Daheshist Ideology: Sayyals Part 1
Sayyals (Spiritual Fluids): Their meaning, types, activities, and interaction according to Daheshist concepts. Excerpts taken from an article published in Dahesh Voice magazine, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2004.
By: Dr. Ghazi Brax
What is the Sayyal?
Daheshism is unique among religions and philosophies in using a new concept, the “Sayyal,” in explaining or disclosing the cause of everything relating to humanity, earth, or the entire universe, be it an incident or condition and from both, the physical or psychological aspects. Even though the word “Sayyal” is not new in its Arabic language pronunciation (derived from the word “sa’el” meaning “fluid,”) it is new in its meaning. So, what is the concept of “Sayyal” in Daheshism?
I have made my second visit to the founder of Daheshism on July 31, 1963 in Beirut, where he received me in the corridor of the house—a wide corridor of about 50 feet long, with seating arrangement on both sides, and functions as a cozy reception area. I spent half an hour with him in private, during which he taught me how to write the “sacred Ramz” (prayers to the Maker written on paper and then folded), then I bid him farewell. He escorted me to the staircase leading down to the entrance door, and as I turned my face towards him to say my final goodbye, he had vanished into thin air! My right hand had emanated a sweet fragrance—from shaking hands with him during our farewell—that lasted for days despite my washing it with soap many times. When I asked him about the two miracles during the following visit, he said to me: “It was one of my Personalities and not I, that received you during your previous visit.” For the first time, I understood from him that the Personality is one of his Spiritual Sayyals that descends to earth from its lofty world at speeds far exceeding the speed of light by many magnitudes, in order to perform a specific task and then returns to its origin. As to the sweet fragrance, it was also a lofty Spiritual Sayyal that was placed in me for a specific task that I cannot elaborate on at this point. I understood from him that the Sayyal could take the form of a human being as well as any other physical form.
On October 27 of the same year, while talking to Dr. Dahesh, I noticed a change in his complexion; his face turned whiter; and a supernatural spiritual power took over him and changed six holy “Ramz” into radiant energy that penetrated and intermixed with my body. At that point, I became aware of the invisible radiant energy essence of the Sayyal.
Towards the end of February 1964, I visited the Man of Spirit and miracles and asked him for further explanations of the meaning of the Sayyal. He gave me a copy of the February issue of “el-Mukhtar” magazine and asked me to read from it an article by the Russian scientist Protovsky, where he says: “I will select a carbon atom from your body out of all the carbon atoms found in the universe. This atom is the gender chromosome-x, which is the smallest body that determines the genetic properties that were transferred to you by your mother…It is possible that this carbon atom was at one point in time part of a diamond…then maybe it separated and combined with two other atoms of oxygen to form carbon-dioxide that may have found its way to become a component of a plant-life where it transformed into sugar…this vegetation may have been consumed by a cow…Perhaps one of your early grand fathers consumed the milk of this cow or a piece of meat belonging to this cow containing this carbon atom. In the body of that grand father, the atom may have made it to his chromosomes that convey the genetic instructions from father to son. With time, it may become a component of one of the chromosome-x that your mother may have had…” The scientist goes further in his explanation of the journey of this atom by saying after this person dies; it is transferred to the soil where it may enter into the composition of some vegetation. When an animal eats this vegetation, the atom becomes a part of that animal. Maybe the atom may return to air through exhaling to continue its cycle on earth. He then says that the air within the lungs of an individual at any instant is of a magnitude of 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms. Sooner or later, each one of us will breath an atom that someone else may have breathed at one point in time during his life on this earth. This person could have been Michael Angelo, George Washington, or our Lord Moses…Likewise, the atom you exhale may be breathed by the geniuses of the future….”
