UNIT 2

Understanding Harmony in the Human Being - Harmony in Myself

Q1. What do you understand by “ Human Being as a Co-Existence of the Sentient ‘I’ and the Material ‘Body’”?

Ans:- Humans though they appear to be one entity in nature, they are a kind of composite entity, which means they appear as a whole but in reality, they are composed of parts. Humans may be understood as a composition of various parts, looking from various points of view. One of the broader points of view suggests humans are made of two parts the 'self' or 'I' and the body. The human being is the co-existence of self and the body, and there is an exchange of information between 'I' and body. This indicates the 'Self' or 'I' and ' Body' are related to each.

The sentient part of humans is the “I” or “Self”, the “I” has no physical form, and it represents human consciousness. The “I” is very important because this is what makes a human different from any other inanimate entity of this world. The 'self ' or 'I' may be seen as the driving life force, which gives us the ability to think, to have an identity of our own, it gives us the ability to relate ourselves with others and the world and also provides the ability to distinguish ourselves from others and the world. The 'self' represents our consciousness, which is responsible for what we think, how we think, how we argue, and how we distinguish one thing from the other. The 'self' or 'I' is what creates desires and aspirations in us, it is what decides what makes us happy and what makes us unhappy. It is the sentient 'I' which cautions us of impending dangers and gives us the ability to think of defensive measures. It is the 'self' that recognizes if the humans are in some troubles and try to take countermeasures, to protect the individual. Thus, we can see how important “self” or “I” is for the existence of humans. But despite its vital role, it has no power to execute them without the help of the other part which is the “body”.

The “body” is the second constituent part of human existence. The “body” represents our physical form or the material human body, made of flesh and bones. The “body” is a complex bio-chemical structure, composed of various material parts. The “body” is what gives humans a physical hold on the world and a physical identity. The “body” gives us the ability to perform various physical activities, like running, jumping, various kinds of physical works. The “self” or “I” may deploy a counter defensive mechanism in a distress situation, but it the “body” which in actuality performs these defensive mechanisms to protect ourselves and our identity.

Both the “self” or “I” and the “body” are equally important constituent parts of human existence. They are equally important because one cannot exist without the other neither it can do anything alone. Whatever humans do, whatever they do it is always a combined effort of both the “self” and “body”. In many of the ancient religions of the world like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, etc the concept of “Atma” or the “self” and “Sharir” or the “Body” is found. For example, according to the ancient Hindu text “Yajurveda”, the human body is a composite structure made of five elements, namely earth, water, air, sky, and fire. It also states that this composite body is governed by consciousness “Jiva” or what we now understand as the “self” or “I”. Thus, for the harmonious existence of a human, properly balanced co-existence between the “self” and “body” is required.

Q2. Explain the needs of Self (‘I’) and ‘Body’.

Ans:-

The above diagram gives us a pictorial representation of how Human existence is a co-existence of the “self” and the “body”, while they co-exist, they share information. Both the “self” and the “body” have their needs, here we will discuss are needs of the “self” and the “body”, how their needs are different, and how they work together to help each other fulfill their needs.

The need for “Self” or “I” is happiness or “Sukh”. The main and primary need of the “self” is happiness; everything the “self” does or plans to do is for happiness. Happiness is a sensation, which is derived from the feelings of love, respect, care, trust, fellow - feeling, brotherhood. When people care for us, we feel happy, when people respect us, we feel have, we feel happy when someone keeps our trust. When someone shows us brotherhood, we also feel happy. Thus, we derive happiness from these emotions. This happiness or “sukh” is the driving force behind the “self” or “I”. The “self” is in a continuous struggle to acquire happiness, which it tries to get by getting into the various relationship of trust, love, care, etc, with our family, friends, and acquaintances. The need for the “self” is something continuous and is not temporary. The “self” is always looking for “sukh” or happiness, irrespective of time, it never stops this pursuit of happiness. The needs of the “self” are fulfilled by the right understanding and right feeling among our relationships. Right understanding and harmony in our relationship with ourselves, family, society, and Nature, fulfills the needs of the “self”. The needs of the “self” are first recognized by thinking, then assuming, and then desiring. The desires of the “self” are what form the main crux of the needs of the “self”. The “self” may have various desires upon the fulfillment of these desires, the “self” thinks it will be in a state of “sukh” or happiness. The needs of the “self” are qualitative, which has nothing to with quantitative measure, it focuses more on the quality of the needs. The needs of the “self” are non-materialistic or abstract, the needs have no physical form but are like feelings and sensations which are very important to keep the self in a state of satisfaction and bliss.

