Chapter 5: Understanding the Human Being as

Co-existence of the Self and the Body

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Recap
In previous chapters, we have discussed the basic aspiration of human being, i.e.,
happiness, prosperity and its continuity. Happiness is to be in harmony and the
programme for continuous happiness is to live in harmony at all levels of being –
from individual human being, to family, to society and to nature/existence. It is
essential to understand the harmony at all these levels of being in order to live in
harmony, to be in harmony or to be in a state of continuous happiness.

As we go ahead, we want you to explore the nature of harmony at all these levels
one by one. Proposals will be put forward to you about the harmony at each of
these levels. You are requested to verify them one by one, on your own right. First
to verify them on the basis of your own natural acceptance; and then validate them
further in your living (experiential validation) to see if it leads to mutual happiness
and mutual prosperity or not. Our role is to draw your attention towards the
proposals and help in initiating this process of self-verification in you. Hence, the
main responsibility is yours.

In this chapter, we will begin to explore the harmony in human being.

Human Being
What do you visualize when you read the words human being? You may imagine
a human body with its familiar form and features. Have you also thought about who
is visualising the human being? Who is appreciating the form and features? Is a
human being just the Body or something more than that? We want to explore
exactly what a human being is.

Human Being as Co-existence of the Self and the Body

The proposal is that human being is the co-existence of the Self and the Body.

Let us try to observe it in ourselves now (refer to fig. 5-1).

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Who is interested in understanding what is written in this book? Who makes sense
of the words? We keep saying things like ‘I am happy’, ‘I feel bored’, ‘this is my
friend’, ‘that is a stranger’, ‘I like this music’, ‘I want to eat delicious food’ and so
on. Like that, we have an idea that I am there and my body is also there. We can
see that it is the Body that is tall or short, fat or thin, healthy or sick and so on. We
also have an idea about ourselves. This ‘I’ is referring to the Self, not the Body.
You (Self) are the one that recognises the relationships, that decides what to do
and that feels happy or sad. When we say, “I ate delicious food”, we can see that
the food was consumed by the Body and I enjoyed the taste of the food.

The Needs of the Self and the Body

If you try to understand Self and Body separately, it could be understood on the
basis of need (see fig. 5-2). The need of the Self is happiness. If someone
expresses a feeling of respect for us, we feel happy about it. Respect is one of the
needs of the Self. Now, if you look at the need of the Body, it is physical facility.
One example of it is food. You may observe it in yourself that food is required, and
respect is also required. Both of these are required for human being.

Do you think, one can be replaced by the other? For example, if you are given well
prepared tasty food, but it is given to you with a push and a sharp, “here, take it
and eat”! Will it work for you? Providing tasty food may fulfil the Boy, but the
disrespect will not be satisfying for the Self!

Similarly, if you are given respect, but no food, you may tolerate it for a day or two.
However, you certainly need food also. Isn’t it?

Thus, both of these are required. By giving food only, you can’t ensure respect.
Same way, just by giving respect, food is not ensured. Thus, these are two different
types of needs. Both of these are essential and therefore, both of them have to be
fulfilled separately for human being.

Needs – Are they Temporary of Continuous?

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To clarify the difference between the two types of needs, let us look at them in
terms of time. The food is required continuously or you need it only when you feel
hungry? When your stomach is full, do you still require food? It is easy to see that
food is needed only when we are hungry. If we are forced to eat when the stomach
is full, we find it uncomfortable, rather intolerable. Thus, food is needed from time
to time and not continuously. Therefore, food is required temporarily.

What about respect? Is it desired continuously or only for a certain time? It is also
easy to see that we desire respect all the time.

You can notice that if a friend wishes you every morning, but does not wish you
one day, how you feel – comfortable or uncomfortable? From this, if you conclude
that there is a break in this feeling of respect for you, you feel uncomfortable, isn’t
it?
One of our friends came to visit with his ten-year old daughter. A
conversation was taking place. At one point someone asked her “does your
father love you”? She was silent for a few minutes. The person asked “Does
he not love you”? She looked at him and said “he loves me but, why does
he shout at me and beat me”? Taken aback, the friend defended himself
by saying “I have scolded you few times, but I haven’t beaten you, have I”?
Her response was, “remember, the night before Diwali… two years ago”.

Since feeling is needed in continuity, even a small gap is not acceptable. The child
remembers these minute gaps over such a long time!

The need of the food is temporary. If someone forces us to eat continuously, we

feel uncomfortable about it. Just imagine if you went to a friend’s house and he
served delicious food. You ate with enthusiasm because it was your favourite food.
Now what would happen if your friend kept insisting for you to eat more and more,
even after your stomach is full?

In case of respect, we want continuity; but in case of food, we don’t want the
continuity. Hence, both the needs are different with respect to time. Can you
observe this?

Like that, explore all your needs. All the needs related to the Self, like the need for
respect, the need for trust, the need of relationship, the need of happiness – all
these are continuous in time. We don’t want any kind of break in it, even for a
moment. On the other hand, all the needs related to the Body, like the need for
food, the need for shelter – all these are required for a limited time. Having them
in continuity creates a problem for us. This is one way; we can differentiate
between the need of the Self and the need of the Body.

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Needs – Quantity and Quality
The other way to see the difference between the two; is in terms of quantity and
quality. The need for food is quantitative in nature. We can identify the quantity of
the food needed to nurture our body. Same is the case with the need of clothes,
shelter, etc. None of us can eat unlimited amount of food or wear unlimited amount
of clothes. We can always identify the quantity of cloth needed to prepare a dress.
Like that, any physical facility is required in a limited quantity. You can observe it
in yourself – whether you need physical facility in a limited quantity or unlimited
quantity.

On the other hand, the feeling of respect, trust, etc. is not quantitative. We don’t
say, ‘today I got half kg of respect’ or ‘two metres of trust’. Even speaking like this
appears laughable. These feelings are qualitative in nature. We can’t talk about
their quantity. We can only say, whether these feelings are there or not there. They
are qualitative; they are in the form of a feeling. Either this feeling is there or not
there; measure of quantity does not apply to it.

With these two differences, we can see that the need for physical facility and the
need for happiness are two different types of needs. The need for physical facility
relates to the Body and the need of happiness relates to the Self.

Refer to Exercise no. 2 placed in ‘Practice Exercises for Self-exploration’ at the

end of this chapter. Through it, you can further explore the needs of the Self and
the needs of the Body. Please do that exercise now, before moving ahead. Could
you see that the needs of the Self and the needs of the Body are of two different
types?

Fulfilment of the Needs of the Self and the Body

Now, let us see how these two different types of needs are fulfilled. Refer to fig.
53. The need for food is fulfilled by something physical – like rice and vegetables
or a sandwich. You may say that is obvious – because it really is! But when it
comes to the need for respect, it is fulfilled by the feeling of respect. You may want
your friends to pay attention to you, to listen to what you say without interrupting
you and even to appreciate what you say, isn’t it? These are few expressions of
the expectation of right feeling, from which you conclude that your friends respect
you.

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You can find out if your need for food will be fulfilled if your friends keep saying
nice things about you, but they don’t offer you anything to eat, all day! It is quite
obvious that some food is required to fulfil the need of the Body. Similarly, you can
find out if your need for respect will be fulfilled if your friends keep on feeding you
with the best of foods, but keep making fun of you, all day. Can you see that these
are two different needs and one cannot be substituted for the other?

All the needs related to the Body, which are in terms of physical facility, are fulfilled
by some physio-chemical things. All the needs related to the Self are in terms of
feeling, and they are fulfilled by right understanding and right feeling.

We discussed this in chapter 3 also, while talking about the basic human
aspiration. We saw that three things are required for a human being to be fulfilled:
1. Right understanding in the Self
2. Fulfilment in relationship with human being
3. Physical facility with rest of the nature

Refer to fig. 5-4. The physical facility has to do with the needs of the Body. The
right understanding and right feeling have to do with the needs of the Self.

For human being, in addition to the Body, the Self has become prominent. Thus
the need of the Self has become significant. Hence, feelings, like trust, respect,
etc. have become of higher priority compared to the physical facility. To be fulfilled,
over and above physical facility, human being needs right understanding and right
feeling which are the needs related to the Self.
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The need of the Self is happiness, while the need of the Body is physical facility.
The need for happiness is fulfilled by right understanding and right feeling; whereas
the need for physical facility is fulfilled by physio-chemical things. Both of these
needs have to be fulfilled separately, because the two are of different types. For
human being to be fulfilled, both the needs have to be taken care of.

What do you think – are both, the Self and the Body, important or you can do away
with any one of them? Are we taking care of both, or are we largely focused on the
Body only? Most parents sincerely want to take care of the child to the best extent
possible. What many of them end up doing is largely taking care of the needs of
the Body and almost ignoring the Self. For example, a mother may try to over-feed
the child and if the child resists, she may shout at or even beat the child. In the
process, the Self is getting violated, though the Body is getting fed. If we observe
our day-to-day living, we are largely focused on the needs relating to body.

Needs of the Self are Definite

Of course, the needs related to the Body depend on the age, health condition,
shape and size of the Body etc. An adult may need 1kg of food in a day, while a
small child may need 100 grams. A tall young man may need 3 metres of cloth for
a pant, while a short boy may need only 1 metre of cloth. Like that the needs related
to the Body will vary.

On the other hand, the needs of the Self are definite. A child needs happiness as
much as a youth as does an old person. In other words, this right understanding
and right feeling is the need of any Self and every Self, regardless of the state and
condition of the Body. Can you see that?

The Activities of the Self and the Body

When we look deeper into the human being, we can look at it in terms of the
activities going on. Refer to fig. 5-5.

The Self has the activity of desire, thought and expectation. Observe within
yourself, whether these activities are going on in you or not? What do you see?
Are these the activity of the Self or the Body? Is this activity of desire and thought
continuous or temporary in time? Just start observing whether these activities are
going on continuously in you or only for some time? Try to stop your thought – what
do you find? Does it stop? Is it possible to stop the activity of desire, activity of
thought? We will find that the activity of the Self is continuous in time. We cannot
stop it.

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On the other hand, any work that we take from the Body, like eating, walking, etc.,
is temporary in time. After some time, the Body gets tired and we need to give it
rest. We cannot make it continuous.

Thus, when it comes to performing an activity with the help of the Body, we can’t
do it continuously. On the contrary, any activity of the Self is continuous; we can’t
stop it even for a while. When we are bored of thinking about one thing, we start
thinking of something else. But one or the other desire, thought keeps going on
continuously in us. Any activity with the help of Body is difficult to continue while
any activity of the Self is difficult to stop. Can you observe this difference?

Refer to exercise no. 3 placed in ‘Practice Exercises for Self-exploration’ at the end
of this chapter. Through it, you can further explore the activities of the Self and the
activities of the Body. Please do that exercise now, before reading further. Could
you see that these activities are qualitatively of two different types?

The Self and the Body can be differentiated on the basis of their need as well as
their activity. The third difference is at the level of response – the response of the
Body and response of the Self.

The Response of the Self and the Body

The response of the Body is based on recognizing and fulfilling whereas the
response of the Self is based on knowing, assuming, recognizing and fulfilling (see
fig. 5-6).

Let’s take an example to clarify it. If someone is piercing a needle in your body, the
Body has a definite recognition and fulfilment. If the needle is harder than the skin

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of the Body, it will go inside; if it is softer than the skin, it will not go inside. This
recognition and fulfilment of the Body with the needle is definite.

Now, let’s look at the response of the Self. If someone is piercing a needle in our
body, will we cooperate with him or oppose him? That depends upon the situation
and our assumption about that person. If the person piercing the needle is a doctor,
we cooperate. On the contrary, if the person is an enemy trying to inject poison in
the Body, we will oppose him. It means that the recognition and fulfilment of the
Self depends upon the assumption in the Self. Can you observe that your response
to the other person depends upon your assumption? Any small difference in
assumption leads to different recognition and fulfilment.

Let’s take another example. You are lying on the operation table for some surgery.
The doctor is ready to perform the job. Just before the anaesthesia, a close friend
makes a phone call to you and informs you that this doctor is hand in hand with
your enemy. What would you do? Will you continue with operation or jump out of
the table? Obviously, the second one. Why? Because of the information you
received via the phone call. Now, your assumption about the doctor has changed.
Obviously, no other physical change outside has taken place. The table, the room,
and the people, everything is same, but your assumption about the doctor has
changed, so it is followed by a change in recognition and fulfilment. Earlier, you
were ready to pay for the operation and now you won’t allow him to operate, even
if you are paid for it!

The recognition and fulfilment of the Body will be the same in both the cases.
However, the recognition and fulfilment of the Self depends upon the assumption.
Since the assumptions keep changing based upon the influence of circumstances,
peer pressure, society, media, etc.; our recognition and fulfilment, our conduct also
keeps varying throughout the day. That is the source of the indefinite conduct of a
human being. All the problems that we see around, ultimately, relate to this.

With this background, if you observe people around you, they have various
assumptions in themselves, many a times, not based upon right understanding but
influenced by the sensation, media, advertisement, preconditioning prevailing in
the society, etc. Due to differences in assumption, their recognition and fulfilment
is different. Hence, there is a lot of difference in the conduct of various people.

Not only that, even a single person may have many different sets of assumptions.
When one set of assumptions is active, his conduct is one way. When another set
of assumptions is active, the conduct is different. You may find the same person
full of affection one time and full of jealousy another time. We also may have
various assumptions in us. Sometimes these assumptions may even be contrary
to each other; and depending upon the time, situation and circumstances – one of

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them may become active. This makes our behaviour much more complicated. Any
misleading assumption that is not right, leads to a wrong recognition and fulfilment,
ultimately leading to wrong behaviour / conduct.

