Human Values Professional Ethics

UNIT -1
Short Questions and Answers:

Q.1- What do you mean by values or human values?

Ans-Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They
help us to determine what is important to us. Values are virtues, ideals and qualities on which
actions and beliefs are based. Values are guiding principles that shape our world outlook,
attitudes and conduct.
Values are principles, fundamental convictions, and ideals, standards of life which act as general
guide to behaviour or as a reference point in decision making.
According to Perry, “Value means the relation of an object to a valuing subject.”
Human Values refer to those values which are at the core of being human. The values which are
considered basic inherent values in humans include truth, honesty, loyalty, love, peace, etc.
because they bring out the fundamental goodness of human beings and society at large.

Q.2- Define value education.

Ans- Value education deals with what is universally valuable to all of us, what is conducive to
our individual and collective happiness and prosperity in a sustainable way. It enables us to be in
harmony within ourselves, with other human beings and with rest of nature at large.
Value education enables us to understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also
helps to remove our confusions and contradictions and bring harmony at all levels. It enables us
to rightly utilize the technological innovations.
Values form the basis for all our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Once we know what is
valuable to us, these values become the basis, the anchor for our actions. We also need to
understand the universality of various human values, because only then we can have a definite
and common program for value education. Then only we can be assured of a happy and
harmonious human society.
Q.3- Explain the process of value education.
Ans-The process for value education has to be that of self-exploration, which includes two
things:
Verification at the level of natural acceptance and Experiential validation in living.
Self-exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within myself,
what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self-exploration we
get the value of ourself. Various aspects of reality facilitating the understanding of human values
will be presented as proposals. We need to verifythese proposals for our self and examine our
living in this light.

Q.4-What are the basic guidelines for value education?

Ans- The basic guidelines for value education: The basic guidelines for value education are as
follows-
• Universal: It needs to be applicable to all the human beings irrespective of caste, creed,
nationalities, religion, etc., for all times and regions.
• Rational: It has to appeal to human reasoning. It has to be amenable to reasoning and not based
on dogmas or blind beliefs.
• Natural and verifiable: It has to be naturally acceptable to the human being who goes through
the course and when we live on the basis of such values it leads to our happiness. It needs to be
experientially verifiable, and not based on dogmas, beliefs or assumptions.
• All encompassing: Value education is aimed at transforming our consciousness and living.
Hence, it needs to cover all the dimensions (thought, behaviour, work and realization) and levels
(individual, family, society, nature and existence) of human life and profession.
• Leading to harmony: The value education ultimately is targeted to promote harmony within
the individual, among human beings and with nature.

Q.5- What is the need for value education in technical and other professional institutions?
Ans- The subject that enables us to understand ‘what is valuable’ for human happiness is called
value education. The present education system has become largely skill-based. The prime
emphasis is on science and technology. However, science and technology can only help to
provide the means to achieve what is considered valuable. It is not within the scope of science
and technology to provide the competence of deciding what really is valuable. Value Education
is a crucial missing link in the present education system. Because of this deficiency, most of our
efforts may prove to be counterproductive and serious crises at the individual, societal and
environmental level are manifesting.

Q.6- Illustrate the content of value education.

Ans- The scope of value education includes all dimensions (thoughts, behaviour, work and
realization) and all levels (individual, family, society and nature – existence). Accordingly, the
content of value education will be to understand myself, my aspirations, my happiness;
understand the goal of human life comprehensively, understand the other entities in nature, the
innate inter-connectedness, the coexistence in the nature- existence and finally the role of human
being in this nature/existence entirely. Hence, it has to encompass understanding of harmony at
various levels and finally, learning to live in accordance with this understanding by being
vigilant to one’s thoughts, behaviour and work.
Q.7- What do you understand by the value of an entity? What is the value of a human
being?
Ans- The value of any unit in this existence is its participation in the larger order of which it is
part e.g. value of a pen is that it can write. Here writing is the participation of the pen in the
bigger order in which pen, paper, human being, all are present. Value of an eye is that it can be
used for seeing. Value of a vegetable plant is that it gives nutrition to animals and humans.
The value of human being is the participation of human being at different level in this order.
Hence, to understand human values, we need to study the human reality along with all that is
there in the existence constituting the larger order and the role of human being in the relationship
with each andevery unit in the existence.

