edit: dap 1, 10/6/96

1.1.1 FNS

What it means to be truly human? There are many people who think that being a human being merely means having a human form. But if one looks with some seriousness, one will realize that a human form alone does not constitute a human being, for it is not only the form you have taken, but the qualities and characteristics you assume which makes you a human being. Those people who are in human form, but take on the lives which most resemble a non-human creature, if they spend their time thinking only of eating and sleeping, then what they use of their human form is very little. It is only the most basic aspects and those aspects may be gotten in an animal form, so though they inhabit a human form, they are manifesting and expressing only those qualities and characteristics which they may express in the form of a dog, in the form of a horse, in the form of a donkey. So that in the human form,to call themselves a human being, they must do more than simply utilizing the basic animal propensities and qualities of the human form, for a human being has the capacity to realize the Great, a human being has the capacity to be divine. The human mind is the most complex in development of all creatures upon this planet. So to be truly human one must develop this mind , develop the subtle qualities and characteristics, the full potentialities of one's human existence. Then one may truly deserve the title human being. So a human being will not only perform the basic functions of the physical body, eating, sleeping, desiring, a human being will go beyond these basic physical experiences and the associated mental experiences, for those experiences may be had in many types of bodies, for that one does not need a human body .

A human being will develop the more subtle aspects of their mind, and those aspects will lead them to the pinnacle of human experience in which their humanity touches divinity. That is the greatness of a human life and it is the dharma, the innate direction of human life to search for the Great, to long for the Great and to come in contact with the Great. This is the dharma of a human being. So a human being not only performs the basic physical functions, basic mental functions, but a human being has the capacity for development of subtle layers of mind. They may develop capacity to sing beautiful music which is divinely inspired, they may develop the capacity to enjoy fine art, fine literature, there are so many subtle capacities that may be developed by human being, they may develop the ability to delve into the mysteries of life in a scientific fashion, to understand the higher philosophies and subtle thinking which the mind is capable of, to develop the mind, to develop the body, to develop the spirit, so that all of these fully ripen, fully developed may become in a focus state of pinnacled intellect, pinnacled development, where a human being may utilize all of their potentials to reach beyond the limitations of mind and the limitations of their existence into the vast experience of divine awareness. This capability is the capability innately present in a human body and those who have a human form are very fortunate. It is said to take a human form, to have an opportunity to gain a human form is very rare and very precious and you should take this human birth as a very precious birth, a very precious opportunity to develop yourself, to know yourself and to know the God that dwells within you. It is your birthright this capacity, it comes with this human body and this human life. But if you are to utilize this capacity, you must think what you must do in your life in order to be able to utilize it, in order to be able to become fully human, completely human, so that you may touch with your humanity your divinity, so that you may expand your humanness into divinity.

To do this there are certain things that are very helpful. First of all it is helpful to lead simple and pure life which brings the mind to dwell upon the Great. For this it is helpful to read inspiring books, to listen to inspiring talks, to surround yourself with people whose minds are involved in contemplation of the Great. This is beneficial in the life of a sadhaka. It is also beneficial to do work for others in a selfless nature, to selflessly serve others, to come to think of the needs of others as well as yourself. For in truth the divine Brahma is all around you and within you, you are no greater or less than other and to realizes that divinity, you must see that you are no more, no less than any other and that what you are and what another is, is in essence same. You dwell not only in this body, this human body which you have, but your spirit, your atman, your soul within you is the same soul that is in every living being, in the entire manifest universe, it is the same essence which has formed the entire expressed universe and so you are no different than all the beings that surround you. To realize this unity with all life it is best to do service to living beings. It may be done in small ways and great ways. Whether the service you do is mighty or small, it does not matter, what matters is the purity, the pure heart with which you do the service. Even if it is a simple act, day to day, each day, just simple acts as well as great acts, this attitude of selfless service will bring you far to understand your connection, to experience your connection with all life.

Now not only is it important to seek inspiration and to do service, but to realize the greatness of your human life, it is also important to contemplate the Great, to focus the attention of the mind upon the Great. Ideation upon the Great is a part and parcel of your true humanity, for there is a natural tendency of the mind to go where it is directed. So if the mind is directed with focused attention, the whole of your spirit, the whole of your intellect becomes aware of what that focused attention is directed upon and the mind being malleable takes the form of what it is focused upon. So that if you think of a cat, your mind will take the form of a cat, it will see a cat, if you ideate day and night upon the cat, you will more and more take the qualities and characteristics of a cat and then if you leave this body and you are thinking so strongly of a cat, perhaps you will become a cat. But if you think of Parama Purusha, the Supreme unqualified consciousness, if you keep your mind ever dwelling in the sphere of divinity, turning ever inwards to the indweller within you, then surely you will begin to take upon yourself the qualities and characteristics of that most precious entity which dwells at the core of your being. And this is the great potential of your human life. Do not waste one moment of your life, use it wisely.

Now are there any questions tonight?

Steve: One of my parents says to be aware of my heart, do meditation throughout the day, throughout daily activities, having the awareness that there is a Soul. And lot of times my back will bother me and since my back is near the heart feeling, sometimes I will be identifying with the pain in my back than my heart and I am wondering how to keep awareness in my heart or may be the different type of practice so that my mind would not go off and not be attached to the pain in the back.

There are two things that I will suggest: one is that you do asanas so that this pain might get resolved, that you may sit painfree. This is important. Second thing is, in your practice what is lacking is pratyahara, there must be, for a proper practice in meditation, a period of withdrawal of the mind. If the mind is not sufficiently withdrawn form the external world and the physical body, this type of difficulty arises. So that it is beneficial before you begin the primary practice which you do, be it the dwelling into the pure silence or mantra meditation or perceiving the divine light within, you must withdraw the mind and this must be done in a systematic fashion, utilizing visualizations and to withdraw the mind to a single point so that the mind is clearly withdrawn, first from the physical sphere, secondly from the physical body and remains in the point of light, immersed and clear beyond thoughts and at that point begin your sadhana. So that time must be taken in the beginning of your practice to do this, then you will find you will be in a deeper state of mind when you begin your practice and then your practice should spiral the mind down and down to a still deeper state, so that even if the pain comes to the mind it will seem far away and you will just be detached and again return to the light within. If there is difficulty with this, then you may consult didi, she may help you with some technique. Do you have farther question?

No. Thank you very much.

Nick: Baba, is it wrong to kill mosquito?

Mosquitoes are natural enemies of human beings. (Nick:They certainly seem to be).Yes,yes. They are natural enemies, so they have attacked you (Nick:I felt attacked). Every living being loves their life, every living being wants to have life. But it is the way of the universe that life begets life and it is ever moving in a process of synthesis and antithesis and so there are those beings who are not compatible with you, such as the mosquitoe and the flie. The flie wants to suck your blood, so you are in a natural adversarial position with these creatures. So you must have compassion for them, but you also must protect yourself. So you wish them well (Nick: yes I do, but I also wish them dead), the compassion for all beings comes as the heart opens, but this body also must live in the world and you cannot let it be eaten by the bugs and abused.