This is what most of us are doing – living on the basis of assumptions. As a result,
all of us are facing problems at various levels. If we assume ourselves to be of one
sect, and assume the other sect to be our opponent, our behaviour with the people
of these two sects will be quite different. Like if a person believes himself to be of
sect one and he has the assumption that those who believe themselves to be of
another sect are different from him, his behaviour will be very different for people
of both these sects. However, when he is able to understand human being, his
assumptions will be set right and his behaviour will be mutually fulfilling for any
human being, and every human being. Can you see that?

The conduct of the human being basically depends upon the response of the Self,
as all decisions are made by the Self. Only with the assumptions set right, i.e.,
assumptions that are based on knowing, can the recognition and fulfilment be set
right; and only then can the conduct become definite.

This has been elaborated in the fig. 5-7. As long as we are just operating in the
smaller block (assuming, recognizing, fulfilling), we are in problem. Our conduct is
indefinite as our assumptions keep changing. The solution is to operate in the
bigger block (knowing, assuming, recognizing, fulfilling). The shift from operating
only on the basis of assuming without knowing to operating on the basis of knowing
is facilitated by human education-sanskar.

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Knowing means understanding the reality as it is, in its completeness. Since the
reality is definite, knowing is also definite. With right understanding, our
assumptions, basically our acceptance is set right, our recognition of relationship
is set right, and therefore, we make effort to fulfil the relationship. In this way, our
conduct becomes definite. It becomes humane; so, we are calling it definite human
conduct.

If we understand (know) the human being as proposed above, our assumptions

will be set right – we will be able to see that all human beings are similar. Our
recognition of relationship will be set right – we will recognise all human beings as
being similar, rather than on the basis of their cast, creed, gender, age, language,
region, religion, etc. With the recognition set right, our fulfilment of relationship will
be set right – we will make effort for fulfilment of both the Self as well as the Body,
rather than discriminate based on weather one is male or female, white or black,
Hindu or Christian, etc.

To live in a state of solution, we need to ensure knowing in the Self; which is the
most important task for a human being. In the absence of knowing, when we are
living just by assumptions, we are in problem, and creating problem for the others.
Can you see that?

This transformation from the state of problem or indefinite conduct to the state of
solution or definite conduct can be ensured by human education-sanskar.

The Self as the Consciousness Entity, the Body as the Material

Entity
We saw that the need, fulfilment, activity and the response of Self and Body are
completely different. They are two different types of reality – the Self (which is also
called as Jeevan) is the domain of consciousness [A Nagaraj 2003], while the Body
is the domain of material.

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As shown in fig. 5-8, the domain of consciousness is characterized by the activity
of knowing, assuming, recognising and fulfilling. On the other hand, the domain of
material only has the activity of recognising and fulfilling.

Happiness is the need of the consciousness and it is fulfilled by right understanding

and right feeling which are activities of the consciousness itself. Body is a material
unit and its needs are material in nature and they are fulfilled by physio-chemical
things. Thus, the need of the consciousness is fulfilled by the activities of
consciousness only; whereas the need of the material body is fulfilled by
physiochemical (material) things only.

To understand the human being, both the domain of consciousness as well as the
domain of material needs to be understood. For human being to be fulfilled, both
domains need to be fulfilled separately.

Gross Misunderstanding – Assuming Human Being to be only the

Body
A gross misunderstanding is to assume the human being to be just the Body.

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As far as the needs of human being are concerned, they are in terms of happiness
and physical facility. The need for happiness is continuous because it is actually
the need of the Self. With the assumption that ‘the human being is just the Body’,
all the efforts for fulfilment of human needs have to take place through physical
facility. We are actually trying to fulfil the needs of the Self through the Body,
through physical facility. Of course, we are also trying to fulfil the needs of the Body
through physical facility.

We are trying to fulfil the continuous need for happiness, like respect, through
physical facility like clothes and food. Since the need for happiness is continuous,
we end up thinking that it will come from more clothes, more food, etc. Hence, the
need for clothes, food and any other physical facility appears to be undefined or
unlimited in quantity. This is articulated in fig. 5-9.

For instance, you can observe people who are trying to get respect out of clothes.
They keep on buying and wearing new clothes just to draw attention towards
themselves. Do you think that this attention is the same as respect? Is it possible
to get respect based on the clothes you wear? What about continuity of respect on
this basis? Certainly, it does not work!

The impact of this assumption is that we keep accumulating more and more
physical facility, without knowing how much is enough; how much will fetch us
continuous happiness. We never feel prosperous. We feel deprived so we try to
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accumulate more; that is how we get into a loop. Check if you are also caught in
this loop.

The gross misunderstanding is assuming the human being to be the Body; and
therefore, trying to fulfil all the needs through physical facility alone. It is needless
to say that there are wide repercussions at every level of human existence. On the
one hand, there is exploitation of natural resources for more and more physical
facility. On the other hand, human beings are exploited in the process and also,
they are made to compete for the limited physical facility.

The Self is Central to the Human Being

If we now look at human being, the Self (consciousness) is there, the Body
(material) is there and the two co-exist. Further:
• It is the Self that has the need to know and the possibility to know the reality
– it is the knower or seer.
• The Self gives instructions to the Body when the Body needs to be involved
and it reads the sensations from the Body (see fig. 5-10). In that sense, the
Self decides what to do – it is the doer.
• It is the Self which experiences happiness or unhappiness – it is the enjoyer
(experiencer).

In this way, we can see that the Self is central to human existence. The Body is
used as an instrument. In chapter 6, we will explore into the Self in more detail. We
will explore the needs of the Self and how these needs are fulfilled. In chapter 7,
we will explore the needs of the Body and their fulfilment.

The fulfilment of the needs of the Self and the needs of the Body ensures the
harmony in the human being. That is the brief proposal of harmony in human being
for your self-exploration.

Salient Points
• Human being is the co-existence of the Self, a consciousness unit and the
Body, a material unit. The two are in co-existence with each other.
• The needs of the Self and the Body are of two different types – fulfilling one
cannot fulfil the other. The need of the Self is happiness and this need is
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 continuous and qualitative. The need of the Body is physical facility and
this need is temporary and quantitative.
• The need of the Self is fulfilled by right understanding and right feeling,
while the need of the Body is fulfilled by physio-chemical things.
• The need of consciousness (Self) is fulfilled by the activities of
consciousness only, while the need of material Body is fulfilled by material
things. Consciousness cannot be fulfilled by material and vice versa.
• The activities of the Self, like desire, thought, expectation, etc. are
continuous in time. The activities of the Body, like eating, walking, etc. are
temporary in time.
• The response of the Body is definite, and in terms of recognizing and
fulfilling. The response of the Self is in terms of knowing, assuming,
recognizing and fulfilling. Knowing is to see the reality as it is. The response
of the Self is indefinite if it is based on assuming, recognising and fulfilling.
It is definite and humane if it is based on knowing, assuming, recognising
and fulfilling.
• The indefinite response and indefinite conduct are a source of problem.
With knowing, the response becomes definite and leads to definite human
conduct. This is a state of solution. This transformation from a state of
problem to a state of solution is facilitated by human education-sanskar.
• Harmony in the human being means ensuring the fulfilment of the need of
the Self, fulfilment of the need of the Body and ensuring harmony between
the Self and the Body.

Test Your Understanding

Part 1: Questions for Self-evaluation

(Have we grasped the basic proposals made in this chapter?)

1. Human being is the co-existence of the Self and the Body. What are three
specific distinguishing attributes of the Self and the Body? Explain with
examples.
2. The domain of consciousness is fulfilled by the activities of consciousness,
while the domain of material is fulfilled by material things. Consciousness
cannot be fulfilled by material. Explain these statements.
3. What is the qualitative difference between the activities of the Self and
those of the Body? Illustrate with few examples.
4. How is the response of the Body definite?
5. What is the meaning of definite human conduct? Explain with examples of
the definite and indefinite response of the Self.
6. What is the gross misunderstanding about a human being? What is the
outcome of it? Relate it to the problems we see in the society.
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Part 2: Practice Exercises for Self-exploration
(To help connect the content to one’s life, at least at the level of thought, these
exercises may be done individually or in a group, particularly with friends and family
members)

1. Who is male-female, tall-short, good looking-ugly, Hindu-Muslim, blind-not

blind, able to understand, able to decide, able to run? Is it the Self or the Body?

2. Take your list of desires. Revise it if you need to. Now classify the desires as
being related to the need of the Self or need of the Body.
Desire Related to the Related to the
Need of the Self Need of the Body
Health Body
Feeling of acceptance for me in I want that feeling of
my friends acceptance
Being physically in the company I want to be with my
of my friends friends
Food for nutrition My Body needs
the nutrition
Food for taste I want the taste
Lots of money – for needs of Money for food,
Body clothes, shelter,
etc.
Lots of money – for respect in Money for jazzy
the society bike etc. so people
will respect me
Understanding my It is my need to be in
natural acceptance harmony
This is just a sample list. Please
make your own list

If a desire appears to be related to both (needs of the Self and needs of the
Body), look for the purpose, and split it into two or more sub-desires until you
are able to see clearly whether the sub-desire is related to the need of the Self
or the need of the Body. E.g. the desire for ‘lots of money’ has been split into
two sub-desires. One part is to get food, clothes, shelter, etc. for the Body, and
the other part is to get respect amongst friends in the society. If you look at the
first desire it is related to Body, while the second desire is related to Self.

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 From this exercise,
a) Find out at least two key distinguishing features between the needs of
the Self and the needs of the Body.
b) Roughly what percentage of your desires is related to the needs of the
Self and what percentage is related to the needs of the Body?
c) Compare the rough percentages, below:
Percentage of time and effort you Percentage of needs of the Body
are making for physical facility
(recollect from exercise done in
chapter 3)
Percentage of time and effort you Percentage of needs of the Self
are making for fulfilment in
relationship and right
understanding (recollect from
exercise done in chapter 3)
What are your conclusions from this exercise?

3. Make a list of your activities from morning till night. Some of these are activities
going on in you (the Self), some activities are going on in your Body and some
activities involve both you (the Self) as well as your Body. Classify the list of
activities in these three categories (see table, below).
Activity In the Self In the Body Involving both
the Self and the
Body
I made the
decision to run.
The Body is
Running running
I made the
decision to eat.
The Body is
eating. The Body
is getting the
nutrition and I am
Eating getting the taste
I am thinking.
My body is not
Thinking involved
I am feeling There is some Both, me and my
excited effect on my Body is involved
Feeling excited Body also
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 This is
happening in the
Heartbeat Body
This is
happening in the
Blood circulation Body
Other activities…
Write down your observations regarding:
a) The activities of the Self which do not involve the Body. Can you see
that these activities are continuous?
b) Activities of the Body. Can you see that they involve some internal
organs of the Body (like the heart and blood vessels)? Can you see that
these activities are discontinuous or cyclic?
c) Activities that involve both, the Self as well as the Body. In such
activities, try to identify the role of the sense organs as well as the work
organs. For example, when you are observing a mosquito to kill it:
• You have decided to observe the mosquito
• The eye, a sense organ, and the ear, another sense organ, are
used as instruments
• The hand, a work organ, is used to squat the mosquito (of
course, after you decided how and when to do it)

4. List out 10 decisions that you have made in the last few days. Try to identify
the basis for each decision – was it based on knowing or was it based on
assuming without knowing? See table, below:
Decision Based on Knowing Based on Assuming
and Assuming without Knowing
To pick up the call from I was expecting good
my friend news from him
To drop the call from my He gave me bad news
friend
To call my mother I knew my mother will
sympathise with me
To eat a tasty pizza I assumed it will be tasty
and it was great
This is just a sample
list. Please make your
own list

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 What percentage of your decisions are based on knowing? Which category of
decisions do you feel more comfortable with? Write down your conclusions
from this exercise.

5. Take out a few pairs of clothes that you use regularly. For each pair of clothes,
find out approximately what part of the price you paid for it was
a) To fulfil the need of the Body (health of the Body)
b) To get attention, respect, etc. from others (need of the Self)
What percentage of your money is being spent on clothes for health and
what percentage of your money is being spent for getting attention etc.?
What is your conclusion from this exercise?

Part 3: Projects and Modelling Exercises

You may like to revisit this part of Test Your Understanding after reading through
the complete book once and self-exploring all the key proposals. With that, you
may have some (or many) aha! moments in which something clicks for you, you
understand a proposal. What you have understood may be expressed in various
creative ways which appeal to different people. This part is for you to give a
creative expression to your understanding. Of course, you can do this in a group
also. Creative expressions may be in the form of sketches, drawings, paintings,
clay models, sculptures, songs, poems, music, dance, audios, videos, games,
puzzles, stories, skits, plays, dramas, charts, diagrams, plans, survey
questionnaires, blogs, something on social media and so on. It is the story of your
own life – and it matters. While some hints are given above, please feel free to
share your real aha’s in your own way!

“I have to know the existential reality to be in tune with it”

“Human being – co-existence of the Self and the Body or just the Body”?

Part 4: Your Questions

Write down your questions or doubts in your note-book. If any of the previous
questions have been clarified by your self-exploration of the proposals so far,
please mark them as answered. We would like to discuss the questions remaining
unanswered in your self-exploration.

Chapter 6: Harmony in the Self –

Understanding Myself

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Recap
In the previous chapter, we discussed human being as the co-existence of the Self
and the Body. We discussed categorically the needs, activities and response of

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the Self and the Body. We understood the Self as a consciousness entity and the
Body as a material entity; we saw that the Self makes all the decisions, regarding
itself as well as regarding the Body.

There is harmony in the human being when the needs of the Self as well as the
needs of the Body are fulfilled:
 The need of the Self is continuous happiness. It is fulfilled by right
understanding and right feeling which are activities of consciousness.
 The need of the Body is physical facility. It is fulfilled by physio-chemical
things which are material in nature.

