Man's search for Meaning

Introduction

Do we live in anthropocentric world? Who\what is considered as the center and summit of central focus? Human no more remains crown and compendium of creation. The religions, cultures, civilizations, arts, scientific discoveries and inventions which primarily meant to elevate human welfare, have made him\ her mere slave. Suffering has enveloped the entire global village. “Peace, justice, harmony” just remain black and bold letters on the placards and banners in march or rally.

Now the big question arises, what is human search? it remains a mystery.

From birth to death, human is in search, though he\she searches for many things, the ultimate search centers on ‘salvation’ as a Christian, ‘moksha’ as a Hindu, and ‘nirvana’ as a Buddhist. “We are made or you, o god, and oh, how weary we are till we rest in you!” St. Augustine.

Search for safety and peace

The world is set ablaze with terrorism, wars, dire poverty, consumeristic and utilitarian values. Where are we marching towards?

In this unsafe and violation stemming world, what human looks for is peace and safety.

We are living in a land of poor. Of the 1 billion inhabitants of India today, some 45% millions live just above the so-called “poverty land” (which the central government pay commission defined as “the minimum required for moderate activities”- whatever the means) – at the government’s own admission. Almost the same number live just above it, so that some 70% of the people are undernourished, lacking not only the special kind of foods (vitamins and proteins) for healthy growth and which are necessary. For we have either enough food in our country to feed all our people, or the know-how or money to obtain it. It’s not lack o food or money that is the problem- just lack of caring and sharing. [1]

20^th centaury is a hallmark in human history for producing great leaders, and creating human holocausts with two great world wars. Even today it has continued in different forms, terrorism, communal violence economic recession etc, has left human baffled and confused, worried and tensed. The inevitable uncertainty makes human perennially wretched and miserable. In these circumstances the desire for meaning almost dies away. What human needs as his primary need is peace and safety, assurance and security that tomorrow will be bright for him, he\she will be able to move around and able to earn the basic necessities of life. When the basic necessities are being fulfilled then human can think of the meaning of life, the ultimate search or goal of human life on this earth. Beside all these what human needs is the desire for meaning.

THE DESIRE FOR MEANING

Pounding in the breast of every man is an intense desire to lead a significant life. A man's most innate need is to find meaning and purpose. It is the underlying motivator of our behavior. It is what brings us joy, pleasure, peace, and contentment. How many times have you said or felt…

I want my life to count -- to make a difference! I want to make a contribution in the lives of people around me. I want to be useful, to do something with my life.

We each have an inbred, intuitive sense that we are created to make a difference. We are not frustrated because we think significance cannot be found. Rather, we are sure it can be found, and our frustration is that we have not yet taken hold of it.

Meaning gives the will the power to survive. As self determining beings, man is able to change the situation, at best himself; even he has the highest potentialities. Whether his potentialities are actualized or not, depends on his determination, decision and involvement. Existing is meaningless unless it is “existing for others”, because, as we said earlier, man’s existing is always pro-existence. Therefore, by meaning of life one has to take up responsibilities by doing something useful and meaningful for others.

What is required is a sense of mission. And for this, only a change of attitude is required. We can be optimistic. We can succeed; it is never too late. We can be another. We may not be able to change a particular situation. But we can change ourselves our attitude. To have meaning in life a sense of mission is demanded, which means involvement in something worth doing, somebody worth living for (family, wife, children). Remember Nietzsche’s dictum: “he who has a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’ in life.

Man is basically oriented to meaning, i.e., to be what he should be. Man finds a constant tension between what he is and what he should be. To find a meaning in a particular situation is a capacity which is distinctively human. He who has that capacity can transcend any predicament. Only he has to be helped to discover the meaning of existence. Meaning of existence can not be given by one person to another. It is up to each one to find out the purpose of his life and to discover the meaning of his own life.

