Ontology as Poem1 2 3

By Jon Trevathan4

5

The Primal Will,6

Undifferentiated7, perfect8 and stillEssence9 revealed as Emanation10 Then through Itself11

from Itself12

spontaneously13 Mashíyyát14 degrades15 to differentiation16.17

Within the Primal Will18 as Mashíyyát’s recipient19 Irádih20 is self defined and then subsumed within the Káf21.God’s Will - the same yet differentAnd in each succeeding exposition,Káf and Nún22 equivalent23

The Qur’ánic letters24 manifestThe Orthography25 of CreationFrom which harmonic states emerge the phonemes26 of all ExistenceThese then interact27, combine and join again,28 the names of God equivalent the Word29 of God arisingeternally existent.

The emergence of harmonics continuesas integrated informational statesOnce the eternal Archetypes are fixed the forms of contingency30 beginsthrough pre-time the process continuesan infinity of contingencies become Omniscience fixed in potential31

Extension’s appearance awaits.32

Mashíyyát vibrationally patterned is called by many namesManifestations, Holy Spirit, and souls,it is the Active Force all the sameBut nothing yet IS but potential Násút has not yet begun.A point of actualization33 first arisesPhysical reality has finally become.

The Active Force interacting with its recipient quiddity34

Aristotelian waveforms from potentialsfixing successive realities35

Then from each actualized point continuingat light speed, within time, and beyond, a milieu of interrelationshipsaltering probabilities36 of what will become37.

Man’s purpose is to become a clear mirror38

God’s to make Herself knownWith each human continuing this pattern, Irádih is concealed in our soulThe Active Force now called Spirit Patterned by our own personal “Could be”Constrained by predestined potential our choices are probabilistic, but free

Each choice presented to us with the Divine Will it interrelates by interference patterns of augmentation those awake know its energy statethrough consciousness and choice and free willpredestinations are determined, and changedthe mirror of Mind reflects our choiceour soul’s potential to actuate.

Know that Násút39 is the true phantasm Malakút40 is a great deal more In 'Álám-i mithál41 Being is channeled42, God’s Word is the final control Quiddities by waveforms augmented become confirmations truly DivineBut opposing God’s Will we are cancelled, enantiodromia43 spiritually defined.

If this poem conforms to God’s teachingsthe unity of religion and science44 revealedA universal for many particularsthe dialetheias of Heraclitus and Parmenides unsealed45

then God’s Word will be joined with Physicswhere transmutations46 will easily beand Khidr’s 47 parable in the Sura of the Caveis human capacity48.

GLOSSARYMashíyyát refers to the Divine WillIrádih refers to the Divine PurposeKáf refers to the Stations of Divine Will in exposition.Nún refers to the Stations of Divine Purpose in expositionNásút is the realm of corporeal actualization of spiritual realitiesMalakút is the realm of spiritual actualization of contingent realities 'Álám-i mithál refers to the world of similitudes which exists between the Dominion on high (Jabarút) and this mortal realm (Násút); whatever is in the heavens or on the earth hath its counterpart in that world.

1 Introduction

"Arise in the name of Him Who is the Object of all knowledge, and, with absolute detachment from the learning of men, lift up your voices and proclaim His Cause. I swear by the Day Star of Divine Revelation! The very moment ye arise, ye will witness how a flood of Divine knowledge will gush out of your hearts, and will behold the wonders of His heavenly wisdom manifested in all their glory before you." (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 84)

When I began my spiritual journey, I had many questions. As example, I would compare different scriptural writings and each point of apparent inconsistency became as a stone hindering my progress. As I continued my journey, however, I came to realize that my questions were being answered; often serendipitously, as if angels had lifted me lest my questions cause me to stumble. With this realization came certitude. The journey has been joyous.

As I deepened, I learned that I could read a passage, reflect on it, and insights seemed to spontaneously arise. Then, one night, I went to bed contemplating God's omnipotence, His perfect knowledge of all things and how the mysteries of free will and predestination might be reconciled. This time the answer came not as an insight or intuition. Instead, in the moments before waking, I experienced a vivid dream.

In this visualization, I was aware of myself as in death looking back on my life; which appeared as a time-lapse, stop-motion continuum captured on a life-long strip of holographic film. All of the choices I had made, and had not made, and the consequence of my actions, and my inactions, seemed both visually and experientially present. I was aware of individuals with whom I had consciously and unconsciously interacted and the impact of these interactions on our respective lives. The resulting joy and pain, both mine and theirs, seemed palpable. I understood in that moment that God need not judge me at death. I would judge myself. I further knew that if my life had then ended, I could have spent eternity regretting, as in the biblical parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the unbridgeable gulf between the choices I had made and all which could have been.

Then, I turned. Before me were the lives I might yet lead; all of my choices simultaneously existing as contingent potentials. Each choice was marked by new paths which branched and branched again into great chains of alternate realities. And at each juncture, one of my options appeared different from the others - it shimmered. With a certainty that surpassed any I had ever known, I knew these shimmering paths represented God’s guidance, they were the choices God would have me make - the paths God would have me take. I also knew that if, in submission to God’s will, I consistently choose these shimmering paths from the multitude God had contingently ordained, I would, as a prodigal son, attain my inheritance, or at least that portion I had not yet squandered. Then I awoke.

In the intervening years, many personal truths have been imparted in similar fashion. Following reflection on the opening paragraphs of a book called the “Kitab-i-Aqdas”, my smoldering conceit was quenched. Following reflection on prophesy in the biblical context of “before Abraham was, I am”, I saw the tendrils of history emerge from an undifferentiable chaos and resolve themselves into the reality of Christ. Falling asleep in perplexity over my contradictory understanding of reincarnation from the writings of the Bahá'í Faith, the Bhagavad-Gita, and reports of near death experiences, I awoke with the concepts harmonized; and with a transformed frame of reference that tangentially afforded new ways to understand Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the trilemma of innocent suffering. Following reflection on Hawkin’s “A Brief History of Time” I saw the contingent threads of all possible futures as an ontological reality existent at the big bang. Following this vivid dream, I saw human choice creating points of actualization within seas of pre-existent contingency which instantly caused all of the dependent originations which might arise from this point to emerge as an illumined cone of contingency.

What is someone supposed to do with experiences like these? My questions were answered. I felt myself changed. I could see new fruit in my life. I felt my visualizations had communicated profound truths – for me. But, should I share my experiences with others? For many years and with very few exceptions, the answer was no.

Then, in the vivid dream that eventually became the catalyst for Ontology as Poem, I saw a wave front carrying the cumulative interactive information of all preceding actualized realities intersect with a second wave, which I interpreted to be God’s cascading love, and resolve into a continually and eternally created present where the corporeality of each flickering now was a mere precipitant and phantasm relative to the realities from which each successive moment was, within these interacting waves, arising.

These experiences have afforded me with new frames of reference which, to me, have rendered the seemingly irreconcilable, understandable. However, this dream was different, almost scientific, and seemed to suggest hypotheses that just might be testable. However, there was a problem. As my experiences had transcended language, they have me a very long time to communicate. Ontology as Poem became the first vehicle for me to capture and begin the process of communicating the essence of my apprehensions. This annotation is my attempt to apply the epistemological principles described below and test the potential value of my insights to others.

2 Epistomology:

I am mindful that any attempt to reduce experience to language involves interpretation. “The Tao that can be expressed is not the true Tao. The name that can be defined is not the true name.” (Tao Te

Ching translated by Ch’u Ta-Kao) In preparing endnotes for Ontology as Poem, which are still nascent, I have also tried to remain mindful of N.R. Hanson's dictum: "All data are theory-laden" and the risk that I might begin to elevate my ideas as in Bacon’s idols. It is my hope that dialogues will arise with the readers of this paper that will test and refine my understanding of the science, theology and philosophy through which my experiences must be communicated. According to Kuhn, different paradigms may define different problems, use different logic, and require different "truth" criterion. Nonetheless, it is my hope that, with your critique and insights, a fully endnoted, and potentially substantially revised, Ontology as Poem will eventually emerge in conformity with the following epistemological guidance:

“Every subject presented to a thoughtful audience must be supported by rational proofs and logical arguments. Proofs are of four kinds: first, through sense-perception; second, through the reasoning faculty; third, from traditional or scriptural authority; fourth, through the medium of inspiration. That is to say, there are four criterions or standards of judgment by which the human mind reaches its conclusions. We will first consider the criterion of the senses. This is a standard still held to by the materialistic philosophers of the world. They believe that whatever is perceptible to the senses is a verity, a certainty and without doubt existent. For example, they say, "Here is a lamp which you see, and because it is perceptible to the sense of sight you cannot doubt its existence. There is a tree; your sense of vision assures you of its reality which is beyond question. This is a man; you see that he is a man; therefore he exists." In a word, everything confirmed by the senses is assumed to be as undoubted and unquestioned as the product of five multiplied by five; it cannot be twenty-six nor less than twenty-five. Consequently the materialistic philosophers consider the criterion of the senses to be first and foremost.

But in the estimation of the divine philosophers this proof and assurance is not reliable; nay, rather, they deem the standard of the senses to be false because it is imperfect. Sight, for instance, is one of the most important of the senses, yet it is subject to many aberrations and inaccuracies. The eye sees the mirage as a body of water, regards images in the mirror as realities when they are but reflections. A man sailing upon the river imagines that objects upon the shore are moving whereas he is in motion and they are stationary. To the eye the earth appears fixed while the sun and stars revolve about it. As a matter of fact the heavenly orbs are stationary and the earth turning upon its axis. The colossal suns, planets and constellations which shine in the heavens appear small, nay, infinitesimal to human vision whereas in reality they are vastly greater than the earth in dimension and volume. A whirling spark appears to the sight as a circle of fire. There are numberless instances of this kind which show the error and inaccuracy of the senses. Therefore the divine philosophers have considered this standard of judgment to be defective and unreliable.

The second criterion is that of the intellect. The ancient philosophers in particular considered the intellect to be the most important agency of judgment. Among the wise men of Greece, Rome, Persia and Egypt the criterion of true proof was reason. They held that every matter submitted to the reasoning faculty could be proved true or false and must be accepted or rejected accordingly. But in the estimation of the people of insight this criterion is likewise defective and unreliable, for these same philosophers who held to reason or intellect as the standard of human judgment have differed widely among themselves upon every subject of investigation. The statements of the Greek philosophers are contradictory to the conclusions of the Persian sages. Even among the Greek philosophers themselves there is continual variance and lack of agreement upon any given subject. Great difference of thought also prevailed between the wise men of Greece and Rome. Therefore if the criterion of reason or intellect constituted a correct and infallible standard of judgment, those who tested and applied it should have arrived at the same conclusions. As they differ and are contradictory in conclusions it is an evidence that the method and standard of test must have been faulty and insufficient.

The third criterion or standard of proof is traditional or scriptural, namely, that every statement of conclusion should be supported by traditions recorded in certain religious books. When we come to consider even the holy books -- the books of God -- we are led to ask, "Who understands these books? By what authority of explanation may these books be understood?" It must be the authority of human reason, and if reason or intellect finds itself incapable of explaining certain questions, or if the possessors of intellect contradict each other in the interpretation of traditions, how can such a criterion be relied upon for accurate conclusions?

The fourth standard is that of inspiration. In past centuries many philosophers have claimed illumination or revelation, prefacing their statements by the announcement that "this subject has been revealed through me" or "thus do I speak by inspiration." Of this class were the philosophers of the Illuminati. Inspirations are the promptings or susceptibilities of the human heart. The promptings of the heart are sometimes satanic. How are we to differentiate them? How are we to tell whether a given statement is an inspiration and prompting of the heart through the merciful assistance or through the satanic agency?

