What is man?
What exactly is man? Since time immemorial we have been trying to unfold the mystery of all living beings, especially that of mankind. We have miserably failed in our efforts in unlocking this mystery. There are some secrets about everything in this entire universe which man can never ever unfold. Man, in his frustration of this failed mission of unfolding the secrets, went about in defining all living beings including himself, by offering varying reasons, religious, scientific, and philosophical. None of these really serve any purpose in defining what mankind and all other living beings are in reality. Ultimately, this is frustrating, leaving each one of us to give one’s own reason for being born in this world. Nothing happens without reason, which we are sure about, so the presence of all living beings including mankind must be having some reason. If we have not been able to locate or establish the reason for our existence in so many millions of years, better we should not waste our time further in this quest and use those precious hours in some purposeful and positive ways and deeds.
Man, if we see from a realistic point of view, is made up of so many different ingredients, natural and supernatural or mystical. We are a bundle of nerves, organs, vessels, tissues, bones, muscles, lipids and other intricate physiological mechanism that reserves and runs on blood, protein, carbohydrates and fat; supported by air and water. Anyone can put all these ingredients together, alternatively use a dead man in bringing him back to life by repairing whatever went wrong with him, in the same way we do with cars and fridges. Unfortunately, man can never be brought back to life even after repairing all his body parts and making him functional otherwise. This is because man, or as a matter of fact, any living being has another side to his life, which is supernatural or mystical. This has been puzzling mankind since time immemorial.
Man has yet not been able to seize and control something that runs lives, called soul or spirit. Maybe, in course of time man will be able to identify and communicate with spirits, only then dead could be resurrected by man himself by letting a spirit control the once dead body afresh. Only time will tell if such a feat could be experienced by mankind in the future.
Some of you may not find my perspective of looking at man very convincing. You may not agree with me about the soul and spirit in any living being. Let me share my experience with you. A few years ago I had a cat that was not pregnant. I dreamt she was holding a very young brown and white kitten in her mouth; while I unlocked the door to my office she brought in the kitten from behind me and many other cats followed her to see and inspect the little kitten. Dream is a dream or as Shakespeare said, “dream is itself but a shadow”. But in my case it was not to be so. When I went to unlock my office door the next morning, I experienced what exactly I dreamt. My dream unfolded in front of me verbatim. Unless there is something spiritual about living beings, I could not have ever foreseen the future. In the same way once in a while I am able to experience or dream some impending mishaps. Once I dreamt of a baby shrouded in white, vomiting milk. I got the news at 6 am next morning about a baby who choked himself on milk and died. Recently, a person was hospitalized for a minor operation, I dreamt that he was shrouded in white and offered me something white to eat. I told my wife about this and I knew the matter would turn serious. It did turn serious. In the morning while I was having my breakfast I could hear a Hindu mantra or requiem. I told my wife that if the person survived the next 48 hours he would live. Next morning we received the news of his demise. I have had several such experiences in my life; hence I am convinced about all living beings including mankind having a spiritual side to them. This spiritual side only enables a living being to live and survive till one’s death.
Two sides of mankind, physiological as well as spiritual are necessary to define a man, or all living beings. Just as earth and water is responsible for the physiological presence of all living beings, in the same way air provides the spiritual presences for all living beings, enabling them to think, live and react under all circumstances from birth until death. Both these features enable mankind to be a superior being amongst all living beings in this planet. I may be wrong, there could be beings which cannot interact with us and which may be much more superior spiritually to mankind. We regard mankind as superior only because we can see results in front of us. With the architectures, man’s quest for exploring the universe, modern gadgets, living style and superior ability in whatever man does, we are self-styled “superior beings”. Being a superior being and being purposeful are two different aspects that need to be combined in one.
Man has so far shown his ability in doing what he had been doing since time immemorial. Most of us grow up and get busy finding ways to survive, also start finding ways to earning. Without income, we could never survive, unless of course our ancestors left behind wealth to take care of our existence. Each one of us chooses an activity from which we could earn and survive. Most of us think we are contributing to the society, in fact, we do not, and we only contribute our time against the earnings. Each one of us does something with an intention to receive back something in cash, kind, or popularity. None of us, or would I say most of us, do not undertake any activity that would not give us some incentive. This is what man is - without any mission to accomplish in this world.
Man is basically a living being strongly looking first for his own survival and secondly to invade and dominate all other human beings and all living beings. If he succeeds in dominating his world, he would invade and dominate all other planets within his reach and ability.