Meaning of life[2] (purpose)

What constitutes this “inner hold”[3]? A man who could not see the end of his provisional existence is not able to aim at an ultimate goal in life. He ceases to live for the future in contrast to a man without an aim in moral life. The unemployed worker is in similar situation. He does not have future or aim. He suffers from a peculiar sort of time. –Inner time- which is the result of their unemployed state. Prisoner suffers from this strange ‘time experience’ paradoxical is time experience. Larger time seems passing very quickly and smaller time passes very slowly. Time has to do with one’s time of purpose at any given moment. Purpose or intention is something that is alive. It therefore exists in the present and can be experienced only by being presently active, like hunger and thirst. Otherwise it is not intention but only memory of one or memories or perhaps the dream of having one later. “There are no memories or dreams without present intention,” Sartre. Purposeful time is therefore present time oriented toward the future. I can only intend toward the future. Only by knowing myself as presently tending to go forward in time, can I have ay purpose whatever. Time without purpose is boredom. Boredom makes a prisoner loose his ‘hold on life. Everything becomes pointless. Such a person forgets that often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation, which gives hi the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself.

Hope precedes meaning

We must always give others inner strength by pointing out them a future goal to which they could look forward. It is a peculiarity of man that he only can live by looking to the future. If we loose our faith in future, we are doomed. We loose then the spiritual world. Sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect. Never give up hope. Hope is a rare gift. By hope man draws the future into this present and lives already by it. In hope man opens himself to the future. Hope alters man; draws him out of the cocoon of his life, because it shows him new possibilities. This hope makes him ready to come out of himself and to place himself in love beside the other person. No one can foretell the impossible can happen. Probably may never happen above all, that new up hope. Even the most desperate situation, health, family, happiness, professional abilities, fortune, position, in society- all these are things that could be achieved again or restored. Future, no man knows. What the future would bring no man knows. Chances can open up quite suddenly. Therefore always hope. The striving to find meaning is alive. Man is able to live and even die for his ideals and values. Man needs something for the sake of which to live. Will to meaning is a fact. What is implicitly referred to, is the fact that there is always freedom to make his choice between accepting or rejecting an offer, i.e.., to fulfill a meaning or potentiality or else to forfeit it.

Supra meaning

Man’s world is not over here. There is a world in which the question of an ultimate meaning of human would find an answer. His ultimate meaning necessarily exceeds and surpasses the finite, intellectual capacity of man. This is supra meaning[4] to life especially when suffering afflicts our lives. Human being is not freedom from conditions. Man is not fully determined but determines himself. Whether he gives in to condition or stand up to them depends on his freedom. Man is self transcendent. In concentration camp some behaved like swine, while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself, which one he realizes, depends on decisions; not on conditions. Man is the being who has invented the gas chambers those of Auschwitz, but he is also the being who entered those gas chambers upright with “lord’s prayers” on his lips.

Love the ultimate goal.

"Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire....The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved." [5]

Love[6] is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By the spiritual act of love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him; which is not yet actualised but yet ought to be actualised. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualise these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.

In logo therapy[7], love is not interpreted as a mere epiphenomenon of sexual drives and instincts in these of a so –called sublimation. Love is s primary a phenomenon as sex. Normally, sex is a mode but only as long as, it is a vehicle of love. Thus love is not understood as a mere side-effect of sex but a way of expressing the experience of that ultimate togetherness which is called love. Human finds his meaning of life in love.[8] Love becomes the ultimate source of will and power to lead life for others. Among faith, hope and love, love is the superior of all.

CONCLUSION

Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. Every human will find meaning in his own way. It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

§ Desbruslais, Cyril S.J. The Philosophy Of The Human Person. Ed - Kuruvilla Pandikattu S.J. Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, 1997.

§ Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search For Meaning. St. Paul Publication, Bombay, 1992.

§ Solovyv, Vladimir. The Meaning Of Love. Geoffry Bles: The Centenary Press, London,1965.

§ Therukattil, George. Becoming Human, ‘A Study In Philosophical Anthropology’. JIP Publication, Jeevalaya Institute of Philosophy, Bangalore, 1999.

ARTICLE

§ O’Brien, Dermont, “Love.” The Month, Vol – 25, june, 1992, P.211.

§ Santani , Saurabh, Meaning Of Life And Happiness In Wittgenstein. Journal of the Indian Academy of Philosophy. Vol, 36, 1997, P.97.

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[1] Cyril Desbruslais s.j., The Philosophy Of the Human Person, ed - kuruvilla pandikattu s.j. jnana deepa vidyapeeth, Pune, 1997, p.9.

[2] Saurabh Santani, Meaning Of Life And Happiness In Wittgenstein, Journal Of The Indian Academy Of Philosophy. Vol - 36, 1997. P.97.

[3] George Therukattil, Becoming Human, ‘A study in philosophical Anthropology’, JIP Publication, Jeevalaya Institute of Philosophy, Bangalore, 1999. P-101.