What I have concluded from Dr. Dahesh following what I have read in that article that this is the Sayyal in its “material” form. This Sayyal is conscious, but does not possess any desires or will. For this reason, this Sayyal is not rewarded or punished. However, another Sayyal of a different type that is aware and possesses desire and will, can merge with this “material” form. It is this Sayyal that is judged. A piece of paper, book, mountain, rock, tree, air, or water…etc., in addition to human, animal, or vegetation, can all posses such an aware Sayyal. Size does not matter, for the sun possesses a Sayyal that is aware with desires and a will that took on a specific physical form. So is the case with the planet earth, a flower, a rose fragrance, an art painting, a symphony, and so forth. However, the movement of Sayyals from one “material” form to another doesn’t happen by chance, but rather, according to a Spiritual Order based on merit.
Because of the hundreds of miracles performed by Dr. Dahesh that I had witnessed during the 17-year period that I had visited or accompanied him (from 1963 to 1980), and because of the many explanations he gave and the inspired spiritual letters that I had read, I can conclude the following: The Sayyal is a continuous invisible radiant essence that is impossible to be detected by the senses of material creatures or by their advanced scientific instruments. That’s because its essence is Spiritual and its frequency exceeds that of any known cosmic frequency. It is inclusive of all creatures through its Spiritual essence, be they “material” or Spiritual; human or angelic; earthly (human, animal, or mineral), lofty, or degraded. What human beings see is the “material” component only, however, they can conclude the spiritual aspect through their activity within human beings through the understanding of absolute concepts, as well as idealistic humane inclinations, such as love, pity, mercy, forgiveness, faith, scientific, literary, and artistic inclinations, as well as with the will of human beings represented in the free choices of their affairs.
Just as the Sayyal of radiant energy is one of the aspects of “material” form and can be subdivided into what science calls “Quanta,” which is the energies of very small particles, so does the Spiritual Sayyal can subdivide, however, its division does not prevent the connectivity and reactivity between its parts and regardless of distance.
The Sayyals (plural of Sayyal) descended from the Divine Spiritual Worlds, where they were originally components of Divine Spirits and with their descent, time-space came into existence. Their transformation into mass was relative to their varying Spiritual ranks. They are the fabric of the universe (the known and unknown) and everything that exists within it. Their activity and reactivity, regardless of the “material” form they have, takes place through their Spiritual essence.
From what I have discussed so far, the existence of the conscious Sayyals that are subject to retribution, have preceded the existence of their “material” form. The following are the details and explanations:
The Sayyals of “Matter”:
There is no final independent aspect to earthly matter or to any other matter—known or unknown—whose essence differs from the conscious Sayyals that provide human beings with awareness, sentiments, inclinations, talents, will, etc. Many philosophers and researchers, including the French philosopher René Descartes, thought that Spirit and matter are by nature, contradictory aspects. This assumption trapped them into providing false explanation about how the two aspects interact. One reaction to the weakness of the argument led, according to Dr. Dahesh*, to “the establishment of material philosophies that rejects the presence of the Spirit and endorsing the existence of the material world only.” Many scientists and modern thinkers realized the error, because it is impossible for a non-material element to affect material existence.
* From a magazine column called “Questions and Answers” in “Thunder and Lightning,” 1968, Issue 2, p.117.
In the Daheshist Ideology:
The structure of matter then is Sayyals of Spiritual essence; however, they are of lower Spiritual level and of lower frequency. The levels and forms differ from one planet to another and any specific mass corresponds to a specific radial energy [E=mc2].
In reality, what lies behind the varied and fragmented appearance of the “physical” universe is an ocean of continuous Sayyals of invisible radial flow. However, human beings can only detect the areas of fragmented waves that occur at the surface of this ocean. The book you are holding in your hand; the table that lies in front of you; the chair you are sitting in; the trees in the garden and the birds that sing on its branches; the sound of children; your body with all of its cells, molecules, and genes; all these and others that science call the “physical phenomena”—to include the atoms and sub-atoms that matter consists of—are all like frequency fragmentation posts within this ocean of continuous flow. It is these posts that scientists were able to detect, either with their direct senses or with their advanced instruments.