The needs of the “body” are physical facilities or “suvidhas”. The body is a complex physical structure made of muscles and bones, so it has some physical needs to maintain its proper shape, structure, strength, and durability. The needs of the “body” are mainly food, clothing, and shelter. But unlike the “self” the needs of the “body” are not continuous, but rather periodic in form. For example, we don’t keep eating food continuously, but rather wait till our body feels hungry again when the previously consumed food is burned to procedure energy. Unlike the needs of the “self”, the needs of the “body” are quantitative. For example, the quantity of food required by an adult person will be more than the quantity of food needed by a child. The needs of the “body” are first recognized and are fulfilled by various physical activities. Like the body gathers food and eats it to satisfy its hunger, the “body” needs to take shelter to protect the skin and organs from the elements of nature. The “body” fulfills its need for protection and similar members by expanding its identity, by the process of reproduction. The needs of the “body” stimulate the “self” to bend its desires accordingly. For example, the “self” may desire to be powerful, which is induced by the body's need for physical protection. But unlike the non-materialistic needs of the “self”, the needs of the “body” are materialistic and physiochemical. Both “sukh” and “suvidha” are designed in such a way they complement each other, both the “self” and “body” have needs which not only satisfy themselves but also help in the fulfillment of the needs of each other.

Q3. What do understand by “ Body is an Instrument of ‘I’ (I being the Doer, Seer, and Enjoyer)”?

Ans: A human is a composite of the “self” and the “body”. The “body” is the physical frame made of bones, muscles, and skin, but without the “self” the “body” has no use, it becomes like a dead person. All the thinking, assuming, planning, desiring is done by the “self” while the body executes these plans and desires physically. It can be compared to a puppeteer pulling the strings to make the puppet dance, though the act of dancing is executed by the puppet, it’s every move is due to strings being pulled by the puppeteer. Similar is the case here, the body moves, behaves, acts just as the “self” plans and desires. A very good example of the body being useless with the “self” is when a person is in a state of coma, many of us are aware people sometimes enter a state of coma due to some physical or mental trauma, in that state though the person is alive, due to the absence of the consciousness or the “self” the body is unable to do any work, it lies like a lifeless vegetable.

We will discuss here what do we mean when we 'body' is the instrument of the “self”. Just like the puppet in a puppet show, the body does everything but the actual doer, seer or enjoyer is the “self”. Though the act of seeing, doing, or enjoying is physically executed by the body, it is the “self” seeing, doing, and enjoying. What do we mean, when we say “I” is the seer? For example, if we are watching television, we are seeing the images on the television, listening to the sound and music, but we enjoy it only when we understand what we are seeing. Thus, while watching television or anything the actual seer is the “self” who desires to watch the television, who understands what is being shown on the television, and enjoys it. Therefore, in the act of watching the television, the “self” or “I” is the actual seer which sees through the medium of our physical eyes. If the “self” was not available, all the information received by our optic nerve would be useless and meaningless. This can be well understood with an example, for instance, we watch a news channel where the news is being read in a language unknown to us, we won’t understand what is being shown and nothing will make sense to us. In this case, the eyes are receiving the images and the ears are receiving the sounds they are sending the information to our conscious mind, but since the particular language is not known to us, the “self” is unable to recognize it and thus makes no sense to us.

Similar is the case when we say “I” is the doer, the hands and legs are just the media through which the “self” or “I” person what it desires to do. When we say “I” is the enjoyer, it means when we say we are enjoying something it is not the body that is enjoying, it is the “self” who is enjoying the feeling. For example, when we say we enjoy eating French fries, it is not the body that enjoys the taste, it is our “self” that prefers that taste, and it realizes that taste by the act of chewing without our mouth and feels the taste on our tongue. Thus, by now it must have been clear how the “self” or “I” uses the body as instruments to perform various activities. But the “body” is also an important part of existence since without it the conscious “self” won’t be able to perform any action nor fulfill any desire.

