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Principles of Sufism
by Seyedeh Nahid Angha, Ph.D.

Infinite Are the Rules of Existence

"Beginning and end are our own creations."

The rules of existence, perceived by our senses, may seem apparently limited, but in reality, they are infinite and hardly perceived within the boarders of our mind . . .

Is there any knowledge so accurate that we can trust it without harboring any doubts? Are humans capable of understanding such knowledge? Is the secret of the universe knowledge perceivable by humans?
We may need to review these questions and examine the capability of our mental faculties and limitations of our sensual perceptions when trying to understand the universe, the apparent and the hidden!
As we begin to examine our mental faculties and senses, we also begin to understand the limitations of these tools, and we learn that they are not able to understand beyond their capabilities, which in fact, are their limitations.

Our scientific development and discoveries tell us that the more we learn about our universe the more we confess the limitations of our understanding. The universe, even in its dimensions and boundaries, needs better tools for understanding than what we possess, perhaps we need tools as majestic as the universe itself. If this logic is true and if in understanding the universe around us we truly experience our limitations, then how can we assume that we can even begin to understand the existence in its infinity and eternity? It is only when we are faced with the question and wonder about the answer that we may realize the need to look for means other than the mind to learn about such knowledge.

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Descartes (1596-1650, French philosopher) said: I cannot trust my sense as they have deceived me and directed me toward mistakes many times.
It is natural to establish the foundation of our knowledge upon sensual experiences because we learn and become superficially acquainted with the world through our senses. But we must remember that our sense cannot perceive beyond their borders. Our senses are but translators that do not speak all the possible languages of the universe.
Actually, we rely more on our imagination than we do on perceiving reality through our senses. Humans most often base their ideas upon imagination and superstition, and these foundations are not stable foundations. As we know senses perceive the outside objects as well as the outside of the object according to the "angle of their view." The mind analyzes information according to its past learning. But

the information cannot be applied to abstract existence and will not teach us about the infinite being. Our experiences are neither universal, as we can only mentally perceive what falls into limiations, nor cn they be extended to the universe. Thus, the rules and principles gained from sensual understanding cannot be taken as the unchangeable and universal rules of existence.
"If you had eyes that could detect electrical waves other than light," Maeterlinck (1862-1947, Belgian writer, NObel prize, 1911) wrote, "then you would have perceived the world very much differently. Metal would look like glass and glass would look like stone."
It is even more interesting to note our perceptions, knowledge, and even imagination would have changed if we possessed different means of perception. Dimensions of time and space, atoms and waves, and all the principles of logic and rules of science would have been understood differently, even established differently.
The question is: Do any of our accepted rules and ideas really hold any meaning in the greater wolrd and in the abstractness of infinity? Time cannot be understood other than in the dimension of space. Any dimension is limited, beginning and end are our own creations, and existence remains as it is: abstract, eternal, and infinite.

And we humans, left to our perceptions founded
on four dimensions, seeking to resolve the secrets
and discover the truth of the eternal and infinite Being
while assuming that there is a reality to the existence,
and that the existence is eternal and abstract!

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