The Daheshist view—that calls for the unity of conscious essence between mankind and the entire matter of the universe—is supported by many scientists and philosophers, such as Sir Arthur Eddington, Jean Charon, Paul Davies, Amit Goswami, David Foster, Menas Kafatos, that view the current explanation of the existence of matter does not explain its essence, totality, and laws.
The visible “physical” world then is limited in its forms and appearances by the structure of our senses and the few types of waves that we can see. Had our eyes were more sensitive, such that we can see X-rays or Cosmic Gamma rays, the forms and appearances of the things we see change completely. The following paragraph from the column “Questions and Answers,” of the “Thunder and Lightning” magazine, Ibid., pp.117-118, provides additional clarification of this subject:
“For example, the volume, form, strength, and temperature of a one cubic meter rock is limited by the composition of your sight and touch senses. If there is a change in the composition of the two senses, the visual form changes in volume, strength, and temperature. Suppose your eye lenses are different in composition and are closer to that of a microscope with a magnifying power of one million, you will see things a million times larger than what you would normally see. Or, suppose your vision has this composition and you happen to be an alien from a different planet, the rock will appear to be totally different from the way human beings view it, not only in terms of volume and size, but also from the exterior form that your eyes were able to detect. You would see in the rock precise cavities, tiny lines and curves, dirt, and colors. To you, the rock would seem huge and transparent—a form not familiar to the human naked eye. The rock would appear to you like a great transparent cloud and anything near it would seem to be like mist or clouds. In this manner, you can imagine how strange things would look like if all your senses have changed in composition. Modern scientists starting with Einstein have confirmed the relative aspect of matter; however, Daheshism realized this truth through Spiritual Knowledge. Other truths have been realized through Daheshism that science has not been able to realize just yet. In brief, what is called “matter” is nothing but a temporary relative “material” existence, but has a hidden, non-material power, which is the quintessence behind all existence.”
According to inspired Daheshist teachings, many “material” worlds and beings—to include what exists on earth itself—the frequency level of the Sayyals of its “material” forms increases to the point where the senses of human beings can no longer sense them and their scientific instruments fail to pick them up, as if, in their prospective, such worlds and beings are none-existent. As long as they are subject to the natural laws of the worlds they belong to, they are impossible to change from their true nature to become visible and sensed except by Divine Permission.
The Daheshist teachings are supported by hundreds of supernatural events that are physical and detectable—as in the transmutation of objects and their multiplicity; the re-materialization of things after being burned; and the miracles of incarnation of beings—in order to confirm that each “material” existence has an energy of Spiritual and eternal essence. The change in detectable forms and appearances that are subject to change is referred to as death or seizing to exist. However, the Sayyals that form the essence of their energy are impossible for them to seize to exist. When they vanish as energy from one living or non-living form, they appear in another.
The law of conservation of energy is one of the major laws that was discovered by science and affirmed its validity. Energy is conserved in the universe and cannot be destroyed, just takes on different forms: It may be motion, gravitational, heat, electric, magnetic, light, chemical, nuclear, or something else…
Energy or a portion of this energy changes from one form to another. The energy that is conserved in the universe is the general energy of all its forms. What applies to minerals, liquids, and gases applies to what is commonly known as “living beings.” Energy is the basis of every entity no matter how inconsequential this entity is. Scientists are still trying to unite in a single force all forms of energy. Such theories are generally referred to as “Grand Unification Theories. Dr. Dahesh added clarity to this subject by telling me: “The frequency of the Sayyal increases with the Spiritual progression. That in the upper Worlds of Paradise, it is much faster than in the other material worlds.” According to this clarification, it is possible to understand the speed with which the Spiritual Personalities of Dr. Dahesh are able to materialize and then return to their worlds.