Consequently it has become evident that the four criterions or standards of judgment by which the human mind reaches its conclusions are faulty and inaccurate. All of them are liable to mistake and error in conclusions. But a statement presented to the mind accompanied by proofs which the senses can perceive to be correct, which the faculty of reason can accept, which is in accord with traditional authority and sanctioned by the promptings of the heart, can be adjudged and relied upon as perfectly correct, for it has been proved and tested by all the standards of judgment and found to be complete. When we apply but one test there are possibilities of mistake. This is self-evident and

manifest. (Abdu'l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p. 85-88)

In the world of existence the greatest bestowals of God are His teachings. … The first teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is the duty incumbent upon all to investigate reality. What does it mean to investigate reality? It means that man must forget all hearsay and examine truth himself, for he does not know whether statements he hears are in accordance with reality or not. Wherever he finds truth or reality, he must hold to it, forsaking, discarding all else; for outside of reality there is naught but superstition and imagination. Abdu’l Bahá, Talk given 25 April 1912 at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Parsons, 1700 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C., Notes by Joseph H. Hannen, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, page 62.

3 Principles and Assumptions:

(i) Each particular is part of a universal; (ii) each universal becomes a particular within the next universal; (iii) the particulars that are irreconcilable or otherwise cannot be understood today will eventually become unified within the transcendent frames of reference of higher universals; (iv) analogues of the patterns and relationship identified within one universal tend to repeat within successive universals; and (v) everything is interconnected.

I believe these concepts find reasonable support and further illumination through the following texts:

“These are spiritual truths relating to the spiritual world. In like manner, from these spiritual realities infer truths about the material world. For physical things are signs and imprints of spiritual things; every lower thing is an image and counterpart of a higher thing. Nay, earthly and heavenly, material and spiritual, accidental and essential, particular and universal, structure and foundation, appearance and reality and the essence of all things, both inward and outward -- all of these are connected one with another and are interrelated in such a manner that you will find that drops are patterned after seas, and that atoms are structured after suns in proportion to their capacities and potentialities. For particulars in relation to what is below them are universals, and what are great universals in the sight of those whose eyes are veiled are in fact particulars in relation to the realities and beings which are superior to them. Universal and particular are in reality incidental and relative considerations. The mercy of thy Lord, verily, encompasseth all things! Know then that the all-embracing framework that governs existence includes within its compass every existent being - particular or universal - whether outwardly or inwardly, secretly or openly. Just as particulars are infinite in number, so also universals, on the material plane, and the great realities of the universe are without number and beyond computation. The Dawning Places of Unity, the Daysprings of Singleness and the Suns of Holiness are also sanctified beyond the bounds of number, and the luminous spiritual worlds are exalted above limits and restrictions. In like manner the worlds of bodily existence the mind of no man can reckon nor the understanding of the learned comprehend. Consider the following well-known tradition and examine its meanings indicative of

the vastness of the cosmos and its awesome limitless expanse: 'God, exalted be He, fashioned one hundred thousand, thousand lamps and suspended the Throne, the earth, the heavens and whatsoever is between them, even Heaven and Hell -- all of these in a single lamp. And only God knows what is in the rest of the lamps.' The fact that philosophers and sages have posited limits and restrictions for such matters is to be explained by the limitations of people’s minds and perceptions and the blindness of the followers of allusions, whose natures and intellects have been rendered dull and inanimate by the interposition of many veils. ... In the reality of drops seas of divine verses surge and in the essence of atoms suns of names and attributes are manifest. In our times scientists are discovering in the strata of rocks secrets that their predecessors could not discover in perspicuous tablets of light. That is because in this most great manifestation, without investigation or deduction the gates of revelation and discovery have been thrown wide open. ... For it is by applying the outward world to the inner, the high to the low, the small to the large, the general to the particular that, with abundant clearness, it becometh apparent that the new rules arrived at by the science of astronomy are in closer accord with the universal divine principles than the other erroneous theories and propositions, as we have explained and illustrated.” [Abdu’l Bahá, Tablet of the Universe (LAWH-I-AFLAKIYYIH)]

“All phenomena are involved in all phenomena. Consider what a transcendent unity exists, that, from this standpoint, every monad is the expression of all creation; this is the law and order in the world of existence” Abdu’l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy 168.

“Fundamentally all existing things pass through the same degrees and phases of development, and any given phenomenon embodies all others. An ancient statement of the Arabian philosophers declares that all things are involved in all things.” The Promulgation of Universal Peace, page 349.

“Universal existents resemble and can be compared to particular existents, for both are subject to one natural system, one universal law, and one divine organization. So you will find that the smallest atoms in the universal system are similar to the greatest existents of the Universe. Mufáfudát 128, translated by K Brown in Originality of Species.

“Every universal cause is divine and every particular one is temporal. The principles of the divine Manifestations of God were, therefore, all-universal and all-inclusive.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 68-69)

“Universal beings resemble and can be compared to particular beings, for both are subjected to one natural system, one universal law and divine organization. So you will find the smallest atoms in the universal system are similar to the greatest beings of the universe. It is clear that they come into existence from one laboratory of might under one natural system and one universal law; therefore, they may be compared to one another.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 182) (Abdu'l-Bahá, Baha'i World Faith -

Abdu'l-Bahá Section, p. 298)

4 The Author: I am an attorney and lack academic credentials, or even formal training, in any of the areas of philosophy, theology or science relevant to this paper. As I will oft note in this paper, I am not a physicist, but I am making an effort to apply the epistemological guidance outlined in endnote 2 in identifying the scientific foundations for the conjectures this paper explores. Please think of my efforts as a collection of thought experiments and hypotheses for collaborative investigation. It is a work in progress. There are already many that have already illumined my thoughts with the light of their insights. It is my hope you will also share your comments and critique. 5 The Science

Brane theory is an intriguing new science that I will explore in connection with Ontology as Poem and the experiences outlined above. Recognizing that Brane theory may be new to most of those who may read this paper, some preliminary information is appropriate. According to Wikipedia: “Brane cosmology refers to several theories in particle physics and cosmology motivated by, but not rigorously derived from, superstring theory and M-theory. The central idea is that our visible, four-dimensional universe is entirely restricted to a brane inside a higher-dimensional space, called the bulk. The additional dimensions may be taken to be compact, in which case the observed universe contains the extra dimensions, and then no reference to the bulk is appropriate in this context. In the bulk model, other branes may be moving through this bulk. Interactions with the bulk, and possibly with other branes, can influence our brane and thus introduce effects not seen in more standard cosmological models. As one of its attractive features, the model can explain the weakness of gravity relative to the other fundamental forces of nature, thus solving the so-called hierarchy problem. In the brane picture, the other three forces (electromagnetism and the weak and strong nuclear forces) are localised on the brane, but gravity has no such constraint and so much of its attractive power "leaks" into the bulk. As a consequence, the force of gravity should appear significantly stronger on small (sub-millimetre) scales, where less gravitational force has "leaked". Various experiments are currently underway to test this.[1]” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brane_cosmology

Other attractive features of brane theory were outlined by Marcela Carenaa of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Tim M.P. Taitb of the Argonne National Laboratory and C.E.M. Wagner Enrico Fermi Institute in the following: “Particle physics currently finds itself in the perplexing situation in which most experimental results conform to the expectations of the Standard Model (SM), but leave many theoretical questions unanswered. For example, the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking is currently unverified, and the mystery as to why the weak scale is so much smaller than the Planck scale

remains unanswered. The spectrum of quark masses and mixings has been experimentally determined, and progress is being made on the corresponding quantities for the leptons, but no clues as to why the pattern observed shows large hierarchies in masses and mixings have been established. Extra compact dimensions allow for novel solutions to these (and other) mysteries. By diluting gravity in a (relatively) large volume which gauge fields and matter cannot enter, one can lower the fundamental Planck scale to just above the weak scale, ameliorating the hierarchy problem [1]. There also exist compelling reasons to consider gauge fields which may propagate into extra dimensions. Having the gauge fields in the bulk may allow one to address questions as to why low-scale gravitational effects do not cause unacceptably fast proton decay [2], pursue a geometric origin for the observed spectrum of fermion masses [2, 3, 4], naturally break the electroweak symmetry through strong dynamics [5,6,7], identify the Higgs as an extra-dimensional component of the gauge field thus protecting its mass from large corrections [8], achieve gauge coupling unification at high scales [9,10], provide a viable dark matter candidate [11], and can provide interesting alternatives to GUT symmetry-breaking and associated problems such as the Higgs doublet-triplet splitting problem [12,13,14,15,16]. Branes and Orbifolds are Opaque http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0207056

Following the recognition that the five string theories could be unified as “translations” within M-theory’s ten dimensions, much scientific activity has focused on the possibility that we live in a three-dimensional world embedded in a higher dimensional Brane space. Although much of this “brane theory” research was based on the Kaluza-Klein model in which the extra-dimensions are compact, approximating the Planck length, other, more recent, research has been based on the idea that the open strings of the Electromagnetic and matter fields may be confined to the three-dimensional (3-Brane) world in which our apparent universe arose, while gravity, and potentially other fundamental forces, reside in a higher dimensional brane space.

Illustrative of these scientific inquiries is the following: “The universe is living on a collection of coincident branes, while gravity and other universal interactions is living in the bulk space [4]. This new perception of our world had opened new directions in cosmology, but at the same time imposed some new problems. The cosmological evolution of our universe should take place on the brane, but for the whole theory to make sense, the brane should be embedded in a consistent way to a higher dimensional space the bulk. The only physical field in the bulk is the gravitational field, and there are no matter fields. Nevertheless the bulk leaves its imprint on the brane, influencing in this way the cosmological evolution of our universe.” E. Papantonopoulos, Brane Cosmology

Brane Cosmology may, or may not, be proven correct. However, it has provided a frame of reference wherein the Unity of Science and Religion, to the degree I can apprehend these subjects, seems achievable. Nonetheless, the starting points and approach of science and religion have been

and are dramatically different. The general approach of science has been to focus on particulars in building models of the universal which ideally become particulars of some higher universal. In contract, Divine Philosophy may be understood to begin with the ultimate universal. The question then becomes, do the trajectories of scientific inquiry lead to universals that tend to confirm the theological/philosophical based model? And, do the trajectories of theological based inquiry lead to particulars that are confirmed by science?

In applying first approach, the theologians among my readers will be challenged to cease imaging God in the likeness of Man. In applying the latter approach within the context of Brane Cosmology I have found a background independent point, from which a single unified reality, or field, emanates. From this single field, through what is theologically referred to as the “Arc of Decent”, I believe physics will eventually discern all possible probability functions emerge fractal-like as the fabric of the Cosmos within a set of decreasing dimensional brane spaces and, through what is called the “Arc of Ascent”, I believe that science will eventually discover a variant of process physics incrementally, through field interactions, drawing order and purpose from the chaos.

This is the hypothesis that this paper, through a sequence of iterations, will test.

6 The Primal Will:

In Christianity, the Primal Will may be seen as analogous to all that is knowable of God. It is the subject of the “Kataphatic Theology” of the Western Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions. The Divine Essence may be seen as the “unknown God” referenced in the book of Acts (Acts 17:23) and the “Apophatic Theology” of Clement of Alexandria, Meister Eckhart, and the Eastern Orthodox Church

In Vedantic Hinduism, the Primal Will may be seen as analogous to Saguna Brahman who manifests all of the eternal and unchangeable positive attributes of the Divine and is the perfect omniscient, omnipresent, incorporeal, independent, creator of the world; where the “Divine Essence” may be seen as analogous to Nirguna Brahman, who transcends all form, qualities, or attributes and compared to which all of creation may be seen as illusion.