Q4.Explain the Characteristics and Activities of ‘I’ and Harmony in ‘I’ or ‘Self’.

Ans: The “body” is only capable of two responses, recognition, and fulfillment, but the “self” or “I” is also capable of multiple functions like knowing, assuming, recognition and fulfillment. For example, when our hand goes near fire or a hot object our hand automatically retracts back or moves back to protect itself. This happens because the “body “knows that fire or heat is harmful, it recognizes the fire and fulfills the action of withdrawing the hand. But the “I” or “self” can do more than just recognition and fulfillment. The 'I' or 'self' is capable of knowing, which means if there is a fire burning, the “body” only recognizes it as a source of heat, but the “self” is capable of knowing through the medium of eyes, what is the source of the heat, how the fire is burning, where the fire is burning. This act of knowing by the “self” induces another function of assuming, which is also done by the “self”. When the “self” knows why the fire is burning, how is it burning, then the “self” starts assuming is the fire harmful in that situation or can it can be used for something else.

For example, the “body” is not able to distinguish between the fire in a cooking stove and the fire of a burning house. But the “self” through its activities of knowing, assuming will be able to differentiate between the fire of the two different scenarios. While the “body” will try to detract from both the fires, the “self” will use the fire of the cooking stove to cook food and will detract from the fire of the burning house. To make it more clear with another example we may take the instance of vaccine injection. For example, when the “body” feels a pointed object like a needle on the skin, it recognizes the object and fulfills the action of retracting the hand. But when the “self” sees the needle on the head of a vaccine syringe, the “self” knows it’s not just a regular needle but a vaccine injection, then it assumes that since the doctor is coming with that injection towards the hand it will be pierced into the skin for medical purpose and there will be some pain, this time the “self” stops the hand from retracting even when the needle is pierced. This happened because the “self” first recognized, then thought about it, assumed the outcomes, and then led towards the fulfillment of the action. This is how the activities of the “self” take place.

The characteristics of “I” or “self” include desire, thought, and expectations. These characteristics of the “self” are realized by various activities of “I” like imaging, analyzing, selecting, or testing. For example, if the “self “desires to be a respectable rich man, the“self” initiates the desire by the activity of imaging. Here the “self” starts forming images in the mind about being respectable and rich. Whatever the desires may be, the “self” through the activity of imaging and imagination tries to paint a picture of the situation when the desire will be fulfilled. After the activity of imagination comes to the activity of thinking, the “self “thinks about the desire how to fulfill it in what way. Then comes the activity of analysis, the “self” analyses whatever thoughts it got about the desires. Once the analysis is done the “self” starts assuming about the possible outcomes. Then based on the assumptions and analysis the “self” makes some expectations.

Now we need to understand what is harmony in “I” or “self”. ‘Self’ or 'I' have certain basic aspirations. To fulfill these aspirations, the “self” develops some desires. The desire of the ' self ' is followed by various activities like imaging, imagination, thinking, analysis, assuming, and finally expectation. After the “self” has formed some expectations it stars to execute the desire through the medium of the body, and when the practical outcome of the plan matches the expectations formed by the “self”, a state of harmony in the “self” or “I” is achieved. On the contrary, if the expectations don’t match the outcome of the plan, then the desire is not fulfilled and the harmony in “self” or “I” is not achieved.

Q5. Explain the Harmony of “I” with the “Body”. What is “Sanyam” and “Swasthya”?

Ans: Our body is a composite structure made of the “self” or 'I' and the “body”. The “self” uses the “body” as an instrument to execute its various plans and desires. Therefore, if the instrument through which the “self” carries out its plans and desires is hampered in some way or other, it will, in turn, disrupt the desires and plans of the “self”. Thus, the “body” must remain in a healthy harmonious condition, then only both the “self” and “body “will be able to co-exist in harmony too. The human body is a self-organized unit with a highly sophisticated mechanism. It is made up of several organs such as the heart, lungs, etc and various glands, all of these work in a close coordinated, well-balanced manner.

