25th Chapter
There is something there, but no one knows.
It was there before heaven and earth were created.
It has no sound and no form,
It is single and unchanging!
Its movement arises and then retires, comes and then returns, and it never stops.
This is how life comes into being and is nourished, so we call it the mother of all creation.
I don’t know its name. I give it a word, Tao.
Its Might is called “Great”.
Its greatness is boundless.
Its boundlessness is beyond what we can envision.
The effect goes beyond what we can envision, but it returns to where it begins.
Therefore, we say, Tao is the greatest, heaven is great, the earth is great, people (those who are the master of their own self) are great.

In the realm of creation, there are four great ones.
When we reach the state of our own self-mastery we become one of them.
Self-mastery cultivates the attributes of earth in him.
This allows him to receive the attributes of heaven.
The heavenly attributes lead to the bounty from Tao.
Tao is the source of all.

Implications from the Holy Books

O My servants! Be as resigned and submissive as the earth, that from the soil of your being there may blossom the fragrant, the holy and multicolored hyacinths of My knowledge.  ── Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 152

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that Most Great Light. Methinks, but for the potency of that revelation, no being could ever exist. How resplendent the luminaries of knowledge that shine in an atom, and how vast the oceans of wisdom that surge within a drop! To a supreme degree is this true of man, who, among all created things, hath been invested with the robe of such gifts, and hath been singled out for the glory of such distinction. For in him are potentially revealed all the attributes and names of God to a degree that no other created being hath excelled or surpassed. All these names and attributes are applicable to him. Even as He hath said: “Man is My mystery, and I am his mystery.” Manifold are the verses that have been repeatedly revealed in all the Heavenly Books and the Holy Scriptures, expressive of this most subtle and lofty theme. Even as He hath revealed: “We will surely show them Our signs in the world and within themselves.” Again He saith: “And also in your own selves: will ye not, then, behold the signs of God?” And yet again He revealeth: “And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves.” In this connection, He Who is the eternal King—may the souls of all that dwell within the mystic Tabernacle be a sacrifice unto Him—hath spoken: “He hath known God who hath known himself.”  ── Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 90

Man is, therefore, superior to all the creatures below him, the loftiest and most glorious being of creation. Man is the microcosm; and the infinite universe, the macrocosm. The mysteries of the greater world, or macrocosm, are expressed or revealed in the lesser world, the microcosm. The tree, so to speak, is the greater world, and the seed in its relation to the tree is the lesser world. But the whole of the great tree is potentially latent and hidden in the little seed. When this seed is planted and cultivated, the tree is revealed. Likewise, the greater world, the macrocosm, is latent and miniatured in the lesser world, or microcosm, of man. This constitutes the universality or perfection of virtues potential in mankind. Therefore, it is said that man has been created in the image and likeness of God. ──’Abdu’l‑Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace 4/30/1912

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  ── Philippians 2:6-8

How wondrous is the unity of the Living, the Ever-Abiding God—a unity which is exalted above all limitations, that transcendeth the comprehension of all created things! He hath, from everlasting, dwelt in His inaccessible habitation of holiness and glory, and will unto everlasting continue to be enthroned upon the heights of His independent sovereignty and grandeur. How lofty hath been His incorruptible Essence, how completely independent of the knowledge of all created things, and how immensely exalted will it remain above the praise of all the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth! ── Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 124

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