Introduction

Gatekeeper: We have reached the ninth program of the third chapter; we must set out earlier, they are waiting for us. This time we want to confront a teacher who wants to share a very important subject with us. Be ready for us to enter his presence.

The Teacher's Discourse

Dear friends, greetings; I have been waiting for you for a long time, and it was planned to form this session earlier, so that as one of the teachers who offers supplementary discussions, I play my role. I want to pour the most important subject of the collection of materials with which you were confronted in these sessions into a mold and name it "Language" (Zabān). I have written a small article; I read it and in the necessary place, put explanations beside it too.

First I say: the mind oriented to the shaped world is commissioned to form the mental form and present it to the shapeless aspect. In the previous sessions, you saw this subject: you are before an object and a mental form appears for you which you named "mental picture" (mental representation); and you knew before what this mental picture is placed; naturally before us is the shapeless/formless aspect. So this picture is presented to the shapeless aspect; in the case of the occurrence of Inspiration (Ilhām)—on the condition that the situation is prepared and your mind is ready and prepared—Inspiration occurs.

What is the result of the occurrence of Inspiration? Meaning is discovered in the mind; meaning here you are an observer, only placed before the object, see that Object (Abzhe), in your mind a mental form has been formed which is placed before the shapeless aspect, Inspiration occurs and meaning is discovered in the mind; we say the mind experienced Unveiling / Unfolding (Inkishāf). Now I want to bring up language; language consists of what transfers meaning; meaning we make a unveiling/unfolding of a subject; that meaning which we said appears in the mind from the shapeless aspect, what factor transfers it? Who is the carrier of meaning? We say language; we want to put this name on it.

It is better to say that the mind's work is only that, like an inventor, it offers a mental form; but the mental form is not transferable; meaning if a transfer is to be performed, it is not this mental form of yours that is transferred. The mental form must be reflected somewhere; I used the shapeless/formless aspect, I said it is placed before it; this mental form toward the shapeless aspect is meaning which, due to transferability, is an entity independent of the mind. From where did meaning come? It came from the shapeless aspect. How was it transferred? Language. Language must transfer it.

So we can say this stage is the stage of "the formation of the Zone of Awareness and the establishment of Language in it" (Zone of Awareness / Mantaghe-ye Āgāhī). From what stage can you say "I have possessed language"? Now you understand that we have not studied many of these subjects with much concentration. When we say language, those very discussions raised for you previously must have come forward and a zone of awareness must have appeared for recognition; language is established in that zone of awareness of your mind and recognition begins in this way.

This language of which I speak, do not compare with the vocal/acoustic sounds that you call language. We are saying a meaning is discovered in our mind; we want to show it; what factor told me this object placed before you, for example this flower, is beautiful? Who said? Discovery of meaning occurred; beauty is meaning, although the existence of the object is also there, meaning I experienced Ecstatic Reception (Wajd) and in my mind reached the existence of that object; this too is meaning. Added and cumulative meanings also appear: the object is beautiful, is far, is close; all of these are mental activities, so they require language; so inside your mind a language is common, a language is established.

Let me say another definition: recognition consists of the emergence of linguistic signs. Meaning signs must emerge; these signs have a denotative/demonstrative state. In the previous sessions, it was said that in our mind propositions appear, of the nature of "this, then that," demonstrating—this means recognition has occurred, although it is a first recognition. The signs that emerge here are these very denotative expressions, meaning they guide; "if this is, then that is"; they call this the denotation of Signifier and Signified (Dāl va Madlūl), and demonstration. But there is also an interesting point: those ideas, those mental forms of which we spoke, themselves become an Object for recognition and language; this too is an interesting subject that will open your path wider in the future. Meaning if your mental pictures are registered and preserved, these Objects, these mental representations, are taken into attention by the zone of awareness, recognition, and language; how? Because of the fact that the continuous reflections and association of ideas which we said in the previous sessions, bring about experiences of awareness that are on the rise; like that I compare this mental picture with another mental command and draw attributes from it.

The discussion of names is also interesting; they are built corresponding to ideas; meaning things that later appear in your mind under the title of "name" take shape based on the correspondence of ideas and their comparison with one another. Some ask, what does pondering (Ratiocination / Tafakkur) mean? We have a mind that possesses awareness and language; meaning the zone of awareness has appeared in it, the establishment of language in it has occurred, with a fresh Inspiration; meaning Inspiration has not ended, even as the mind deals with ideas, we expect fresh Inspirations; what happens? Understanding of meanings; meaning I want to understand the meanings I obtained, establish connection with them.