Finally, the essential question: What happens when the entire “material” forms in the universe seize to exist—all that is known and unknown to us and in the millions of galaxies and nebulas? According to Daheshist teachings, it means that the Spiritual Sayyals that existed in all creations had liberated themselves from the constraints of matter as a result of their own merits and progression to the level of perfection. At that level, they return to their origin—the pure Divine Spirits. All the Sayyals in the universe originated in the happy Spiritual Worlds prior to the creation of the universe and the beginning of time and space. The desire for this great reunion lies within each creature—even if this creature is not completely aware of it. While awaiting the occurrence of this universal phenomenon of an unknown time-table—that may extend to tens of billions of years—the “material” Sayyals that are dispersed and varied in their forms and types have two missions: first, to act as a restraint of specific density—as constrained by the level of Spiritual Sayyals that had merged with them as a result of their own merits; second, to be the trusted witness for the activities, desires, inclinations, and thoughts of the Spiritual Sayyals that had merged with them. According to what I have learned from the founder of Daheshism, as soon as the “material” form disappears due to natural or unnatural causes and as soon as the last Spiritual Sayyal that is subject to Spiritual judgment departs from it, an exact replica of this “material” form—human or non-human—is preserved in a special world; however, its Sayyals are not subject to Spiritual judgment, because they are without free will. In the case of a human being, the “material” Sayyals that formed the senses of hearing, vision, and others that had merged with his hands, legs, skin, tongue, and the rest of his organs, are the aware forces that bear witness against him during judgment. This explains the saying of Lord Christ: “You can be sure that on the Judgment Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken. Your words will be used to judge you—to declare you either innocent or guilty:” (Matthew 12:36-37)
Man in His Integral Entity:
I have repeatedly heard the founder of Daheshism in explaining to his visitors and to us about the nature of man as follows: The principal constituents of man are: a Spirit, Sayyals, and body. The Spirit is a Divine Breath that does not interact with matter at all and can never take on the form of a human being. Its world is the World of Truth, Good, Beauty, Happiness, Knowledge, Power, Purity, and Eternity—that goes beyond time and space and whatever changes and unhappiness that accompany them. From the Spirits, the entire Spiritual Sayyals of the universe(s)—what is known and unknown—came into existence, to include the Sayyals of man. Spirits then are the source of every Sayyal and the ultimate goal of every Sayyal is to reunite with its source Spirit.
As to the Sayyals of man, they are two kinds: Sayyals that belong to his conscious mind and Sayyals that belong to his unconscious mind. Keep in mind that the concept of these two kinds in Daheshism vary significantly from that in psychological studies—where researchers have arrived to contradictory conclusions and are lacking the understanding that Daheshism provides. The following are Daheshist explanations of the two kinds of Sayyals:
1- Sayyals of the conscious mind:
They are the complete set of Sayyals of the conscious soul. They constitute the entities of the fundamental psychological energy behind the human personality and vary in their invisible rays and their Spiritual elevation from one individual to another. Each of these Sayyals is made up of a live Spiritual energy of continuous activity and includes within it—as I mentioned earlier—three powers that include consciousness, propensities, and will. These powers are of functional independence; however, each of them can influence the activity of the others, that’s because the expression of its activity is accomplished through the presence of a unified physical existence (i.e.; one live body). This is the reason that keeps the human being as a united living entity in spite of the multiplicity of his Sayyals.
Despite many trials, science and philosophy are unable to understand the truth about man and the contents of his soul and to explain its activity, conditions, and contradictions the way Daheshism presents them. What clarifications has the teachings provided us about this important issue? From the inspired Daheshist teachings—that have been supported by miracles to prove their authenticity—we conclude that the soul or his conscious self is made up of a Main Sayyal and Secondary Sayyals.