Having explored the harmony between the Self and the Body, now we will explore
into the activities of the Self and see how harmony can be ensured among all the
activities of the Self; ultimately, leading to harmony in the Self, resulting into a state
of continuous happiness.

Let us take a deeper look to try and investigate into the Self.

Activities of the Self

We can easily see that we are involved in various activities all the time. Activities
like eating, sleeping, playing, studying, etc. are going on. In chapter 5, we tried to
distinguish between the activities of the Body, the activities of the Self and the
activities where both, the Self as well as the Body are involved.

When we say ‘activities of the Self’, we are generally referring to our imagination.
You would be able to see that something going on in your imagination – it may be
some desires, thoughts, expectations. It is necessary to understand these activities
to be able to understand harmony in the Self.

In fig. 6-1, three sets of the activities of the Self are mentioned. These are the initial
activities that we will study. It is not just a matter of reading about these activities,
but it is rather important to see these activities going on in you. It is important to
experientially validate what is being discussed here. Only then will it make any
difference in your living. Your happiness or unhappiness all depends on your own
state! So, let us start exploring into the activities of the Self.

Desire is about ‘what you want to be’. It is the name given to the activity of imaging.
So, desire is the power for the activity of imaging. What we can actually observe
within, is the activity of imaging. You make an image within for ‘what you want to
be’. You have a desire ‘to be happy’, so you make an image of being in a state of
happiness.

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Thought is the power for the activity of analysing, trying to work out the options of
‘how to fulfil your desire’. If you have a desire to be happy, you analyse various
possibilities for ‘how to be happy’. You may consider various options:
• Ensuring happiness within
• Getting happiness from favourable feeling from other
• Getting happiness from favourable sensation These are various
thoughts about ‘how to be happy’.

Expectation is the power for the activity of selecting ‘what to get’ from outside.
Selecting is based on tasting. If you consider happiness to be something you get
from favourable sensation, like when you eat tasty food, then you set up an
expectation for varieties of tasty food. The food you choose is based on your taste.
Your selection is based on your taste, be it food, music or any other sensation.

To take an example, if you desire ‘to be owner of a big house’, you make
an image.

This desire gives rise to thoughts about ‘how to be owner of a big house’
and you consider many options. One of the options may be ‘building a big
house’. Other options may be ‘buying a big house’, ‘renting a big house’
and so on. All these are thoughts about ‘how to be owner of a big house’.

The big house is your expectation. By ensuring your expectation, you think
you will fulfil your desire ‘to be owner of a big house’.

We can see that desire is about ‘what to be’ and thought is about how to fulfil the
desire, ‘how to be’ and expectation is about ‘what to get from outside’. Now check
if you can see, be aware of your desire, your thought and expectation.
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Activities of the Self are Continuous
We have the power of desire, i.e., we have the capacity for the activity of imaging,
so we are able to image. We have the power of thought, i.e., we have the capacity
for the activity of analysing, so we are able to analyse. We have the power of
expectation, i.e., we have the capacity for the activity of selecting, so we are able
to select. These powers are inexhaustible, and these activities are continuous,
going on all the time!

Try to observe if these activities are going on in you or not. Check if

- These activities are going on in you
- They are not going on in you
- You are not able to see them (they may be going on, but you are not aware
of them)

Next, check if these activities are going on all the time or not. Are you having some
desire or the other all the time? Like the desire to be happy – is that always there
or sometimes you have no desire at all? Are you having some thought or the other
continuously or there are times when you stop thinking? Are you having one or the
other expectation all the time or there are times when you have no expectation?
Like do you always have the expectation to keep the Body comfortable? And you
keep selecting some body-posture or the other? Start by observing your activities
during the day, and later you can make the observations during the night also.

If you are not able to see that it is continuous, you have to go on finding out, go on
exploring, checking whether there is any time when there is no desire, when there
is no thought or when there is no expectation.

The activities of imaging, analysing and selecting are always going on; whether we
are aware of them or we are not aware of them; they are continuous.

Activities Together Constitute Imagination

Now, if you put these activities together, it is called imagination. We may not
immediately be able to observe our desire, thought and expectation distinctly, but
it may be easier to see that something is going on within. One imagination or the
other is going on in us all the time.

You can look into yourself and find out whether this imagination is going on in you
all the time or you can stop it. It is important to look into yourself to find out. So,
what do you find? If you observe yourself, you will find that some imagination or
the other is going on all the time.

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Even if you observe yourself for five minutes you will find some 10, 20, 30
imaginations taking place. You may do this exercise to just observe yourself for
five minutes and see what is going on inside you!

Imagination gets Expressed in Behaviour and Work

All the decisions are made in our imagination. The decision regarding behaviour
with human being is taken at the level of the imagination. Similarly, for any work
we do with rest of nature, the decisions are taken at the level of imagination. Can
you see that?

You may select to express something outside as behaviour or work or you may
select not to express anything outside. That decision is also taken at the level of
imagination. When it comes to the expression outside, the Body is used as an
instrument. In behaviour, you may use the Body to share your feeling of respect
for your friend by way of words. In work with rest of nature, you may involve your
Body to sow the wheat seeds and so on. Your behaviour or work is simply an
expression of your imagination in which the Body is involved.

When your imagination is in harmony with your natural acceptance, it leads to

harmony within and therefore, a state of happiness. If this imagination is in
contradiction with your natural acceptance, it leads to disharmony and
unhappiness. It is very important to see what is going on in our imagination, to be
aware of our imagination, because our basic aspiration of happiness depends
upon it. This is what we have to start looking into.

One of our colleagues related this incident: I remember conducting a

workshop in a small town for a group of teachers. I asked them “can you
tell me what is your desire”? One of them said “as long as I am alive, I want
unlimited wealth and after death, I want moksha (liberation)”. Now these
are quite contradictory desires! When he is working for unlimited wealth, he
will keep worrying about what will happen to his liberation. When he is
working for liberation, he will keep thinking about what will happen to that
unlimited wealth. With these contradictions, he will be in a state of
unhappiness – can you see that?

When we are comfortable within, when we are in harmony within, when we are in
a state of happiness within, our behaviour and work is also likely to be harmonious.
When we are uncomfortable, in disharmony, confusion and unhappiness within,
our behaviour and work is also likely to be disharmonious.

We are taking this example again and again just to clarify the point. When you are
thinking of taking revenge from someone for two hours and after two hours you
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drop the idea, is there any execution outside? There is no execution at the level of
Body, no execution in behaviour and no execution in work. However, a lot has
taken place at the level of imagination and this becomes the source of your
happiness or unhappiness. For these two hours you were thinking of taking
revenge, of opposition which is not naturally acceptable to you; so, for these two
hours you were in the state of contradiction, of unhappiness. The other person may
not even know of it as you have not expressed it outside!

Similarly, when you think for two hours about a friend with a feeling of respect,
about how to express your feeling of respect to him, you are in harmony within
because the feeling of respect is naturally acceptable to you. When you are in
harmony within, you are in a state of happiness. Of course, if you express this
feeling of respect to your friend, it will lead to happiness for your friend also, since
respect is naturally acceptable to him as well.

Observe your own state of imagination and try to correlate your expression, in
terms of behaviour and work. When is your behaviour fulfilling for the other? When
is your work mutually enriching?

Find out if imagination is going on or not going on? Is it going on continuously or

there is a point of time when there is no imagination taking place? Can you see
that you decide at the level of imagination and that your behaviour and work is just
the expression of your imagination? Can you see that you use your Body, as and
when required, for expressing your decisions? You may be aware of it or you may
not be aware of it, so keep on observing and keep on verifying this.

While the Self is central to human being, if you look at the Self, this imagination is
central to the Self in the sense that happiness and unhappiness depends on the
state of imagination. With that, it also connects the Self to the world outside, in
terms of behaviour with human being and work with the rest of nature. It, further
connects to natural acceptance within. In that sense the imagination plays a central
role.

State of Imagination
We may find it difficult, at first, to observe our imaginations. We may then be able
to see some of them, maybe with gaps in between. We may remember some
imaginations and not others. Some imaginations may be connected to each other;
some may be disconnected and even very contrary to each other.

You may remember there was a TV serial called ‘Mungerilal Ke Haseen

Sapane’ (Beautiful dreams of Mungerilal). It is about the day-dreams of a
person called Mungerilal. What it depicts in each of the episodes is, that in
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 first one minute he is a peon sitting outside an office on a stool and soon
he takes off into his imagination for some twenty minutes (of that episode)
and in last one minute he realizes that he is the peon sitting outside the
office on his stool. These twenty minutes, he imagines all kinds of very
interesting things.

Now if you start looking at yourself, you will find that it is not only Mungerilal who
is having these imaginations – we all are having such imaginations, one after the
other. We may or may not be aware of our imaginations. We may or may not be
able to find out where they are coming from, but imaginations are going on in each
one of us.

As you are reading this book, you can find out what is going on in your imagination.
Even in five minutes, so many imaginations will be taking place one after the other.
Are you able to see that? Are you aware of them? How much time your attention
is in the book and how much time you are imagining other things? To comprehend
one paragraph, you may be able to observe that you have to read it more than
once, even if it is of interest to you. That is because you are thinking of many other
things in between while reading. When you look at the things to which your
attention goes to, those are the things you consider important. Sometimes you
think what is written in the book is important and sometimes you may think of your
friends who have gone for a movie!

That is why, when we are conducting a class for this course, we keep
repeating the important points many times, because we have an idea about
what may be happening in the students. They may be going from one
imagination to other imagination. By the time we speak something, we state
some important point, the student picks up a few words and then (s)he
takes off. (S)he starts imagining something, something else and so on. For
ten minutes (s)he is off the class, in her own imagination and (s)he does
not know what is going on in the class. Ten minutes later (s)he comes back
and tries to trace what is being talked about. You see, we are clear that
every student wants to know, wants to understand. We also have an idea
about their ability to focus. By keeping both these things in mind, we write
the contents on the board. We also keep repeating 10 times, 20 times so
that even if (s)he comes back after 15 minutes (s)he should be able to find
out what is being talked about, to get the point being discussed. Slowly,
over time, things settle down as (s)he is able to see the relevance of what
is being discussed. Then, her attention stays for more time on the
discussion and we can go faster.

An example has been shown in the fig. 6-2. It shows the way imagination
goes. While a student is sitting in the classroom, the teacher is giving an
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 assignment and the student is writing down the assignment. Suddenly
he(student) remembers his friends who are planning to go for a movie. He
recalls the last time he saw a movie with them. Many scenes may flash
before him – of the escapades of the hero and the heroine. A loud thud of
the dropping duster brings him back to the classroom. The board has now
been filled up with 20 questions for the assignment. Anoop sees his
notebook where only the first question has been written. Surprised at that,
he starts writing the questions. He thinks that he can’t catch up with the
teachers’ pace, so he starts planning how to get a copy of the questions.

He will get it from the notes of one of his friends. Again, he slips back to the
imagination about the movie. Anoop also want to be a scientist, have a big
house with a lab in the basement. He wants to have a nice family. But he
has to get some decent grades for that, he thinks. And so, it goes, one
imagination after another. At this point, you may try to identify the desire,
the thoughts and the selections. One desire is leading to many thoughts,
selecting one of them and further analysing it and so on. Also try to identify
the basis for the selections, the basis for comparing.

If you try to trace your own imaginations, you will get an idea of the activities going
on in you. You will find out that you (Self) are deciding the content of your
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imagination. You will find out that your imagination stays on those contents that
you consider valuable, consider important. When you do this exercise, you will find
that many of your imaginations are in harmony with each other, some are contrary
to each other or contrary to your natural acceptance.

Find out how you feel when your imaginations are contrary to each other – are you
comfortable or uncomfortable? You will find that only when your imaginations are
in line with your natural acceptance, it leads to happiness. Only when your
imaginations are in harmony with each other it leads to happiness. This is a
significant observation to make. It points to the fact that your happiness and
unhappiness depends on your own imagination! If you are not aware of your
imaginations, they are still going on – making you happy or unhappy, all without
your awareness!

Once you start looking at your imagination, becoming aware of your desire, thought
and expectation, you will be able to find out the state of your imagination. Refer to
fig. 6-3. Your imagination could be well organized, in harmony or it could be a
random mixture of harmony and contradiction. It could be in harmony or in
contradiction with your natural acceptance.

What do you find? Is your imagination well organized or random? Or nothing

seems to be happening or you are unaware of what is going on?

This imagination is significant because all the decisions are made here! Everything
we feel, everything we think and everything we do is decided here. The state of
imagination gives us a very precise idea about our life. If the imagination is well
organised and in harmony, life will be in harmony – it will be happy. On the other
hand, if the imagination is random and confused, so will the life be – sometimes
happiness, sometimes unhappiness.

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Find out which state is desirable and what your current state of imagination is. It
will give you an idea about yourself.

Possible Sources of Imagination – Preconditioning, Sensation and

Natural Acceptance
The seed or root of the imagination is the desire. As we have seen, a small desire
expands in thought and further expands in expectation. if we can be aware of our
desire, we can check if it is in line with our natural acceptance or not before
expanding it further in our imagination!

Now the next question that we want to investigate into is the desire – where is it
coming from? If you find it hard to pinpoint the desire, look into the content of your
imagination as a whole. We want to find out, “what is the motivation that is driving
our imagination”? If we look at this desire, thought and expectation, what is their
source or motivation? Who is deciding on them? Are we deciding them ourselves?
Or is it someone else making the decision, like parents, family members, friends,
teachers, the social environment, etc.?

For example, you want to come first in the class. Is it really your own desire? Did
you decide it yourself or it came from your parents, or it came from your teachers,
or it came from your friends or it came from the social environment – what is it?
We don't usually ask this question as to where it is coming from. It looks like we
are deciding, but when we question deeper that how these desires came; then we

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may find that it came from the family, from the teachers, from the friends and so
on.

