Universal Human Values: Understanding Harmony in the Human Being

Understanding Harmony in the Human Being

• A gross misunderstanding is assuming the human being to be only the Body, leading to feelings of deprivation and exploitation.

Activities of the Self

• The activities of the Self can be seen in terms of desire, thought, and expectation.
• Desire is the activity of imaging, making an image in the Self.
• Thought is the power for analyzing based on comparing various possibilities to fulfill desire.
• Expectation is the power for selecting based on tasting.
• These activities are continuous, inexhaustible, and always going on, whether we are aware of them or not.

Imagination and Happiness

• The activities of desire, thought, and expectation together constitute imagination.
• Happiness and unhappiness depend on the state of imagination.

Understanding the Human Being

• A human being is a co-existence of the Self and the Body.
• The Self is what we term as 'I' and the Body is what we see with our eyes.
• The needs of the Self and the Body are different:
  • The need of the Self is happiness (e.g. feeling of respect leading to happiness).
  • The need of the Body is physical facility (e.g. food).

Needs of the Self and Body

• The needs of the Self are continuous in time, while the needs of the Body are required for a limited time.
• The need of the Body is quantitative in nature, while the need of the Self is qualitative.

Fulfillment of Needs

• The needs of the Body are fulfilled by physio-chemical things.
• The needs of the Self are fulfilled by right understanding and right feeling.

Activities of the Self and Body

• The activities of the Self are continuous (desire, thought, and expectation).
• The activities of the Body are temporary in time (e.g. eating, walking).

Response of the Self and Body

• The response of the Body is based on recognizing and fulfilling.
• The response of the Self is based on knowing, assuming, recognizing, and fulfilling.

Key Takeaways

• Human being is co-existence of the Self (Consciousness) and the Body (Material).
• The response of the Body is definite, while the response of the Self depends on assuming.
• With assuming based on knowing, the conduct of a human being gets definite, otherwise it is indefinite.