Q.8- Define happiness.

Ans- Happiness may be defined as being in harmony/synergy in the state/ situation that I live in.
“A state or situation in which I live, if there is harmony in it then I like to be in that state /
situation. The state of liking is happiness.” Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized
by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure or joy. Happiness may be described as consisting of
positive emotions and positive activities. There may be three kinds of happiness: pleasure,
engagement, and meaning.
In other words, freedom from want and distress, consciousness of the good order of things,
assurance of one’s place in the universe or society, inner peace and so forth. Happiness is the
state of mind, where we feel good in most of the walk of life.

Q.9-Elaborate the term‘Self exploration’. What is the content of self – exploration?

Ans-Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within
myself, what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self
exploration we get the value of ourself. We live with different entirety (family, friends, air, soil,
water, trees, etc.) and we want to understand our relationship with all these. For this we need to
start observing inside. The main focus of self-exploration is myself - the human being.
Content of self exploration is just finding answers to the following fundamental questions of all
human beings:
1. The Desire/Goal: What is my (human) Desire/ Goal? What do I really want in life, or what is
the goal of human life?
2. Program: What is my (human) program for fulfilling the desire? How to fulfil it? What is the
program to actualize the above?
In short, the above two questions cover the whole domain of human aspirations and human
endeavour. Thus, they form the content of self- exploration.
Q.10- Values and skill complement each other. Elaborate.
Ans- Values means importance or participation and skills means qualities, training, and
capabilities. To fulfil our aspirations both values and skills are necessary. When we identify and
set the right goals and produced in right direction. This is known as value domain, the domain of
wisdom. Basically, we must know what really is useful to achieve human happiness, the
happiness to all and for all the time. And when we learn and practices to actualize this goal to
develop the techniques to make this happen in real life, in various dimensions of human
endeavour (struggle). This is known as domain of skills. Hence, there is an essential
complementarity between values and skills for the success of any human endeavour.
For example, I want to lead a healthy life. Only wishing for good health will not help me keep
my body fit and healthy and without having understood the meaning of health, I will not be able
to choose things correctly to keep my body fit and healthy. So i have to learn the skills to achieve
the goal of good health i.e. food to be consumed, the physical workout to be designed. So
without knowing the meaning of good health, health cannot be achieved and also it is necessary
to make use of the goal to achieve the goal of the goal.

Q.11- Self exploration is a process of dialogue between ‘what you are’ and ‘what you really
want to be’. Explain and illustrate.
Ans-Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within
myself, what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self
exploration we get the value of ourself. It is a process of focusing attention on ourself, our
present beliefs and aspirations vis-à-vis what we really want to be (that is to say, what is
naturally acceptable to us). If these two are the same, then there is no problem. If on
investigation we find that these two are not the same, then it means we are living with this
contradiction (of not being what we really want to be) and hence, we need to resolve this
contradiction this conflict within us. It is a process of discovering that there is something innate,
invariant and universal in all human beings. This enables us to look at our confusions and
contradictions within and resolve them by becoming aware of our natural acceptance.

Q.12- What is the meaning of prosperity? How can you say that you are prosperous?
Ans-The feeling of having or making available more than required physical facilities is
prosperity. Almost all of us feel that wealth alone means prosperity and try to explain this
phenomenon on this nonexistent or half fact. We are trying to achieve happiness and prosperity
by maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. It is becoming anti-
ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself.
For prosperity, two things are required-
1. Identification of the required quantity of physical facilities, and
2. Ensuring availability / production of more than required physical facilities.
We can be prosperous only if there is a limit to the need for physical facilities. If there is no limit
what so ever be the availability the feeling of prosperity cannot be assured.
Secondly, just assessing the need is not enough. We need to be able to produce or make available
more than the perceived need.
Q.13- Differentiate between prosperity and wealth with examples.
Ans-Prosperity is a feeling of having more than required physical facilities, it is not just physical
facilities. Almost all of us feel that wealth alone means prosperity and try to explain this
phenomenon on this nonexistent or half fact. Wealth is a physical thing. It means having money,
or having a lot of physical facilities or both. This is a very important distinction. We mostly fail
to make this distinction today. We keep working for wealth, without realizing that the basic
desire is for the feeling of prosperity, to have a feeling of having enough. Prosperity is more
acceptable to us because wealth is just a part of prosperity. We are trying to achieve happiness
and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. It is
becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself. A person
has lot of money, but does not want to share even a bit of it. The person ‘has wealth’ but feels
‘deprived’. If one felt prosperous, he/she would have shared what one has, since there is lot more
than enough wealth any way.

