On the path of becoming human

On the path of becoming human

Lecture Notes from Philia Stauber, FIGU KG49,

There is a lot of work to do if man wants to become a real human being. Although a person's appearance may give the impression of being human, there is no certainty that, in fact, it actually is a human and not a beast within human shape, if he doesn’t care. Likewise, man's privileged ability to think has to be applied in a responsible way -- and not to demonstrate superiority or to recklessly enforce his own will. Because of this unique talent to think, man is different from all other life forms which automatically conform to Creation's plan. For he must strive to understand Creation's plan and to consciously integrate with it through his own initiative. First of all, he has to gain knowledge about this task and only then can he start to translate his cognition into action, to guide his life in the right direction, namely, toward integration in Creation's plan. There is an immense variety of things to be discovered, realized, investigated and comprehended, which all play a role on the path to becoming a human being.

In the entire universe, there exists no life form which is accidentally or uselessly created, for even the smallest or most insignificant life form is integrated into a task that fits its own individuality. Man is not at all an exception concerning the fulfillment of a task -- quite the contrary. Since he is the only living being who has to become aware of his task and, in addition, has to find out how to fulfill it, he is also the only being who can consciously evolve. And this demands a lot of effort.

The urge to seek and to research, which is embodied in every human, gives him the necessary strength to renew his efforts over and over again. It is very important to comply with this natural urge, especially if man gropes in the dark and doesn't quite know what he is seeking and where it will lead. The urge to seek knowledge and truth induces him to use his ability to think, whereby he slowly becomes cognizant of his task. To become cognizant of any part of the task means that one has already started to fulfill it. The abilities of every life form fit exactly the task to be fulfilled. Since man's intellect makes him different from other life forms, it plays the most important role in his life and also in the fulfillment of his task. This intellect, or the ability to think, enables him to consciously create, research, realize, judge and make decisions. The capability to create is connected with the human spirit form, enabling man to consciously create, as it, the spirit form, is part of Creation itself. Through this, man is given a responsibility that no other life form will ever know.

Man is born not only to eat when hungry, to sleep when tired and to enjoy life. He also lives to gain cognition and to transform his ideas into goals and make them come true; that means he is born in order to learn and to develop. The purpose of learning is to transfer what one has realized into daily actions and, therefore, achieve progress. If a cognition cannot be transformed into practice because man doesn't know how, then it is up to him to get the necessary knowledge on his own. No trick or secret is required. It is very simple -- he only has to think about it to gain this knowledge.

This affects the consciousness, as follows: The problem to be solved is placed in the center of attention as soon as man thinks about it. The more he thinks about it, the more intense his confrontation and concentration become. His consciousness is awakened and his sensitivity concerning this certain matter intensifies, whereupon realizations become much more detailed and extensive. Everybody knows how this process works, although people are not always aware of it. For example, if a person wants to buy a car, he usually thinks about it for some time before he decides which one he likes best or which one he can afford. Every time he sees the same model car in a parking place or on the road, cc

If man wants to change something within himself, he has to do exactly the same. Let's say he feels that it's time to become really honest and stop engaging in intrigue, as he used to do. First of all, he has to think about honesty, about its real meaning in all of its different aspects. In this way, his natural urge to be honest is brought forward to become the center of his attention. If he now experiences a situation where honesty is required, he becomes aware of the chance to show evidence for it. Even though he is not successful in doing so at first -- we all know how powerful habits are -- he does experience the situation more consciously and is able to think about it more profoundly. Sooner or later, he will discover the cause of his failure. Feeling ashamed of one's own failure is so uncomfortable that the urge for success increases and efforts to focus on his goal are intensified and strengthened. This process brings the consciousness in line with the achievement of a deep understanding of the matter at hand, resulting in the attainment of valuable cognition and real progress. An alert consciousness is not only valuable for a matter that is currently the center of attention, but in general, it creates an atmosphere conducive to learning about all kinds of things. The intensified attention leads to many conscious realizations and cognitions, what results in a deeper understanding of given connections.

If man is of the opinion that it's not necessary to seriously consider any subject because he already "knows" everything about it, his consciousness falls into idleness and he has less and less interest in and motivation for setting a goal that is worth striving for. This attitude hinders his progress and development and complicates his own life and that of his fellowmen. It is the urge of human nature to go forward, to progress, to move toward ever increasing awareness and consciousness. This means nothing more than to think, to seek, to research, to be open to new things and, last but not least, to examine everything in order to make worthwhile decisions.