[4] Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning, St. Paul Publication,Bombay, 1992. P.107.

[5] Viktor E. Frankl, Op.Cit, P. 101

[6] Dermont O’Brien, “Love.” The Month, Vol – 25, june, 1992. P. 211.

[7] Viktor E. Frankl, Op.Cit, P.89.

[8] Vladimir Solovyv, The Meaning Of Love, Geoffry bles: the centenary press, London, P.128.

મારા આંસુ કહે,

મારા સંબંધ ની વાર્તા.

એક સંબંધ જે,

ઉતર્યો આંખથી દિલ માં.

ને બીજો, ઉભરાયો

દિલ થી આંખ માં.

Christian youth called to challenges.

‘Three Idiots’, Is there any one who has not watched the movie? Life is all about listening to your heart and chasing your dreams. Is that all? Don’t we require people whose dreams encompass larger good of the society and nation?

I would like to be straight forward and ask the Christian community who solely encourages their children to become doctors, engineers, managers, MBA, teachers. We do require them. But here is my question, how many of us encourage our children to become IAS officers, or inspire them to appear for the civil services examinations such as GPSC, UPSC, IPS, IFS etc? If we see percentage wise then its not even 1% that we have our people in the first or second class civil services offices.

It is fact that our youth is not equal to the task of clearing the civil services examinations. We usually attribute this failure to the Government policy. Oh! The exams papers are so tough. My observation has led me to the conclusion that our youth lack motivation, self-confidence, expression, proper planning, and habits of reading and hard work. They have also lacked professional guidance and encouragement either from parents or teachers.

By the time our youth acquire graduate degree, they still remain weak in having mastery over Gujarati or English languages. They remain devoid of reading habits and logical thinking. Hence they fall short of required standard of achievement at the civil services examination.

We have unintentionally fulfilled their materialistic demands and eroded self-confidence, abilities and potentialities. Right from the moment the children enter the school, we cajole them to be engineers or doctors as though that these professions only bring social prestige.

What is needed for smooth sailing is planning one’s selections of subjects at the graduate level and cultivating reading habit at the earlier stage. If one is able to master at least two or three subjects by the end of ones degree, then it will not be hard of offering same for civil services examinations. Both at school and college, youngsters must be encourage and trained to participate in debates and public speaking and reading news papers and magazines with critical mind, which will provide them a wide spectrum of world of knowledge and learning. Their reading habit and getting familiar with the current affairs should be so aroused that automatically they become veracious readers and hard workers – leading to a quick grasp of the subjects. This will not only help them acquiring their own dreams but potential and capable to face any matter that call on to them.

I have not come across parents who trying to encourage children to take up such examinations. We have to provide a solid foundation so that our presence is felt at international spectrum. And in the bargain even if we deviate or fail, the capacity and sustained efforts will lead to healthy habits of studiousness, reading habit with interest and retention with ease.

Today christen youth is called to take up this challenges of preparing one self for the civil services. Thus serving society for its good and giving committed and trusted government servants for the larger good.

A role of a teacher in human rights.

In the modern society the importance of education has not only increased but has become the means to fight against the injustice and oppression done in any form. In this awaken society a teacher is called upon to perform more challenging role along with the impartation of knowledge.

India has always been a cradle for giving wisdom and spiritual heritage not only to its natives but people abroad also. There is nothing wrong to place a teacher on the same level where God is, but today time has change and even teachers too are called upon to remain more human and down the earth. Today, the teachers should give up the old aged idea of “Guru Devobhav.” They should discreetly remember that they are human beings and those to whom they impart the knowledge are also human beings. There are some basic human rights to which they too are entitled. Hence the teachers should help the students become aware of those human rights and eventually demand them. Today Human rights education is much more than a lesson in schools or a theme for a day; it is a process to equip people with the tools they need to live lives of security and dignity. Human rights are "rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Indeed, a school is a place where children not only learn reading, writing and numeracy but also to appreciate values and to respect norms. Teachers who can provide quality education and who are respected by the students can teach them useful skills and knowledge, thus promoting stability, mutual respect and tolerance. They can also serve as role models, helping to establish a spirit of unity and love. Children will begin to appreciate and internalize these values and they will learn about their responsibilities. A good teacher will also be able to teach the students about the value of human rights and solidarity as well as the rights and duties of a citizen.

