abian Philosophy

It is a trend these days for people to blame their destructive behaviors on either the misfortune of an abusive childhood or a "chemical imbalance." Without denying that there is an interplay between the social-physical orders and behavior, it is putting the cart before the horse when ultimate blame is attributed to factors beyond our control. The "I" must take the final responsibility for self if the "I" wants to grow into an integrated human being. Failure to take responsibility for personal actions chains the soul to the dungeon of conditioned behavior and thereby inhibits the spiritual growth that is its destiny. The badly abused child may never overcome the ravages of his (or her) childhood but he must try, for it is in the trying that he grows in spiritual stature.

Sabian philosophy teaches that devotion is the sacrifice of lesser interests to greater ideals. This is never merely an inner experience of deep feeling nor is it simply a matter of  reciting pious phrases. Devotion makes transcendental values real in everyday life.  By emphasizing the physical and emotional components of experience -- real in their own right -- we never align ourselves with the transcendent values of "higher mind" that are the only truly human attributes.

This approach to creative living is based on Ibn Gabirol’s Fountain of Life Book III, Chapter 48. Here the Teacher again explains the nature of the three souls. He clarifies that a plant has only a vital (life-giving) soul; an animal has both a vital and an animal soul; the human being has a vital soul (necessary for sense perception), an animal soul (necessary for emotional response and concrete reasoning), and a rational soul (necessary for abstract reasoning). He further explains that in humans it is the rational soul that "rules" the other two.

A practical application of the concept of devotion would be to consciously forego an emotional outburst through an act of will.  Through this act you are choosing a path of higher values rather than reacting to the conditioned response of an undisciplined mind.