To be a human being does not at all mean to be lazy, to avoid confrontation just because it could be too strenuous, or to neglect all else but the satisfaction of one's own material needs. Of course it doesn't mean one should neglect the body…not at all. Without the body, there is no living and no learning; therefore, caring for it is a duty. Man should not desist from all pleasure and delight -- quite the contrary. Pleasure and delight contribute to his well-being and his mental balance. True pleasure and delight always have a positive effect on psyche and consciousness. But this is not to be mistaken as approval of a thirst for pleasure and vice—in the sense of a wrong understanding of freedom. Anything that in some way is harmful and negative can not be described as "delightful". Through illogical and unreasonable thinking, man surrenders to such fictitious pleasures in order to compensate for or cover discomfort about matters he doesn't want to acknowledge as true, but which actually harass him.

At this point, it is very important to say that thinking about a problem is not always helpful because the burden might be too heavy, making it impossible to work on successfully. In this case, one has to consciously put the problem aside and, first of all, take care of one's mental balance by making time for real pleasures and delights, which help neutralize and balance harmful thoughts. Only then will true solutions for problems be found. But man seldom consciously sets a problem aside. Usually, he ignores it for many different reasons, such as indifference, indolence, or maybe only spite. Instead of working on the problem, he surrenders to false pleasures and delights. These unreasonable actions grant him the illusion of freedom resulting from his disregard for everything that he doesn't like to do. Of course, this has nothing to do with real freedom, but quite the contrary, for behavior like this leads to many different dependencies, such as the compulsion to always find new pleasures as a way to restrain the natural urge to progress.

To be a human being means that one deals with all aspects of life and constantly learns and develops and does not stand still or hinder the progress of one's fellowman and/or of one's self. It is important to cooperate with the wholeness of life and give of one's best. To really take part in the wholeness of life, one must become conscious of oneself as part of the whole and the whole as part of oneself. That means everything concerning learning and development is at everybody's disposal. Of course this doesn’t refer to the material realm, for on this side of life it is obvious that not everything is at everybody’s disposal, even though it is needed. Nobody has the right to take possession of his fellowman's belongings. This is a common law and it is necessary because there is an importance in "this is mine and this is yours and if I don't want to share it I don't have to."

The problem is, if the material realm is man's only reality, he feels privileged and bright when rich, and disadvantaged or on the dark side of life when poor. For a person born into a poor family, it is often hard to understand why, and it seems very unjust that some people have more of everything while others don't even have enough to live. God in heaven, as well, doesn't give any explanation for this, and though it is said he loves all human beings, he seems to agree that some may "live on the fat of the land" while others miserably perish. This should actually give evidence to religious people that there is something wrong with their God and their religion and that their ideas about life and spirituality are probably quite unlike what they assume them to be. What should man do otherwise to get an answer to all his questions of life and spirituality, if not make an effort to clarify this by himself? To find a valid explanation for anything, it is inevitable that one must profoundly consider both sides of life, because life is a connection to the material and the spiritual worlds. It doesn't make any difference whether a human lives under rich or poor material conditions, because he always has the same opportunities to use daily life to gather knowledge about both sides of life and to find the truth. In this way, every human can take part in everything because everything he needs in order to learn something, is at his disposal. To participate in life in this manner has nothing to do with having possessions, but has to do with the possibility of using everything without hindering anyone else from doing the same thing at the same time.

Life is full of situations that demonstrate its natural laws, but to become aware of them requires another way of thinking and, therefore, another point of view. For example, somebody goes to the theatre to watch a performance. What else does he do other than participate in this entertainment with all people present. They all hear, watch and feel at the same time, and every single person takes the evening's impressions home without hindering anyone else from doing the same. And that’s the point. To participate does mean that one can be enriched through one's own initiative without taking enrichment away from anybody else. Everything is at everybody’s disposal. Yes - and it is not only everything, but also everybody, because nobody is useless. One can at least serve as a bad example.