The body is made up of cells and each cell of the body has a role to play in the overall working of the body. Each cell is self-organized and participates in the self-organization of the body as a whole. All the activities in the body keep the body fit and ready, so that the “self” or “I” may use it to execute its desires and plans. The conscious “self” and the “body” remain in a state of co-existence, and to maintain a smooth functioning of themselves the “self” performs the process of “Sanyam” or Self-Regulation, and the “body” performs the process of “Swasthya” or Health. Through both these processes, the self and the body maintain their smooth functioning and in turn ensure a state of harmony between “I” and “body”.

“Sanyam” or self-Regulation is the feeling of responsibility in the “self” or “I” for nurturing, protection, and proper utilization of the “body”. Once “I” realizes that “body” is its instrument and that the body needs nutrition, protection from the environment, rest, and proper utilization to work as an efficient tool for the right purpose. “I” naturally develops a feeling of responsibility towards the “body”. This feeling of responsibility developed in “I” is “Sanyam”. For example, “I” desires to be a successful runner, then the “body” must complement physically to help fulfill this desire. Now if the “self” takes some self-regulatory steps like strict diet, regular exercise, proper training, etc to keep the “body” fit and ready to perform best as an athlete, this self-regulation of the “self” is called, “Sanyam”. When “I” lives with “Sanyam”, there is harmony among the different parts of the “body” and the “body” becomes a more efficient instrument of “I”.

“Swasthya” or Health is the condition of the 'body' where every part of the 'body’ is properly performing its expected function. Health is maintained by eating a nutritious balanced diet, wearing proper protective gear to save the body from natural elements, adequate rest, and regular exercise, all these are required to main a proper healthy body. This leads to harmony within the body, and the body becomes perfectly fit for use by “I”. There is a strong coupling between “I” and “body”. Disharmony in any one of them adversely affects the other. For example, If the “self” or “I” is in disharmony due to stress, anger, or despair, it starts affecting the “Body” adversely leading to psychosomatic diseases like allergies, diabetes, hypertension, etc. Similarly, if there is a strong disturbance in the “body” in the form of illness, severe pain, obesity, fatigue, etc., its distraction “I” from its normal functions, and the desires and plans of “I” also get affected.

Q6. Critically analyze the meaning of physical needs and the meaning of prosperity.

Ans: One of the two basic aspirations of human beings is prosperity, but before aspiring to be prosperous it is very important to understand what prosperity means. Running blindly behind prosperity will not help us, if we are not aware of the true meaning of prosperity then we will never feel prosperous. This will make us run behind prosperity endlessly and we will get stuck in a loop of despair, which will slowly affect our confidence and in turn the harmony of the “self”.

The “body” mainly needs three physical facilities to be in proper shape and stay healthy. These three facilities are food, clothing or shelter, and equipment. Our need for food, shelter, and equipment is limited, but we have a common misconception today that our needs are unlimited. We are getting confused between the needs of the self and the needs of the body. In turn, we are assuming that the needs of the body are unlimited. For example, if we calculate how much money do, we spend on food and living per month and try to calculate how much money we will require for a year, we can easily save enough money accordingly to give us a sense of prosperity. But instead of focusing on a standard Life if we get greedy and luxurious, our wants will never end. Then no matter how much money we acquire or save we will never get the feeling of being prosperous and thus it will disrupt the harmony of our “self”

  In Nature, the availability of facilities like water, oxygen, etc., is more than our needs. Once we realize that the needs of our body are limited and can be easily fulfilled, there emerges a possibility of prosperity in our minds, which will lead to a state of harmony of the “self”.

Q7. What are the programs to ensure “Sanyam” and “Swasthya”?

Ans: Our present lifestyle of the modern world and our conditionings are not very conducive to keep our body fit and therefore it is important to understand “Sanyam” and “Swasthya” correctly.

Program to take care of the body:

Q8. What is the difference between prosperity and wealth? Which one is more acceptable and why?

Ans: Prosperity is a sensation or feeling of having excess than the required physical facilities, it is not just the physical facilities. Almost every one of us apprehends that wealth alone means prosperity and try to illustrate this concept on this pseudo or hypothesis. Wealth is a physical entity or physical possession. It means having money, gold, properties, riches, or having a lot of physical facilities or both. This is a very important difference.