Q.14- What is your present vision of a happy and prosperous life?

Ans- We are trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and
consumption of physical facilities. It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and
threatening the human survival itself.
Some of the consequences of such trend are summarized below:
• At the level of individual – rising problems of depression, psychological disorders, suicides,
stress, insecurity, etc.
• At the level of family – breaking of joint families, mistrust, and conflict between older and
younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, etc.
• At the level of society – growing incidence of terrorism and naxalism, rising communalism,
spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations, etc.
• At the level of nature – global warming, water, air, soil, noise etc. pollution, resource depletion
of minerals and mineral oils, etc.
All the problems are a direct outcome of an incorrect understanding, our wrong notion about
happiness and prosperity and their continuity – this is an issue for serious exploration.
Q.15- What do the abbreviations given as SVDD, SSDD and SSSS signify?
Ans- To achieve our basic aspirations we need to work for right understanding as the base on
which we can work for relationship and then physical facilities. Today we are not working
according to this that why we can see that there are two kind of people in the world:
1. Those that do not have physical facilities/ wealth and feel unhappy and deprived. i.e. SVDD:
Sadhan Viheen Dukhi Daridra – Materially Deficient, Unhappy and Deprived.
2. Those that have physical facilities/ wealth and feel unhappy and deprived. i.e. SSDD: Sadhan
Sampann Dukhi Daridra – Materially Affluent, Unhappy and Deprived.
But these are states we don’t want to be in. We want to move from this to third category i.e.
3. Having physical facilities and feeling happy and prosperous i.e. SSSS: Sadhan Sampann Sukhi
Samriddha – Materially Adequate, Happy and Prosperous.
Presently, as we look around, we find most of the people in the above two categories called
SVDD and SSDD, while the natural acceptance of all human beings is to be in the category of
SSSS.

Q.16- What do you mean by your natural acceptance and experiential validation?
Ans- Natural acceptance is a mechanism of self exploration. Self exploration is a method to
explore our self. Natural acceptance is process to understand our self first. Natural acceptance
implies unconditional and total acceptance of the self, people and environment. It also refers to
the absence of any exception from others. In other words, Natural acceptance is way to accept
the good things naturally.
Experiential validation is a process that infuses direct experience with the learning environment
and content. It may be regarded as a philosophy and methodology in which the direct experience
and focused reflection of the individual helps to increase knowledge, develop skill and clarify
values. Most of what we know about our self is not only through our own opinion of our self but
also because of how others view us.
When what we already believe to be true of us is validated by some situations, phenomena or
outcomes. We may term it as experiential validation.
Q.17- “To be in a state of harmony is happiness”. Explain this statement and illustrate with
two examples from your day to day life.
Ans- Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction,
pleasure or joy. Happiness may be described as consisting of positive emotions and positive
activities. In other words, freedom from want and distress, consciousness of the good order of
things, assurance of one’s place in the universe or society, inner peace and so forth. Happiness is
the state of mind, where we feel good in most of the walk of life. One important characteristic of
this is feeling is that we like to continue this feeling. Or in other words,
“The state/situation in which I live, if there is harmony/ synergy in it, then I like to be in that
state or
situation.” i.e. “To be in a state of liking is happiness.”
If we explore our life we will find that respect is a state of harmony between two human beings.
When I respect the other and the other respects me, I like to be in that situation. It gives me
happiness. Take other example, when there is harmony in my thoughts and feelings, I feel
relaxed and I want to be in that situation. This feeling is happiness.