Life is unity -- everything depends on everything else, and it doesn't matter at all what point of view one has. And because this is a fact, man is automatically part of this unity even though he is not conscious of it. Of course, it is of real use to himself and his fellowmen if he does become conscious of it. And that's the moment when he also starts to consciously contribute to the wholeness of life. Since there is He possibility of a conscious contribution, there also has to be an unconscious one. The latter means that just by living, man contributes to the wholeness of life in the same way he participates automatically, even when he lets himself drift without thinking about the effects of his own actions. But if he drifts, everything slips from his own control and he causes the probability of being controlled by other people. Conscious contribution requires thoughtful confrontation with life resulting in achievement of cognition, which is helpful and worth trying to integrate into daily life. And the more cognition can be transformed into daily living, the more harmonious become the contributions to and cooperation with the wholeness of life.

It isn't said for nothing that "man is the smith of his own life." This very old proverb states that man forms his own life and, therefore, is responsible for it. But what does that exactly mean? It means that, "as you make your bed, so you must lie on it." And how can he find out what to do to make himself a good bed? He only has to live, but really live, which means to search for the truth and to evolve. In order to do so, man is perfectly provided with different senses and forms of consciousness. He can see, hear, smell, touch and feel, realize, observe and think, which brings about the ability to make decisions and to act. His own sense of responsibility comes from what and how he is thinking, feeling, talking, acting, etc. It only depends on him -- how much he enjoys, how deeply he mourns, how sympathetic, indifferent, honest or dishonest he is, or how superficial, profound or neutral are his thoughts. It also matters whether he is open or reserved in his approach to new life experiences, how egotistic and self-complacent he may be, and many things more. Everything man is doing or not doing contributes to the formation of his life. Every thought, every word, every innermost or

outward motion, every movement, simply everything shapes the individual course of life. A human being cannot be consciously aware of such an immense variety of things that affect his life; therefore, he seldom recognizes their meanings and connections. But every time he comes to harm by making a mistake, he gives himself a chance to recognize the source of the mistake. This is the way he learns to understand the connection between cause and effect.

Of course, cognition is not received as a heavenly gift. Man has to work on it by creating within himself interest, ongoing effort and respect for life. This is the precondition for any kind of cognition. Unfortunately, interest in having cognitions has its limits, interest in effort is even less popular, and what is obviously lacking is a feeling of awe for life. But to be in awe of life is absolutely important for the human evolution because it is the source of all cognition. Although this is a fact, it is seldom clear how this shall be understood. To what should man show awe and what behavior is connected to this? The term "awe" is widely misunderstood; therefore, it often causes a touch of discomfort because it is associated with something of a higher level that demands or even forces a certain behavior. To show respect while experiencing feelings of being on a lower level has nothing to do with real awe, but rather with enslavement or humiliation because it indicates submission to a higher power. Real awe is a basic view of life, which has to be built by man, himself, after becoming conscious that everything is connected to everything and therefore depends on everything. As previously mentioned, all existence fulfills a certain purpose, which not only includes all forms of life but also the good and bad and everything else essential for creational evolution. Hence, it is obvious that all existence holds a certain value which represents venerableness. Man should search for this venerableness and acknowledge and respect this certain value within all existence and he should neither feel on a higher level, nor on a lower one, but on an equal level to show real awe. Equality is the necessary basic attitude toward life which enables man to become cognizant of things that would otherwise stay hidden. As long as he is arrogant, egotistic, stubborn, elusive, dishonest and submissive, there is no way he can discover this venerableness because he is not ready to realize, accept and respect this value within all life and to become one with everything that lives. He secludes himself away from and cannot take part in the wholeness of life, which means he cannot gain profound cognition.

To achieve cognition and gather knowledge concerning truth is part of the human evolution. Even if a human being lacks the ability to be honest or to size himself up correctly, he inwardly knows, or at least has a presentiment that searching for truth is connected with discomfort. Above all, it may suddenly become obvious to him that he, himself, and nobody else is responsible for his own mistakes. Such cognition brings other uncomfortable facts to light, which he cannot confront, for they undermine his ego and shatter his self-assurance.

If man makes an effort to find the cause of a mistake, he usually doesn't investigate himself but rather, tries to find the culprit among his fellowmen. The reason is that he wants to get his ego out of harm's way and feel secure. Actually, this kind of security doesn't exist, for it is self-created in falsehood and deceit, and therefore, cannot withstand any kind of jolt.

To seek the truth in order to evolve is the meaning of living, but if man resists doing so, why does he wonder that he cannot find an answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life?"

