The PALMS 100th programme was a grand
gala success. Mr.Maaney V.Paul motivated the audience by his inspiring and
heart touching speech. While having a informal chat with him, he discussed on a
thought provoking concept called the human layers. I would like to share my
reflection on those thoughts.
Human being can be primarily divided into three
layers – the physical layer, the mental layer and the spiritual layer.
The physical layer is about our physical
appearance, our material comforts and the social status we enjoy thereby. The physical
layer differentiates us from one person to another. It either makes one feels
superior or inferior to another.
Very often, we describe a person by his physical
attributes. We say a short, fat man with a bald head or a dark girl with squint
eyes, so on and so forth. This description of our self may not be so
comfortable, but that is how the world looks at us. Unfortunately, not every
man is handsome and not every woman is beautiful. Many of us find it difficult,
to come out of this mind trap, and this to a great extent limits our confidence
level. The confidence level ultimately determines our success level, as well.
Then comes the material status, in terms of the
car we own, the house we live in , the property we possess and our life style.
A man tries to establish his supremacy, in this world through his material
status. The ego plays a very strong part in this layer. If you look at it more deeply, you will
realize that this desire has been there with us right from our childhood days.
As kids we wanted to possess the best toys and wanted to show off to our
friends, our newly acquired belongings. We used to take pride in our material
possessions. Is it not? Having grown up
as adults, the game has not stopped. The game is the same, but only the toys
have changed; instead of toy cars we have real
cars, instead of the plastic building blocks we own real buildings,
instead of those battery operated toys we now like to possess the most modern
electronic gadgets like laptop, mobile phone etc.
The mental layer is our second forte. This is the not only about acquiring
knowledge, but exhibiting our intelligence.
We learned and earned a number of degrees and proudly added them beside
our name in our visiting cards, to prove
that we were one among the elite few. It gave us a great sense of pride, to
call ourselves as an educated person, especially in a country like India,
where the illiteracy level is so high. We like to be branded as intellectuals,
think tanks, and master minds. We gain a
great sense of satisfaction, winning a intellectual argument and take pride in
exhibiting our knowledge, even while discussing with friends and family
members.
Our
tendency to dominate others either physically or mentally always prevails.
It is absolutely OK to desire to be rich, to
desire a nice life style, to want to look more attractive, to become more
knowledgeable, etc. The problem comes only when we say, I want to be richer
than so and so….. or I want to prove someone, that I am greater than him in
such and such a way. When in the name of comparison, we degrade somebody, we
are committing a great human sin. There
is no need to look at somebody as an inferior in order to feel that we are superior.
It is only at the third layer, i.e the spiritual
layer there is no tendency to dominate. In this layer, there is nothing masking
your true identity. Here is where we come in contact with our source and
realize that we are no bigger than any body else. In this layer, we are no
different from a beggar on the street or a madman in asylum. It is the same
soul. Every soul experiences the same feelings of happiness, sadness,
excitement, depression, fear, pain, anger, jealousy and so on. When we come to
realize ourselves at this layer, our ego drops and we realize that we are a
part of the whole and we have a responsibility to treat every one as equals.
It is good to often remind ourselves in this
layer. Maybe in our daily prayer. In a
state of total surrender to our creator, let us remember this beautiful quote,
“Once the game is over the king and the pawn goes to the same box”.
We are born equals and we will die as equals. So
when we live, let us respect each human being, for what they are and not for
who they are.
Happy Reading,
D.Senthil Kannan
Article dated April 2009