Q.18- What do you understand by the terms swatva, swatantrata and swarajya?
Ans- The process of self exploration helps us to identify our swatva and through that acquiring
swantantrata and swarajya.
Swatva means innateness of self – the natural acceptance of harmony.
Swatantrata means being self- organized – being in harmony with oneself
Swarajya means self-expression, self- extension – living in harmony with others
Swatva Swatantrata Swarajya
The swatva is already there, intact in each one of us. By being in dialogue with it, we attain
swantantrata enabling us to work for swarajya. Living in contradiction, means we are not self-
organized and living with pre-conditionings where we have assumed certain things, have
accumulated desires without having first evaluated them, then it means we are partantra. On the
other hand, when we identify our innateness, what we really want to be and establish a dialogue
with it, it enables us to start living with this harmony, it starts expressing itself through our
harmonious behaviour and work, and it naturally extends to our participation with the
surroundings. This is working towards swarajya.

Q.19- There are many problems manifest today at the level of individual, family, society
and the nature. Identify some of these problems’ human suffer from.
Ans- Today we are generally trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing
accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. This effort is giving rise to many problems
manifest today at the level of individual, family, society and the nature. These problems are:
• At the level of individual– Rising problems of depression, anxiety, suicides, stress, insecurity,
increasing health problems, lack of confidence and conviction etc.
• At the level of family– Breaking up of joint families, mistrust and disharmony in relationships,
divorce, generation gap, dowry deaths, neglect of older people etc.
• At the level of society– Growing incidences of terrorism, violence, communalism, racial and
ethnic struggle, corruption, adulteration, sex-crimes exploitation, wars between nations,
proliferation of lethal weapons etc.
• At the level of nature– Global warming, weather imbalances, depletion of mineral and energy
resources, deforestation, soil degradation etc.
All the problems are a direct outcome of an incorrect understanding, our wrong notion about
happiness and prosperity and their continuity.

Long Questions and Answers:

Q.20-Why need for Value Education? Explain.

Ans-Following aspects to appreciate the need for value education-
• Correct identification of our aspirations. The subject which enables us to understand ‘what is
valuable’ for human happiness is called ‘value education’ (VE). Thus, VE enables us to
understand our needs and visualize our goals correctly and also indicate the direction for their
fulfilment. It also helps to remove our confusions and contradictions and bring harmony at all
levels.
• Understanding universal human values to fulfil our aspirations in continuity. Values form
the basis for all our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Once we know what is valuable to us,
these values become the basis, the anchor for our actions. We also need to understand the
universality of various human values, because only then we can have a definite and common
program for value education. Then only we can be assured of a happy and harmonious human
society.
• Complementarity of values and skills. To fulfil our aspirations both values and skills are
necessary. When we identify and set the right goals and produced in right direction. This is
known as value domain, the domain of wisdom, and when we learn and practices to actualize
this goal to develop the techniques to make this happen in real life, in various dimensions of
human endeavor (struggle).
This is known as Domain of skills. Hence, there is an essential complementarity between values
and skills for the success of any human endeavor. For example, I want to lead a healthy life.
Only wishing for good health will not help me keep my body fit and healthy and without having
understood the meaning of health, I will not be able to choose things correctly to keep my body
fit and healthy.
• Evaluation of our beliefs. Each one of us believes in certain things and we base our values on
these beliefs, be they false or true which may or may not be true in reality. These believes come
to us from what we read, see, hear, what our parents tells us, our friends talk about, what the
magazines talk of, what we see from TV etc. Value Education helps us to evaluate our beliefs
and assumed values.
• Technology and human values. The present education system has become largely skill-based.
The prime emphasis is on science and technology. However, science and technology can only
help to provide the means to achieve what is considered valuable. It is not within the scope of
science and technology to provide the competence of deciding what really is valuable. Value
Education is a crucial missing link in the present education system. Because of this deficiency,
most of our efforts may prove to be counterproductive and serious crises at the individual,
societal and environmental level are manifesting.