In the Tao, the Divine Essence may be seen as analogous to the Tao which “is nameless, goes beyond distinctions, and transcends language” (Wikipedia-Tao Te Ching) and which begets “the One” which may be seen as analogous to the Primal Will.

In the Bahá'í teachings, “[k]now thou that the Divine Essence, which is called the Invisible of the Invisibles, never to be described, beyond the reach of mind -- is sanctified above any mention, any

definition or hint or allusion, any acclamation or praise”.(Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 41)

The Primal or Divine Will is the first and only direct emanation or creation of the Divine Essence, the hidden God. [see: Realms of Divine Existence as described in the Tablet of All Food ] It [the Primal Will] is the world of Command and the inner reality of all things. All contingent and existing realities are manifestations of the Primal Will. See: Brief Discussion of the Primal Will

7 The Divine Will, in its initial state as emanation of the Divine Essence, is without differentiation. “(C)onsider the dot (or point); how letters and words are folded up and hidden within the essence (huwiyyat, ipseity) and reality of a dot with perfect effacement and annihilation so that no trace can be discerned of the existence of these letters and words nor is there any differentiation between them. Rather they are completely obliterated and utterly annihilated and have no existence except in the essence [dhat] of the point. In the same way the Names and Attributes of God and the Essential Dispositions [shu'únát dhátiyya] [15] are completely and utterly annihilated in the station of Primary Oneness so that not a whiff can be inhaled from them of substantial or intellectual existence [16]. This original point is the 'Hidden Treasure' of these letters and words and they were incorporated and immersed within it and from it they appeared.” ('Abdu’l-Bahá’s Commentary on "I Was a Hidden Treasure...")

In Divine Philosophy, this “Primal Point” would be understood to be an emanation from and co-eternal with the Divine Essence.

In Brane Cosmology, that which appears most analogous to this first stage of Creation might be described as an infinite dimensional Brane which originates as a hyperpoint and subsequently experiences inflationary expansion. One implication of this assertion is the existence of an initial Brane Space that is infinitely dimensional. Are there any physicists that support for this contention? Carlos Castro, in his paper “Is quantum spacetime infinite Dimensional?”, suggests that the answer is likely “yes” and further states: “[T]he main lesson from this numerical exercise [in Castro’s paper] is that Quantum Spacetime could be infinite dimensional if we invoke the New Relativity principle to the fullest potential within the context of Noncommutative Clifford manifolds, C-spaces and Quantum Groups ( Hopf algebras). This result that the Quantum Spacetime is infinite-dimensional has been advocated many times by [3,4] within the context of Fractals, Scale Relativity and a Cantorian-Fractal spacetime : a transfinite infinite nested hierarchy of fractal Cantorian sets of infinite dimensionality. Quantum sets have been proposed long ago by Finkelstein in the formulation of Quantum Relativity [16]. This straightforward numerical analysis is a strong indication that Quantum Spacetime could be infinite-dimensional and that it may indeed be fractal at its very core.” Carlos Castro, Is Quantum Spacetime Infinite Dimensional? (Italicized text added)

What about the hyperspace point of origination of this Brane Space? According to Carlos Castro, Alex Granik, and Mohamed El Naschie, a hyperpoint is “the infinite-dimensional analog of a point, where infinite Dimensions, infinite Energy and infinite Information merge and become ONE. The

hyperpoint is an infinite dimensional hyper-sphere of unit Planck radius and zero volume/measure. A hypersphere of finite radius but zero size: we are imbuing a mathematical ‘point’ with a true physical meaning.” Castro, Granik, & El Naschie, Why We Live in 3+1 Dimensions

Although the occurrence of a point of origination in Brane Cosmology was not otherwise expressly stated in the scientific papers I reviewed, (I could have easily missed it if they had) the majority of the Brane Theories do appear to be inflationary. Citation. Can a point of origination then be inferred for these many inflationary Brane Theories? Applying the analogy of the Big Bang, the answer would seem to be yes. However, as other inflationary theories were found, including one where inflation was seen to arise from a scalar field in the bulk, while the bulk was not itself inflating, the comments on this question from the physicists who review this paper would be appreciated.

In any event, both Brane Cosmology and the Divine Philosophy appear to converge in identifying space-time as a “something”. For Divine Philosophy space-time would be understood as a “substance”. For Brane Cosmology, although the view is not unanimous, spacetime is, or is seen to arises from, a “Brane Space” or a “Brane Bulk”. This view is in sharp contrast to identifying space-time as a mere mathematical construct. Brane Cosmology and Divine Philosophy may also be seen to converge in favoring Newton's absolute and Einstein’s relativistic space/time “loaf”, in contrast with Leibniz and Mach’s relational views. Brian Greene; The Fabric of the Cosmos, pp 58-59, 68, 133-134. (Note that the role of Leibniz and Mach’s views in the model will be discussed later.)

In philosophy and the alchemical traditions, this posited Brane Space would be called the “Aether”, the “fifth element” or the pure energy of “Quintessence”. It is not, however, to be confused with the luminiferous aether of 19th Century science. 8 So perfect and comprehensive is His creation that no mind nor heart, however keen or pure, can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures; much less fathom the mystery of Him Who is the Day Star of Truth, Who is the invisible and unknowable Essence. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 62)

As the first state of the posited infinitely dimensional hyperpoint would be an infinite energy/information potential from which no inflation, oscillations, lower dimensional Branes or any other constituents had yet emanated, a physicist might apprehend perfection in its perfect unity and zero entropy.9 “The outward appearance of the divine essence has ever been and ever shall be identical with its concealment and its concealment identical with its outward appearance.” The Báb, Persian Bayán Translated by Denis MacEoin

“… God, the unknowable Essence, the divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. … He is and hath ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. … No tie of direct intercourse can possibly bind Him to His creatures. He standeth exalted beyond and above all separation and union, all proximity and remoteness. No sign can indicate His presence or His absence; inasmuch as by a word of His command all that are in heaven and on earth have come to exist, and by His wish, which is the Primal Will itself, all have -stepped out of utter nothingness into the realm of being, the world of the visible. (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 97)

This, unfortunately, may be interpreted to indicate that certain speculations will not be subject to scientific testing. As example, I speculate in this paper that, in addition to gravity, other fields reside within the Bulk of higher dimensional Branes. Based on present theory, these speculations may not be subject to direct scientific falsification because the electromagnetic and other physical means through which these studies might be conducted are, by virtue of their open strings, confined to the 3-brain in which we, as corporal beings, reside. I will, however, attempt to evaluate these conjectures as “Metaphysical Research Programs” in accordance with the guidance Karl Popper provided and in accordance with the epistemology described in endnote 3 which it should be noted is not strictly limited to Popper’s test criteria.10 “Creation is an emanation from the creator.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 108)

“The spirits of men, with reference to God, have dependence through emanation, just as the discourse proceeds from the speaker and the writing from the writer -- that is to say, the speaker himself does not become the discourse, nor does the writer himself become the writing; no, rather they have the proceeding of emanation.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 205)

“The first thing which emanated from God is that universal reality, which the ancient philosophers termed the "First Mind," and which the people of Bahá call the "First Will." This emanation, in that which concerns its action in the world of God, is not limited by time or place; it is without beginning or end; beginning and end in relation to God are one. The pre-existence of God is the pre-existence of essence, and also pre-existence of time, and the phenomenality of contingency is essential and not temporal....” (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith: Man's Relation To God, p. 315-316)

“The Súfís say: “The realit[ies] of things [are] the manifestation[s] of the Real Unity [wáh. id-i-h.aqíqí].” But the Prophets say: “[They] emanate from the Real Unity,” and great is the difference between manifestation and emanation. Appearance [by] manifestation means that a single thing appears in infinite forms. For example, the seed, which is a single thing possessing the vegetative perfections, which it manifests in infinite forms, [becomes resolved] into branches, leaves, flowers,

and fruits. … Whereas in appearance through emanation this Real Unity remains and continues in the exaltation of Its sanctity. The existence of creatures is [obtained from it by emanation, not manifestation. The Real Unity] can be compared to the sun. [The rays of the sun emanate from it and shine upon all created things,] but the sun remains in the exaltation of its sanctity. It does not descend, and it does not resolve itself into luminous forms; it does not appear in the substance of things through the specification and the individualization of things; the Preexistent does not become the [created]; independent wealth does not become enchained poverty; pure perfection does not become absolute imperfection.” (Mufávad. át 205) Abdu’l-Bahá’s Response to the Doctrine of the Unity of Existence

“To the extent that you have recognized the will, you have recognized none but its own reality, but to the extent that you have recognized the created beings, you have only recognized the emanations of the will within them” The Persian Bayán--translation

“The emanationist metaphysics, with its elaborate metaphysical bureaucracy, tells of the relation between one Being and other beings in terms of the metaphor of fayfl (overflowing) …” Fadlou Shehadi, Metaphysics in Islamic Philosophy, P 46

“Emanation” might be described as a cascade of information/energy from Branes of higher dimensionality through those Branes that have increasingly fewer dimensions and are stable solutions to the theory’s equations. Please note that one necessary implication of this speculation is that the 3-brane in which our universe formed is not a closed system and is not subject to the information/energy limitation of 10130 otherwise associated with the big bang cosmologies. For more information on the Information Capacity of the Universe, see: P. C. W. Davies; Emergent Biological Principles and the Computational Properties of the Universemore required

For information on numerous other Emanationist cosmologies, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanation

11 “God, verily, created the Will from nothing through itself, then He created through it all that to which the name thing; can be applied. The cause of its existence, in truth, is its own self and naught else. Those who believe that the Essence is the cause of creation have made themselves partners with Him. It is established in philosophy that cause and effect are alike. Therefore, the Imám hath declared: The cause of things is His fashioning, but He is not its cause.” (The Báb, Amr va Khalq, vol. 1, pp. 100-101 quoted in Hindunet: Baha'i Cosmology: A Backdrop to the Lotus Temple)

The explanatory capacities of String and Brane theories are promising but, at present, they lack an underlying geometric or universal principle or background independence. The background independent emergence of an infinite dimensional hyperpoint would seem to resolve this failing of Brane theory while fulfilling the above quotation. more required

12 “God created all things by His Primal Will, and this Primal Will by itself” (The Báb, Bayán 3:6)

“The causation (`illiyya) of created things is His handiwork (san`ihi) and this is the [Primal] Will, which God has created through itself by itself without any fire from the Essence [of God] touching it.” (Bahá'u'lláh’s Tablet of the Uncompounded Reality)

"The One; as it were, made itself by an act of looking at itself. This act of looking at itself is, in effect, its being," (Plotinus, Enn.VI.8.16. Quoted in Plotinus and Vijnanavada Buddhism By Thomas McEvilley)

“Mind, impelled by (Brahman's) desire to create, performs the work of creation by modifying itself, thence ether is produced; they declare that sound is the quality of the latter”. (Hindu, Laws of Manu#75)

13 “Just as sub-atomic particles are thought to emerge spontaneously in vacuums in laboratories, so the whole universe may be the result of a similar process. Professor Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University has developed a variation of an inflationary model of the expanding universe which accounts for the birth of the universe ‘by quantum tunneling from nothing.’ ‘Nothing,’ for Vilenkin, is a ‘state with no classical space-time . . . the realm of unrestrained quantum gravity; it is a rather bizarre state in which all our basic notions of space, time, energy, entropy, etc., lose their meaning.’” William E. Carroll, God and Physics: From Hawking to Avicenna Add quotes from journals