If you look into it (refer to fig. 6-4), you will find that there are three possible sources
of motivation for imagination:
1. Preconditioning
2. Sensation
3. Natural Acceptance

Preconditioning as a Source of Motivation for Imagination

A dominant source of imagination is preconditioning. Preconditioning means the
beliefs, notions, norms, ideas, views, assumptions, dictums, goals, etc. picked by
oneself, or prevailing in the family, in the society which may influence our
imagination. For example, if parents say ten times you have to come first in the
class, your desire gets conditioned, and you have the desire to come first in the
class. If your friend also says you have to come first in the class, if your teacher
also says you have to come first in the class, you get a strong desire to come first
in the class. We tend to pick up whatever preconditioning is there around us in
society, in family, in school without verifying it for ourselves.

If you ask yourself whether you want to come first in the class or you want to
understand what is being taught, what is the answer that you get? What is your
natural acceptance? Given all the choices, you will like to understand what is being
taught in the class, provided it relates to your happiness and prosperity – that is
your natural acceptance. However, you desire to come first in the class because
somehow you have now started relating it to your happiness or under the pressure
(or influence) of your parents, your teachers, your friends or the society around. It

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may not be your natural acceptance, but you have made it your desire without
verifying it for yourself.

Like this you can see that a large percentage of your desires are motivated by
preconditioning. They are not your natural acceptance, but you have made them
your desire under some influence or pressure; and you may not even be aware of
it! If you are not even aware of them, they are riskier for you as they might mislead
your desires and you may not even notice it. In fact, a little awareness will show
that the way we dress, what we select to eat, the way we talk, the way we behave…
most of these are coming from our preconditioning.

One of our friends related an example about a metro city of India which he
visited fifteen years back. He along with his friends was going to meet
someone at his house. In the metro train, he found that most of the
youngsters were wearing torn trousers. He was quite surprised to see this
as he was in a metro city. He naively asked one of his friends if people in
the city were facing some economic crisis. The friend was surprised and
asked what happened. He said “people are wearing torn clothes – the
trousers are torn at the bottom”. The friend laughed and replied, “Don’t you
know? This is the fashion today”! Now this was quite unexpected for him
and he kept thinking “if they have to wear torn clothes, why do they need
to get it stitched”? But you know this is fashion and this fashion means
some preconditioning has been created around. So, now we are paying for
stitching the trouser and we are paying for tearing the trouser. Similarly,
those heels of fashion – fashion of high heels, low heels and it keeps
changing every few months. Our preconditioning is changing and we keep
changing the clothes and shoes. Does it happen with you? Find it out. You
may get so many things from your experience.

Our preconditioning keeps on deciding our desires, thoughts and expectations.

Can you see that? The prevailing preconditioning is one major source of
motivation for imagination.

Sensation as Another Source of Motivation for Imagination

Another major source of our desire, our imagination is the sensation. Sensation is
the information we get from the Body through the five sense organs – of sound
(through ears), touch (through the skin), sight (through the eyes), taste (through
the tongue) and smell (through the nose). For example, you are going by the road
and you see a very shining red car passing by. Now your imagination is dragged
by that car. You start desiring for that car now, because you happened to like the
colour, or you happened to like the shape, speed or something else. So, this
sensation has made an impact on you. So, now you have a desire for the car. Does
it happen?
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Sensation has an important role in our imagination. See, if that is how it has been
happening. Many of our desires are governed by the sensation that we get from
the sense organs and we may feel motivated to fulfil those desires without being
able to relate them to the continuity of happiness. You happen to eat some exotic
food, and the taste motivates you to visit the restaurant again and again. You listen
to some music and the tunes, the singer’s sonorous voice engrosses your whole
thought. You now feel like listening to the music again and again. Your friend
purchases a very soft woollen cloth, and the very touch makes you think how to
get one for you too. Your neighbour uses some kind of perfume which you happen
to like and you start locating that perfume in the mall. You like the way someone
looks – now you want that person as your intimate friend. Now, you will see that
you have been accumulating desires just like that; without verification and without
being aware of how it came about.

These are the two major sources of motivation for our imagination. One is the
preconditioning and the other is sensation.

Natural Acceptance as the Most Authentic Source of Motivation for

Imagination
The third source of motivation is our natural acceptance. Some people also refer
to it as the inner voice or conscience. Self-verification on the basis of our natural
acceptance can be the third possible source. It may or may not be the predominant
source of motivation currently, but it can be the real source for deciding our desire,
our imagination.

Try to find out what your natural acceptance is:

• To respect or to disrespect others?
• To protect your Body or to damage your Body?
• To eat food that nurtures your Body or to eat food that harms your Body?

It is as simple as that. If we are aware of our natural acceptance, and we are aware
of our imagination, we can make the choices that are in line with our natural
acceptance. We will look into this third possibility in more detail as we go further.

So far, we have discussed three possible sources of motivation for our imagination.
One is the prevailing preconditioning, the second one is sensation and the third
possible source is the self-verification on the basis of our natural acceptance. Can
you see this for yourself?

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Consequences of Imagination from the three Sources – Self-
organisation or Enslavement?
Try to find out: of all the desires you have, what percentage of desires are coming
from preconditioning and sensation; and what percentage is motivated by your
natural acceptance?

With this observation you can also see, as long as your desires are coming from
preconditioning, you cannot be sure whether they are in harmony with your natural
acceptance or not. Therefore, you are not sure whether, with these desires, you
will be in harmony or you will be in contradiction within. Therefore, you are not sure
whether you will be in a state of happiness within or unhappiness within.

Similarly, when desires are based on sensation you are not very sure whether they
are in line with your natural acceptance or not. So there again, you are not very
clear whether it will lead to state of harmony and happiness within or contradiction
and unhappiness within.

We can recall the discussion on the prevailing notions about happiness from
chapter 4. Assuming that pleasing sensation is happiness is one notion. We get
bored with any indulgence after some time and want to shift to something else. We
keep shifting TV channels, shifting from sweets to salty snacks, shifting from one
kind of music to another and so on. Now you can see that a particular sensation
may match with our taste for a while, but we don’t want to continue with it since it
does not necessarily ensure harmony in the Self.

Similarly, the assumption that good feeling from the other will fetch us happiness
can now be evaluated. We like the taste of the feeling that we receive from the
other. However, it does not ensure harmony within us – it does not ensure right
understanding and right feeling. Therefore, the taste of the feeling is very short
lived. Try to observe people who have such an assumption. They keep expecting
affirmation from the other. A husband may keep expecting his wife to pay full
attention to him and only to him all the time. She may expect him to pick up her
phone call every time on the first ring; to answer her messages immediately; to
inform her of whom he is meeting every time and so on. This sort of expectation is
an indication that we have an assumption that the feeling from the other is a source
of my happiness.

Only when your desires are coming through your natural acceptance, you can be
sure that you are in harmony within because then your imagination is in line with
your natural acceptance. Only then you are sure to be in a state of harmony within
and therefore, in a state of happiness. The only way to ensure harmony at the level

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of Self is to ensure that all our desire, thought and expectation, all our imaginations
are in line with our natural acceptance.

This is also the meaning of definite conduct. We are able to see our natural
acceptance. Our imagination is in harmony with our natural acceptance; therefore,
we are in a state of harmony (happiness) within. Our behaviour and work are now
in line with (in harmony with) our natural acceptance. This is what we referred to
as definite human conduct.

Next, ask yourself if your desires, which are motivated by some preconditioning,
are really yours or they are borrowed from outside. Who decided to wear the torn
clothes (to show others that you are in tune with the latest fashion)? Is that really
you? Because if you had decided (on the basis of your natural acceptance), would
you not have selected clothes that protect the Body, and also that are acceptable
in the society? If we look into this in depth, it is the prevailing preconditioning that
is deciding, rather than your natural acceptance; it is the other deciding, rather than
you! In that sense, the decision is dictated by the other. Refer to fig. 6-5. It is a
state of enslavement. That indicates that we are dictated by our own
preconditioning!

Similarly, ask yourself if your desires which are motivated by sensation, are really
yours or they are borrowed from outside? Who decided to go for that food for the
sensation of taste alone, without checking if it is nurturing for your Body? Is that
really you? Because if you had decided (on the basis of your natural acceptance),
would you not have selected food that is nurturing for your Body, and which was
also tasty? If you look carefully, it is the sensation of taste that is overriding your
natural acceptance. In that sense, the decision is dictated by the sensations of the

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Body. It is a state of enslavement. That indicates we are enslaved by our own
sensations!

When you ask yourself if your desires which are based on your natural acceptance,
are really yours or they are borrowed from outside. If you decided on shoes to
protect your feet and you selected shoes of the right size and shape of your feet,
it is in line with your natural acceptance. For such desires, selections, you are not
influenced by what people say or the conditions outside. The latest shoe fashion
for pointed shoes, high heeled shoes, the shiniest shoe exteriors, etc. would not
have any influence on your decision or your selection. You get an affirmative yes
– that desires based on your natural acceptance are truly your desires. Of course,
such desires would be in line with your basic aspiration for mutual happiness and
mutual prosperity at the base, so they will be acceptable not only to you, but to the
other as well. This is the state of being self-organised, organized under the
guidance of one’s natural acceptance.

Being self-organised is not the same as freedom. The general sense of freedom is
one of doing whatever one desires. Another aspect of the general sense of
freedom is escape from some sort of bondage. As we have seen, our desires are
largely motivated by preconditioning and sensation, so there could be a desire to
dominate and force the whole class to take a day off. Would you consider such an
action to be a sign of freedom? Being self-organised, on the other hand, is used
specifically for the responsibility one willingly takes in ensuring harmony. I am
happy to take the responsibility to act in accordance with my natural acceptance.
It is in the interest of harmony within myself and harmony outside. If we make effort
for collaborating with our classmates to understand all that is being taught, it is in
the interest of harmony. One can make such choices when one is guided by their
natural acceptance (one is self-organised).

The exercise of finding out the accumulated desires coming from preconditioning,
sensation and natural acceptance will give us an idea of our state of being
selforganised or being enslaved. In other words, it will give an idea of how much
we are in harmony within and how much we are in disharmony within; how much
we are in a state of happiness within and how much we are in a state of
unhappiness within. We will get a reasonable idea about “what we are”. It will also
give a good idea about what we need to do to reach to the state of being self-
organised, the state of complete harmony and continuous happiness within.

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The Way Ahead – Ensuring Harmony in the Self by way of Self-
exploration
The state of harmony within is ‘harmony in the Self’; and it is desirable. Once we
are in harmony within, we are self-organised, in a state of continuous happiness.
To reach to this state, we need to:
a) Know our natural acceptance. We have mentioned before that our natural
acceptance is for relationship, not for opposition; for harmony, not for
disharmony; and for co-existence, not for conflict, struggle. In chapter 2, we
had referred to natural acceptance as “what I really want to be”, “what is
naturally acceptable to me”.
b) Be aware of our imagination, i.e., our desire, thought and expectation or
the activities of imaging, analysing-comparing and selecting-tasting. In
chapter 2, we had referred to our imagination in terms of “what I am”.
c) Find out how much of our accumulated imagination is motivated by
preconditioning, sensation and natural acceptance. This is essentially
analysing “what I am”.
d) Work out a way to sort out our imagination till it is fully in line with our natural
acceptance, i.e., our desires, thoughts and expectations are in line with
relationship, harmony and co-existence; and free of opposition, exploitation
and conflict. This is basically working out a way to line up “what I am” with
my natural acceptance, through the process of dialogue within, i.e., The
process of self-exploration.

Harmony in the Self is achieved by ensuring harmony between our imagination

and our natural acceptance, by ensuring that all imaginations are in line with our
natural acceptance (fig. 6-6).

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Understanding Harmony in the Self (Detail)
[The first-time reader may choose to skip this part and come back to it in the
second reading. Here, we are introducing ten activities of the Self. For more details,
please refer to appendices A6-1 and A6-2].

We have discussed three activities of the Self – Desire as the activity of imaging
‘what I want to be’, thought as the activity of analysing ‘how to be what I want to
be’ and expectation as the activity of selecting ‘what to get/do outside’. Here, we
will try to expand further on thought and expectation. For this we will ty to see basis
for analysing and the basis for selecting.

To analyse we generate options and try to pick one or more of them by comparing
them on some criteria.
In the example of your desire ‘to be owner of a big house’, you thought
about ‘how to be owner of a big house’. Your options were ‘building a big
house’, ‘buying a big house’ and ‘renting a big house’. One basis of
comparing may be ‘can I afford it’. Another could be ‘is this the best use of
my money’. Like that, you have many criteria for comparing. Using these
criteria, you choose to expand one or more of the options and drop others.

The activity of analysing always goes with the activity of comparing. We can see
that thought is about analysing and comparing together. We will refer to it as
analysing-comparing. Find out if it is so for you.

Similarly, when we select what to get/do outside, we do so on the basis of our

taste.
In the example of expectation of a ‘big house’, selection is made on the
basis of the size, the shape, the colour, the finish (smoothness) etc., these
depend on the taste you have for each one of them, e.g., one may have
taste for yellow colour while other may have taste for blue. So, selecting of
colour is done on the basis of tasting.

The activity of selecting is always accompanied with the activity of tasting. Now we
can see that expectation is the activities of selecting and tasting together. We will
refer to it as selecting-tasting. Do check it out for yourself.

Thought may be invested in generating (analysing) and comparing various options

for a desire. E.g., for desire ‘to be owner of a big house’. This has already been
explained.

However, thought may also be invested for working out the details of a selection,
for refining the selection.

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Detailing and refining of selection is exemplified below:
To get a ‘big house’ was your expectation. By ensuring your expectation,
you felt you will be able to fulfil your desire ‘to be owner of a big house’.
You don’t stop at that (getting a ‘big house’)– you try to work out the details
of the house – bedrooms, a kitchen, a veranda, bathrooms and so on. All
these analysys (thought) is in reference to the selection of a ‘big house’

Can you observe within yourself and see that the activities of imaging,
analysingcomparing and selecting-tasting are going on in your imagination?