The meaning of life is found within life, itself, and only there. It is not to be found somewhere out in the world. Life itself represents its meaning through one's efforts to develop, by a daily search for truth, cognition and chances to learn something. This all results in evolution, which is the meaning of life. Even if a human being absolutely lacks interest in searching for the truth, he cannot completely resist to evolve, and the reason why is very simple -- he lives. Nobody can live without learning because living and learning depend on each other and are reciprocal actions. Living is learning and learning is living, which results inevitably in approaching the truth. If man resists his evolution and develops anyway, even if in very tiny steps, then the process of learning is clearly a very important part of human life. The resulting conclusion is, that if man makes an effort to evolve through his own initiative, he will increase in ability to advance and direct his own evolution. Everything is up to him.

To "develop" is another expression for "approaching the truth". For ex., the truth is that life is a school which man cannot quit. He cannot skip any level of development because through his thoughts and actions he will repeatedly be confronted with the smallest of things he does not yet comprehend until he fully understands their meaning and can cope with them in the right way. The nature of such confrontations might be wonderful or painful, as is life itself, for it is never a one-sided affair but has both positive and negative aspects reflecting the entirety of life. Specifically, it is the balancing of these positive and negative aspects of life that must be done in order to bring one's life into neutrality and alignment with the natural creational laws. But how could man do this if he were not involved in a daily confrontation with life and couldn't experience the necessary reciprocity between positive and negative which enables development? It's often very uncomfortable to look directly into the face of truth, for it requires honesty, discernment, flexibility, discipline, stamina, strength, courage, love, and so forth. Both sides of life, the negative and the positive, offer a chance to discover connections of life and learn to understand them because only life in its variety lets man finally become the smith of his own life.

In daily life it is often forgotten that everything has two sides and that it is most important to always consider both sides of any situation. It doesn’t matter, if there is something to observe, to think about, or to decide. Man should always be conscious that all realms of life have two sides, namely, a material and a spiritual one. On the spiritual side of life, man lives in unity with everything and all. He is connected with everything in harmony, equality, peace and freedom. There is no conflict or competition, but only a unity that exists.

Since the spiritual realm manifests itself in nature, it therefore exists also in the material realm. That means creational laws can be observed in nature, and in this way, man comes into contact with them. Through observation and studies he is given the chance to achieve cognition and to gain knowledge about the spiritual realm, whereby he can learn a lot about life. In general, man keeps himself busy with material things because to him, they are concrete and simple to comprehend. That means he is not interested in creational laws concerning nature, but rather, for ex., in knowing which tree is worth cutting, what its wood is good for, who offers the best price etc. Not denying the value of this point of view, and depending on the situation, it is a necessary one, but if it is the only view, then it is one-sided.

Unfortunately, man’s reality is often limited to what he sees. And in the same way, he also judges his fellowmen. To have a good image, one has to impress others with concrete visible success, such as appearance, a lot of money, or some sort of fame, and so on. Success based on material things is highly valued in the material world, and therefore, man struggles more or less to achieve results. But, as it is, the material world is constantly changing and so are its values. Bold deeds, considered to be courageous and successful in the old days seem rather unreasonable and stupid today. On the other hand man of today can be successful and achieve material wealth by acting in a way that would have been absolutely shameful in the old days. Man cannot count on material things, in any case not in the way he hopes or assumes to. Security is not guaranteed by having material or external objects; they are not of an absolute reality, but are a temporary and ever-changing reality. This unwise attitude concerning matter in general originates with the idea that the material part of the human represents all he really is. His outward appearance is considered to be of real and true character and therefore, relevant to start or to stop any kind of human relationship or business connection. Each human experiences, in one way or the other, that outward appearance seldom holds true to expectations, but despite this fact, he falls for it over and over again.

"Not all that glitters is gold" and the one who aligns himself with " glitter" (material aspects), will sooner or later discover how transitory and insecure the material world is. Hence, it is so important to also consider the spiritual side of life, where real security can be found, because everything there is of invariable value. If man tries to let this creational, everlasting connection, this spiritual power, permeate his material life, he gives himself the chance to learn about real awe and venerableness. Simultaneously, he will discover the path which leads to the neutrality of true balance. This is the only way to really achieve profound cognition. Consequently, there is no value in being impressed and blinded by material things such as beauty, success, good behavior, wealth etc., but it is most important to cast an unprejudiced glance behind the glitter to actually become aware of what it covers.