Main Sayyal:
It is the most important Sayyal that extends life to man and provides him with a distinguished personality. The main Sayyal enters the fetus at birth—usually during the 9th month, however, it may happen sooner due to spiritual reasons. This Sayyal is either an extension of the Main Sayyal of the father or mother. If neither parent had a Spiritual Sayyal of the same level as that of Earth, the child-bearing will not be successful—that’s provided that neither parent had a physical defect or disease that prevents the formation of the fetus for reasons that both, the parents and the fetus have merited. The initial Spiritual reason for not being able to bear a child can be circumvented when either parent possess a Spiritual Sayyal of a certain level equivalent to that of a being living in the worlds of Paradise, the Sayyals react and the sexual act causes the lofty Spiritual Sayyal to fall and enter the fetus. In the story of “the tree of criterion between good and evil,” Dr. Dahesh, in a story-like style aimed at bringing people closer to the truth, said:
“I had a dream that I am living in a paradise where tree branches are hanging low…they were loaded with delicious fruits. I was puzzled to see a ray of light emanate from each fruit and extending in an infinite way towards Earth. There were thousands of these Sayyals roaming the paradise and each one tasting a fruit…Suddenly, I heard an imposing and dreadful sound saying to me: “each Sayyal that is tasting a fruit belongs to a human being living on Earth—where you also live. If a Sayyal tastes a delicious fruit, its effect is felt in the person on Earth. The opposite is also true, for when the Sayyal tastes a fruit that lacks a lofty Spiritual Sayyal, it effect influences the Sayyal residing on Earth and causes the individual it belongs to commit an improper deed that causes him to fall. This fall is due to the tasting of a forbidden fruit. In this fashion, the person on Earth through his deeds can cause the Sayyal living in this world to elevate or degrade…” Suddenly, a Sayyal approached me and said: “I am one of your Sayyals and had you married, I would have been your daughter and I would have indulged in many forbidden desires. You have done good by not getting married, because you have prevented me from the fall—something I am grateful to you for…”
The Main Sayyal—just like any Sayyal—possesses a creative rational energy derived from its spiritual essence. Through this energy, it adjusts the fetus’ genes and programs them with whatever capabilities and tendencies that lay within it in accordance with its spiritual level and merits and governed by a Divine Justice System. This Main Sayyal—just like any Sayyal—possesses certain energies of awareness, tendencies, and will. There is no need to elaborate on their definition and function, because they are commonly found in psychology books and I will use here only what is needed.
Consciousness:
Consciousness covers many abilities that researchers have studied and for this reason, I will only cover the points that Daheshism clarified that scientific research did not.
A) Abilities of internal and external senses:
It covers the five senses as well as the senses of direction and balance that researchers did not pay much attention to. If this ability is weak in certain aspects of the Main Sayyal, some sort of abnormality will appear in the genes that carry the programming instructions to form the senses and may result, as an example, in a blind, mute, or deaf individual. This abnormality cannot take place randomly and resultant from an unexpected deformity in the formation of genes or cells—as many researchers imagine, but rather due to spiritual merits by this Main Sayyal for actions in a previous life cycle. There is nothing called “chance” in the Just Divine Order. As in the case with this deformity, it is also in the case with other deformities. It is a spiritual cause subject to the Divine Laws of Justice and Merit.
B) Mental Ability:
-Strictly speaking, it includes the function of the mind and its ability to understand, think, and make connection between causes and effects and between things and their symbolic representation in pictorial and verbal forms, etc. The soundness of this function produces proper logic that leads to proper distinction between right and wrong and between good and evil. If a weakness in the Main Sayyal takes place in this ability, it will affect the formation of the special genes that control the brain cells. In this manner, abnormality may appear in the mind of a child during childhood or throughout any subsequent stage of his life where he may experience visual or audible hallucinations, logical weakness, or any of the other mental diseases. The ability to reach conclusions, deductions, and to fully grasp things and meanings may be weak or strong in a child depending upon the initial state of these abilities in the Main Sayyal and then they grow along with the growth of the brain. Later on, these abilities are influenced slightly, moderately, or strongly by proper upbringing, education, and by the environment; however, these influences do not create these abilities or change their original level. That’s why Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other great philosophers and Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and other great scientists are distinguished, because these abilities already existed in their entirety within their Main Sayyals prior to their birth. The equality of human beings at this level is false and is not supported by recent biological discoveries.
