y
ignorant of the kingdom of God, possesses no spiritual susceptibilities
and is uninformed of the heavenly world. In brief, this is a view of the
pathway of nature.

The second pathway is that of religion, the road of the divine Kingdom. It
involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes, heavenly illumination
and righteous actions in the world of humanity. This pathway is conducive
to the progress and uplift of the world. It is the source of human
enlightenment, training and ethical improvement; the magnet which attracts
the love of God because of the knowledge of God it bestows. This is the
road of the holy Manifestations of God for they are in reality the
foundation of the divine religion of oneness. There is no change or
transformation in this pathway. It is the cause of human betterment, the
acquisition of heavenly virtues and the illumination of mankind.

Alas! that humanity is completely submerged in imitations and unrealities
notwithstanding the truth of divine religion has ever remained the same.
Superstitions have obscured the fundamental reality, the world is darkened
and the light of religion is not apparent. This darkness is conducive to
differences and dissensions; rites and dogmas are many and various;
therefore discord has arisen among the religious systems whereas religion
is for the unification of mankind. True religion is the source of love and
agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy
qualities; but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation,
negligent of the reality which unifies; so they are bereft and deprived of
the radiance of religion. They follow superstitions inherited from their
fathers and ancestors. To such an extent has this prevailed that they have
taken away the heavenly light of divine truth and sit in the darkness of
imitations and imaginations. That which was meant to be conducive to life
has become the cause of death; that which should have been an evidence of
knowledge is now a proof of ignorance; that which was a factor in the
sublimity of human nature has proved to be its degradation. Therefore the
realm of the religionist has gradually narrowed and darkened and the
sphere of the materialist has widened and advanced; for the religionist
has held to imitation and counterfeit, neglecting and discarding holiness
and the sacred reality of religion. When the sun sets it is the time for
bats to fly. They come forth because they are creatures