Education should be a means to empower children and adults alike to become active participants in the transformation of their societies. Learning should also focus on the values, attitudes and behaviors which enable individuals to learn to live together in a world characterized by diversity and pluralism.

BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS:

Right to life

Right to food

Right to work

Right to culture

Right to livelihood

Right to information

Right to participation

Right to development

Freedom of movement

Freedom of expression

Right to self-determination

Right to a safe environment

Right to privacy and family life

Right to public goods and services

Right to an adequate standard of living

Right to gender equality/women’s rights

Right to just and favourable conditions of work

Freedom from torture, cruel and inhuman treatment.

Each person has the right to maintain a separate self that is independent of the expectations, the approval, or the influence of others.

There is a proverb in English, ‘charity begins at home.’ The true role of a teacher to empower the students with the human rights begins in the schools itself. First of all the teachers should treat the students with respect, no matter what cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds they come from, you encourage, praise, appreciate, and reward the work of all of them as equally as possible. Positive attention to all can lead to higher achievement for all.

The things, the teacher should keep in mind and even teach the students are as follow. Definitely the teacher should be aware of the above basic human rights.

1. A strong stand against injustice.

2. The development of sympathy for those who are ill-treated and empathy based on understanding of others’ emotions and feelings.

3. Consequences of failure to practice the Golden Rule.

4. A continuation of simple examples that students of a particular age level can understand and, at times, have directly or indirectly experienced, in this case being examples of prejudice.

5. The fundamental human need for friendship and happiness rather than rejection and isolation.

6. The use of a thinking skills structure, Think-Pair-Share, to reinforce empathy toward the unfortunate students. In essence, the reduction of prejudice begins in our own thoughts and feelings.

There are numerous incidents where teachers have degraded the title and post too. If I am not mistaken then from the time “Mahabharata” onward till today, teachers have not tried to comprehend the mind of a student. Guru Dronacharya denied imparting the Vidya (knowledge) of archery to Eklavya. When Eklavya obtain the vidya somehow, he was asked his thumb in gurudakshina. Few years ago in PTC College, Patan, Gujarat, a girl was ganged rapped by a group of teachers nearly for four months.

What I want to say is that when there is injustice done to a student by a teacher s/he should not keep mum and cow down against the authority. Rather held his/her head up and fight for the right cause. This is possible only when the teachers are open enough to listen what the students have to say. They need to put their ego aside. Even a teacher should provide enough room for a dialogue before declaring his/her punishment. Because punishment is not the solution of the problem rather it cuts of the relation and poisons the mind of a student. Eventually that may ruin the life and carrier of a student.

So today I would like to appeal to all the teachers that please provide a room for a dialogue and listen to a student. Never ever take the decision on the spot itself. At time the decision taken in urgency may not be the right and there is possibility that an innocent may become a victim of it.

Having a dialogue and care-frontation will help a student to become a better student and eventually a better citizen. Thus the teachers can be effective instruments in building up the just society and models for the students to follow. When the teacher themselves respect the students and give due importance to human rights while treating the students, I am sure they will contribute a lot in forming brave citizens who will definitely stand by the truth. They will never bow or cow down to injustice. They will never be a part of destroying or terminating factor, because they will remember how they were treated by their teacher and how the importance was given to the human rights. They will never forget the role played by the teachers in building up their own carrier and character, hence they too will think before taking any wrong step that might ruin society.

Thus a role of a teacher genuinely in spreading and respecting the human rights will create a just and peaceful society. Therefore a teacher is not an ordinary being but a being slightly higher than all of us.

Unauthentic Love

Love and hate are the two sides of the same coin. The world has been working or rather governed on these two principles. It is said that its love that makes the world go round, but today conspicuously speaking, its money that makes the world go round. Hence the blend of this factor has devastated the authenticity of love. There are others factors too, but my aim is not to bring them forth but to show you all that the love you are talking about has lost its authenticity. Hatred is still as pure as it was from its genesis. Someone had to say that love your neighbours but not hate one another. When one hates someone, he means it and even it’s apparent. Whereas with the case of love its other way about.

Without a second thought, I take it for granted that you all believe that love is blind. Now I would like to work out little logic to prove that love is not blind but its people that are blind. So! you say that love is blind, Right. But Christianity and all other religions too say that God is love. Hence if love is blind then God is blind too.