If you look at the Self (refer to fig. 6-7), the activities have been marked in two
blocks, B1 and B2. So far, we have been talking about the activities related to block
B2, “what I am”, my imagination. Desire is the activity of imaging – about myself,
my state of being, what I want to be as a human being. Thought is the activity of
analysing – about how to fulfil my desire to be. Expectation is the activity of
selecting – the things to do in the outside world to fulfil my desire. We have been
discussing these activities because these are the activities that we are awakened
to, by and large. If you are having difficulty in being able to see your desires,
thoughts and expectations distinctly, find out if it is because you are not fully aware
of yourself, of your activities and the content of these activities.

These activities, together called imagination, are governing our harmony or

disharmony within and also outside (in terms of our behaviour, work and
participation in the larger order in the family, society, nature/existence).

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The activities marked in block B1 are about “what I really want to be”, related to
my natural acceptance. These are the activities of contemplation, understanding
and realisation. Contemplation is the activity of seeing my participation in the larger
order, seeing my relationship with other human beings and my relationship with
the rest of nature. Understanding is the activity of seeing the harmony in nature,
seeing the inherent harmony in every unit in nature. Realisation is the activity of
seeing the co-existence in existence.

If I am awakened to these activities, i.e., if I have the right understanding and right
feeling, it is my internal guide for all my imagination. I can filter every input that I
get from outside. I accept only those inputs which are in line with relationship and
ensure relationship; inputs which are in line with harmony and ensure harmony
and inputs which are in line with co-existence and ensure co-existence. This
internal guide is shown by the arrow from B1 to B2. This is a very important arrow.
This is what we have to awaken to.

If you observe the Self which is awakened only to B2, it is partly in harmony but
largely in disharmony and unhappiness. This unhappiness is not naturally
acceptable, so it tries various means to achieve happiness or escape from
unhappiness as we discussed in chapter 4. The solution is to realise our innate
potential to awaken to higher activities of contemplation, understanding and
realisation, to a Self that is awakened to B1 and B2. This is what we are referring
to as a Self with human consciousness. This is the self-evolution in human being,
i.e., the Self awakening to all its activities. This self-evolution is facilitated by
selfexploration which is what we have been trying to initiate. The evolved Self is
shown in fig. 6-7.

Sanskar

In this context, it is pertinent to mention that at any point our state of being can be
articulated as the accumulation of our acceptances, i.e., our sanskar, which can
be expressed as follows:

Sanskar =
a) Acceptances derived out of
∑ [ Desire (from all time) + Thought (from all time) + Expectation (from
all time) ] and
b) Acceptances born out of Right Understanding*

* Right Understanding of a reality includes contemplation of its relationship or

participation in the larger order, understanding of the harmony and realisation of
co-existence in existence of that particular reality.

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If we do not have completeness of right understanding, then we may have
discordant assumptions about relationship, harmony and/or co-existence. E.g., we
may assume that there is struggle instead of co-existence in existence; there is a
struggle for survival and survival of the fittest; there is conflict and contradiction
rather than harmony in Nature and there is need for opposition, competition,
domination and exploitation rather than relationship in human interaction with other
human beings or rest of nature. In general, these assumptions form a strong part
of our sanskar.

if our sanskar is not based on our natural acceptance and right understanding,
then our preconditionings and sanskar, may be that we can derive happiness out
of pleasing sensations or getting pleasant feelings from other human beings. As a
result, our feeling, thought, selection, behaviour, work and participation in the
larger order will depend on these sanskar. This seems to be the case today for
most of us.

Sanskar is being updated every moment over time. We have some sanskar at the
moment (t). At the next moment (t+1), our sanskar can be articulated as:

Sanskar (t+1) = Sanskar (t) + Environment (t) + Self-exploration (t)

That is, our sanskar at the next moment (t+1) is a result of our sanskar at the
present moment (t), the environment we are in at the present moment as well as
the self-exploration, self-verification we do at the present moment.

These acceptances (sanskar) may or may not be in line with our natural
acceptance. If we are doing the self-exploration based on our natural acceptance,
sanskar generated out of this will be harmonious and therefore, our sanskar at the
next moment will be more harmonious than our sanskar now.

On the other hand, if we are just assuming things without self-verification, even
then we will have an updated sanskar in the next moment, but that sanskar may
or may not be better than our current sanskar. It can be worse if we are assuming
things based on wrong preconditioning or sensation.

For example, we keep getting inputs from the social environment like ‘do not trust
anyone’! These inputs may be coming from parents, other family members, friends,
social media, etc. The fear is that if you trust someone blindly, they may take
advantage of you or even harm you. Incidents of such events are reported
frequently in the media. By getting this input again and again, it may become a
part of our imagination. As a result, at one point of time, we may develop the
acceptance for it. Now ‘do not trust anyone’ becomes a part of our sanskar and it

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continues with us. It now mistrust becomes the basis for many of our imaginations
and many of our decisions are based on this sanskar.

If we ask ourself, ‘is the feeling of trust naturally acceptable me or the feeling of
mistrust is naturally acceptable to me'? When we do the self-exploration on this
question and in our self-verification, we find that it is the feeling of trust that is
naturally acceptable, we develop the acceptance for the feeling of trust. Hence,
our previous sanskar, ‘do not trust anyone’, gets updated to the feeling of trust
(rather than mistrust). In this way, our sanskar is modified. You can refer to chapter
8 for some more details about the feeling of trust for your own self-verification.

The key input for self-exploration has to come either from within the Self,
specifically from B1 or as proposals which are based on what someone else has
seen at the level of their B1 i.e., at the level of activities of contemplation,
understanding and realisation. Then only will it lead to lasting improvement in our
sanskar.

We tend to stay in our comfort zone; to accept proposals that match our existing
beliefs (unverified assumptions) and to discard proposals that don’t seem to match,
thereby deepening the existing preconditioning, existing beliefs, existing sanskar.
If we take the inputs from the other as proposals for self-exploration, we slowly
understand and our sanskar also gets improved, i.e., having lesser unverified
assumptions and the Self is more in harmony within.

Even with only B2 active, with effort we can look into our natural acceptance. We
get the answers when we try, when we explore within. Clearly, we see that we
have a natural acceptance for:
1. Relationship
2. Harmony and
3. Co-existence

We have a natural acceptance for mutual fulfilment in relationship and not for
opposition. In chapter 8 on harmony in family, we will explore into relationship in
detail. We will see that we have a natural acceptance for mutual fulfilment in
relationship with human being. In chapter 9, we will see that we have a natural
acceptance for mutual fulfilment with the rest of nature as well. The clarity about
relationship is awakening to the activity of contemplation.

We have a natural acceptance for harmony and not for disharmony, not for
exploitation. In chapter 10 we will explore into the harmony in nature in detail. The
clarity of harmony (reflected as mutual enrichment) at the level of nature is
awakening to the activity of understanding.

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We have a natural acceptance for co-existence and not for conflict, not for struggle.
In chapter 11, we will explore into the harmony in existence. The clarity of
coexistence in existence is awakening to the activity of realisation. With all the
activities of B1 awakened, B1 becomes the guide for our imagination (B2).

One more work that needs to be done, along with awakening to B1, is to sort out
the sanskar, the prior accumulated acceptances. If we observe carefully, we can
realize that we have accumulated a lot of these acceptances which are resulting
in numerous desires, thoughts, and expectations. What has happened is that very
unconsciously, without awareness, we have accumulated a lot of these
acceptances. Many of these acceptances are contrary to each other and also not
in line with our natural acceptance. And, we are not even aware of them. We have
accumulated so many acceptances and all of them put together are what we are
calling sanskar.

Each one of us has a lot of accumulated acceptances, accumulated sanskar. Our

pre-conditioning, our perspective, our tendencies are all a part of expressions of
our sanskar. One person may have the tendency to share – it is what her sanskar
is. Another person may have the tendency to hoard – that is in his sanskar. The
Self is working with all the accumulations, the sanskar. So many of our
imaginations are springing out because of our accumulated sanskar is being
triggered either by myself or some situations outside.

If we are unaware of our sanskar or the inputs we are taking from outside; then we
may not be able to see where our imagination came from! To work toward harmony
in the Self, it is essential to be aware of our imagination and our sanskar and sort
it out, layer after layer. That means we have to sort out our imaginations, our
sanskar and make sure that we keep only what is in line with our natural
acceptance and the rest is evaluated out.

The seed or root of the imagination is the desire. As we have seen, a small desire
expands in thought and further expands in expectation. Now, if we find
contradictions in the imagination, the best place to check is the desire. This desire
needs to connect to our natural or existential purpose – that is what we have been
hinting at when we introduced natural acceptance. Also, desire connects to our
feeling in relationship which we will explore in more detail in chapter 8. To check
whether some selections or some thoughts will lead to harmony or not, it is best to
check the desire (which has given rise to these thoughts and expectations):
• Is it born out of a naturally acceptable feeling or not?
• Is it for a human purpose or not?

For example, if you are thinking of how to express respect to your mother, the
desire behind it is a desire for living with respect. Since respect is a naturally
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acceptable feeling, this desire will lead to harmony, and thoughts to fulfil this desire
will also lead to harmony and happiness. On the other hand, if you are thinking of
expressing disrespect to your mother, the desire behind this thought is living with
disrespect. Since this desire is conflicting with the innate desire for feeling of
respect, this desire will lead to disharmony; the thought of disrespect will lead to
disharmony and unhappiness. Of course, if we are not aware or if we are not
referring to our natural acceptance, if we are not having that internal dialogue, we
may find out the result right now, or after some time, even many days and many
years. It just means that we are either unaware of our imagination at that moment
or we are not checking whether it is in line with our natural acceptance or not i.e.,
whether it will lead to harmony or not.

One of the simple ways to do this check is to find out the source of motivation for
the desire – is it preconditioning or sensation or self-verification on the basis of our
natural acceptance. Because without this awareness, without this dialogue;
desires are being motivated from all these three sources. In the meanwhile, without
much of awareness, we have accumulated a lot of desires – some are in line with
our purpose and naturally acceptable feelings in relationship, while others are not.
With awareness and with the internal dialogue, every moment, the sanskar can be
cleaned out.

When both the following parts are complete, we are in harmony within, in a state
of continuous happiness, in human consciousness. These two parts are:
1. The activities in block B1 have been awakened. We have the right
understanding – of relationship, harmony and co-existence (mutual
fulfilment). With that, this right understanding has become the guide for B2
(imagination), so now we have the right feeling and right thought.
2. We have sorted out our sanskar, i.e., all our sanskar are now in line with
our existential purpose and naturally acceptable feelings. Our sanskar are
only in line with relationship, harmony and co-existence (mutual fulfilment).

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Then we are able to participate for mutual fulfilment with the world outside (refer
to fig. 6-8). It means that our behaviour with human being will lead to mutual
happiness, work with rest of nature will lead to mutual prosperity and our
participation in larger order will lead to the fulfilment of human goal which ultimately
will lead to undivided society and universal human order. An undivided society and
universal human order can be ensured on the basis of understanding of the
harmony: in existence as co-existence, in nature as harmony and in our
relationship with other human being and with rest of nature as mutual fulfilment.

We will explore these in detail as we go on. We have just mentioned this to give
you a feel that ultimately this is how our imagination will look like; this is how the
state of the Self will look like; this is how our conduct will look like and that would
be the final result of it. One end of it is the realisation of co-existence in existence,
understanding of harmony in nature and contemplation of relationship in the Self;
and other end is the undivided human society and universal human order.

One of the ways you can find out your state of being is to do the practice
session on finding out how much of the desires, thoughts and
expectations are motivated by preconditioning, sensation and natural
acceptance (it is included in the practice sessions for this chapter).

More on sanskar in Appendix A6-2.

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Salient Points
• The Self is central to human existence. Every decision is made by the Self
and if required, it is expressed outside using the Body as an instrument.
• The Self is continuously active in imaging, analysing-comparing and
selecting-tasting.
• The Self has the continuous power to desire, so the activity of imaging is
always taking place. It has the continuous power of thought, so the activity
of analysing based on comparing is always taking place. It has the
continuous power of expectation, so the activity of selecting based on
tasting is always taking place.
• Together all these activities are called imagination. Imagination is
continuously taking place in the Self.
• All the desires, all the decisions, all the selections are made in the
imagination. They may be expressed outside in the form of behaviour with
human being or work with rest of nature, as and when required, using the
Body as an instrument. Imagination connects to the behaviour and work. In
that sense, the imagination in the Self plays a central role in our behaviour
and work with the world outside .
• Sanskar is composed of acceptances born out of imaginations
accumulated over time as well as those out of right understanding. These
acceptances are developed through self-study and self-exploration; i.e.,
Sanskar =
Acceptances derived out of
∑ [ Desire (from all time) + Thought (from all time) + Expectation (from
all time) ] and
Acceptances born out of Right Understanding
• Sanskar is being updated every moment over time. We have some sanskar
at the moment (t). At the next moment (t+1), our sanskar can be articulated
as:
Sanskar (t+1) = Sanskar (t) + Environment (t) + Self-exploration (t)
Our sanskar at the next moment (t+1) is a result of our sanskar at the
present moment (t), the environment we are in at the present moment as
well as the self-exploration, self-verification we do at the present moment.
These acceptances (sanskar) may or may not be in line with our natural
acceptance. If we are doing the self-exploration based on our natural
acceptance, sanskar generated out of this will be harmonious and
therefore, our sanskar at the next moment will be more harmonious than
our sanskar now.
On the other hand, if we are just assuming things without self-verification,
even then we will have an updated sanskar in the next moment, but that
sanskar may or may not be better than our current sanskar. It can be worse
if we are assuming things based on wrong preconditioning or sensation.

