happen next, they exist in a state of surrender to and love of God without any idea that a certain action is praiseworthy or blameworthy. When a plant swallows an insect as its food it is not guilty of wrongdoing, it is merely eating. When a lion attacks its prey it is not a killer acting with depravity, it is merely taking the food necessary for life, then it eats and kills no more until it is hungry again. There is no thought of killing a few extra today so that it can take tomorrow off. If there is aggression among the members of the same species in a specific territory, they fight it out once without killing each other, mark off their terrain and that’s the end of it, no campaigns back and forth, they keep the peace. Human beings on the other hand have ambition, pride, arrogance, hostility, fear of the future, distress because of the past and a legion of desires and qualities which deny even the possibility of peace unless we have that conscience, that voice of wisdom directing our thoughts and conduct.

The level of judgment represents the ability to tell right from wrong, this the first step on the path to God, to the knowledge of the self and of God. In terms of our spiritual progress this recognition is the beginning, the point at which we start the examination of our own imperfection, take the first uncertain steps on the path of purification. This step corresponds to the shari‘at of each religion, that is the recognition of right and wrong, of divine ordinances prescribing acceptable codes of behavior including types and methods of prayer, certain basic thou shalts and usually many more thou shalt nots, more prohibitions generally offered

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