I also used a word for you to ponder: "Dialectic" (Diyālektik). Dialectic is the method of recognizing meanings arising from ideas and, at the same time, the method of constructing words that relies on language. So once again we returned with a term with which you may be confronted in articles and books. We say in the mind Dialectic occurs; Dialectic has a double state, meaning as if two factors are placed before each other. What are those two factors? The mental picture, before the shapeless/formless aspect; this is a kind of Dialectic. Or the mental picture, or mental representations, in the very zone of recognition of the mind; I like to name here the "Hall of Mirrors" (Tālār-e Āyine); there the reflections that appear in various mirrors, Dialectic occurs; meaning as if each of these pictures or representations, when placed before these various mirrors, something appears inside that mirror. So this Dialectic shows a kind of duality; and interestingly, language plays a role here; because every time you are placed before one of the mental mirrors, you understand something; now you want to say "I compared something with another thing" or "I thought of something"; what you name "pondering" (Ratiocination / Tafakkur) is this.

Meaning Dialectic occurs; meaning I take that representation, that subject of which you are thinking, that idea and take it into the Hall of Mirrors; what is in the Hall of Mirrors? Mirrors; there projection and reflection occur; so a mind will be stronger whose number of mental representations is greater, and it must also have a more complete Hall of Mirrors. If you ask how these Halls of Mirrors appear, I say it will occur based on your success in receiving Inspiration from the Formless Space; because if these Inspirations continue in sequence, your mind possesses a "Hall of Dialogue". So pondering is not a mental matter, do not make mistake; it is an inspirational matter that is placed on the base of language and the search for meaning; and Dialectic begins from the recognition of sensory experiences, meaning those simple things you observe, and ends in the recognition of meanings arising from ideas.

In this stage, Dialectic is an choice that is willful and conscious from the side of human; I brought this word intentionally. Some ask, what happened to the work of human himself? You say everything is inspirational. Here I explain that part of these Dialectics is also of myself; because it is I who willfully and consciously ask my mind to perform the act of reflection about a specific subject; go to the Hall of Mirrors and see what reflection this idea I raise finds. So this becomes a willful and conscious choice from the side of human, which occurs in the form of a dialogue inside the mind. So you have an inner language, you make an inner dialogue in the mind. According to our definition, what did this dialogue become? The placement of our Object before what? I say I have nothing to do with the shaped world; those mental pictures that I myself do not know how they are formed in my mind, go and are placed in this hall and I see as if I myself am the party of this story; there I can also ask questions.

But we also have "Inter-mental Dialogue" (Dialectic / Inter-mental / Goftogū-ye Beyn-oz-zehnī); this Dialectic is different. For connection between two humans, the mental linguistic signs change from the denotative state—the same "this, then that," demonstrating—to the expressive state. It is here that language comes out of the domain of the inside of the mind and suddenly makes a turn; they say "mental turn" (linguistic turn) appears; as if a place opens; that which performed in the inner, in the reflective state, now sees a way of exit before itself; so it comes out of the denotative state and is converted to the expressive state; wants to express and explain something.

In this stage, Dialectic between two humans, for the purpose of transferring the concepts "enveloped" (mantowī) in ideas, finds the capability of becoming determined (actualized); those concepts I had in mind, now I must make them objective; language becomes objective, reveals itself. So the human mind, in relation to the world, is continuously being constructed; the good conclusion-drawing it wants to take from this is: the mind is never complete; because those who are in the state of pondering, continuously expand their mental hall, and interestingly, if they perform Dialectic with someone else, meaning open their mind, their hall, and place their mental library before the mental library of another individual and dialogue with each other, it is obvious that they also use a common language, because it must become determined; but what is the result of all this dialogue? The continuous construction of the mind; meaning the mind expands. So we must say the mind is unfinished and incomplete, and Denotative Language (indicator/pointer) is elevated to Expressive (Symbolic) Language (signifying/expressive).

One of the friends asked what the word "Enveloped" (Mantowī) that I used means; see, "envelopment" (entivā') is to the meaning of folding something inside another thing. When I say "the transfer of enveloped concepts," meaning what is placed inside your ideas? Meaning; meaning went and was placed inside ideas, a wrapping was also drawn over it. I hope you can establish connection; do not say I say difficult words to make the subject complex; I do not mean such.

