The Difference between the Level of Perception of the World in the Womb and the Worldly Life
Have you ever thought about space? Would you like to experience a journey to space as well? If you were asked to describe exoplanet Kepler-62f, what would you answer? Almost all of us agree that it is difficult to imagine the characteristics of a place we have not yet seen with our own eyes and even in some cases, it is impossible. Imagining a planet outside the solar system is beyond our understanding, as we have not experienced life there, we have not seen its intricacies and are unaware of the extent of God’s power beyond the limits of our own life. In fact, our perception of an unfamiliar environment is limited to the definitions we have heard about it.
Perception is a process by which we categorize and identify the beliefs and interpretations we have about our surroundings, and ultimately, we give meaning to them. Now, the following questions arise: What level of perception does a fetus have of the mother’s womb? What level of perception does the fetus have of the grandeur and beauties of the world? After being born into this world, what level of perception does the human being have of the hereafter?
As a fetus gains perception of its existence in the womb, he adapts itself to the conditions of the mother’s womb. He quickly passes through stages of growth and development and builds the tools and organs he needs. However, since he has no knowledge about the world outside the womb, he shows no inclination to know it. The fetus’s level of perception of the world of matter is limited to his experiences within the womb. He hears and feels to some extent. He can recognize others as voices different from his mother’s voice. Due to the strong bond and close proximity to the mother and her womb, the fetus is most familiar with the presence of his mother, her voice, and her heartbeat. The fetus is even aware of his mother’s emotional states, such as happiness, sadness, or anger. His understanding is primarily limited to the context of his mother’s womb, and he remains unaware of his other abilities.
The Fetus’s Level of Perception of the World of Matter
A fetus can never have a true understanding of the world because the vastness of the world and the diversity of its blessings are beyond his imagination. Although he has organs and limbs inside his mother’s womb, it is impossible for him to understand the function of those organs. He can never understand the wisdom behind the mysterious formation of the brain, or what the visual and auditory systems are for. In fact, the fetus only becomes aware of the wisdom behind them when he enters the world. He understands the purpose of having eyes, hands, ears, feet, and other organs when he realizes the function of each one, and through them, he will know the world around him better.
Relying on the tools he acquires within the mother’s womb, the fetus gains the power of elevation and growth. If he does not have a healthy birth, the inability to understand the vast, beautiful, and magnificent world around him will be distressing. Just like a newborn who has not been able to make eyes during the fetal stage, and as a result, he can never perceive the visual beauties and wonders of the world due to this defect.
In the mother’s womb, the fetus’s perception is only limited to his small immediate surroundings. He supposes he is just able to sustain life through the umbilical cord and placenta and construct organs whose purpose of existence is beyond his own understanding. After a while, instinctively and intuitively, the fetus becomes aware of the existence of these organs by moving his fingers and other body parts. However, his level of perception of the world does not extend beyond the limited and narrow confines of the dark womb. The fetus has no understanding of the life after birth; he can never imagine the vast and magnificent world he is supposed to move to in order to continue his life.
The Human Perception of the Hereafter
After birth and stepping into the womb of the world, we become aware of the vastness and characteristics of the world. After becoming familiar with our abilities and capabilities, we gradually actualize our potentials. Inside the mother’s womb, there was no light for us , as the fetus, to see and perceive the surrounding environment with our own eyes. However, upon entering the world, our level of perception of the world expands, and we are able to see millions of different colors.
The process of our journey from the womb of the world towards the hereafter is similar to the journey of the fetus from the mother’s womb to the world. After death, we enter Barzakh and face conditions and an atmosphere that are very different from the world. Neither is our level of perception of that world comparable to this world, nor are our capabilities superficial and at a worldly level.
Just as the world is more advanced and has more blessings than the mother’s womb, the hereafter is more magnificent and complicated than our world! The blessings of the heaven are billions of times greater, more advanced, sweeter, and more joyous than the blessings of the world. Just as it is difficult for a fetus inside the mother’s womb to understand the greatness of the world and the diversity of its blessings, it is also challenging for us, who are in the womb of the world, to understand the complexity and diversity of the blessings of the hereafter.
In this lesson, we discussed the fetus’s level of perception of the world in the mother’s womb and the human being’s perception of the hereafter in the womb of the world. We mentioned that just as a fetus in the womb is unaware of the future world and its grandeur, our level of perception of the world of the hereafter in this world is insignificant. In fact, we cannot imagine the blessings of the heaven or the advanced resources of the hereafter; we can achieve a limited understanding of the grandeur and magnificence of the hereafter only through the Law of Proportion.
Have you ever thought about the level of perception of the world in different stages of life? We welcome any comments, ideas, or suggestions you may have regarding this topic.