Q.21- Explain the process of self-exploration with a diagram. “Process of self exploration
leads to realization and understanding.” Explain with example.
Ans- Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within
myself, whatis right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self
exploration we get the value of ourself. The process of self exploration is a follows:
First of all, we have to keep in mind that, whatever is being presented is a PROPOSAL.
• Don’t assume it to be true immediately, nor reject it without proper exploration.
• Verify it in your own right, on the basis of it being naturally acceptable to you,
 Not just on the basis of scriptures
 Not on the basis of equipment/instrument data
 Not on the basis of the assertion by other human beings.
Therefore, it is essential to carefully ponder over these on your own right. Neither accept these as
true immediately nor reject them prematurely without proper exploration.
Don’t just accept / reject these only on the basis of the following:
• Because something like this/ different from this, has been mentioned in scriptures,
• Or, because it has been preached/ denied by some great men,
• Or, a large number of people possess such a view / a different view,
• Or it is claimed to have been verified through some physical instrument or, claimed that this is
beyond
the domain of verifiability by physical instruments.
Then what to do
• Verify on the basis of your natural acceptance
• Live accordingly to validate it experientially
If the proposal is true in behaviour with human leads to mutual happiness
If the proposal is true in work with rest of the nature leads to mutual prosperity
Remember, it is a process of self- exploration, therefore, it has to be authenticated by us alone by
means of verification at the level of natural acceptance and experiential validation. The process
is shown in the diagram below
But this process is not complete. It will be completed when on verification on the basis of natural
acceptance and testing in our living ultimately results in ‘realization’ and ‘understanding’ in us.
Verify on the basis of your natural acceptance
Live accordingly to validate it experientially
o If the proposal is true in behaviour with human leads to mutual happiness
o If the proposal is true in work with rest of the nature leads to mutual prosperity
Results in realization and understanding
On having realization and understanding we get
 Assurance
 Satisfaction
 Universality (Applies to all time, space and individual)
Take for example: a proposal- ‘respect’ is a value in human relation. When I verify at the level of
natural acceptance, I find that it is naturally acceptable to me. Similarly, when I behave with
respect, it ismutually fulfilling to me and to the other.
Thus the proposal is ‘True’. If it fails on any of the two tests, it is untrue.
This verification leads to realization of the truthfulness of the proposal and it becomes part and
parcel of myunderstanding. It is reflected in my thoughts and in my behaviour.

Q.22- Illustrate the purpose of SelfExploration.

Ans-Self exploration is the process to find out what is valuable to me by investigating within
myself, what is right for me, true for me, has to be judged within myself. Through self
exploration we get the value of ourself. The purpose of self exploration is:
1. It is a process of dialogue between “what you are” and “what you really want to be”: It is
a process of focusing attention on ourself, our present beliefs and aspirations vis-à-vis what we
really want to be (that is to say, what is naturally acceptable to us). If these two are the same,
then there is no problem. If on investigation we find that these two are not the same, then it
means we are living with this contradiction (of not being what we really want to be) and hence,
we need to resolve this contradiction this conflict within us.
It is a process of discovering that there is something innate, invariant and universal in all human
beings. This enables us to look at our confusions and contradictions within and resolve them by
becoming aware of our natural acceptance.
2. It is a process of self evolution through self investigation: It successively enables us to
evolve by bridging the gap between ‘what we are’ and ‘what to be’. Hence, the self exploration
leads to our own improvement, our self evolution – we will become qualitatively better.
3. It is a process of knowing oneself and through that, knowing the entire existence: The
explorationstarts by asking simple questions about ourself, which gives our clarity about our
being, and then clarity about everything around us.
4. It is a process of recognizing one’s relationship with every unit in existence and fulfilling
it: It is a process of becoming aware about our right relationship with other entities in existence
and through that discovering the interconnectedness, co-existence and other in the entire
existence, and living accordingly.
5. It is a process of knowing human conduct, human character and living accordingly: It is
a process of discovering the definitiveness of human conduct and human character and enabling
one to be definite in thought, behaviour and work.
6. It is a process of being in harmony in oneself and in harmony with entire existence: This
process of self exploration helps us to be in harmony with ourself and with everything around.
7. It is a process of identifying our innateness and moving towards self organization and
self expression: This process of self exploration helps us to identify our swatva and through that
acquiringswantantrata and swarajya.
Swatva: Innateness of self – the natural acceptance of harmony
Swatantrata: Being self- organized – being in harmony with oneself
Swarajya: Self-expression, self- extension – living in harmony with others.
Swatva Swatantrata Swarajya
The swatva is already there, intact in each one of us. By being in dialogue with it, we attain
swantantrata enabling us to work for swarajya.
Q.23- How can we verify proposals on the basis of our natural acceptance? Explain with
example.
Ans- Natural acceptance implies unconditional and total acceptance of the self, people and
environment. It also refers to the absence of any exception from others. Once we fully and truly
commit ourself on the basis of natural acceptance, we feel a holistic sense of inner harmony,
tranquility and fulfilment. Actually, natural acceptance is way to accept the good things
naturally. Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in our own way absorb
it; do not become others.
We can easily verify proposals in the basis of characteristics of natural acceptance mentioned
below:
a. Natural acceptance does not change with time. It remains invariant with time. For example,
our natural acceptance for trust and respect does not change with age.
b. It does not depend on the place. Whatever we have accepted, in our life, at any time of our
age, does not change, even if we move from one place to another one.
c. It does not depend on our beliefs or past conditionings. No matter how deep our belief or
past conditioning, as long as we ask ourselves the question sincerely, as long as we refer deep
within ourselves, the answer will always be the same.
d. This natural acceptance is ‘constantly there’, something we can refer to. Natural
acceptance is always there. Whatever we do, this natural acceptance is within us, it is telling us
what is right.
e. Natural acceptance is the same for all of us: it is part and parcel of every human being, it
is partof humanness. Though each one of us, may have different likes and dislikes and means to
live and to react etc. but if we go deep in our mind the purpose of our work, behaviour, efforts
etc. are based on common goals like need to be happy, need to be respected, need to get
prosperity. So our basic acceptance remains the same.