14 “Mashíyyat is the Divine Will. That unto which the quality of being a "thing" may correctly be applied is God’s Will (mashíyyat) which subsists through its own self. From all eternity unto all eternity all names have been beneath its shadow, while it itself dwells in the shadow of God.” The Báb, The Persian Bayán

Again, it is my understanding that the first state of Mashíyyat, or the Divine Will, reflects the perfect unity of the Divine Essence. As support for this belief, I proffer the following:

“Know that according to Sufi convention it is affirmed that all names are remote from the court of the sanctity of the Hidden Being in the station of absolute oneness [ah.adíyya], and He is known without name or attribute. For the names of the True One are mirrors of His attributes and the attributes of the True One in the station of absolute oneness are the same as His Essence without any trace of difference or distinction. As his holiness, ‘Alí ibn Abi Tálib, has stated: “Perfect belief in the divine unity consists in the negation of all His attributes.” Indeed, the permanent and essential names and attributes can in no way be separated from the Essence of the True One, but rather, in that station, names and attributes are inseparable from each other, nor are they distinguishable from the causeless Essence. The realities of the divine states [shu’únát] cannot be differentiated either conceptually or actually from each other or from the undifferentiated Essence.” (Abdu’l-Bahá’s Response to the Doctrine of the Unity of Existence)

15 “Reality consists of a series of graded "planes" or "stations" (rutbah, maqam), which run the spectrum between pure Being and pure nothingness. At the pole of pure Being is the plane of absolute unity, which is the domain of God's preexistent essence. Below this domain is the plane of God's Word or Command, the domain of the Logos. Then come various lesser stations or planes of the created, contingent world.” Bahá'u'lláh, Commentary on the Surah of the Sun

“Division is the same as creation; creation is the same as destruction. There is no such thing as creation or destruction, for these conditions are again levelled together into One.” (Tao, Chuangtse (Lin Yutang tr))

“The main constituent of reality is the hierarchies of such pure lights, differing solely in the intensity of their Illumination, and thus of self-awareness.” Al-Suhrawardi, Illuminationist Philosophy

“From the zero-point fluctuations of a single oscillator to the fluctuations of the electromagnetic field to geometrodynamic fluctuations is a natural order of progression...” J.A.Wheeler quoted by B.G. Sidharth in The Planck Scale Underpinning for Space Time and in Emergence of Spacetime

16 “In the classical stages of the self-manifestation of God, the third stage (wáhidiyyat) is the stage of the dawning of self on the shu'únát (the realities of the divine states) and from this the eternal archetypes become manifest in the Knowledge of God and this is the first stage of differentiation. “(Abdul-Bahá, Commentary on "I Was a Hidden Treasure...")

“When He purposed to call the new creation into being, He sent forth the Manifest and Luminous Point from the horizon of His Will; it passed through every sign and manifested itself in every form until it reached the zenith, as bidden by God, the Lord of all men. (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 101)

“The stages of the attributes effecting the experienced world are the specialized and the unspecialized, the differentiated and the undifferentiated.” (Hindu, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2:19)

“Although the term dharmamegha has not yet been studied properly in this context, it would fit into the picture to translate megha not as cloud (as is usually done) but as ‘field’ in the sense of modern physics.[18] It would then be a condition in which the dharmas, which on a lower level of consciousness have been perceived as differentiated into a great number of specific dharmas, now are perceived in their (unified) dharma-character: as a ‘field’ surrounding ultimate reality rather than as ‘things’." Klaus Klostermaier, “Time in Patanjali's Yogasutra”,Philosophy East and West,Vol.34 No.2 (April, 1984), p.208.[NOTE: Dharmamegha is the station immediately preceding Buddhahood]

17 The epistemology described in Endnote 2 requires that we stop from time to time to examine a bit more fully the science implicit in Ontology as Poem and the preceding endnotes. To do so, please first consider the process by which multiple physical universes are thought to arise within the 3-Brane. As I understand this cosmological application of quantum field theory, any given solution to

string theory’s equations represents a unique configuration of space and time. As each solution further determines a unique vacuum energy state, quantum processes dictate that a few rare and random points within each universe will spontaneously configure from their existing higher vacuum energy state to some lower state. If this new configuration constitutes a stable solution to the string theory equations, a new universe will result. Intriguingly, each such universe, from the frame of reference of any sentient beings within that universe, would appear as a “Big Bang”.

Because the quantum tunneling proposed by this theory is a random process, widely separated locations in the universe will decay through different sequences of vacua. In this way, the entire landscape is explored; every stable configuration occurs in many different places in the universe. “Pursuant to this theory, the whole universe is therefore a foam of expanding bubbles, each with its own laws of physics. Extremely few of the bubbles are suitable for the formation of complex structures such as galaxies and life.” Pursuant to this view, our entire visible universe [more than 20 billion light years in diameter] is a relatively small region within one of these bubbles. A Review of the Universe, Elementary Particles (For more information please see: “The String Theory Landscape”, Scientific American, September 2004, p 86) As PDF File (see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brane_cosmology)

This theory, if true, examples what I believe is a principal -- that Creation is a process which, to the maximum possible extent, explores all possibilities and potential configurations. I would further conjecture that it does so in stages. First, I have speculated that a single infinite dimensional brane space arises from the posited hyperpoint. Within this brane space all of the potential harmonics and interactions of a set of oscillators or fields arise. The model hypothesizes that these fields would be stable and unchanging and might be seen as analogous to the fixed archetypes of philosophy and Plato’s forms. Additionally, this highest possible energy/information state could be understood to propagate increasing lower dimensional points from which inflationary brane spaces inturn arise. The process of potentation then continues through each of those successively lower dimensional Branes that are stable within the applicable equations of the higher dimensional brane space from which it arose. Within this process, it would be expected that at some point the condition “if A then not B” and/or “if B then not A” would occur such that the posited process would eventually potentate a set of probability functions for each of the lower dimensional branes that encompasses every possible information/energy state of which each point within the Brane is capable. This is a Multiverse model that in effect, posits that each and every possible quantum universe that might ever exist – does. But, it does so at this early stage of Creation only as a potential. It is a potential that in some sense is real and may be seen to have eternal existence. However, it is a potential that has not yet been actualized. Actualization within this matrix of potentials and its implications comes later in the Poem. 18 “It is at the level of the Primal Will, or the World of Command, that the duality of existence and essence, matter and form, arises. These two principles are symbolically expressed in the Bahá’í

Writings by the two letters “B” and “E,” or Káf and Nún, which together form the imperative command “Be!” (kun). ‘Through the ‘B’ God created the matter of all things, and through the ‘E’ God created the form of all things’. (Keven Brown, Creation with quotation from the Báb as quoted in Afnán, “Tafsír-i-Bismilláh,” p. 126)

I believe that this passage and a number of the quotations that follow should be understood in the context of field interactions.19 “The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different.” (Bahá'u'lláh, The Tablet of Wisdom) [The active force is understood to be the Primal Will (Mashíyyát)] and that which is its recipient is understood to be Divine Purpose (irádih)].

20 Irádih is the Divine Purpose. … [God] created the Will from nothing through the causality of the Will itself, without qualification or explanation. After that He created all things through its causality, and the creation of anything upon which the letter of the Will hath fallen is only possible through seven stages of contingency. Without these stages nothing is possible in the contingent world. These seven stages are Will (Mashíyyát), Purpose (irádih), predestination (qadar), fate (qadá’), permission (idhn), fixed time (ajal), and the book (kitáb). The first stage of anything for which the “thingness” of existence is not a condition is the Will. The moment thingness is attached to it, it becometh Purpose, and this moment is accompanied by predestination. The manifestation of these three stages is fate. In this regard, it is incumbent upon all creatures to acknowledge the spontaneity (badá’) of God, lauded and exalted be He, for His will cannot be altered after the stage of fate; it is fixed. The decrees of permission, fixed time, and the book are subsequent to execution (imdá’) (imdá is also translated as accomplishment). Indeed, the reality of creation and the secret of the origination of existence are contained in these seven stages in both the hidden and manifest worlds. [The Báb, Amr va Khalq, vol. 1, pp. 99-100]

“The truth is that when the creative action is related to existence, it is the Will; when it is related to the archetype (‘ayn), in other words, the species form, it is Purpose; and when it is related to the limitations of the created, that is to say, their topography (handasa)—which includes length and breadth, continuance and mortality, term of duration, and the like—it is predestination. Through the accomplishment of the act of creation and the thing itself, it is fate; and through its manifestation, the revealing of causes, and the disclosure of means, it is execution. Shaykh Ahmad: quoted in Selections from the Bahá'í Writings and from Shaykh Ahmad  on the Seven Stages of Creation, (provisional translations by Keven Brown)

21 “The imperative "Be" in the original Arabic is the word "kun", consisting of the two letters "kaf" and "nun". ... This word has been used in the Qur'an as God's bidding calling creation into being.” (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Notes to Sentence 446, p. 247)

Káf refers to the Stations of Divine Will in exposition.

In the Tao Te Ching, the “Tao begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets all things. All things are backed by the Shade, (yin) and faced by the light (yang), and harmonised by the immaterial Breath (ch'i)” (Tao Te Ching translated by Ch’u Ta-Kao)

The Tao may first be understood as analogous to be the Divine Essence. The Tao is then seen to beget the “one”, which may be understood as analogous to be the Primal Will (Mashíyyat). The “one”, or Primal Will, then begets the “two”, which may be understood to be the Divine Purpose (Irádih). The “two, or Divine Purpose, then begets the “three”, which may be understood to be the Word of God. The Word of God, as part of this Trinity may then be understood to beget all things.

"That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force (the Primal or Divine Will - Mashíyyat) and that which is its recipient (the Divine Purpose - Irádih). These two are the same, yet they are different. Thus doth the Great Announcement inform thee about this glorious structure. Such as communicate the generating influence [the twin agents; al-fá'ilayn] and such as receive its impact [the twin patients; al-munfa'ilayn] are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof." Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom); Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p.140; above as quoted in Divine Philosophy p. 180. Italicized text added].

As the Divine Will (Mashíyyat) is also the active force, it may be seen as analogous to the Tao “yang”. As the Divine Purpose (Irádih) is also “that which is the recipient” of the active force, it may be seen as analogous to the Tao “yin”. The introduction of vibrational differentiation, or Purpose, into the Divine Will may be understood to beget the “three”, which through the endless repetition of this pattern of Creation may be seen to beget all things. The “all things”, however, remains subject to the influence, and guidance, of the Divine Will and Purpose—the Word of God.@

“The fundamental constituent of reality for al-Suhrawardi is pure, immaterial light, than which nothing is more manifest, and which unfolds from the Light of Lights in emanationist fashion through a descending order of lights of ever diminishing intensity; through complex interactions, these in turn give rise to horizontal arrays of lights, similar in concept to the Platonic Forms, which govern the species of mundane reality.” See al-Suhrawardi, muslimphilosophy.com/

22 “Káf represents the station of Mashíyyat (Primal Will) and Nún represents the station of Irádih (Purpose); Mashíyyat is the father of things and Irádih the Mother. … Through Káf God created the substance (Máddiyih) of all things and through Nún God created the form (Surat) of all things.” [The Báb, in M. Afnán, “Tafsir-i-Basmallah al-Rahman al-Rahim”, Áhang-i-Badí’, p. 126 quoted in Divine Philosophy p. 182]

“For there is nothing which can be termed a "thing" except by being made truly a thing through the will. This latter is self subsistent in God, may he be praised and glorified. It is the circling Kaf (i.e. the first letter of the creative word kun, "be"), which from all eternity revolves about its own self. It has been and is a token of God alone, praised and glorified be he, who possesses the most beautiful names in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what lies between them. No God is there but he the mighty, the beloved.” (The Persian Bayán of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Báb, translation by Dr. Denis MacEoin)

“[49] Then indeed would be made manifest the [letter] "K" (al-kaf; abjad 20) of the [creative imperative] command [kun "Be!"] by means of which the "Temples of the Divine Unity" (hayakil al-tawhid), the Manifestations of Singleness (mazahir al-tafrid) and the loci of abstracted reality (mawaqi` al-tajrid) were called into being. [50] And this [creative "K"] actualized the "it is" (yakun) before it was associated with the supportive letter "N" (bi-rukn al-nun) [as thou knowest] if thou art of such as are informed. [51] Following this conjoining [of "K" and "N"] the modalities (al-isharat) were created in the worlds of limitation (`awalim al-tahdid) as well as the concrete [worldly] testimonies (dalalat al-mulkiyya) in the worlds of constructed reality (`awalim al-tarkib). [52] Unto this testifieth such as are privy to the knowledge of the mysteries of wisdom (ulu al-`ilm asrar al-hikmat) the like of which hath streamed forth from a manifest and mighty Pen (qalam `izz mashud).” Tafsir hurufat al-muqatt`ah ("Commentary on the Isolated Letters") or Lawh-i ayah-yi nur ("Tablet about the Light Verse [Q. 24:35] ") of Bahá'-Allah (1817-1892 CE). Provisional translation and introduction by Stephen Lambden ~ April 1998.