Let me also speak a bit about "Vocalizing" (Tekallum); because humans want to be placed before each other. The common language in which each of you speaks in your geography, uses signs and signals for the transfer of meaning; obviously the linguistic signs of early human differed from your modern signs. Language, in the beginning, uses denotative object-oriented signs; meaning if you want to establish a first connection, build a simple language, you must use the same "this, then that" in the Shaped Space and for every object placed before you, use a sign too. But in the continuation, language uses "name" and "noun/Name" as expressive signs; no longer needs to raise denotative object-oriented signs.

Let me give an example: suppose you want to show an apple to someone or speak about it; in early languages, the individual perhaps with an gesture or with the hand, transferred a demonstration of that object; but now you say "apple"; what connection does this word itself have with the fruit of apple? If you write "apple" on paper, how do you want to show this writing has connection with that fruit, with that color, smell, and taste? You see because of the expansion of language, it is no longer necessary for all the objects before us to point with the denotative object-oriented state; so we perform naming. It is here that in language signs appear that point to something beyond themselves; when I see "apple" on paper, that written-down apple and these alphabetic signs do not keep me busy much; I quickly go toward the beyond of these letters, to the apple itself, because I know the convention.

So what is the definition of "Speech / Discourse" (Kalām)? Speech/Discourse is symbolic language for defining an abstract reality. Why do humans speak, why did they invent Speech/Discourse? Firstly, Speech/Discourse is symbolic language, meaning inside it are symbols so that those abstract thoughts, meaning the thoughts I have in mind, are transferred to the opposing individual; so the transferer is the same concepts built of the mind; once again we point out that meaning is from the mind, came from somewhere else, and its dynamism, the dynamism of language, occurs in the domain of dialogue; meaning the more you work on this dialogue and find an opposing mind closer to yourself, the dynamism of language occurs along with the expansion of the mind.

Symbolic Speech/Discourse has the characteristic of representation; meaning it places something before you that is not itself; points to another place, to a reality beyond itself, and also possesses the meaning of the abstract matter. Meaning when such a symbolic state occurs, the opposing individual can understand from these symbols about what abstract matter you are speaking. This Speech/Discourse begins with the connection with the Formless Space and ends with its severance; here you must be precise. I who want to deliver the abstract matter, must go and establish connection with the Formless Space; in my mind must experience Inspiration; that symbol keeps its effective state—whether in my mind, or in the outside—as long as we do not lose connection with the Formless Space.

Do you know what I want to say? I want to say, have you felt you are speaking but empty of functional meaning, empty of influence, whether in your own inner language, or in dialogue with another; as if breathless/spiritless. This word is interesting to me; do you know why? Because the matter of Inspiration has stopped. You can continue that connection in an effective shape and your symbolic language show its power when you still have connection with the Formless Space. Why do they say life has become meaningless? Because it has become very shaped, empty of meaning; empty language of meaning and Inspiration, has no power anymore, only remains an gesture to what we previously expanded and equipped as the carrier of meaning.

When no meaning is displaced, obviously our connection will be weak; my meaning is that that symbolic transfer suffers from a problem. What is the result left behind from this rich language? When language did its work and that connection was established, symbols are created; where do these symbols go? They take place in the mind of humans and every time you look at them, you receive the same message again. Meaning if I am even thinking of a flower and perceived that beauty as an abstract matter, every time I look at the flower or recall it myself, I find a percentage of that state of receiving the abstract matter in myself again; unlike conventional linguistic signs that are consciously invented and cast aside by human.

Here another subject is raised: some of the words that you say "this was of fifty years ago," now anyone who for example wants to say "pot/pitcher," uses this term, not the previous term; these are conventional language; meaning it is not planned for a special meaning to be displaced. So in this conventional language, you yourselves consciously, when you see a need, use another word, cast aside the previous linguistic sign, dismiss it, and place another thing instead, perhaps because it is pronounced more easily.

But the symbols of language are born and also perish; not because human himself consciously does so; its cause is the severance of connection with the Formless Space. Have no more Inspiration, have no more Vision (Dreaming / Roya), have no more Imagination; symbols perish for this very reason. We teachers too are symbols. Goodbye.

Footnote: To illustrate these concepts with a concrete example, consider watching "The Miracle Worker" (1962).