‘The human Needs’
– a perspective
What does man NEED? What’s does he seek? What are the NEEDS of other living beings
apart from man?
Western thinkers have listed the hierarchy
of six basic or fundamental human NEEDS as…
1.
Certainty
2.
Uncertainty
3.
Significance
4.
Love and Connection
5.
Contribution
6.
Growth
Ancient thinkers from the East though have
concluded that every living being seeks Contentment, Happiness and Peace – that
is the ultimate NEED of man.
That is the highest possibility of
evolution in Man.
Lower NEEDS
The first three NEEDS, in the above list, namely
Certainty, Uncertainty and Significance
can be termed as lower NEEDS of man
Certainty deals with security and safety. Humans need security and safety in terms of
food, shelter, and clothing as basic needs for living. After the certainty NEED
is met, he desires the next higher NEED of Uncertainty
or variety or entertainment. Life seems more thrilling with uncertainties.
Therefore one chooses uncertainty or variety by the way of playing a sport or game,
visiting new places, cultural events, movies and so on. The next NEED is Significance or prominence or
importance to oneself or establishing the ‘I’ness or the ego state.
The above three NEEDS or ‘Worldly’ needs are
directly related to the worldly existence or sustenance of basic life and
mostly materialistic in nature. It is dominated by Matter.
Higher
NEEDS
The last three NEEDS, in the above list, namely
Love & Connection, Contribution and
Growth can be described as higher needs or ‘Spiritual NEEDS’. They belong
to the subtler level of our existence. Can also be called the ‘other realm’ or
the world that resides in our deeper layers.
Love
and Connection is about social living with peace
and harmony (Vasudaiva kutumbakam); Contribution
is about Seva or being helpful to people and the society. Growth is about self- development, maturity, increasing the level
of awareness, understanding, realization and reaching a higher level of
consciousness.
Let us look at the needs of other living beings
of the world.
‘The world’ (Jagat) can be considered to
consist of all the living and non-living matter of our universe.
The non-living matter, though inert has a
dormant consciousness in it. It has a lot of ‘Sat’ or energy packed in them
(E=mc square)
Plants are next in the evolutionary process
of living things, their freedom is higher than matter. They grow but do not
have locomotion. Their NEED is to grow. We can find that expression of growth
in all plant life. They are non-disturbing and harmonious with nature.
Animals are next in the evolutionary
process. They have a higher degree of freedom and NEEDS. Their basic NEEDS
include satiating their senses, hunger, sleep, procreation etc. but they do not
have much control over their actions. They are instinctive in behavior. In a
sense the Lower NEEDS of man are similar to that of animals hence termed as
animalistic NEEDS.
It is interesting to note that Plants as
well as Animals respond to Love and Connection. So ‘Love and connection’ can be
termed as a need of Plants and animals too as consciousness is active in them
too.
Man is highest in the evolutionary process
of this world. He has a high degree of freedom (intellect or faculty of
discrimination). When man keeps catering
to the lower NEEDS he is instinctive and animalistic. He falls in the
evolutionary process, when he succumbs to the lower animalistic NEEDS. He rises
in the evolutionary process when he feeds on the higher NEEDS.
When the lower NEEDS are being met the sustenance
and continuity of human life is ensured. Indulgence in these NEEDS beyond the
purpose of sustenance and continuity causes a fall rather than rise in
evolution.
Meeting our higher NEEDS are elevating and
take us towards the ultimate goal of Bliss, Happiness, Peace.
An interesting point to note is that, even
when we are meeting our lower NEEDS (when our lower NEEDS are satiated) the
Bliss and Happiness is available but they are in infinitesimally small amounts
and in a short time duration as compared to the higher possibilities of
Happiness. Further these are material dependent and not sustainable.
With the satiation of higher NEEDS the
happiness derived is non-material dependent and sustainable too.
More
pertinent questions…
What is this play of nature, with its
non-living objects, living things, evolution of beings? Is this a game? What is
the whole purpose of our living, EVOLUTION?
We can postulate that the GROSS playing field of the WORLD, is
our planet, solar system, Universe, multi-verse…. including all its living and
non-living things. The SUBTLE playing
field is our molecular body, mind, thoughts, feelings, and the subtlest of
all - the Consciousness.
Moving from the gross to the subtle and
then to the subtlest and further to the supreme consciousness is the GAME.
When a sport is played, it is a
hypothetical set of conditions and rules made to create a thrill or temporary
happiness. As observers and players we know the rules and know that this not
the real thing! Its only temporary arrangement for thrill.
This game of life is also a similar. The
reality lies beyond the gross levels that we see. When there is a shift of
focus from the GROSS to the SUBTLE, one begins to understand the nuances of the
game as one matures and evolves.
Another analogy would be the example of a
child playing with his toys and in the process being in a bliss state. As
adults we outgrow this state of happiness derived from toys. We no longer see
enjoyment or excitement in the toys of the childhood. However we shift to
costlier toys (Cars, gadgets etc.) and games, sports or even sex. Just as we outgrow from a child to adult
state, realizing the toys to be tools of temporary happiness, one can similarly
outgrow or evolve from the gross worldly matters to the subtler and higher
realms, to reach the highest levels of Bliss, Happiness and Peace.
Therefore one can say that our lower NEEDS
cater to the gross or lower levels of our existence.
The higher NEEDS move us towards our higher
purpose of life, Bliss, Happiness and to our highest possibility, which is the Supreme state of Consciousness.
The
author claims no originality to the concepts presented in this article except
for the interpretations therein.
Yogabharati