23 “The Nún, in the degree of exposition, is the same as the Káf. It is the whole of the world of creation. The contingent world, in its essence, in the realm of literal being, is the word Kun (Be)” The Báb, quoted in Divine Philosophy p 182.24 “In the disconnected letters of the Qur'án, the mysteries of the divine Essence are enshrined, and within their shells the pearls of His Unity are treasured.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 202-3)

“In regard to the Pen, it is that which draws from the Inkwell and produces the Tablet. The Pen is the Universal Mind, and the Tablet is the Universal Soul. The transcendent Platonic Models exist through the joining of the Mím (analogous to Nún as the passive creative principle) and the Thá, and they are the forms of things. Shaykh Ahmad: quoted in Selections from the Bahá'í Writings and from Shaykh Ahmad on the Seven Stages of Creation, (provisional translations by Keven Brown)

25 “[10] A black teardrop sprinkled down upon the Tablet whereupon the Point (al-nuqtah) was made manifest in the world of origination (`alam al-bada'). This Point assumed the primordial shape upon the mirrors of the letters in the beings of the Names. The [letter] "A" (al-alif) received it [within itself] before all the [other] letters in the existing particles [or `world of potentiality' fi dharr al-ashya') and thus did this Divine Point take on the form of this Eternal [letter] "A" (alif). …

[16] When this upright [letter] "A" (al-alif) was established upon the Luminous Tablet it was again transfigured with renewed splendour whereupon the Disconnected Letters (al-hurufat al-

muqatta`ah) shone forth in the first of the Manifestations [Theophanies] (awwal al-zuhurat) in order that they might be an evidence of the worlds of incomparability and command in the Citadels of the Origination. [17] Then there appeared from these [Disconnected] Letters which shone forth from the Primordial [letter] "A" (al-alif al-awwliyya) in the first of the Theophanies [Manifestations] the worlds of delineation and multiplicity. [18] They were differentiated, separated and disconnected then gathered together, reconciled, united and linked together. [19] Then assembled words and gathered letters appeared in the worlds of creation in the forms of Names and Attributes (hayakil al-asma' wa'l-sifat).”…

“[57] Observe now! the mysteries (asrar) which are deposited in this "A" (al-alif) for in all the [disconnected?] letters (al-hurufat) are theophanies (tajalliyyat) of this "A" (al-alif) -- so observe ye this! [58] Witness ye, for example, that in this "A" (al-alif) is the letter "B" (harf al-ba') in an humbled, innocent condition (bi-khudu`a bara'a), utterly prostrate upon the dust (akab al-turab) its whole being manifesting [pious] fear before God (khushu` an li-lahi) as thou mayest observe if thou beholdeth its shape (Arabic "b" ( turned on side]. [59] Subsequently was it [the "A" > "B"] manifested in the Temple of [the letter] "D" (haykal al-dal) relative to its prostration (al-ruku`) before God, the Help in Peril, the Beloved One [note the shape of the Arabic letter "D", >] . [60] And when it has prostrated itself before God the essence of the [letter] Sad (`ayn al-sad) was made manifest. [61] From this there floweth the [cosmic] Water (al-ma') through which God reviveth all who exist within the heavens and on the earth in the category of creatures (maratib al-khalq) [as would be evident] if thou should interpret [scrutinize] the effects [products, writings] of the creatures ( athar al-khalq). [62] Wherefore be informed that all the [disconnected?] letters (al-hurufat) and all of the creatures (?) are in this light subject to theophany [manifestation] on account of the theophanies of this [letter] "A" (tajalliyyat hadha al-alif) which is manifested within diverse receptacles (forms, temples; hayakil al-mukhtalifa) evident unto thee if thou shouldst examine the letters of the alphabet (hurufat al-hija'iyya).”Tafsir hurufat al-muqatt`ah ("Commentary on the Isolated Letters") or Lawh-i ayah-yi nur ("Tablet about the Light Verse [Q. 24:35] ") of Baha'-Allah (1817-1892 CE). provisional translation and brief introduction by Stephen Lambden ~ April 1998.

26 [A] phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. It is a sound of a language as represented (or imagined) without reference to its position in a word or phrase. A phoneme, therefore, is the conception of a sound in the most neutral form possible. … Phonemes are not the physical segments themselves, but mental abstractions of them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme

Aum (or Om) “…[a]s the divine primordial vibration, it represents the one ultimate reality, underlying and encompassing all of nature and all of existence.” http://www.hinduwiki.com/index.php?title=Aum (Note that the page from which quote was obtained can no longer be found on Hinduwiki)

“Essentially, all the cosmos stems from the vibration of the sound 'Aum' in Hindu cosmology. …

Vedic scholars do not believe in several gods. According to them God is one but his names are plenty. God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and formless. …Gods and Goddesses are sometimes referred to as Aumkar, which means Form of Aum, thus implying that who are limitless, the vibrational whole of the cosmos. Ek Onkar, meaning 'one god' is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy. In Hindu metaphysics, it is proposed that the manifested cosmos (from Brahman) has name and form (nama-rupa), and that the closest approximation to the name and form of the universe is Aum, since all existence is fundamentally composed of vibration. (This concept of describing reality as vibrations, or rhythmic waves, can also be found in quantum physics and superstring theory, which describe the universe in terms of vibrating fields or strings.)” http://www.hinduwiki.com/index.php/Aum

“…AUM, the word, is all this, the whole universe. A clear explanation of it is as follows: All that is past, present and future is, indeed, AUM. And whatever else there is, beyond the threefold division of time—that also is truly AUM.” Mandukya Upanishad (with Gaudapada Karikas) http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/upanishads/mandukya_upanishad.php

The "Day of God has been fully realized on account of the effulgence of the Lord Through the warbling of [the letter] ط   ("Ṭ") this New Beauty pours forth. The RashḤ-I `Amā'  ("The Sprinkling Of The Cloud Of Unknowing")   Trans. Stephen N. Lambden

27 “The universe is living on a collection of coincident branes, while gravity and other universal interactions is living in the bulk space [4].” E. Papantonopoulos, Brane Cosmology

In endnote 8, I noted that Brane Cosmology and Divine Philosophy seemed to converge in favoring Newton's absolute and Einstein’s relativistic space/time “loaf”, which contrasted with Leibniz and Mach’s relational views. This statement, I believe, is correct as to the spacetime background. However, as can be seen in many of the preceding quotations, creation is the product of relationships. Within physics, all that may be seen to exist within the posited hierarchy of Branes, including the 3-Brane of our spacetime of our universe, may also be seen to be relational. What seems to be achieved in the model I am investigating is the merger of the geometric based Spacetime, with a variant of process physics. More needed This will be discussed in some greater detail in endnote 32 and ___.@28 [17] Then there appeared from these [Disconnected] Letters which shone forth from the Primordial [letter] "A" (al-alif al-awwliyya) in the first of the Theophanies [Manifestations] the worlds of delineation and multiplicity. [18] They were differentiated, separated and disconnected then gathered together, reconciled, united and linked together. [19] Then assembled words and gathered letters appeared in the worlds of creation in the forms of Names and Attributes (hayakil al-asma' wa'l-sifat).” Tafsir hurufat al-muqatt`ah ("Commentary on the Isolated Letters") or Lawh-i ayah-yi nur ("Tablet about the Light Verse [Q. 24:35] ") of Bahá'-Allah (1817-1892 CE). provisional translation and brief introduction by Stephen Lambden ~ April 1998.

“The fundamental constituent of reality for al-Suhrawardi is pure, immaterial light, than which nothing is more manifest, and which unfolds from the Light of Lights in emanationist fashion through a descending order of lights of ever diminishing intensity; through complex interactions, these in turn give rise to horizontal arrays of lights, similar in concept to the Platonic Forms, which govern the species of mundane reality. Al-Suhrawardi also elaborated the idea of an independent, intermediary world, the imaginal world (alam al-mithal). … The main constituent of reality is the hierarchies of such pure lights, differing solely in the intensity of their Illumination, and thus of self-awareness.” http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H031.htm

TO DO: Jabirian theory of the  mīzān al-hurūf (the "balance of the letters") Stephen N. Lambden,  Alchemical Gnosis In Bábí-Bahá’í  Scripture (1984)

29 Thou didst wish to make Thyself known unto men; therefore, Thou didst, through a word of Thy mouth, bring creation into being and fashion the universe. (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 6)

“That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different. Thus doth the Great Announcement inform thee about this glorious structure. Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof. Verily thy Lord is the Expounder, the All-Wise.” (Bahá'u'lláh, The Tablet of Wisdom)

“Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof.” (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 140)

"[U]ltimate reality, Brahman, which is without beginning or end, is of the nature of the word ('sabdatattva) and from it are manifested all the objects and the whole Cosmos."(30) "This ultimate Reality is One, but it manifests itself as many…” Iyer, Bhart.rhari, pp. 98-99 quoted in Prolegomenon to Vallabha's theology of revelation by Jeffrey R. Timm, Philosophy East and West; volume 38, number 2 (April 1988) p 107-126 http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/timm.htm 30 “Therefore, the knowledge of God in the realm of contingency does not produce the forms of the things. On the contrary, it is purified from the past, present and future. It is identical with the reality of the things; it is not the cause of their occurrence.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 138)

“The preexistence of God is the preexistence of essence, and also preexistence of time, and the phenomenality of contingency is essential and not temporal, as we have already explained one day at

table.” (Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 203)

“If the various progressive schools join themselves to the universal university of the Kingdom, such knowledge and sciences will be brought into light that man will see that the potentialities of the "Open Tablet" of existence are infinite; will realize that all the created things are as letters and words; will be instructed in the lessons of the degrees of significances; will perceive the signs of oneness in the primordial atoms of the earth; will hear the voice of the Lord of the Kingdom; will behold the confirmations of the Holy Spirit and will find such ecstasy and joy that, being unable to contain himself in the vast area of existence, he will prepare himself for the journey toward the Kingdom and will hasten to the immensity of the Realm of Might.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Bahá Section, p. 380) (Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu'l-Bahá v3, p. 537)

“[T]he essential names and attributes of God are identical with His Essence, and His Essence is above all comprehension. If the attributes are not identical with the Essence, there must also be a multiplicity of preexistences, and differences between the attributes and the Essence must also exist; and as Preexistence is necessary, therefore, the sequence of preexistences would become infinite. This is an evident error.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 148-9) @

“[T]hough the world of contingency exists, in relation to the existence of God it is nonexistent and nothingness.” (Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 281)

“He became the original form of every form. It is his form that is everywhere to be seen.” -Rigveda 6.47.18 translated by Subhash Kak in The Śiva Sūtra http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/shiva.pdf Translation does not conform to other translations of the same passage.

