Human Being

Burt Harding regularly refers in his satsanghs to Human Being as composed of two parts, Human and Being. He goes on to say that the human is always chasing something or other in life, not knowing it is the Being, the human is chasing unknowingly through all its efforts.  This we can understand better when we analyse it with the familiar Vedantic terms. Being is the Athma, which is no different from Brahman that is pure Existence and pure Consciousness and pure Bliss, and the Human, the anathma, the one other than the Athma, i.e. the body, mind, intellect complex. 

We are always seeking something or other in all stages of our life.  It may be money, position, power, relationship, love, recognition etc.  What we seek may vary but seeking continues.  When we achieve one goal it becomes a launching pad for yet another in the same line or in different line. So what we seek is only a temporary goal though we do not know it at that time.  The real goal is the total happiness that gives complete peace, a state in which we desire nothing more, feeling totally satisfied, where we are happy with our environs and relationships, as it is and as they are. This is called a state of fulfilment, which we may achieve sometimes but it will be only temporary and again we start the chasing game after a brief lull.

The other thing we seek is to live long, so long that at any time death can only be at a distant future. Even when one is seriously ill and death seems to be imminent, one’s thoughts are for changing the doctor, not for accepting one’s exit from this world and engage in satsangh in the little time left for staying in that body. Further we all have an innate desire to be in the know of things that goes around us. If somebody tells us that what we are going to hear is something secret, we get all keyed up to listen to it.  If it is about somebody we know all the more our interest.  If at that time the other person has to leave abruptly without telling it, we even lose our sleep thinking about it. Our desire for happiness, knowledge and longevity is only our desire to be our innate Self, Athma, which is total bliss, all knowing and eternal.

Burt Harding defines Being as Awareness and It is the Truth. Being is also defined as oneness.  This means that everything is in It only, though it appears that It is in everything.  It is like space.  Space is everywhere and everything has a use and shape because of space only and when the thing collapses or is destroyed the space within merges in the general space.  For instance what is a building but the space within the walls, which we call as living space.  The building itself stands in space, which is called as general space.  When the building collapses the enclosed space becomes one with the general space.  As space is in the building while the building is in space as well, the human is in the Being while Being is in human as well.  In fact human is only content and Being is the container and humans are many, while Being is only one. One who has realized this truth sees the Being in every living thing and sees no separation between living things.  So for this realized person, there is no sense of separation and so no fear, anger, sorrow, jealousy, hatred or depression, only there is the fulfilled sense of complete peace and total bliss born of this sense of oneness as it is pointed out in verses 6 and 7 of Isavasyopanishad, which are as follows:

यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतानि आत्मन्येवानुपश्यति। Yasthu sarvani bhoothani atmanyevanupasyathi

सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते ॥ Sarvabhutheshu cha-athmanam tatho na vijugupsathe  

He, who sees all beings in his self  only, and his own self in all beings, does not hate any other being.

यस्मिन् सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः। Yasmin sarvani bhoothani athmaivabhooth vijanathaha

तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥ Tatra ko mohaha kah soka ekathvam-anupasyathaha

What delusion and what sorrow can be to one who sees the unity of existence and perceives all beings as one's own Self?

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