickly walked
up a few steps and said,
"Establish a
boundary here."
Hadhrat Jibraeel(as)
said with much sorrow, "O what disappointment! Alas, you have sown the
seed of greed in your progeny. Why could you have not understood that Allah has
declared the entire earth your property!"
The first evolution
of humankind took place as it learned to sow the earth. As thorns grew from the
womb of the earth, Adam consciously felt the sting; as flowers bloomed, his
mind soared to the peaks of heaven in a state of complete self-abandon.
Flowers and thorns
within their selves are a reaction of the senses. Reaction is an indication of
one's way of thinking. If the way of thinking includes faith, belief, and
[correct] observation, Adam's progeny will live in peace. If the way of
thinking includes disbelief, suspicion, and shortsightedness, life will become
a bed of thorns, miserable and unbearable at every moment.
Humankind is
proceeding along the heritage left to them by their father, Adam. Adam
disobeyed; his progeny thus received the inheritance.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
Science has made immense progress, yet many believe that, even with all of the modern tools at our disposal, human beings function at no more than 10% of their mental capacity. This leads to the question of what exactly it is that comprises the remaining 90%. Yet another question that arises is this: If it has taken man four and a half billion years to be able to apply only 10% of his ability, how long will it take for him to make use of the remaining 90%?