“That Lord has created all the forms and is calling them by their names” (Taitiiriya Aranyaka 3.12.7) http://www.hinduwiki.com/index.php/Advaita#Ontology

31 “Grace flowed forth upon the soil of all possible existent realities in Thine act of Creation. …”Abdul Bahá quoted in Abdu'l-Bahá’s Commentary on the Qur’ánic Verses concerning the Overthrow of the Byzantines: the Stages of the SoulBy Moojan Momen.

“All these things up to this point are a contingent reality, and are not a divine reality. But a contingent reality which is perpetuated by the fullness of existence, will then suffer no corruption, and will thus become a divine reality, ...” (Compilations, Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 404-5) FIND BETTER QUOTE

“Why should there be in the future a change that has not yet occurred? The elements there are not worn away like beams and rafters: they hold sound for ever, and so the All holds sound. And even supposing these elements to be in ceaseless transmutation, yet the All persists: the ground of all the change must itself be changeless.” Plotinus, The Six Enneads, (The Second Ennead, First Tractate. On the Kosmos or on the Heavenly System) translated by Stephen MacKenna and B. S. Page

Riemann described the set of all possible values of a variable with certain constraints as a Mannigfaltigkeit, because the variable can have many values. He distinguishes between stetige Mannigfaltigkeit and diskrete Mannigfaltigkeit (continuous manifoldness and discontinuous manifoldness), depending on whether the value changes continuously or not. As continuous examples, Riemann refers to not only colors and the locations of objects in space, but also the possible shapes of a spatial figure. Using induction, Riemann constructs an n-fach ausgedehnte Mannigfaltigkeit (n times extended manifoldness or n-dimensional manifoldness) as a continuous stack of (n−1) dimensional manifoldnesses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifold

“[T]he idea of brahman in the Vedas being a representation of all possibilities, as in the statement prajñānam brahman, was the inspiration in the conception of the wavefunction of quantum theory defined as a sum of all possibilities.” (Moore, 1989; Kak, 1995b). (found at Siva Sutras (Shaivam.org), Shiva Suutra (Sanskrit Documents) & Shiva Suutra (HinduNet.)

The Physicist, Murray Gell-Mann, has written as follows: “If we look at the way the universe behaves, quantum mechanics gives us fundamental, unavoidable indeterminacy, so that alternative histories of the universe can be assigned probability. Sometimes the probabilities are very close to certainties, but they're never really certainties. And often the probabilities are quite distributed. As a result the alternative possible histories of the universe form a kind of branching tree.” (Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D; “The Simple and The Complex Part I: The Quantum and The Quasi-Classical; transcript from the series Thinking Allowed, Conversations On the Leading Edge of Knowledge and Discovery, with Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove. http://www.intuition.org/txt/gell1.htm)

32 As noted in endnote 17, the epistemology described in Endnote 2 requires that we stop from time to time to examine a bit more fully the science implicit in Ontology as Poem and my prior endnotes. As noted above, I have posited a Multiverse wherein each and every possible quantum universe that might ever exist – does. But, it does so only as potential. It is a potential that in some sense is real and may be seen to have eternal existence. There are two implications of this posited multiverse that may be subjected to some preliminary explorations at this time.

Vesselin Petkov, in his paper titled “Is There an Alternative to the Block Universe View?” presents the Rietdijk-Putnam Argument that ours is a timelessly existing four-dimensional block universe as follows: “Consider three inertial observers A, B, and C in relative motion whose worldlines are shown in Fig. 1. Observers A and B meet at event M. The third observer C is represented by a vertical worldline in the figure which means that A is approaching C, whereas B is receding from C.

Two events P and Q happen with C at different moments of his proper time. Since an event in relativity is defined as an object, a field point, or a space point at a given moment of time the events P and Q are simply the observer C existing at the moments tC P and tC Q of his proper time, respectively. As event P is simultaneous with event M according to B and therefore lies in observer B’s present, both events M and P are equally real for B (according to Putnam) or equally determinate for B (according to Rietdijk). Event Q is simultaneous with event M in A’s reference frame; that is, it belongs to observer A’s present. This means that both events M and Q are equally real and determinate for A. Since Putnam and Rietdijk assumed that the reality and determinateness of an event is absolute (observer-independent) they arrived at the conclusion that if event Q is real (determinate) for observer A, it should be as real (determinate) for observer B and for observer C as well. Therefore, observer C should exist at once at both moments tC P and tCQ of his proper time since events P and Q (corresponding to the two moments) are equally real. But such a situation is not possible in the common-sense (pre-relativistic) view according to which it is only the present – the three-dimensional world at the moment ‘now’ – which exists. This led Rietdijk and Putnam to conclude that relativity of simultaneity, when applied to what exists, contradicts the presentist view and is possible only in a four-dimensional world where the histories of the physical objects are entirely realized in their four-dimensional worldtubes.” Petkov, “Is There an Alternative to the Block Universe View?”, p.5 Petkov-BlockUniverse

The implications of the forgoing are more fully explored in Brian Greene’s book “The Fabric of the Cosmos”, and are absolutely fascinating. “Two observers in relative motion have nows – single moments in time, from each one’s perspective – that are different: their nows slice through spacetime at different angles.” (p133) For example, the “now” of an initially synchronized observer starting ten billion light years from earth and traveling at only 10 miles per hour away from earth will be 150 years in our past; while the same observer traveling only 10 miles per hour toward the earth will define his “now” 150 years in our future. Greene concludes that: “[o]bservers moving relative to each other have different conceptions of what exists at a given moment and hence have different conceptions of reality” The implications of this are that future events have been memorialized in light that is already on route to distant observers who happen to be in relative motion toward the Earth. This implies a hard determinism – or does it?

In support of Petkov’s arguments, Matej Pavšič has stated that “there is no dynamics in spacetime, but only in space. A particle’s worldline is frozen in spacetime, but from the 3-dimensional point of view we have a point particle moving in 3-space (e.g. three special dimensions only with time excluded). This fact is at the roots of all the difficulties we face when trying to quantize the theory: either we have a covariant quantum theory but no evolution in spacetime, or we have evolution in 3-space at the expense of losing manifest covariance in spacetime.” Matej Pavsic, The Landscape of Theoretical Physics: A Global View (Italicized text added)

Consider, however, a spacetime where all potential worldlines are frozen, but only as probability functions. At the commencement of our universe, these potential worldlines might be seen as infinite. However, as of today only a nearly infinite subset of these potential or contingent worldlines for Earth remain. Let’s now assume that within the next 150 years (relative to Earth’s “now”) this light-cone of contingency includes the total annihilation of the Earth (we cause our Sun to explode), an event that is visible for millions of light years, or world peace. Is our destiny fixed? Remember that in accordance with the views of Brian Greene, and untold numbers of other physicists, the light encompassing this 150 year period is already traveling toward assumed observers near and far. Although the existence of observers makes the problem interesting because of their presumed conscious reflection on the Earth’s demise, I would contend that the applicable physics must be independent of this variable. So what, if anything is traveling? Once we have posited a universe that contains all possible probability distributions applicable to each and every Planck volume, would not the set of all possible probability distribution reflecting the Earth’s future for the next 150 be mirrored in the probability distributions for the light the Earth and our Sun might also emit. If so, then actualization becomes a process which we have not yet come to in the Poem but will see operates within this preexistent matrix to (i) cause actualized events to become isolated in the probability distributions of the light already in route to the observer (ii) provides a frame of reference to understand Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiments which suggest that the past depends on the future and (iii) Marlan Scully’s and Kai Druhl’s quantum eraser experiments which suggests that events in the past can be erased as if they never happened. (See Brian Greene; The Fabric of the Cosmos, pp 182-

199 for a description of these and related experiments.). Accordingly, once I introduce the actualization process, it will be necessary that I disagree with by Pavšič and with Petkov’s contention that the “objective flow of time and objective becoming are impossible in a four-dimensional world, if they imply that there are events which are ‘more real’ than the other spacetime events.” Citation

The second implication that should be explored relates to the information that a multiverse will require. According to Paul Davies, “[p]hysicists divide into those who believe quantum mechanics is a complete theory that applies to the universe as a whole, regardless of scale, and those who think it must break down at some level between atom and observer. The former group subscribe to the

"many universes" interpretation, according to which all branches of a quantum superposition are equally valid and describe parallel realities. Though many physicists reject this interpretation as unacceptably bizarre, there is no consensus on the alternative.

Paul Davies explores “The Finite Information Capacity of The Universe as follows: “… The total number of bits available within the universe at this epoch is calculated to be ~ 10120 [approximately 10 to the 120th power] if gravitational degrees of freedom are included in addition to all particles of matter. One may also readily calculate the maximum total number of information processing operations that can possibly have taken place since the origin of the universe within an expanding horizon volume. Note that the cosmological scale factor grows like t 1/2 initially, whereas the horizon radius grows like t. Therefore a horizon volume will have encompassed less particles in the past. Taking this into account, one arrives at an upper bound for the total number of bits of information that have been processed by all the matter in the universe that is also ~ 10120 [22]. In accordance with the Landauer-Wheeler principle, the enormous but nevertheless finite number 10120 sets a limit to the fidelity of any in-principle prediction based on deterministic physical law and hence sets a limit to any constraint of over-determinism that “bottom level” laws of physics might exercise over higher-level, emergent laws. Expressed informally, the existence of an emergent law in a system of sufficient complexity that its behavior could not be described or predicted by processing ~ 10120 bits of information will not come into conflict with any causal closure at the micro-level. P. C. W. Davies, Emergent Biological Principles and the Computational Properties of the Universe, Complexity 10 (2), 1 (2004)

Gerard't Hooft in a December 2005 article in Physics World, while arguing that the classical laws of physics may [from necessity] emerge from complexity, cites sources in confirmation of Paul Davies’ 10 to the 120th power information capacity limitation as follows: “There is, however, a natural measure of complexity that derives from the very nature of the universe. This is defined by the maximum amount of information that the universe can possibly have processed since its origin in a Big Bang. Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has computed this to be about 10120 [10 to the 120th power] bits (2000 Nature 406 1047 and 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99

237901). A system that requires more than this quantity of information to describe it in detail is so complex that the normal mathematical laws of physics cannot be applied to arbitrary precision without exceeding the information capacity of the universe. Cosmology thus imposes a small but irreducible uncertainty, or fuzziness, in the operation of physical laws.” (Reprinted in Physics Web http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/12/2)

Paul Davies, in his 'Emergent Biological Principles” paper, however, goes on to consider the entropy potential of a second causal horizon—a de Sitter event horizon associated with discovery of dark energy and calculates the associated information capacity of the universe at ~10122 [10 to the

122th power] bits.