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 • The happiness or unhappiness depends on the content of imagination (and
sanskar). If it is in line with the natural acceptance, there is harmony in the
Self – it is in a state of happiness. If it is not in line with the natural
acceptance, there is contradiction in the Self – it is in a state of
unhappiness.
• There are three possible sources of motivation for imagination –
preconditioning, sensation and natural acceptance. Preconditioning means
the beliefs, notions, norms, ideas, views, assumptions, dictums, goals, etc.
prevailing in the family, in the society which may influence the imagination.
Sensation is the information the Self reads from the Body through the five
sense organs – of sound, touch, sight, taste and smell. Self-verification on
the basis of natural acceptance leading to right understanding is the third
source of imagination.
• When the imagination is motivated by preconditioning or sensation, it is
enslaved by some external source. This is enslavement. When the
imagination is guided by natural acceptance, it is the state of
selforganization.
• When imagination is in line with natural acceptance, only then it is definite
to be in harmony, leading to a state of happiness within. When it is
motivated by preconditioning or sensation, it is not definite whether it will
be in harmony or in disharmony.
• Since the natural acceptance is for relationship, harmony and co-existence,
when imagination (i.e., desire, thought, expectation) is guided by these
three – relationship, harmony and co-existence, there is harmony in the
Self. The Self is in a state of happiness. If we can ensure that all our
imaginations are guided by relationship, harmony and co-existence, there
is harmony in the Self in continuity and the Self is in a state of happiness
continuously.

Test Your Understanding

Part 1: Questions for Self-evaluation

(Have we grasped the basic proposals made in this chapter?)

1. Why is it important to study the Self? How does it help in your day-to-day
life?
2. Explain the activities of the Self with a diagram. With the help of an
example, show how are they related.
3. What is imagination? Is it taking place continuously or is it a temporary
activity that you can start and stop at will? Justify your answer with some
examples.
4. Describe the harmony in the Self with a few examples.
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 5. List the various sources of imagination in the Self. Elaborate with few
examples.
6. How is behaviour and work decided? Is it decided by the Body or by the
Self? which activity of the Self is connecting to behaviour and work?
7. How can self-exploration help to ensure harmony in the Self?
8. Our sanskar keeps getting updated as given in the chapter. Sanskar at the
next moment is
Sanskar (t+1) = Sanskar (t) + Environment (t) + Self-exploration (t)
Explain the meaning of this statement with the help of any two examples
from your life.

Part 2: Practice Exercises for Self-exploration

(To help connect the content to one’s life, at least at the level of thought, these
exercises may be done individually or in a group, particularly with friends and family
members)

1. Observe your imagination for about 15 minutes. List down the object of your
imagination at least once every minute. From this list or from directly observing
your imagination, make a sequence diagram (as shown below).

Next???

Now write down your observations:

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 a. Are you able to see your imagination all of the time or only some of the
time?
b. If you are able to see (be aware of) your imagination only some of the
time, what do you think is the reason?
c. Are all your imaginations well connected (one imagination leads
logically to another imagination) or are there sudden changes from one
subject to another subject or there are gaps in between one imagination
and another imagination? What is the reason for this state of
imagination?
d. What are your observations from this exercise?

2. Reflect on the times when your Body was healthy, when your Body was sick,
when your Body was resting, when your Body was refreshed, when your Body
was fatigued, etc. (i.e., your Body was in different states). Write down your
observations:
a. Is the activity of imagination continuous in time and not dependent on
the state of your Body? [Of course, we are not asking about the content
of your imagination].
b. Do you always decide your behaviour and work, or does your Body
decide it? Does the state of your Body have any impact on your
behaviour or on your work?
What did you understand about yourself from this exercise?

3. Take your list of desires. Revise it if you need to. For each desire, identify the
primary source of motivation (sensation, preconditioning or natural
acceptance). If there is any desire which has more than one source of
motivation, split it into two or more desires. E.g. a desire for good clothes may
be motivated by your natural acceptance (to protect the Body from excessive
heat or cold) and also be motivated by the social preconditioning for the clothes
of the latest fashion. In such a case, split the desire into two desires. You may
be already doing this for innerwear (to protect your Body, for comfort) and
outerwear (for fashion).
Desire Motivated by Motivated Motivated
Preconditioning by by Natural
Sensation Acceptance
Good health To look good
Good health So I can eat
all I like
Good health So I don’t
feel sleepy
while
reading
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 Feeling of acceptance for
me in my friends
Being physically in the
company of my friends
Food for nutrition Nutrition
Food for taste Taste
Lots of money – for needs of
Body
Lots of money – for respect
in the society
Understanding my natural
acceptance
This is just a sample list.
Please make your own list
Now, write down your observations:
a. What percentage (approximately) of your desires are motivated by your
natural acceptance? This will give you an idea of the percentage that
you are self-organised or autonomous. Keep in mind that natural
acceptance is about purpose and it does not change with time, place or
person.
b. What percentage (approximately) of your desires are motivated by
sensation or preconditioning? Now you can get an idea of the
percentage that you are dependent or enslaved.
c. What effort is necessary to be completely self-organised or
autonomous (if that is your goal)?

4. The basic desire (D) of a human being is continuous happiness. For it, there
are multiple sub-desires. For each desire or sub-desire, there are multiple
thoughts. For each thought there may be many expectations. All this is together
called imagination. In this exercise, we are trying to specifically identify the
desires / sub-desires and the associated thoughts and expectations. Find out
if there is harmony among the sub-desires, thoughts and expectations.

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5. Write down some of your habits, some things that you like, some things that
you dislike, the basis of how you make choices and some “rules of life” that you
go by – these are all a part of your accumulated imagination and sanskar. For
each entry, if you can ask “why” and get an answer, go with the answer. E.g. if
you like to eat sweets and you ask yourself “why sweets”? Your answer may
be “because I like the taste of sweets”, so write down “taste of sweets”, instead
of “sweets”. Like this make a list. This defines “what you are”. Note that your
desires are a part of your sanskar which is the acceptances out of your
accumulated desires, thoughts and expectations. Recall the list of your natural
acceptance. How much (what percentage) of your sanskar (acceptances) is
matching your natural acceptance? Write down your conclusions from this
exercise.

Part 3: Projects and Modelling Exercises

You may like to revisit this part of Test Your Understanding after reading through
the complete book once and self-exploring all the key proposals. With that, you
may have some (or many) aha! moments in which something clicks for you, you
understand a proposal. What you have understood may be expressed in various
creative ways which appeal to different people. This part is for you to give a
creative expression to your understanding. Of course, you can do this in a group
also. Creative expressions may be in the form of sketches, drawings, paintings,
clay models, sculptures, songs, poems, music, dance, audios, videos, games,
puzzles, stories, skits, plays, dramas, charts, diagrams, plans, survey
questionnaires, blogs, something on social media and so on. It is the story of your
own life – and it matters. While some hints are given above, please feel free to
share your real aha’s in your own way!

“Self (consciousness) is the significant part of human being”

1. Activities of the Self

2. Three sources of imagination
3. Self-evolution: Sanskar (t+1) = Sanskar (t) + Environment (t) +
Selfexploration (t)

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 4. Happiness = harmony in the Self

Part 4: Your Questions

Write down your questions or doubts in your note-book. If any of the previous
questions have been clarified by your self-exploration of the proposals so far,
please mark them as answered. We would like to discuss the questions remaining
unanswered in your self-exploration.

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Chapter 7: Harmony of the Self with the Body –
Understanding Self-regulation and Health

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Recap
When we now look at human being, the Self (consciousness) is there, the Body
(material) is there and there is co-existence between the two – the Self and the
Body. It is the Self that is taking the responsibility for the fulfilment of the needs of
both itself as well as the Body and to maintain the co-existence between the two.

The Self is the one that has the will to live with continuous happiness, which is its
need. It is taking the responsibility to fulfil that need by ensuring harmony within. It
is developing right understanding and right feeling in itself for that. In the process,
the Body is used as and when required, as an instrument.

In the previous chapter, we discussed the harmony in the Self. With harmony
within, the Self is in a state to maintain the harmony with the Body. In this chapter,
we will discuss the harmony of the Self with the Body. This will also help us to
understand prosperity in greater detail.

The Self as the Seer-Doer-Enjoyer (Body as an Instrument)

Now that we have seen the human being as co-existence of Self and the Body, we
can go into the details of the co-existence between the two. Refer to fig. 7-1. The
Self is a unit of consciousness and it is in co-existence with the material Body. It is
the Self that makes all the decisions and uses the Body to execute them, as and
when required.

The Self sends instructions to the Body and the Body follows those instructions. If
you instruct your body to stand, it stands; if you instruct the Body to sit, it sits; if
you instruct the Body to eat, it eats; if you instruct your body to stop eating, it stops
eating and so on. The Body follows the instructions of Self. All these instructions
are information that is being given by the Self to the Body. Can you see that?

All the sensations taking place in the Body are available to the Self and it reads
the sensations it considers significant. As you are reading this page, the image of
the whole page, and perhaps the table and surrounding objects is falling on your

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eye, but you are selecting what to pay attention to. You are reading the words now,
and at some other time you are taking note of the mobile on the table and so on.

Note that the eye has no choice of the image being formed on it. The image on the
eye will include the page of the book, the table and surrounding objects. The
sounds reaching the ear will necessarily make an impression on it and the same
is true for every sense organ. These sensations are pieces of information.
Similarly, all the sensations of sound, touch, sight, taste and smell are always
available to you. But you access them only as and when you consider it necessary.
You decide what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. Can you
observe that happening?

To take an example, when you want to eat a sweet, you instruct the Body to walk
to your favourite sweet shop, pay the money to buy the sweet, put the sweet in the
mouth and so on. Who is giving the instructions in this process – the Self or the
Body? The Self is giving instruction to the Body, and the Body is acting accordingly.
When the sweet comes in contact with the tongue, it creates a sensation at the
tongue and you read that sensation as taste. Once the sweet goes down the throat,
the sensation of taste is not available to the Self any more, and the sweet is in the
process of digestion by the Body.

Try to observe the Self, the Body and the transactions between the Self and the
Body. The instructions are sent to the Body by the Self and the sensations from
the Body are being selectively read by the Self. All these transactions are in the
form of information. No material transaction is taking place.

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Refer to fig. 7-2. The Self (consciousness) is there and the Body (material) is there.
There is a will to live with continuous happiness in the Self. That is the need of the
Self.

Recall that it is you (Self) that has the will to live with continuous happiness. This
continuous happiness is the need of the Self and it is fulfilled by right understanding
and right feeling. In order to live with continuous happiness, the programme of the
Self is to understand harmony and to live in harmony at all levels of being – from
self to the entire existence, i.e., individual, family, society and nature/existence.

In this process, the Body is used as an instrument. For nurturing, protecting and
rightly utilizing this instrument, physical facility is required from time to time. A part
of my programme is to produce the required physical facility, and also to protect it
and rightly utilize it. This production, protection and right utilization of physical
facility is only a part of my full programme. A rough estimate is that the programme
related to physical facility is less than one fourth of my programme. Physical facility
is required primarily to ensure harmony with the Body – my body and the Body of
my family members. It is also required for right utilisation of the Body.

The need of the Self is the primary need of human being. The programme of
understanding harmony and living in harmony at all four levels (individual, family,
society, nature/existence) is the complete programme. In this programme, the
Body is a useful tool, a useful instrument. In this way, we can see that Self is
playing the major role. It is the Self that is the seer, doer and enjoyer.

I am the Seer
It is the Self that sees the reality; that understands the reality.

You can observe that while reading this book at this moment, you are seeing the
words with the help of your eyes. Is it the eyes that understand, associate meaning
to the words or is it you, the Self who understands? The eyes are a tool. The eyes
or any of the other sense organs do not see, the Body does not see. Rather, it is
the Self which sees through the eyes, it is the Self which associates meaning, it is
the Self which understands. Of course, it may use the Body, and particular
sensations in the Body as a help, as an instrument to see.

When you observe within, you don’t even need to use the senses. For example, to
see your feeling, to see if you are happy or unhappy, you are able to see it directly.
Do you need eyes or any other senses to see it? The Self is able to see the feelings
within. In this way, you are able to directly see your desires, thoughts, expectations
and so on.

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The Self is the seer, it is the one which understands and, in the process, the Body
is used, as and when required, like an instrument.

I am the Doer
Self is the doer. Doer means, one who decides, one who takes the decision to do
or not to do.

Whom you would like to call doer, one who takes the decision or one who just
follows it? For example, you are reading this book right now with the help of your
eyes. Now, observe who has taken the decision to read the book – eyes or you
(the Self)? Since you decide what to do and what not to do – you are the doer. To
execute your decision, you use the Body as and when required.

Further, there are activities of the Self where the Body is not at all involved, like
desire, thought and expectation. Remember the example of thinking of taking
revenge for two hours? At the end of two hours who dropped the idea – the Self or
the Body? You can see that it is the Self that decided.

In this way, I am the doer.

I am the Enjoyer (Experiencer)

It is the Self that feels enthused or depressed or angry or delighted – the feelings
are in the Self and not in the Body. Of course, there is an impact of these feelings
on the Body; so if you are enthused, your body is more energetic; if you feel angry,
your breathing may become faster and so on.

It is the Self that experiences the happiness and unhappiness. In that sense, I am
the enjoyer.

Self is the Seer-Doer-Enjoyer

We can see that I (Self) am the seer, doer and enjoyer while the Body is used as
an instrument as and when required. Try to verify this in yourself.

Body as a Self-organised System and an Instrument of the Self

The Body is a wonderful self-organized unit. It has so many parts. Each part is
coexisting in harmony with every other part. The eyes are well connected to the
brain; the mouth, the stomach and the whole digestive system is synchronized and
so it is for every organ, every cell of the Body – and I have to do nothing to make
these connections or to synchronise the various parts or to deal with every cell.