-The ability to concentrate to prevent thought dispersion, whether physical or mental, and to be attentive are all controlled by the attention function. The ability of attention can be weak or strong and through this ability the great orators are distinguished. I have learned from the founder of Daheshism that many people live their entire life with a quarter of the attention Sayyal, where education and practice do little in strengthening this ability. He also gave me the example of the Apostle Paul and his attentive nature to every little detail during his preaching to the people the gospel of Christ. When I asked him how could it be that the attention Sayyal or any other ability be a Sayyal while they are all part of the Main Sayyal? He answered me saying: “Consider the Main Sayyal to be a bundle of Spiritual Rays, where each ability in human beings an energy (meaning one ray or several rays) within that bundle.”
-It is through the imagination function that the individual constructs realistic or imaginary forms or to bring about a vision. Great poets, writers, and artists are endowed with this ability. I have asked the founder of Daheshism how did the French writer Jules Verne (1828-1905) envision modern inventions and discoveries before their occurrence? He answered me with the following: “He [Jules Verne] had lived at the time of an old civilization that predated Adam, where the state of technology advanced considerably and surpassed what we know today. However, the entire civilization was destroyed in a nuclear war that took place between the people. The images of scientific accomplishments remained embedded in his Sayyal, albeit mysterious.”
-It is through the remembrance function that the mental ability can reconstruct what the senses or the mind perceive of events from the past to be actual or imaginary. With respect to this issue, it is important that I clarify here that man is deprived from the power to remember events from a previous life. In the animal kingdom, this power is an exclusive quality of all animals, but it is not a quality that brings them happiness and peace of mind, rather it is the contrary. It is through this power—that Dr. Dahesh calls the “seventh sense”—that animals become aware of their actions and circumstances in prior reincarnations—some may be human—and they are aware of the reasons behind their fall and the taking on an animal body and that causes them significant pain and torture. Dr. Dahesh reiterated this truth several times in his writings, and says in the conclusion of the story “Reincarnation and transmigration or the cutting of his tail due to great guilt:” “The theory of reincarnation affirms that when the human being reincarnates into an animal, bird, or other, he is given the Sayyal to know the past and what form he had as a human being (man or woman) and the reason for his reincarnation in an animal form.” As to human beings, they were deprived from this Sayyal as mercy. The founder of Daheshism clarified this further in the story “The secrets of life and death” by telling the story of a young man that was transferred to a world of Paradise after his death and was allowed to see the events of his last few days on Earth: “The real nature of people became known to him and he was shocked and frightened by their crimes and sins and realized why God did not give human beings the seventh sense in order to shelter him from horrific things, that had he had this knowledge, he would have wished immediate death. This is the Wisdom of God Almighty.” Immediately, the Sayyal to remember the past was lifted from him as mercy.
During one of my initial visits to the founder of Daheshism, I remember asking him about the reason behind man’s total mental block for his previous life, so he took a piece of paper that was laying in front of him and said the following: “Suppose that this paper is the body of a human being and that his life story was written on it in a concise way using one thousand words that represent his Sayyals and all their activities.” He then tore the paper to hundreds of small pieces and said to me: “Death will do what I have done with this paper to the Sayyals, where each Sayyal is directed to reincarnate according to its merit. Suppose that the wind carried to you a piece of this paper that carries a letter or word, would you be able to infer the rest of the story from just one letter or one word?”
The keeping of man’s past hidden—a past that may extend to thousands, if not millions of years, on this Earth or in the lower worlds of hell—in order to lift the burden of fear and pain that could be fatal if exposed to for a single minute. It is not true that people remember incidents from previous lives and this claim is nothing but rumors aimed to prove true the concept of reincarnation. Had this been the case, Daheshism would have been the first to declare and support this claim. One day, I asked the founder of Daheshism: Buddhists claim that Buddha used to know some of his reincarnations. Is this true? He answered me saying: “There is no doubt the Buddha is a great divine Guide and spiritual person of great accomplishments, however, it is impossible to have knowledge of his previous life without a specific Spiritual Inspiration of this knowledge that Buddha did not possess.”