Paul Davies then observes the following: “The fact that this number ~ 10122 [10 to the 122th power] bits is close to the current information content of the universe is basically the same as the coincidence that, to within a factor of order unity, we find ourselves living at the epoch at which dark energy starts to dominate over matter.There is strong evidence (e.g., Bousso [24]; Davies and Davies [25]) that the de Sitter horizon entropy given by Eq. (3) constitutes an absolute upper bound to the information content of a universe dominated by dark energy of constant energy density (i.e., a cosmological constant). This property has been formally enshrined in the so-called holographic principle ([26–28]), according to which the total information content of a simply connected region of space is captured by the two-dimensional surface that bounds it, after the fashion of a hologram. The maximum information content of a region is given by this surface area divided by the Planck area, which is considered to provide a fundamental finite cell size for space. The de Sitter horizon, which is the end state of cosmological evolution in those models for which dark energy (of constant energy density) eventually dominates, saturates the holographic bound, and so sets an upper limit on the information capacity of the universe through-out its entire evolutionary history. Thus, taking the astronomical observations at face value, it would appear that the universe never contained, and never will contain, more than about 10122 [10 to the 122th power] bits of information, although the number of bits processed up to a given epoch will continue to rise with time. Such a rise will not continue indefinitely, however. The holographic bound implies that the universe is a finite state system, and so it will visit and re-visit all possible states (so-called Poincare´ cycles) over a stupendous length of time [29]. P.C. W. Davies, Emergent Biological Principles and the Computational Properties of the Universe, Complexity 10 (2), 1 (2004)

While Paul Davies seems to be arguing that the present condition of our Universe is close to equaling its information capacity, Gerard't Hooft in the December 2005 article I previously cited seems to argue that this capacity has already been exceeded: “For most systems the Lloyd limit ~ 10120 [10 to the 120th power] is irrelevantly large. But quantum systems are described by vectors in a so-called Hilbert space, which may have a great - indeed infinite - number of dimensions. According to my maximum-complexity criterion, quantum mechanics will break down when the dimensionality of the Hilbert space exceeds about 10120[10 to the 120th power]. A simple example is an entangled state of many electrons. This is a special form of superposition in which up and down spin orientations co-exist in all possible combinations. Once there are about 400 electrons in such a state, the Lloyd limit is exceeded, suggesting that it is at this level of complexity that classicality emerges.” http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/12/2

If the Information Capacity of the Universe is a limiting factor as the forgoing quotations seems to indicate, then intuitively, no multiverse model can possible reflect reality. I hope the physicists who may read this paper will correct me if I err; however, to the best of my knowledge, the physicists writing for and against the various multiverse models have not addressed the information capacity issue. Clearly, if the advocates of the existing multiverse models will have difficulties with this issue, would it not preclude the model I have proposed? Based on the proposition that fields in additional to gravity may pass from the 4-Brane to the 3-Brane, I believe the answer is No.

33 “When He purposed to call the new creation into being, He sent forth the Manifest and Luminous Point from the horizon of His Will; it passed through every sign and manifested itself in every form until it reached the zenith, as bidden by God, the Lord of all men. This Point is the focal centre of the circle of Names and marketh the culmination of the manifestations of Letters in the world of creation. Through it have appeared indications of the impenetrable Mystery, the adorned Symbol, He Who standeth revealed in the Most Great Name -- a Name which is recorded in the luminous Tablet and is inscribed in the holy, the blessed, the snow-white Scroll. And when the Point was joined to the second Letter [1] which appeareth in the beginning of the Mathani,[2] it traversed the heavens of exposition and utterance.” [1 i.e., the letter 'B', the second letter of the alphabet.][2 The opening chapter of the Qur'án, which begins with the letter 'B': Bismi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r-Rahim (In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful). This chapter of the Qur'án was revealed twice, once in Mecca and once in Medina.

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 101)

Please note that this implies sequential creations occurred -- a creation of the fixed archetypes, a creation of all potentials or contingency and a creation reflecting actualization within the matrix of contingency and subject to the influence and guidance of the archetypes. more

This may be further apprehended through the following quotation: “And as for "the Divine Soul" (an-nafs al-ilahiyyah), it consists of the Universal Reality which brings together all of the Divine realities of the realm of Primal Manifestation (lahutiyyah) and the eternal secrets, the outer aspect of which is the ancient light and the inner aspect is the most mighty and sublime mystery, the Primal Point from which appear all things and to which they revert, from which they originate and to which they return. Thus is it the Primal Oneness (al-ahadiyyah) in its essence and the derived Oneness (al-wahidiyyah) in its attributes. And from it there appears plurality through manifestation [is manifested plurality, zuhur] and illumination, and it becomes divided, dispersed and manifold, and radiates.” `Abdu'l-Baha's Commentary on the Qur'anic Verses concerning the Overthrow of the Byzantines: the Stages of the Soul (provisional translation by Moojan Momen)

34 But whatever is created, without a doubt, is composed of two aspects, and aspect from its Lord, which is existence, or matter; and an aspect from itself, which is the quiddity, or form. This is because every contingent thing is a composite pair, and nothing other than God has an

uncompounded nature.” (Shaykh Ahmad. Sharh al-Mashá'ir, pp. 15-18 quoted in “Selections from the Bahá'í Writings and from Shaykh Ahmad on the Seven Stages of Creation”- provisional translations by Keven Brown)

‘…[A]ccording to Rashtí, … as the typifications of Matter and Form respectively, but in the sense of the hylomorphism peculiar to the Shaykhí school … Matter is the paternal aspect, or "being as light". Form is the maternal aspect, that is the "quiddity" which determines being in its act… Citation Needed

“Whoever asks `what is it?' only asks what is the quiddity (máhíyah)...which is realized in the sum of its essential constituents...” (Avicenna, Naját quoted in in Evolution and Bahá'í Belief by Keven Brown.) “Quiddity [is] that which answers the question: "what is it?". All things are considered to consist of two aspects: quiddity to give them definition and wujúd (existence) to give them being.” (Moojan Momen in endnote to Abdu'l-Bahá’s Commentary on the Islamic Tradition "I Was a Hidden Treasure ...")

“Form is the maternal aspect, that is the "quiddity" which determines being in its act …” (B. Todd Lawson, The Qur’án Commentary of Sayyid 'Alí Muhammad, the Báb)

[T]he term "quiddity" … refers to "what something is" without requiring its actual existence. (Keven Brown, Evolution and Bahá'í Belief)

35 “The process of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have no end.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 61)

“The elements of existence are momentary appearances, momentary flashings into the phenomenal world out of an unknown source.” Theo. Stcherbatsky, Buddhist Logic, quoted in Kalupahana, Causality the Central Conception of Buddhism, p. 69.

“The Maadhyamika [Buddhist] concept of momentariness or dependent co-origination (pratiitya-samutpaada) holds that every entity is a series of momentary states bound together by similarity. An entity is reproduced through a replication of its states, each moment comprises a state of the entity, though a complete entity is the result of an imaginative reconstruction over a series of states. The sequence of the replications is linked together in the mind through the rapid succession of similar moments. … Every account of the phenomenal world requires an experiential thickness. … According to the most central concepts of Buddhism, a moment (k.sa.na) is not a time-slice that is demarcated and infinitely divisible; the moment is not infinitely brief but has a certain thickness that is fundamental. This thickness differs from a duration that is conceived as a psychic addition. The moment is epochal and atomic without incrementation; it is a minimal unit of time that itself is nontemporal. The thickness of a moment is conceived as a durationless point in a continuum that has no definite boundaries. Stcherbatsky compared a moment – ‘a momentary flashing into the phenomenal world out of an unknown source’ -- to a point in space-time. The duration of the moment is ‘the smallest particle of time imaginable.’ [5] For Murti, "a thing is a point-instant, having neither a ‘before’ nor an ‘after.’ Murti writes that the moment has no temporal span, and thus no duration. [6] The duration of the moment is bound up with a theory of momentary states of consciousness that are

the phenomenal equivalents of atomic point-instants. Jason W. Brown, Microgenesis and Buddhism: The Concept of Momentariness, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 49, No. 3 (1999) pp. 261-277; http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew91343.htm

“[I]n Ibn ‘Arabi’s world-view, the self-manifestation of the Absolute is a perpetual process whose major stages – (1) the ‘most holy emanation’, (2) the ‘holy emanation’, and then (3)_ the appearance of concrete individual things – go on being actualized one after another like successive, recurrent waves. This ontological process repeats itself indefinitely and endlessly. At every moment, and moment after moment, the same eternal process of annihilation and re-creation is repeated.” (Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism, Page 205)

36 The equations of classical physics, special and general relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory do not support the concept of Momentariness. However, where a 3-Brane comprised of all potential or contingent Schrödinger’s equations for all points and all times is posited prior to the occurrence of first point of actualization, momentariness may be seen as arising through the operation of a variant of Whitehead’s process philosophy and Reginald Cahill’s process physics within the matrix of this brane space. This view seems to be partially reflected in the second of the following approaches in Brane Cosmology. ”In the literature, there are a lot of cosmological models associated to brane universe [6]-[9]. In these models one can recognize two main approaches. In the first one, the domain walls (branes) are static solutions of the underlying theory, and the cosmological evolution of our universe is due to the time evolution of energy density [of the real matter confined within the three-brane] on the domain wall (brane) [7]. In the second approach, the cosmological evolution of our universe is due to the motion of our brane-world in the background gravitational field of the bulk [8, 9]. … The universe is living on a collection of coincident branes, while gravity and other universal interactions is living in the [higher dimensional] bulk space [4].” E. Papantonopoulosa and I. Pappa, Type 0 Brand Inflation from Mirage Cosmology (italicized text added)

In this [second] approach, the motion [of the 3-brane] in ambient space induces cosmological evolution of the four-dimensional universe on the probe three-brane, simulating various kinds of matter responsible for expansion of brane universe [17]. One can view such simulated matter or ‘mirage’ matter as the contribution of other branes, on which hidden gauge interactions are localized, and bulk background fields to the cosmological evolution of our four-dimensional universe. Donam Youm, Closed Universe in Mirage Cosmology (italicized text added)

While I do not share this view, I recognize the potential of fields, including some that only a Divine Cosmology would currently posit, to shape and guide both the evolution of our four-dimensional universe but also our individual lives as revealed in my first visualization (see endnote 1)

The Will of God is able to cope with the ceaseless flux and escape of body stuff by ceaselessly reintroducing the known forms in new substances, thus ensuring perpetuity not to the particular item but to the unity of idea ... Plotinus, The Six Enneads, (The Second Ennead, First Tractate. On the Kosmos or on the Heavenly System) translated by Stephen MacKenna and B. S. Page

37 We have to ask, that is, how Matter, this entity of ceaseless flux constituting the physical mass of the universe, could serve towards the immortality of the Kosmos. And our answer is “Because the flux is not outgoing”: where there is motion within but not outwards and the total remains unchanged, there is neither growth nor decline, and thus the Kosmos never ages. Plotinus, The Six Enneads, (The Second Ennead, First Tractate. On the Kosmos or on the Heavenly System) translated by Stephen MacKenna and B. S. Page

38 If he [man] attains unto his heritage through divine wisdom, then he becomes a clear mirror in which the beauty of God is reflected; he has eternal life and becomes a participator of the sun of truth. (Abdu'l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 111)

39 Násút is the realm of corporeal actualization of spiritual realities.Add quotes regarding Mirage Matter Brane Theories

40 "Know thou that the Kingdom (Malakút) is the real world, and this nether place [Násút] is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow hath no life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but images reflected in water, and seeming as pictures to the eye.” Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Number 150, pages 177-178

"Then it is evident that although beings in relation to the existence of God have no existence, but are like the mirage or the reflections in the mirror, yet in their own degree they exist." Some Answered Questions, Number 79 Page 278

In order to identify a scientifically based frame of reference through which Science and Religion might find reconciliation, and both of the above quotations may be apprehended as true, it is necessary that we let go of some of our preconceptions and assumptions about the nature of the world and the nature of God. To illustrate the assumptions and preconceptions that we may be forced to reconsider, I propose that we ask the question: What is Matter?