Love is blind

God is love

.∙. God is blind.

Now tell me would you worship a blind God. I am sure you would not. Because if you agree that you would, then the world will face more problems then it can handle. Now God is not just LOVE but also DIVINE. Now if God is divine by nature then ultimately Love too becomes divine.

God is divine

God is love

.∙. Love is divine.

So what I want to prove is that love is not blind at all, but people those who fall in love are not able to think rationally. If you love someone you don’t have to tell her/him “I love you” all the time to convince. Just tell me, has your mother ever told you that she loves you? I am sure that she has not even uttered it, but all her actions speak about it. Her love resonates in all her expressions, care and concerns.

Today something drastic has happened with love. That drastic step is taken by you and me. We have manipulated the divinity of love. We have assorted with it our own egotistical motives. Today love is very much oriented by infatuation, money, sex and power. There will be hardly someone who loves just for the sake of love. There will be hardly someone who will love without individualistic expectations. Altruistic love has evaporated like vapor. We have become utilitarian and have started using people like things. “Use and throw” slogan has been applied to human beings. Human has become mere objects.

I am not saying that no one should fall in love, but I just urge you to treat your beloved as a human and not as an object. Remember that our body is a temple of God. God is divine hence each one’s body is divine. We must worship the divinity that’s within everyone. That’s the true meaning of NAMASTE. Here I would like to appeal that lets turn back to subjectivity and treat everyone with courtesy and give them their due respect. Let’s also join our hands to bring back the lost authenticity of love.

- Parmar Navneet

interview

Fr. Lionel - The living pillar of JDV "Let the Eucharist be your life and your life the Eucharist" this was the message, Fr. Lionel, a man with a lion's heart, put across to the present generation on the occasion of his sacerdotal diamond jubilee, 23rd November 2008. "A naturalized Indian," as Fr.Lionel humorously calls himself,was born on 6th may 1920 to Dr. Alfred and Anne Mascarenhas in Karachi. He was the eldest child and the only son followed by three daughters. He lost his father when he was 3 years old. His father who was a doctor, died in an accident. After finishing his schooling in St. Patrick's, Lionel joined Sindh College, Karachi. At that time Bombay archdiocese extended till Kazakhstan. In 1934 the Sindh mission was handed over to the Dutch Franciscans, and the Jesuits moved on to the Gujarat mission. During his studies Fr. Lionel had personal contact with our regents whose lives - and in particular Fr. Duran, then a regent – played a vital role in inspiring him to join the society. The other thing that inspired him to join the religious life was the Altar boys Society run by a Diocesan priest. Eighteen boys opted for the priesthood and later one of them, Joseph Cordeiro became an archbishop of Karachi and a Cardinal. Soon after his college studies, Lionel joined the Society for Gujarat mission and was sent to Shembagnur for the novitiate – the only novitiate in India. After spending almost seven and a half years at Shembagnur doing his novitiate, juniorate and philosophy, he came to St. Xavier's school, Mirzapur in 1943 for his regency and to teach in the school. Here he shared his memory that in pre-independent India, they were not allowed to speak Gujarati in school and so he never got a chance to learn the language. Nevertheless when he was in Shembagnur he took the initiative to teach Gujarati to the Braganza brothers, Fonsecas and a few others! In 1946 Fr. Lionel went to St. Mary's college (theologate) Kurseong, the NorthEast. On 21st November 1948, at the end of third year he was ordained a priest. Soon after he headed for his tertianship at Hazaribagh. He was asked to teach theology and so he flew to Rome for his doctorate in Fundamental theology (now known as SystematicTheology). He took his final vow, on August 15, 1953. In the same year he started teaching theology in De Nobili College. In 1959 he was appointed vice rector of the Papal Seminary. He was president of JDV from 1983 to 1986. The same year he retired, but continued teaching as emeritus for ten years. Thus he has been in the teaching arena from 1953 to 1995. Beside his teaching career, he used to give retreats to both laity and religious. "The Society is my second mother." he said, "all that I am, I owe to the society." He says that our lives should be prayer and mission oriented. He stresses the two characteristics that each Jesuits should have – dedication and availability. Each should have a solid foundation in the spiritual exercises and union with God, so that he may be able to find God in all things like St. Ignatius. He has message for all the priests that, "the church is what priests are." So the good priests will make a good church. At present Fr. Lionel resides at the Papal Seminary (Pune) and prays for the society. He smilingly says that he is waiting for his sunset. He is very happy for he has run his race. A musician, he still sings the mercies of the lord. At the end he said that if he were to be born again, he would again join the society to live his life in the context of St. Ignatius' vision. NAVNEET PARMAR

