Being a complete human is not as simple as it seems. Every being lives a life. But, there a difference between just living and living right. Any being who can walk on two feet does not become a human being. Even a trained dog can walk on two feet. Any being who can laugh does not become a human being. People say there are laughing hyenas. So, we should first know what makes one a human being? After that, depending on how close we are to living right like a human being, we can determine our humanity score. Are you all excited to check your Humanity score!? Read on and find out! 😊
It’s the ability to act(ఆచరణ) according to one’s thought (ఆలోచన) which differentiates a human being from other species. We may wonder whether animals and other species cannot think? They can think only to an extent, the extent of satiating their bodily needs and not anything beyond the body.
A human being is given the ability to think beyond his/her body. And when one can utilise this ability (through manas) to the fullest extent, then he/she will become a complete human being. Otherwise, one will remain partially human. Are you a complete human being or a partial human being? Here’s how you can check!
There are five individual checkpoints overall and one comprehensive checkpoint. One should observe and conduct life in all these five aspects not compromising one over another. The five checkpoints are:
- Body
- Family and sampradayic culture
- Society
- Nature and all other species
- The controller of all (God)
Let’s take the first aspect, Body: When one asks our residence, we give the address of the physical location of our house. If we take one step deeper, we are residents of our body first! 😊 We have been given this current body for a purpose. Knowing this and ensuring that we keep our body fit and healthy to serve that purpose is first checkpoint.
It is said in skanda purana, ‘One who uses the flesh of another body to fulfil the needs of his/her body is not a human being!’.
Sastra also states, ‘Yuktha:ha:ra viha:rasya Yuktha che:shtasya karmasu, Yuktha Swapna:va bo:dhasya yo:go: bhavathi dukhaha’. Yuktha means regulation / moderation. Anything (food, recreation, work) in excess leads to dukkha (unhappy state for the body).
There is so much more in terms of when to eat, what to eat, what to avoid, how much to eat etc. When we speak of food, don’t limit to what we intake from the mouth. Whatever we do to satiate other senses of the body are all considered ‘food’ for the body. Understanding what is right and essential to all those senses, and regulating our activities accordingly constitutes to keeping our body fit for the ultimate purpose! Now, check yourself and give a score for the first checkpoint, body!
Similarly, take the next four checkpoints and analyse for yourself how close you are to living right in each aspect. If you are unsure of what it means to live right in an aspect, consult the experts. Don’t forget the comprehensive checkpoint where your performance at one checkpoint should not tamper the performance in another checkpoint. For example: taking care of your body is important but if it disables you from living right in all the remaining four aspects, then you are doing something wrong!
Our elders have always used these 9 days, vasantha Navaratri (Ugadi to Sri Rama Navami) to read from Ramayana on what it means to live right in all these 5 aspects.
Sri Rama Chandra is the perfect example of a complete human being! So, let’s aim to learn from Him and hopefully we can at least reach a certain extent and make our life meaningful.
– From the discourse of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji,
– 7th March, JIVA Campus
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