Q.24- “Physical facilities are necessary and complete for animals, while they are necessary
but not complete for humans.” Comment.
Ans- Physical facilities are necessary and complete for animals, while they are necessary but not
complete for humans. It is easy to verify.
For Animals: Animals need physical things to survive, mainly to take care of their body. For
example; cow will look for food when it is hungry. Once it gets the grass or fodder. It eats it, sits
around to chew at leisure.
Hence, we can say that as long as animals have physical things, they are largely fine. They don’t
desire other things like knowledge or a peaceful animal society or getting a good MBA.

For Humans: While physical facilities are necessary for human beings, they are not complete by
themselves to fulfill our needs. Our needs are more than just physical facilities. We all have other
needs, other plans, perhaps we think of going to a movie or reading a book, or go to college, or
watch some TV, or spend time with family and friends….. this list is endless. Thus, it is easy to
see that while physical facilities are necessary for us human beings, they are not complete by
themselves to fulfil our needs.
Hence we can say that for animals – “Physical facilities are necessary and complete.”
For humans “Physical facilities are necessary but not complete.”

Q.25- What are the requirements to fulfil basic human aspirations?

Ans-Our basic aspirations are happiness (mutual fulfilment) and prosperity (mutual prosperity).
Happiness is ensured by the relationships with other human beings and prosperity is ensured by
working on physical facilities.
Right Understanding: This refers to higher order human skills – the need to learn and utilize
our intelligence most effectively.
Relationships: This refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person builds in his or her life
– at home, at the workplace and in society.
Physical Facilities: This includes the physiological needs of individuals and indicates the
necessities as well as the comforts of life. It means the feeling of having or being able to have
more physical facilities than is needed.
In order to resolve the issues in human relationships, we need to understand them first, and this
would come from ‘right understanding of relationship’. Similarly in order to be prosperous and
to enrich nature, we need to have the ‘right understanding’. The ‘right understanding’ will enable
us to work out our requirements for physical facilities and hence correctly distinguish the
difference between wealth and prosperity. With nature as well, we need to understand the
harmony in nature, and how we can complement this harmony.
Q.26- What do you mean by animal and human consciousness? Explain with the help of a
diagram.
Ans- Giving all priorities to physical facilities only, or to live solely on the basis of physical
facilities, maybe termed as ‘Animal Consciousness’. Living with all three: Right understanding,
Relationship and Physical facilities is called ‘Human Consciousness’.
From the diagram we can say that:
• For animal, physical facility is necessary as well as complete – whereas for human beings it is
necessary but not complete.
• Working only for physical facilities is living with Animal Consciousness.
• Working for right understanding as the first priority followed by relationship and physical
facilities implies living with Human Consciousness.
• There is a need for transformation from Animal Consciousness to Human Consciousness. It
can be accomplished only by working for right understanding as the first priority.
• This transformation from Animal Consciousness to Human Consciousness forms the basis
for human values and values-based living.
The content of education is the understanding of harmony at all the four levels of our existence –
from myself to the entire existence. Right living or sanskar refers to the ability to live in harmony
at all the four levels of living. This dimension of society works to ensure ‘right understanding’
and ‘right feelings’ in individual. Or all-encompassing solution called samadhan in every
individual and ensures that our succeeding generation have both the content and the environment
available to work towards achieving their goal of continuous happiness and prosperity.
Q.27- What is happiness and prosperity? Are they related to each other? Can happiness be
obtained without prosperity? Explain.
Ans-Happiness may be defined as being in harmony/synergy in the state/ situation that I live in.
“A state or situation in which I live, if there is harmony in it then I like to be in that state /