"The human being may be little less than an angel but is much more than an animal"

"The human being may be little less than an angel but is much more than an animal"

When I look at the sky, which you have made, At the moon and the stars, which you set in their places. What is man, that you think of him; Mere man, that you care for him? Yet you made him inferior only to yourself; You crowned him with glory and honour. You appointed him ruler over everything you made; You placed him over all creation; Sheep and cattle, and the wild animal too; The birds and fish and the creatures in the seas. (Psalm: 8: 3=8: Good News Bible, Catholic addition.)

The Bible gives a clear cut account of a creation story. In the beginning there was chaos and the Lord God brought about order. To do this HE just said, "Let there be," and it was. The words spoken from his mouth were powerful enough to generate an order and to create creatures that could fly in the sky, walk on the earth and swim in the water.

When the Lord God thought of creating a man, He made himself actively involved. He bent down and stretched his hand out to take some soil. "Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; HE breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live." (Genesis: 2: 7). So much so that he shared his own breath (life) with man. Thus God made man little less than HIMSELF.

Bible does not give any account of creation of an angel. This does not mean that the angels are existing from all eternity. Angels were created to serve and praise the Lord God.

They serve him best, his state is king. Thousands at his bidding speed. And post o’ver land and ocean without rest They also serve who only stand and wait. (On his blindness by John Milton)

Angels have an extensive existence and are not bound by time and space. We see in the Bible that an angel of the Lord appeared to Mary. Yet they cannot be in two places at the same time, for their essence and existence are two different qualities. In the case of God this essence itself is existence. Angels are not embodied spirits, therefore they will never die. They had an origin but have no end. Man is an embodied being, hence he will die. The beauty of an embodied being is that he could express his feelings and say "I love you." or "I hate you", this is possible, for God has endowed him with free will and intellect. Angels are just pure spirits.

When we, the members of the human family, look around us at the world in which we live, we notice three types of beings, basically. First, there is what is traditionally been called the mineral kingdom, the vegetative kingdom and the animal kingdom.

Let’s begin with the mineral kingdom and the human being. What we have in common is that our body is 65% oxygen, 18% carbon,1.5 % calcium, 1% phosphorous and 1.5% other elements. We are 70% water. As someone has well put it, "We are cousins of stones and sisters are stars." As for the vegetative kingdom, it is characterized by four basic living activities: growth, reproduction, nourishment and repair. We share with it these basic functions with the vegetable kingdom.

Finally there is the animal kingdom which, in addition to the vegetative activities mentioned above, also has locomotion (can get up and go elsewhere for food, not being rooted in one place like a plant) and , in addition, gives clear evidence of sensation (that is can see, hear, smell, taste and touch – which include feeling pain and pleasure). All these animal activities are ours too. And maybe we can pause briefly to ask ourselves what we mean when we say that a thing has life or is alive. Actually life is a kind of short-hand term for a complex of activities; and when a being gives evidence of them, we say that it is alive. A being which is able to move itself without any apparent pulling of strings or shoving or pushing from outside is alive. Here of course, the meaning of motion or movement would be widened from its usual connotations of local motion (capacity to transport oneself from one place to another), and not of plant-life. It would encompass any self-initiative activities (growth, reproduction and the like).

Human being in his/her uniqueness

But there are other equally evident and undeniable activities of human being which distinguish her/him from all other observable realities on our planet. The human being, and only the human being, gives evidence of his activities. They can be listed in various ways. I prefer to sum them up as the following trio: use of a conceptual language, art, religion.