C) Linguistic Ability
This ability includes two levels: The first represents the Sayyal of linguistic proficiency in expressing thoughts and emotions and the second represents the Sayyal of speech. Recently, genetic researchers discovered specific genes closely linked to linguistic ability. This affirms what Daheshism has been saying about the innate linguistic Sayyal. If the individual loses this ability along with the motion ability belonging to will (discussion to follow), he may seem dead, while in fact he is not.
On June 18, 1942, a strange incident took place with the Poet Halim Dammous, the author of “The Daheshist Chronicles” that can be summed up as follows: Halim heard that Najib Tamer Dammous, his cousin, had fallen from a horse cart three days ago and smashed his head. Halim asked the Man of Spirit and miracles for help and was given two “Holy Ramz” (Spiritual supplications or prayers to the Maker written on paper and then folded) and was asked to place them under the deceased armpit. Halim went to the hospital where the deceased was laying and placed the two “Holy Ramz” under his armpit and all of a sudden, the deceased gradually opened his eyes while smiling and said: “I am alive as you can see and my soul (meaning my Spiritual Sayyals) has not completely separated from my body. As to my inability to talk or move, it is because the Sayyal of speech and motion had departed from my body. However, when you placed the two “Holy Ramz,” this Sayyal has returned…that’s why, my cousin, I can converse with you.”
The innate conscious abilities mentioned above vary in strength since birth between one individual and another. If stupidity, shallow thinking, lack of concentration, deficient imagination, and frail memory have taken place individually or in combination in an individual, the end result is a weakened conscious abilities that vary by the extent of these malfunctions. Of course, the proper functioning of these abilities is dependent on properly functioning members—especially the brain and the rest of the nervous system. However, the degradation in conscious ability in the Sayyal remains less negative and critical on the Sayyal as much as the degradation of the innate abilities within it. What are these abilities?
Conscious Propensities
In addition to the conscious intellect that we talked about, the Main Sayyal--just like any other Sayyal—has also conscious propensities. I will not elaborate on these abilities because they are common knowledge and for this reason, it is sufficient to explain their Daheshist clarification.
Each Main Sayyal extends life to man and with it, comes fundamental innate needs—abilities that are combined with the Main Sayyal itself and are of its essence. The founder of Daheshism had talked and written about them in an informal way, however, they can be classified in six categories:
Basic need for the opposite sex, a need that produces sexual desires. The founder of Daheshism says about them: “How powerful the sexual desire is in man and how great is its control over his mental abilities! How holy is that man that can kill this strong ability!” This judgment of his came, on the one hand, to confirm the human condition and on the other hand, to stress that the purpose of life on Earth is to have man surpass the level of human nature that initially caused his fall from the Earthly paradise and in doing so, he would Spiritually regain the missing paradise.
Fundamental need for self-confirmation by the Sayyal. This need is subdivided into four general desires: desire for immortality; desire for self-evaluation; desire for strength; and desire for possession. The elevation of the Sayyal is dependent upon: a) the extent of having its desire for Spiritual immortality defeat its desire for the mirage of earthly “immortality,” whether through seeking mundane fame or through procreation; b) the extent of having its eternal Spiritual desire for self-evaluation, by adherence to total Spiritual and humane values, defeat its desire for mundane self-evaluation by adherence to the values of social status; c) the extent of having its desire to adhere to the Power of God and His Eternal Truth (the power of conscience) defeat its desire for mundane power based on violence, domination, and aggression; d) and the extent of having its desire to acquire what is immortal defeat its desire to acquire what is mortal. Dr. Dahesh often depicted in many of his inspired or revealed writings, the sad nature of humanity. To illustrate this point, take the following lines from “The Fog” that was revealed by the Spirit of Kahlil Gibran in a Spiritual Session and is a message from a Divine Voice addressing the Spirit of Gibran requesting from him to convey a message to humanity. The following is an excerpt: “O wretched sons of Earth! I have witnessed your actions, heard your sayings, observed your deeds, and read your minds for thousands of years and found them all unchanged! For you die for the love of women, fight each other over materialism, worship power, sanctify authority, attack the weak, blaspheme the Heavens, falsify the truth, and deceive each other!”