When man starts to align himself with Creation, he will inevitably be confronted by his prejudices, overestimation of his own capacities, and many things more, which all belong to the interference factors that cause imbalance. But there is no other way to become balanced and to neutrally act than to get rid of these interfering factors in order to see things as they really are and not as they seem to be. Actually it is obscure, that neutrality finds such slight importance in human life, although it is the most useful and helpful basic factor to make right decisions and conclusions. To neutrally observe and judge, without prejudice or appreciation, without feeling humiliated and intimidated and, of course, without feeling superior to anything else, will result in true cognition and ease life in general. Through a neutral view of life, egotism and the suffering connected to it are consciously placed into the background, in order to be neutralized.

It is absolutely unnecessary to create situations of suffering through selfish behavior out of an habitual desire to be the center of everything. This refers to one's own thoughts as well as to one's own environment. Man wastes too much time concerning his ego, his own wishes, troubles and problems. One who practices this false way of thinking considers his own interests of utmost importance. The resulting illogical thoughts become a burden for his consciousness and his psyche. This is a vicious circle, for a burdened consciousness and psyche lead to illogical thinking, which increases the burden. This happens because the burden does not lie idle but is, again and again, integrated in the process of thinking and therefore invigorated with new energy, depending on the situation, man is exposed to. That means, illogical thinking and connected feelings repeatedly become the center of awareness, then, when man is confronted with similar situations formerly experienced. Situations he couldn’t cope with because of his illogical thinking. Thoughts are powerful and if man doesn't control them, they rule over him and enslave him.

Of course, it is possible to get out of this vicious circle if real interest and effort is given. The basic requirement is -- to do the right thing. Man should again learn to neutrally behave in order to diminish his selfishness and to find a balanced point of view concerning the importance of his own affairs. Above all, selfishness is responsible for man's illogical rotating thoughts. Instead of keeping a distance to obtain a general, neutral view which enables him to find solutions, he entangles himself ever more into illogical thinking. But if he keeps his distance by consciously pushing these annoying thoughts away into the background, as soon as they want to surface, he drains their energy because he doesn’t let them be involved in his thinking anymore. Thus, their power will be diminished. They will get weaker and weaker and lose their power to come to the fore and burden the consciousness on every occasion.

Deliverance from these burdensome trains of thought provides a neutral, objective point of view and judgement.

The nature of a child which is neutral, open and willing to learn, could be kept life long if adults only were aware of the value of such neutrality. But adults don't care about it; therefore, neutrality gets lost when children grow up. The characteristic traits of adults are clearly consolidated by their actions, their breeding, education and environment. For these reasons, it is much more difficult for adults to find their way back to neutrality. Long time behavior patterns, opinions, prejudices, etc., are not easy to overcome and change because they have become an integral part of the human. And it doesn't matter whether a person suffers from megalomania, inferiority complex or mediocrity, because whatever the reason, it costs him a great deal of effort and endurance to escape the power of habit. But changing is possible if man's consciousness has not been damaged.

The power of thought involves man in a lot of difficulties because, not being conscious of it's existence, he seldom takes control over it. But it is exactly this power which also enables him to get out of these difficulties. That shows again that really everything has a positive and a negative side, and man can learn to cope with either one at any time. Practice makes perfect, that’s a fact. It just requires the right practice, in order to learn and to know.

Exercises in concentration is the best practice to remove oneself from annoying and confusing thoughts because to concentrate means to focus attention on one chosen object. Everything that diverts one's attention from the object has to be consciously pushed into the background. It is obvious that man should make the effort to learn how to concentrate if he wants to be master over himself. Concentration is the precondition for meditation and meditation is practicing neutrality. There are so many opportunities during the day to concentrate on something, leaving all else aside, in order to neutralize one's unwanted thoughts. Through this exercise the consciousness has time to calm down and, afterwards, to think more clearly about really necessary things. To be able to concentrate means to be able to control one's own thoughts and to bring those things into focus which are worth to be realized. If man really wants to become conscious of his task as a human being because he longs to correctly fit into Creation's plan, then, he starts to feel dutybound to realize only those things which were worked out through the best of his knowledge and logical examination. Actually, he knows, that finally, he alone, is responsible for the result. Man faces a real tough piece of work in order to gain the right point of view, but it will open many doors to him for a better, more harmonic and balanced and, therefore, more creational life.