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Just imagine if the parts of the Body were fighting with each other, what would
happen. What if the lungs got into opposition with the heart, the stomach started
struggling with the kidney, the hands got into conflict with the head, and so on! Just
imagine, if we had to keep track of every bone in the Body, organize and manage
them! It is a good thing that the Body is self-organised.

It grows from two cells to the size of a child, to an adult size in a well-organized
manner, and every cell of the Body is contributing to it. It absorbs what is required.
It assimilates what is absorbed into various cells, tissues, organs, etc. It excretes
what it does not require. When there is any disharmony in the Body, it generally
heals itself.

The Body is like an instrument, an equipment which we can use, as and when
required, for fulfilling our programme – i.e., for happiness and prosperity. Our role
vis-à-vis the Body is to understand its self-organisation and do what is required to
maintain it, to keep it in harmony, in good health. This is what we will explore next.

Harmony of the Self with the Body

Refer to fig. 7-3. Just like any instrument or equipment that we use, we have the
responsibility for its upkeep, repair and maintenance etc. For example, if I am using
a car, I have the responsibility to take care of the car – to fill petrol in the car, to
protect the car from meeting an accident and so on.

Our responsibility toward the Body is in terms of nurturing the Body, protecting the
Body and rightly utilizing the Body. Nurturing the Body is by providing the right air,
water, food, sunlight, etc. Protection is from unfavourable conditions. Right
utilization would mean using the Body for the purpose of the Self. The feeling of
responsibility toward the Body is called as the feeling of self-regulation.

Feeling of self-regulation = the feeling of responsibility toward the Body

– for nurturing, protection and right utilization of
the Body.

This self-regulation is not restraining or controlling, but rather it is identifying the

responsibility and having commitment towards the Body. With this feeling of
selfregulation in me, I make a programme to nurture, protect and rightly utilize the
Body, thus ensure the health of the Body. When I am able to execute this
programme, the Body remains in good health.

Health of the Body =

1. The Body acts according to the instructions of the Self
2. The parts of the Body are in harmony (in order)
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The Body is healthy if it is able to perform the instructions of the Self. When you
ask the Body to get up at 5:00AM, it is able to spring out of bed refreshed. When
you ask the Body to play a vigorous game of football, it is able to run and jump as
you instruct it. When you ask the Body to sit for four hours so you can study for the
exams, it is able to sit erect without back support for four hours. That is a healthy
body. On the other hand, if the Body is not able to get up or run and jump or sit up
straight when you ask it to, you say it is an unhealthy body, a sick body. When the
Body is not able to follow your instructions, you come to know that there is
something wrong with the Body. The first indicator of the health of the Body is that
it is able to act according to the instructions of the Self.

The second indicator of a healthy body is that different parts of the Body are in
harmony amongst each other, they are in order. The human body is composed of
several organ systems (like the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, digestive,
excretory, circulatory, nervous, endocrine, exocrine, lymphatic and reproductive
systems). In a healthy body all these are in harmony. When we place some food
in the mouth, saliva with ptyalin is released. It mixes with the food as we chew and
helps to convert starch in the food into glucose. Almost half the digestion process
is completed before the food goes down the throat! Like that, every system is doing
something and it is finely balanced with all the other systems. In general, we may
not be aware of all this till we fall sick – when the harmony of the Body is disturbed.

What do we do when the Body is healthy? It is my responsibility to make right

utilization of the Body. That is, I utilise the Body in fulfilling my need. As we have
seen, our basic aspiration is continuous happiness and prosperity, so right
utilization of the Body would mean I am using the Body toward this end. I will be
able to do this only if I have this feeling of self-regulation in me. If this feeling of
responsibility is not there, I may end up misusing the Body, using it to get
happiness through favourable sensation, from overeating tasty food for instance
and, in the process, making the Body unhealthy.

As far as health of the Body is concerned, the feeling of self-regulation in the

Self is primary and the health in the Body is a natural consequence. Can you see
that?

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When the feeling of self-regulation is there in the Self and there is health in the
Body, these two together ensure the harmony of the Self with the Body.

Appraisal of the Current Status

Over the last 100 years or so, there have been significant improvements in terms
of longer life-spans, in dealing with communicable diseases and trauma, but yet,
ensuring health remains a question mark. Lifestyle related disorders like obesity
and alcoholism are increasing; and so are mental disorders, like depression. With
an ever-busy lifestyle, looking for instant results, there is an inclination towards
medication and treatment rather than on a comprehensive programme for health.

When we look at these issues with the background of what has been discussed so
far, these are not the problem, but rather, these are some of the symptoms. The
problem is in the wrong assumptions, one of which is that human being is the Body.
With this assumption, as we explored in chapter 5, happiness is sought through
pleasant sensation through the Body. Over eating and consumption of "junk food"
etc. has become common. The Body is harmed due to excessive consumption or
over indulgence for favourable sensation. Since continuity of happiness cannot be
ensured in this manner, people tend to take to escape routes, including alcohol
and drugs which further aggravate the ill-health.

Further, the assumption that we will get happiness from sensation though the
consumption of physical facility has led to a high demand for it. The production and
sale of physical facility has become primarily for profit, so much so that the food
produced has large quantities of harmful chemicals, primarily from the fertilizers,
insecticides, etc. used in the process of farming. Adulteration of food has also
become common. This, and such other activities, have resulted in contaminated
intake: of food, air, water and even sunlight!

Most of the present-day disorders are psycho-somatic in nature. Psycho = having

to do with the Self. Somatic = having to do with the Body. The state of the Self has
an effect on the Body. A simple example of this is rise in blood pressure when one
is angry. The state of the Body also has an effect on the Self. Having a bath
refreshes the Body and also has a soothing effect on the Self. These effects are
very prominent when the individual is living with the assumption “I am the Body”.

The Way Ahead

There is a need to understand human being as it is (as co-existence of Self and
Body). It is essential to understand the needs of the human being and work to fulfil
them. With this basic understanding, there can be a major shift in paradigm.

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The significant part is having the feeling of self-regulation in the Self. This can
happen only when the Self is in harmony, i.e., there is right understanding and right
feeling in the Self. With a feeling of self-regulation, the Body will naturally be
nurtured, protected and rightly utilized, resulting in good health of the Body. Then,
with the family level supporting individual efforts of providing a conducive
environment, healthy food and home remedies, etc., long-term health of the Body
can be ensured.

Some aspects of it have been brought up for exploration in this chapter. However,
a detailed study needs to be done for ensuring both self-regulation and health at
the individual, family level and beyond.

Programme for self-regulation and Health

How will the feeling of self-regulation in the Self be expressed? What will be the
programme for maintaining health of the Body? Such a programme must
necessarily include nurturing the Body, protection of the Body and right utilization
of the Body. This is what we want to explore into now.

Nurturing the Body

As we have seen, the Body is, by nature, a harmonious organization. Nurturing
means providing the necessary inputs to it. The right inputs nurture the Body,
without disturbing its harmony. The Body is not in isolation – it is in an environment
which has some impact on it. The state of the Body, the inputs and the environment
together could be a cause for disharmony in the Body. To correct these, medicine
or medicine with treatment may be required.

Overall, the programme for nurturing and maintaining health of the Body includes
the following:
1a. Intake 1b. Routine
2a. Physical Labour 2b. Exercise
3a. Balancing internal and 3b. Balancing breathing of body
external organs of body
4a. Medicine 4b. Treatment

1a. The first part is the intake, all that the Body takes in. It includes the air it
breathes, the water it drinks, the sunlight it absorbs, the food given to it and so on.
The Body needs to be able to take what it needs from the intake for its nurturing
and protection. The air needs to have the necessary oxygen and other ingredients;
the water should have the requisite purity, the minerals and other required
micronutrients. In most of India, keeping the Body for about two hours per day in
sunlight is required for absorption of sufficient vitamin D. As far as the food is
concerned, it has to be nutritious, it should be easy to digest and of course, it must
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be tasty for the Self. Taste is one way the Body recognises the food and secretes
appropriate digestive juices – these are different for acidic and alkaline foods, for
example. Of course, the undeveloped Self may indulge in a particular food, just for
getting happiness from the taste! Another important quality of intake, particularly
food, is that after the necessary ingredients from it are absorbed by the Body, the
remaining waste should be excretable. That happens through the breathing, the
sweat as well as the end of the digestive system.

1b. A regular routine is required in order to keep the Body healthy. For instance, it
is necessary to develop a daily routine which includes activities like waking up,
cleaning the Body, eating (and not eating in between), doing physical work and
sleeping. Similarly, seasonal changes in routine are necessary. For instance, the
digestion becomes sluggish when seasons change, so traditionally, fasting is done
or light food is taken during this time. Similarly, appropriate adjustments are
required in order to keep the Body in good health in every season.

2a. The Body needs adequate movement and exertion to maintain its health. It
also needs physical facility for its upkeep. Labour is the effort a human being does
on the rest of nature. Labour ensures movement of the Body. There are two
categories of labour. The first or main category of labour results in production of
physical facility. Some 4-6 hours of labour a day provides sufficient body
movements to keep the Body in good health. It is interesting to note that with this
much labour, more than enough amount of physical facility can also be produced.
Daily two hours of labour in the field is sufficient to grow vegetables for a family of
10, while providing the Body with adequate movement. Sweeping and swabbing
your room is labour, through which the Body gets a great aerobic workout and you
get a clean room. Cycling five kilometers to work and back, can provide fair
movement to the Body. The second category of labour is service in which
maintenance and upkeep of a physical facility or body is ensured; even though no
new physical facility is produced. Repair/maintenance of instruments/equipment,
body massage, haircuts and such service activities fall in the second category.
Interestingly, the feeling exchanged in performing the service, related to human
being, is an important portion of this category of labour. For example, in addition
to the way the body massage is done, the feeling with which the massage is done,
is quite important.

A lifestyle which includes appropriate intake, routine and labour, would be

generally sufficient to keep the Body in good health. However, if we are unable to
do that, or in spite of this effort, there is some disharmony in the Body, there are
some more aspects of the programme for self-regulation and health, below.

2b. Exercise requires exertion or physical effort; and it also ensures movement of
the Body. The major difference between labour and exercise is that in exercise, no

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physical facility is produced. Exercise is quite useful in maintaining the health and
fitness of the Body. Various means of exercise include walking, jogging, swimming,
weight lifting. Most of the outdoor and indoor games also provide exercise.

3a. Due to any reason when internal or external organs get stressed, the harmony
of the Body is disturbed. Then, there is a need for balancing them, bringing them
back into harmony. This may be due to repetitive nature of your work, inactivity
due to lack of work and exercise or some accidental happening. There is a need
for keeping the internal as well as the external organs in harmony by appropriate
means.

3b. Breathing is a significant activity for the Body. If breathing is disturbed due to
any reason, the harmony of the Body gets disturbed. In that case, balancing the
breathing of body is necessary, through appropriate breathing exercises.

For the most part, health of the Body can be maintained by these three (1a, 1b,
2a, 2b, 3a and 3b). Despite these, if there is some problem in the health of the
Body then we take medicine and ultimately, we also take treatment when all this
does not work.

4a. The Body is self-organised and naturally in harmony. It is able to recover itself
from many disturbances. For example, if there is a cut in the skin, the Body has
the capacity to heal that cut. Medicine is used only to assist the Body to return back
to harmony. An antiseptic ointment is a medicine for helping the Body heal a cut,
while protecting the Body from potential infections. The herbs and condiments
used in Oriental cooking are basically medicine. For instance, turmeric is an
antiseptic. It is used in many vegetable and lentil preparations. This way medicine
becomes a part of food. Such food is not only nurturing for the Body, but it also
protects the Body from infections. Medicine is helpful in taking care of lifestyle
disorders, non-communicable illnesses as well as communicable diseases.

4b. In the event the Body is not in a state to recover itself back to a state of
harmony, there is a need for treatment. For example, if the kidneys are not
functioning, dialysis may be an appropriate treatment – the Body is unable to purify
the blood so an external equipment is doing that task. Similarly, in the case of an
accident, a ventilator may be required to perform the breathing function for the
Body, while the Body is occupied in self-healing other aspects. Another example
is the use of lifelong drugs, like insulin, to perform some functions of the Body that
are deemed to be beyond recovery.

Now you can find out whether this is the right sequence for ensuring health or
some other sequence will be more appropriate.

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Protecting the Body
Providing a conducive physical environment includes clothing, shelter,
vaccinations, etc. is all a part of protection of the Body.

Weather-appropriate clothing is required to protect the Body from excessive heat,

cold, rain, etc. Shelter is required while the Body is resting. Vaccinations are
necessary for developing antigens to protect the Body from viruses etc. Like that
various protective measures are required for the Body.

[The Body is born, it develops at a natural pace, deteriorates at a natural pace and
ultimately it dies. Protecting the Body is largely to ensure that the Body does not
deteriorate faster than its natural rate].

Right Utilisation of the Body

As we have seen in chapter 1, the value of any entity is its purposeful participation
in the larger order. In the case of the human body, the larger order is the human
being. Therefore, right utilization of the Body would mean that it is used in the
process of fulfilling human aspiration.

If I am using the Body in the process of fulfilling my need, it is right utilization of the
Body. If I am using my body for anything else, would you call it right utilization?