My purpose in asking this question is to open the door to a possible reality that re-defines corporeality within the context of quantum field interactions. As noted above, matter becomes a mere “Mirage” in some Brane theories. However, an acceptance of Brane cosmology is not required for this reassessment. Shall we begin? As only the qualities of things, and not their inner essence, are subject to full comprehension (SAQ 220), perhaps we should start with the question: What are the attributes of matter?

Can we agree that "Mass" is typically thought of as an attribute or essential property of “Fermionic” matter?

Although I will only address the attribute of mass at this time, please spend a moment to identify any other essential properties or attributes that you associate with “Matter”. Do you see these attributes or properties as being inherent in Matter’s “Being”?

In reflecting on these questions please now consider the Higgs Field. For introductory information, see: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=000005FC-2927-12B3-

A92783414B7F0000&pageNumber=1&catID=2 The purpose of this exercise is not to argue for the existence of the Higgs field, which is at present unproven, but to merely note that quantum scientists are prepared to consider mass, an attribute that most people consider to be an essential property of matter, to be a product of quantum field interactions.

Now, please consider that both light and matter exhibit wave-particle duality. For introductory information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave-particle_duality

Please further note that wave-particle duality has not only been shown for protons and neutrons; experiments have demonstrated macromolecular wave properties using quite large molecules. As example see: http://www.quantum.at/typo/index.php?id=277 and http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/3/5

When the scientific principle of universality is applied to these findings, what might these studies imply? At this point, I ask only that you be open to the possibility that Malakút, which the Bahá'í Writings call the “real world”, is both a spiritual and scientific truth. I further ask that you be open to the possibility that quantum wave or field dynamics constitutes a scientifically acceptable means to link our corporal world (referred to in the Bahá'í Writings as Násút) to the higher incorporeal realms. I have quoted some of these writings below:

From one perspective, if it be said that the ‘alam-i-mithál is analogous to Malakút, which some know as the world of vision, and which is between Jabarút and Násút, this is correct. In short, wert thou to reflect deeply upon this state, thou wouldst comprehend innumerable questions.” From a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh, in Amr va Khalq 1:319; trans. K. Brown, quoted in Divine Philosophy, Page 355

'Alam al-Mithal: "The imaginal realm, which is also known as the realm of souls, is higher than the realm of the visible ('alam al-shahadat) and lower than the realm of spirits. The realm of the visible is the shadow of the imaginal realm which, inturn, is the shadow of the realm of spirits. Everything that exists in this world exist also in the imaginal realm, that which is seen in dreams being a form of the imaginal realm. In the Kashf al-Lughat it states that the absolute imaginal realm is the realm of spirits, while the relative imaginal realm is the realm of imagination (khayal)." (Tahanawi [Nurbakhsh tr.], Kashshaf Istilahat al-Funun, 1342) Quoted in Symbolic Cosmology in the Sufi and Bahá’í Traditions by Michael McCarron http://bahai-library.com/?file=mccarron_symbolic_cosmology_sufism

"The meaning of the Kingdom (Malakút) in its primary sense and degree is the scene of His transcendent glory. In another sense it is the world of similitudes ('Álám-i-mithál) which existeth between the Dominion on high (jabarút) and this mortal realm (Násút [i.e. in Malakút]; whatever is in the heavens or on the earth hath its counterpart in that world. Whilst a thing remaineth hidden and concealed within the power of utterance it is said to be of the Dominion (jabarút) and this is the first stage of its substantiation (taqyid). Whenever it becometh manifest it is said to be of the Kingdom (malakút). The power and potency it deriveth from the first stage, it bestoweth upon whatever lieth below." (Nuri [Momen tr.], REL, pg. N/a ) ) Quoted in Symbolic Cosmology in the Sufi and Bahá’í Traditions by Michael McCarron

TO DO: [In a] “model where a brane is moving in the gravitational field of other branes. Then we can have the standard cosmological evolution on the brane, with the price to be paid, that the matter on the brane is a “mirage” matter.” E. Papantonopoulos, Brane Cosmology1. Add quotes Mirage Matter Brane Theories 2. Consider placing speculation here

Consider the following speculation. 1. If we posit The informational requirements inherent …41 alam-i-mithal refers to the world of similitudes which existeth between the Dominion on high (jabarut) and this mortal realm (nasut)

Alam al-Mulk: "The realm of sovereignty refers to that which is other than God, meaning those contingent beings that have perished, those that exist, and those that have yet to come" (Nurbakhsh, Sufi Symbolism Vol. III, pg. 106)

42 “The spiritual and physical universe created starting from the Origin (first Being) is in perpetual movement. The arc of descent corresponds to the act of creation whose result is humanity. Creation is a process of “descent” (tanazzul) starting from the Origin. This descent gives birth initially to a spiritual hierarchy (i.e., the world angelica) to which succeeds a cosmic hierarchy. At the center of these two hierarchies the divine Order (Amr) represented in the Qur'an by Kun is, Would be! Starting from man the return to the first Being, symbolized by the arc of ascent, is carried out.” Diane Steigerwald, Le Logos : clef de l'ascension spirituelle dans l'ismaélisme, Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses, Volume 28 Number 2 / 1999 (translated from the French)

“When the channel of the human soul is cleansed of all worldly and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive the breath of the Beloved across immeasurable distances, and will, led by its perfume, attain and enter the City of Certitude.” (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 268)

43 “I hope that through the breath of the Holy Spirit the mysteries may become disclosed to thee, for without this channel it is impossible and unattainable.” (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 491)

? Enantiodromia. Literally, "running counter to," referring to the emergence of the unconscious opposite in the course of time. This characteristic phenomenon practically always occurs when an extreme, one-sided tendency dominates conscious life; in time an equally powerful counterposition is built up, which first inhibits the conscious performance and subsequently breaks through the conscious control.44 Are there presently scientific theories that are consistent with the physics implicit in Ontology as Poem? With the preface that many interpretations of quantum mechanics have been advanced (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpretations_of_quantum_mechanics) and that any quantum interpretation remains speculative, I believe that there are. As noted by Stephen Hawking in “A Brief History of Time” (Chapter 8) “We don’t yet have a complete and consistent theory that combines quantum mechanics and gravity. However, we are fairly certain of some features that such a unified theory should have. One is that it should incorporate Feynman’s proposal to formulate quantum theory in terms of a sum over histories. In this approach, a particle does not have just a single history, as it would in a classical theory. Instead, it is supposed to follow every possible path in space-time …http://www.physics.metu.edu.tr/~fizikt/html/hawking/g.html (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sum_over_histories]

That which I have posited would should also be considered a “Multi-verse” hypothesis [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_%28science%29] but must be distinguished from Everett’s many worlds interpretation in that the posited multi-verse precedes, and does not arise from, the quantum or measuring event. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

The posited hypothesis is similar to the “Consistent Histories” interpretation of James Hartle, Murray Gell-Mann Roland Omnès, Robert B. Griffiths, Wojciech Zurek and others http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consistent_histories (see also Gell-Mann’s The Quark and the Jaguar; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Philosophy_%28book%29) which requires that we consider “the quantum state of the universe” and all possible quantum histories of the universe from its initial state.  Because within my posited hypothesis all possible quantum states and quantum histories are deemed ontologically present prior to the initial state, it also resembles the “Ultimate Ensemble” speculation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_ensemble], which stipulates that all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically, but must be immediately distinguished from this speculation in that the contingent forms of my postulate exist only within the wavefunction until actualized. Although actualization appears to collapse the wave function [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavefunction_collapse] into a new Born probability [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_probability] for any consequent event, I believe the posited hypothesis is also fully compatible with quantum decoherence [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_decoherence]. The appearance of quantum decoherence in the posited hypnosis, requires it to be distinguished from the “Bohm Interpretation” although, as can be seen in “Ontology as Poem” it has as a hidden

variable the waveform of the Primal Will or Divine “Word”

45 Ta panta rei - all is flux Heraclitus of Ephesus, sixth century BCThe historical or being model of reality has been with us since Parmenides and Zeno, and is known as the Eleatic model. The becoming or processing model of reality dates back further to Heraclitus of Ephesus (540-480 BC) who argued that common sense is mistaken in thinking that the world consists of stable things; rather the world is in a state of flux. The appearances of ‘things’ depend upon this flux for their continuity and identity. What needs to be explained, Heraclitus argued, is not change, but the appearance of stability. Citation needed

Add Plato

As noted above, Popper proposed a Metaphysical Research Program where one might evaluate a metaphysical concept in terms of its explanatory value relative to the anomalous, to include harmonizing opposing philosophical concepts or theories. The theories of Heraclitus and Parmenides are traditionally perceived to be in irreconcilable opposition. It is my belief that the metaphysical concepts underlying the poem unseals frames of reference from which the teachings of these and many other philosophers may be seen as true, without violating the Law of Non-Contradiction. Explain how

46 In the various transformations or passages from kingdom to kingdom the virtues expressed by the atoms in each degree are peculiar to that degree. For example, in the world of the mineral the atom does not express the vegetable form and organism, and when through the process of transmutation it assumes the virtues of the vegetable degree, it does not reflect the attributes of animal organisms, and so on. The Promulgation of Universal Peace Talk given 27 August 1912 at Metaphysical Club Boston, Massachusetts Notes by Edna McKinney

47 Although Khidr may easily represent much more, I have embraced the concept that Khidr represents “the utmost depth of mystic insight accessible to man” manifesting the level of consciousness potentially arising from the Mohammedan Dispensation. I do not believe Khidr to be a being of flesh and blood; but see him as an archetypal representation of the human capacities associated with the potential of Islam. To me, his green color symbolizes his station in Malakút, which is much below the station of Gabriel and the Maid of Heaven; and even below those manifesting those capacities promised to this Dispensation in the following quotation. Add quotation

Because Khidr is very interesting and others may easily disagree with my views, I urge you to read more at www.Khidr.org.

“Many a soul after fruitless struggles in the ark of philosophy was drowned in the sea of conflicting theories of cause and effect, while those on board the craft of simplicity reached the shore of the Universal Cause, aided by favorable winds blowing from the point of divine knowledge. When man is associated with that transcendent power emanating from the Word of God, the tree of his being becomes so well rooted in the soil of assurance that it laughs at hurricanes of skepticism violently attempting its destruction. For this association of the part with the Whole endows him with the Whole, and this union of the particular with the Universal makes him all in all.” (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 439)

If Khidr did wreck the vessel on the sea, Yet in this wrong there are a thousand rights. [1][1 Jalalu'd-Din Rumi (1207-1273 A.D.); The Mathnavi. Jalalu'd-Din, called Mawlana ("our Master"), is the greatest of all Persian Sufi poets, and founder of the Mawlavi "whirling" dervish order.] (Quoted by Bahá’u’lláh in The Seven Valleys, p. 25)

48 “The potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of his destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be manifested in this promised Day of God.” (Compilations, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 128-9)

“[W]ert thou to taste these fruits from the verdure of these hyacinths which are planted in the grounds of knowledge, near the manifestation of the lights of the Essence in the mirrors of Names and Attributes, yearning will take the reins of patience and fortitude from thy grasp, thy soul will stir through the flashes of light, will uplift thee out of the earthly abode unto the original, divine abode in the center of significances; and will cause thee to ascend unto such a state that thou wilt fly away in the air just as thou wouldst walk on the earth, and run on the water even as thou wouldst on the ground.” (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 159)

”Every creature hath been endowed with all the potentialities it can carry.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 19)