By Dr. J Das
In order to understand the problems of the world, it is necessary to understand the human being. How does a person understand himself and his relationship to others? Is he merely a physical being that possesses a mind, emotions and intellect, or is he, perhaps, a spiritual being possessing these attributes? Ordinarily, we see people as individuals with their individual personalities, likes and dislikes, motivations, aspirations, behavior etc., and accept them at that level. We do not see people at the deeper level, that they are the Spirit. Is it not valid to say that we are Spirit that possesses the body, mind, emotions and intellect? If we look at people as spiritual beings, then we will realize that this spirit is of the same essence in all of them. We can say that the spirit of God dwells in all beings. This allows us to see our brotherhood in all. But in order to understand the Spirit we need to examine our sense of “being”.
In every person, there is a sense of “being”, a sense of awareness of the self. A person instinctively knows that he “is” and that he exists. This knowledge manifests in two ways: #1 – the physical, external and superficial awareness of the self as the body with a form, a name, a race, and a gender, and other external characteristics. #2 – the spiritual, internal and deep sense of awareness of the self that cannot be defined by any external characteristics. The first is common knowledge to all humans, and people will describe themselves with the external, physical characteristics. If someone is asked, “Who are you?” he will most likely respond by giving his name, or profession, or his relationship to a significant person. This is how he observes himself, and also how others observe him. He fits into a label that has been fostered by himself, his family, society and religion. For nearly all practical purposes, this definition of a person is adequate, and places him in a context which he himself and others readily perceive and understand. However, this definition does not persist under all circumstances, as we shall see.
If the knowledge of the self were dependent on the physical being, then this knowledge should change with changes in the physical being. In childhood, there is a total awareness of “being”, and this same awareness persists throughout growth into adulthood, old age and even to the time of death. The knowledge of being or existence remains constant, though the body has undergone significant changes. Another example: A person weighs 150 lbs. and has an awareness of his being. He now gains 150 lbs. And weighs 300 lbs. His awareness of being still remains the same. Now if he loses the 150 lbs. his knowledge of being still remains the same. It did not double with doubling the weight, nor did it decrease by reducing the weight. We can see then that the self does not depend on the physical aspects of a person. There must then be another attribute by which to understand a person’s being. This other attribute is the recognition that a person is a spiritual being, and this does not change with a person’s physical, mental, intellectual, cultural and social changes. This is the permanence of the spirit, the core of our “Being.”
Dr. J Das is a Surrey based writer and spiritualist.