situation. The state of likingis happiness.” Whereas, prosperity is the “feeling of having or
making available more than required physical facilities”.
In the current scenario, we are generally trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by
maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. This is an attempt to achieve
happiness through pleasant sensory interactions. The physical facilities are not seen in terms of
fulfilling bodily needs but as a means of maximizing happiness.
This has resulted in wrong assessment of wants for physical facilities as being unlimited. But this
pursuit is self-defeating. Neither can we hope to achieve continuous happiness through sensory
interactions nor can we have prosperity, as it amounts to trying to fulfil unlimited wants through
limited resources. This effort is engendering problems at all the levels. It is becoming anti-
ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself.
Some of the consequences of such a trend are summarized below:
1 At the level of the individual – Rising problems of depression, psychological disorders,
suicides, stress, insecurity, psycho-somatic diseases, loneliness etc.
2 At the level of the family – Breaking of joint families, mistrust, conflict between older and
younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, family feuds, wasteful
expenditure in family functions etc.
3 At the level of the Society – Growing incidences of terrorism and naxalism, rising
communalism, spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations, attempts of
genocide, fear of nuclear and genetic warfare, etc.
4 At the level of nature – Global warming, water, air, soil, noise, etc. pollution, resource
depletion of minerals and mineral oils, sizeable deforestations, loss of fertility of soil.
It therefore, calls for an urgent need for human beings to correctly understand happiness and
prosperity as well as the sustainable way to achieve these.

Q.28- How do right understanding, relationships and physical facilities help in fulfilling the
aspirations of human beings?
Ans- Our basic aspirations are happiness (mutual fulfilment) and prosperity (mutual prosperity).
Happiness is ensured by the relationships with other human beings and prosperity is ensured by
working on physical facilities. Relationship refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person
builds in his/her life – at home, at the workplace and in society. Physical Facilities includes the
physiological needs of individuals and indicates the necessities as well as the comforts of life. It
means the feeling of having or being able to have more physical facilities than is needed.
Today we are unable to have fulfilling relationships all the time: in family, outside family, and as
a society – in the world at large. If there is a problem in relationship, we feel uneasy, it bothers
us. Even if we are interacting with someone, and something we said or did offends them, it
makes us uneasy; i.e. we want mutual fulfillment in relationship. Similarly, we want to feel
prosperous, but end up working only for accumulation of wealth. We want to enrich nature, but
are exploiting it, destroying it. But our natural acceptance is that we want to live in harmony with
nature.
The reason behind these problems is that we have to focus on one more aspect, i.e. right
understanding. Right Understanding refers to higher order human skills – the need to learn and
utilize our intelligence most effectively.
In order to resolve the issues in human relationships, we need to understand them first, and this
would come from ‘right understanding of relationship’. Similarly in order to be prosperous and
to enrich nature, we need to have the ‘right understanding’. The ‘right understanding’ will enable
us to work out our requirements for physical facilities and hence correctly distinguish the
difference between wealth and prosperity. With nature as well, we need to understand the
harmony in nature, and how we can complement this harmony.

Thus, we can say that when we use right understanding with relationships it gives us mutual=
fulfillment because if we have right understanding, then we can be happy in ourselves and work
to have fulfilling relationships with humans and mutual prosperity with nature. If we do not have
the right understanding, then we have problems. Thus, our happiness depends on the fulfillment
of these three basic requirements.
Right understanding + Relationship = Mutual fulfillment.
Right understanding + Physical facilities = Mutual prosperity.