Composition of the World

The world consists of minerals, plants, animals, and humans. Minerals are inanimate and change very slowly over time. Plants have physical forms but lack minds. Animals feel emotions, but their thinking is rudimentary. Humans alone possess a fully developed body, mind, and intellect. A human thinks, calculates, and interacts with the world using their gross intellect. With their subtle intellect, humans can explore the transcendental and posit the existence of God beyond the earthly realm. Just as the macrocosm and microcosm display similar qualities, this classification of the world is also reflected in humans according to their level of awareness and identification.