We mostly fail to make this difference today. We keep struggling to gain more and wealth, without understanding that the basic aspiration is for the feeling or sensation of prosperity, to have a feeling of having more than that is enough for us. Prosperity is what we want or it is more acceptable to us since wealth is just a condition or a part or fraction of prosperity. We are trying to gain happiness and prosperity by maximizing aggregation or collection and minimizing exhaustion or consumption of physical facilities. It is turning into an anti-ecological and anti-people drive and is causing a threat to human existence itself. A human has a lot of money, gold property or riches, but does not want to share even a bit of it. The person ‘has wealth’ but does not feel satisfied or content, because that person is not prosperous. Thus we can see how prosperity and wealth are  not the same things, though people often mistake them to be the same

To attain the feeling or sensation of prosperity, two things are needed:-

1.   Identification of the needed quantity of physical facilities, and

2.   Making sure the availability or production of more than needed physical facilities.

If one felt prosperous he/she would have shared with others what one has, because there is a lot more than enough wealth anyway, so no problem in sharing this is another way to identify the feeling of prosperity in someone.

Q 9. The needs of the self are qualitative. Illustrate.

Ans: Human beings are a complex mixture of the sentiment ‘I’ which relates to all the sensations or feelings and the physical ‘body’ which refers to all the material facilities available to us. The need for the conscious self is “such” or happiness. “Sukh” is qualitative. Therefore the wants or requirements of ‘I’ are qualitative. They are not quantifiable or measurable. We also require them without any break. We cannot talk about one kg of love or one meter of care. Our sensations or feelings are qualitative. Either they exist or they do not have existence. For example, sadness is qualitative. Either we are feeling sad or we are not. Also if a sensation is not naturally acceptable; we do not require it even for a single moment. If it is naturally acceptable to us, we want it without any stop or break. We can see this with the example of love. We don’t want the sensation of hate even for a single moment, since it is not naturally acceptable to us, so we keep looking for love that is naturally acceptable to us.

By inherent characteristics, man is inclined towards pleasure and happiness so he goes on nurturing wants, ambitions, and desires one after the other to enjoy more in our lifetime. To live a pleasurable life he also collects many physical facilities and tries to fulfill his mental desires, so that his existence may become filled with pleasure and prosperity. Happiness or “Sukh” depends upon our way of analyzing our thoughts, so many times we are encompassed by worldly possessions but we feel discontent. People think that their happiness is dependent upon suvidha or availability of physical facilities, but is it not always the case. Happiness is dependent upon our analysis and management or our mental wants, expectation, and the final practical outcome we get.

Q10. Explain with examples the various activities in the self 'I'.

Ans: The self is an aware or conscious part of the human existence in nature whereas the body is non-conscious or unaware and Physico-chemical. The mutual interaction and collaboration between the ‘I’ and the body are in the form of exchange of information, which means a continuous mutual give and take of information. So the focus of attention is on two different divisions of features or attributes of the self, which are namely, the abilities of the self and the matching actions as the manifest outcomes of these abilities and powers of the self.

1.  Power: This means the basic ability or caliber in the self (‘I’). They are: wants, desires, thoughts, and expectations.

2.  Activities: The activities include: imagination, analyzing, imaging, thinking, and selecting/tasting. The act of thinking or analyzing means disintegrating or analyzing the image into multiple parts or to further analyze it and open it up. Choosing or tasting is with the expectation of satisfying our desires with the aspirations of happiness. The act of choosing or tasting is the basic level through which the “I” maintains a relationship with the body.

A simplified example to apprehend these actions is a follows:

·   We may have expect to gain respect by being the owner of a large or beautiful car. This is in the form of imagination or imaging– we have an image of us, in that image the fulfillment of this want or desire for respect to be earned by being the owner of a beautiful car

·   Based on this desire, we start working out the details of the house. Ex no. of rooms, storey, on which floor it will stay. The image of expecting respect from the house is divided into many parts – this is called analyzing. The activity of analyzing means breaking down the image into various parts.

·   Now that we have calculated the details of the big house, we next move towards choosing the size, color, etc. of the room. This is called selecting / tasting.