In the first place, I do not say that only a human being has a language, a means of communication: even bees and ants have some kind of language – they inform each other (by tapping their feelers on the ground, or whatever) as to where recently discovered food supplies may be found. But their communication is limited to very concrete and limited topics. Whereas we humans can, by means of abstract ideas and concepts, communicate to each other about theories and notions that go far beyond the creativity. The human being is ever creating new styles of architecture, dress and so on; s/he is able to express her/his imaginative insights in a variety of ways from batik to sculpture to dance and painting. Animals have some instinctive know-how: how to construct their nests, burrows or whatever form of dwelling places they have. Some of them have a more or less elaborate mating "dance’. But they remain singularly devoid of any creative or artistic variations here. The same species or sub-species have always built their nests in the same way as far as we can reach back in recorded knowledge of these things. The scorpion and snake haven’t come out with any new dance steps to vary their mating game. But look at the variety of styles and fads in architecture, dress, dances and what have you which characterize human social life! Finally, a human person is the only observable creature which has been able to form some sort of an understanding of the deity, be it gods, goddesses or spirits. Only a human being has evolved a religion which concerns this whole area of her/his life. Various rites and rituals and religious beliefs have existed among men since the dawn of human history. There is nothing comparable to this in the animal kingdom. These three examples of uniqueness are characterized by one word, "transcendence," the capacity to go beyond; to be driven from within toward in the world. A Psychological look into human and animal kingdoms.

A human being is neither an angel nor a brute. A human is both lower and higher, both body and spirit, both outer and inner, both mechanical and purposeful. I would like to high-light specially the behavior of a human which makes him different from both animals and angels. Behavior is a mirror in which everyone displays his image. Every aspect of our behavior, feeding to reading, depends on the nature and support of society, for we are social animals. We are individuals, but our individuality evolved only within and through our interdependence.

I divide human behavior in to five categories…

Innate behavior

It is widespread in all the species. As our physical form has evolved, human behavior too evolves. Invariably a chimpanzee probes holes with twigs, a baby kangaroo will hop. But humans have gone a step beyond and can analyses rocks from moon. I mean humans can control their innate behavior. From the primeval age there were and are men dedicating an entire life for celibacy. Man can be like a fawning dog, a roaring lion, a thieving fox, a robbing wolf, a dissembling crocodile or a rapacious vulture.

Learned behavior

A child newly born learns, through experience. As its brain develops it behaves. Dependence, co-operation, plays, problem-solving are some of learnt behaviors. The animals extensively are driven by innate behaviuor (drive). Though there are cases of taming animals but animals by themselves are incapable of learning.

Experience behavior

From time immemorial, behavior has been expressive. We know who somebody is by what he does and how he behaves. Let me explain this by taking you all to primal age –at that stage humans relied on hunting for food, hard work was mint for males and child caring for women. Thus the division of labour was allotted between male and female. Eventually social arrangement, old and new emerging tradition, the essential sexual behaviorism and group co-operating paved the way for interdependence

Purposive behavior

Human behavior can be oriented on a sense of purpose which is not just fragmentary, but overall, relating to long periods and even to an entire lifetime, taking the form of long-term planning. Such a capacity, implies first that the subject is conscious, informed about the environment and about his potentialities. This awareness, the sense of purpose which guides choices and the effective implementation of purposeful behavior, is the essential feature of the freedom which is the impulse behind all self-constructed behavior. Contrary to other mammals, the human being with an over-riding sense of purpose can transcend the most powerful drives like the need for food or self-preservation and more easily sexual urges. Man hungers and thirsts not only for bread but for the bread of eternal life, truth, beauty, goodness and holiness- there is an aim for his existence.

Free behavior

Man is gifted with free will – to choose or not to choose. He is free to take control of himself (even to the point of offering his life), and free to decide his attitude towards his fellows (even to the point of dying for them); man is a creature capable of deciding what his relation will be to his creator. This gives rise to ethics and morality. For something to be ethical there are alternatives modes of action- man is capable of judging the alternative in ethical terms and he is free to choose what he judges to be good. Freedom implies commitment.

Animal behavior is instinctive, mechanical and unconscious. A dog knows a bone but does not know that it knows the bone. There is no possibility of cultural convention, non-competition, co-operation, territoriality, teamwork, selflessness, kinship, tool-use, communication, generosity, reciprocity in animals… man is an animal that bargains – no other animal does this – a dog does not change one bone with another. Man cooks his food.

The angels may have wider spheres of action and nobler forms of duty than ours, but truth and right; to them and to us are one and the same thing. Angels are mighty, frightening and unlimited; in their nature they are spirits, in their behavior they are angels. We humans can only behave a high-degree of flexibility - within the limits imposed by our nature (that is why our freedom is like being a fish in the tank). Angels relate infinitely irrespective of universal boundary. Angels are also serviceable, caring and active.

Thus human being may be little less than an angel but is much more than an animal.