Thus far, we have seen that our aspiration is continuous happiness and prosperity.
Right utilization of the Body would be for fulfilling this aspiration. We have seen
that the need for happiness is fulfilled by right understanding and right feeling.
Right utilisation of the Body would mean using the Body for right understanding
and right feeling. We have also seen that the need for prosperity is fulfilled by right
understanding and physical facility. Therefore, right utilization of the Body would
also include work with rest of nature to produce physical facility, to protect it and to
rightly utilize it.
Revisiting Prosperity in the Light of the Harmony between the
Self and the Body
In the light of understanding of human being as co-existence of Self and Body, we
could identify that the need of Self is continuous happiness and the need of body
is physical facility. This is also shown in fig. 7-4. We have seen that my full
programme is for continuous happiness. A (smaller) part of the programme is
related to physical facility. In that sense, the feeling of prosperity is a part of the
feeling of happiness. Once we are able to understand the distinct ways to fulfil the
need of the Self and the Body, we can see that the need for physical facility is
largely related to the Body.

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Once the Self is in harmony within, it naturally has a feeling of self-regulation, i.e.,
the feeling of responsibility toward the Body. Therefore, the harmony with the Body
is maintained. If the Self has a feeling of self-regulation and the Body is healthy,
these two together ensure the harmony of the Self with the Body. If we can see
this, there is an important conclusion that we can make regarding the need for
physical facility.

The need for the physical facility is essentially related to fulfilment of this feeling of
responsibility towards the Body, i.e., we need physical facility for nurturing the
Body, for protecting the Body and for rightly utilizing the Body and that’s it. And if
we can see this clearly, we can also find out whether the physical facility required
to ensure each one of them is required in limited quantity or unlimited quantity.
With this clarity, we can also understand that this is all we need physical facility
for. Let’s look at that.

You can see that the physical facility required for nurturing the Body, like food, is
required in a limited quantity and not an unlimited quantity. Someone may require
one kg of food in a day, another person may need five kg, but there is nobody who
can eat food in an unlimited quantity. Similarly, if you look at the clothes and shelter
which are required for the protection of the Body, they are also required in a limited
quantity. No one can wear unlimited quantity of clothes or use unlimited quantity
of shelter. You require shelter for protection of the Body in limited quantity and not
unlimited quantity.

In the process of right utilization of the Body, we require instruments, equipment,

etc. in a limited quantity. For example, when we have to address a large gathering,
we need a mike so that our voice can be heard by everyone present. This mike is
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an instrument which we use for the right utilization of the Body. Now ask yourself
whether you would require this mike in a limited quantity or in unlimited quantity?
Again, limited quantity. Like that you can see that any instrument, any equipment
that we use in the process of right utilization of the Body is required in a limited
quantity. All the means of transportation, telecommunication and television that we
use are instruments required for right utilization of the Body. And they are required
in limited quantity.

All our need for physical facility is related to these three things – nurturing the Body,
protection of the Body and in the process of right utilization of the Body which is,
of course, related to the purpose of the Self because it is going to make the right
utilization of the Body. Is there anything else that you need physical facility for?
Find it out. It is another homework for you.

Unless you are able to identify that your need for physical facility is limited, or the
physical facility required for your body is limited in quantity, you will never realize
that there is a possibility of prosperity and that’s what is happening today. Because
we are not able to identify the need for physical facility therefore, regardless of how
much we have accumulated, we never have the feeling of having more than
required. We never have the sense of prosperity. We only have the sense of
accumulation- accumulating more and more. What has happened is that we have
not understood that human being is co-existence of Self and Body; we keep
confusing the needs of the Self and needs of the Body; and therefore, we keep
trying to fulfil the need of the Self through physical facility. That is how we get stuck.

Are you able to see that your need for physical facility is limited in quantity? That
is, physical facility required for you is required in a limited quantity. Can you see
that? If you can see that then, for the first time, you can understand the meaning
of prosperity.

Now, let us recall the definition of prosperity from chapter 4 and qualify it further.

Prosperity is the feeling of having or producing more than the required physical
facility (for nurturing, protecting and rightly utilizing the Body).

To ensure the feeling of having more than required, two things are necessary:
1. Identification of required physical facility, along with the required
quantity
2. Ensuring the availability or production of more than required
physical facility

Identification of requirement of physical facility takes place through right

understanding, and the availability or production of more than required physical
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facility is ensured by way of right skills – both are required. And if we put them
together, we have the feeling of prosperity. Prosperity calls for right understanding
and physical facility (through right skills) both:
1. Identification of required physical facility, along with the required
quantity – through right understanding
2. Ensuring the availability or production of more than required
physical facility – through right skills

There are several misconceptions or assumptions relating to prosperity.

The first misconception is that human being is just the Body. Therefore, happiness
has to be derived through the sensations of the Body, for which physical facility is
required (in an undefined or unlimited quantity). We had mentioned this in chapter
5.

The second misconception is about the purpose of life and therefore, the purpose
of physical facility. If the purpose of life is assumed to be sensual pleasure, there
is misuse of physical facility, rather than its right utilization. You can ask yourself
what is naturally acceptable to you?
• Indulgence – Getting happiness from the sensation arising out of the
consumption of physical facility
• Abstinence – Abstaining from the use of physical facility
• Right utilization – Using physical facility for your purpose (of having right
understanding and right feeling, etc.)

The third misconception is that there is a shortage of physical facility. Of course,

this is an outcome of the very first assumption that human being is body. If we see
the actual production, for instance the production of food, it is reported [FAO 2011]
to be at least 600 kg per person per year on Earth! On an average we consume
something like 100 kg of food per year, considering the population demographics
of babies, children, youth and old people. With that this production is around 6
times our requirement. You can find out for yourself what the actual numbers are
by collecting production data in a village, district, a state or even the whole world.

Once you evaluate all that, you can identify your need for physical facility with its
requisite quantity. Check if you have more than that and have the feeling of
prosperity. With the feeling of prosperity, you will think of right utilization, you will
think of nurturing others, you will think of production. On the other hand, if you feel
deprived, you will think of accumulation and exploiting others.
• A prosperous person thinks of nurturing the other and right utilization of
physical facility
(a deprived person thinks of exploiting others and accumulation of
physical facility)
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Now you can find out what you are thinking of? Are you thinking of nurturing others
or are you thinking of exploiting others? Are you thinking of right utilization or are
you thinking of accumulation? That will tell you whether you are prosperous or
deprived. With this definition of prosperity, you can find out whether you are
prosperous or not prosperous.

Prosperity can truly be understood, only when one is able to see that the human
being is the co-existence of the Self and the Body. Physical facility is required for
nurturing and protection of the Body to keep it in good health. Physical facility is
also required for the right utilization of the Body which means for self-evolution
within and societal development outside.

My Participation (Value) regarding my Self and my Body

(To Make effort for Harmony in the Self and the Body)

Human being is the co-existence of the Self (consciousness) and the Body
(material). The Self is continuously active. My participation (value) is to make effort
for excellence – for understanding harmony and living in harmony at all levels of
being.

My participation (value) vis-à-vis my Self is to ensure harmony in the Self by way

of:
• Ensuring right understanding and right feeling in the Self. It means ensuring
the understanding and feeling of relationship, harmony and co-existence.
In this way, right understanding and right feeling becomes the guide for my
imagination.
• Ensuring that my imagination is guided by right understanding and right
feeling which is based on my natural acceptance. In this way, inputs from
the other sources of imagination, i.e., preconditioning and sensation, are
rightly evaluated. My sanskar is gradually evaluated till only that sanskar
which is in harmony with my natural acceptance remains.

By ensuring these two, the Self is in harmony; “what I am” is in harmony with “what
is naturally acceptable to me”. The Self is in a state of continuous happiness. This
is my participation (value) vis-à-vis my Self.

This is articulated in terms of the values of happiness, peace, satisfaction and bliss.

My participation (value) vis-à-vis my Body is to ensure harmony with the Body by

way of:
• Ensuring a feeling of self-regulation in the Self
• Ensuring the nurturing, protection and right utilisation of the Body
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 • Ensuring the production / availability of more than required physical facility
for the above

By ensuring these three, the Body continues to be in harmony. This is my

participation (value) vis-à-vis my Body.

This is articulated in terms of the value (feeling) of self-regulation.

Salient Points
• Self is central to human existence. It is the seer – the one who understands;
the doer – the one who takes decisions; and the enjoyer or experiencer –
the one who feels happy or unhappy. Continuous happiness is the need of
the Self and this is fulfilled by understanding the harmony and living in
harmony at all levels of being – individual, family, society, nature/existence.
• The Body is a self-organised material unit, used as an instrument or
equipment in the process. With this clarity, the Self takes the responsibility
for the nurturing, protection and right utilisation of the Body – this feeling of
responsibility is called the feeling of self-regulation.
• With a feeling of self-regulation, the Self is able to ensure harmony with the
Body, so there is health in the Body, i.e., 1. Body acts according to the Self,
and 2. Parts of the Body are in harmony (in order)
• The programme for self-regulation and health of the Body includes:
1a. Intake 1b. Routine
2a. Labour 2b. Exercise
3a. Balancing internal and 3b. Regulating breathing of body
external organs of body
4a. Medicine 4b. Treatment
• Physical facility is required for the Body, so the production, protection and
right utilisation (for the purpose of the Self) of physical facility is a part of
the programme of human being.
• Physical facility for nurturing, protection and right utilisation of the Body (for
the purpose of the Self) is required in a limited quantity. With this clarity, we
can understand the meaning of prosperity:
Prosperity is the feeling of having or producing more than the required
physical facility (for nurturing, protecting and rightly utilizing the Body).
We can also understand that prosperity calls for:
1. Identification of required physical facility, along with the required
quantity – through right understanding
2. Ensuring the availability or production of more than required
physical facility – through right skills

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 • Global food production data indicates that we are already producing many
times more than what is really required for all the people on Earth.
Therefore, prosperity, at least as far as food is concerned, seems to be
possible for all. All that is required is the right understanding and a feeling
of relationship.

Test Your Understanding

Part 1: Questions for Self-evaluation

(Have we grasped the basic proposals made in this chapter?)

1. "I am the seer, doer and enjoyer. The body is an instrument". Explain with
an example of each.
2. Define self-regulation and health? How are the two related?
3. What purpose does physical facility serve for a human being? Explain
categorically.
4. When one has the feeling of self-regulation, what would be the programs
for nurturing the Body and protection of the Body? What would be the
outcome of these programs?
5. Explain what is meant by right utilization of body?
6. What role does the feeling of self-regulation play in understanding
prosperity? Elaborate on the feeling of prosperity with the base of
selfregulation.
7. Explain how the assumption “Human Being = Body”, leads to the feeling of
deprivation.

Part 2: Practice Exercises for Self-exploration

(To help connect the content to one’s life, at least at the level of thought, these
exercises may be done individually or in a group, particularly with friends and family
members)

1. Take any five examples to highlight that the Self is the seer (the one who
understands), doer (the one who takes decisions) and enjoyer (or experiencer,
the one who feels happy or unhappy). What is the purpose of the Self? What
is the purpose of the Body? What would be the right utilisation of the Body?

2. Write up to 20 points that indicate to you that your body is a self-organised

material unit. We had mentioned that the Body is material in nature and that it
is self-organised, it largely heals itself, etc.

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3. In the last 3 years, recall the times that your body has been ill (in disharmony).
What steps were taken to restore the harmony of the Body?
Date(s) Illness Type Steps taken Root Cause
or (Accident,
disharmony viral infection,
bacterial
infection,
lifestyle
related
disorder, any
other)

If you were to take full responsibility for your body (i.e., you had the feeling of
self-regulation), what kind of daily schedule would you have? Approximately
how much time would you allocate for keeping your body in good health
through:
• Healthy intake (food, air, water, sunlight, etc.)
• Timings for upkeep of the Body (sleeping and waking up time,
excretion, bathing, etc.)
• Labour (production of physical facility)
• Exercise
• Balancing internal and external organs of body
• Regulating breathing of body
• Medicine
• Treatment
(Of course, you need to keep adequate time for studying, understanding,
learning, behaviour, working, etc.)
Do you think this schedule will make you more productive or less productive?
What conclusions do you draw from this exercise?

4. Calculate the quantity required for a specific physical facility, say clothes, in
your family. Now find out the quantity available. Is the quantity available less,
equal or more than the quantity required? In that sense, do you feel prosperous
or deprived (at least regarding that particular physical facility)? Do the same
for other needs. For that you can make an inventory of everything in your home
(or at least your room). How much of the physical facility is being rightly
utilised? Discuss this with your family and work out your conclusions regarding:
a. Meaning of prosperity
b. The role of understanding (human being, the role of physical facility and
the feeling of self-regulation)
c. Ability of your family to identify its needs, with the required quantity

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5. With all the exploration about human being and harmony in the human being,
what is your role / participation vis-à-vis yourself (the Self as well as the Body)?

6. Update your future resume (which you started in chapter 2) to update the
section on yourself – write down your goal for self-development and your
responsibility for it. Also, write down the skills you will have to fulfil your
responsibility toward your self-development.

Part 3: Projects and Modelling Exercises

You may like to revisit this part of Test Your Understanding after reading through
the complete book once and self-exploring all the key proposals. With that, you
may have some (or many) aha! moments in which something clicks for you, you
understand a proposal. What you have understood may be expressed in various
creative ways which appeal to different people. This part is for you to give a
creative expression to your understanding. Of course, you can do this in a group
also. Creative expressions may be in the form of sketches, drawings, paintings,
clay models, sculptures, songs, poems, music, dance, audios, videos, games,
puzzles, stories, skits, plays, dramas, charts, diagrams, plans, survey
questionnaires, blogs, something on social media and so on. It is the story of your
own life – and it matters. While some hints are given above, please feel free to
share your real aha’s in your own way!

“The Self is central to human existence – it is the seer, doer and enjoyer; the Body
is an instrument”

1. Self-regulation and Health

2. Prosperity

Part 4: Your Questions

Write down your questions or doubts in your note-book. If any of the previous
questions have been clarified by your self-exploration of the proposals so far,
please mark them as answered. We would like to discuss the questions remaining
unanswered in your self-exploration.

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