The fundamental need to preserve life. This need is subdivided into four general desires: desire for food and drink; desire for peace and security; desire for guarding and protecting; and the desire for work and rest. All of these represent the essential human rights prescribed by all religions and Dr. Dahesh stressed the issue in his writings. However, the scale for life in Daheshism is the extent of Spiritual values and the human creativity in them. For the adherence to earthly life for the sake of life is meaningless and a lengthy life devoid from Spiritual advancement and human benefit is also meaningless. Dr. Dahesh says: “How difficult man’s life is and how extensive is his suffering on this Earth! Rather, how strong his attachment to life is and his approach to it, despite his knowledge that he lives a life without a meaning in it for happiness and no value in it for sadness.” He also says: “There is no meaning to man’s life if he doesn’t perform a great humane deed.”
Fundamental need for guidance. This need is subdivided into two general desires: desire for human guidance and the desire for supernatural guidance—an aspect of the Sayyal of religious faith in man and whether or not man ignored it or arrogantly denied its presence. Dr. Dahesh mentions the first desire by saying: “We all need guidance.” He also confirms the second desire by showing that it is inherent in the formation of not only man, but rather in every creature as well. It torments the conscience and inflicts pain on the Spirit as warning signs for: “diversion from: the face of light…the face of sweet and desirable hope; the face of what water, air, sky, and heavens long for; the face of what all living creatures look at and without an exception; the face of what all creatures, known and unknown, wishes for; and the face of just Truth; the face of God, All Mighty.” The elevation of this Sayyal is dependent on the extent of satisfying these two desires. The Sayyal of faith that is inherent in man’s Main Sayyal—that is responsible for life—is the one that determines man’s religion in accordance to his Spiritual level. One day the founder of Daheshism told me the following: “Man is not raised by the same religion as his parents, as most people think, but rather it is the level of the Main Sayyal that determines one’s religion.” When I told him I was born a Christian Catholic prior to my conversion to Daheshism at the age of 27, he answered me: “You were in that period in a state of waiting and readiness, otherwise, you would not have believed in Daheshism.”
Fundamental need to explore. This need is subdivided into two general desires: desire for practical knowledge and desire for theoretical knowledge. There is no doubt that the elevation of the Sayyal is measured by the extent of fulfilling these desires. Dr. Dahesh, who is in no need of human knowledge because he is provided with inspiration and revelation says: “As days pass by, I am more knowledgeable and receive lessons I am very much in need of; and every time the sun rises on a new day, my reasoning increases and is different from my reasoning the previous day.” Not to mention his reverence for the intellect and science, as well as the great thinkers, philosophers, and scientists.
Fundamental need for beauty. This need is subdivided into two general desires: the desire to taste beauty and the desire to imitate it. Dr. Dahesh says:
“God created for us fascinating beauty and we were taken by it since old,
Our souls and hearts were throbbing when we saw its power,
And we couldn’t let go of its spell and charm,
Words and expressions flowed from us and they overflowed due to its magic
Standing in front of its perfection and glory, translating what we feel and sense toward it.
O! How much we revere beauty! And how many temples of appreciation we erect to it!”
The elevation of these two desires is measured relative to the extent of man’s interest in natural beauty and his preservation for it, as well as the extent of his enjoyment of artistic beauty and his interest in its masterpieces. As to the creation of artistic beauty, it requires a Sayyal of a special talent, because the creative capacity is not present in every Main Sayyal that extends man with life.
In later studies, we will look further into Secondary Sayyals and the Sayyals of talents, those that influence the will, the unconscious, and the interaction of all these abilities.