How conscious are you?

Humans are blessed with something that other life forms don’t enjoy – to consciously make decisions. While other beings can also make decisions, we can think, analyse and then decide. Most decisions that other beings have to make are driven by their instinct without much choice, while we have the ability to choose.

The important point to note is it’s not just decision making that makes us unique, but making them consciously does. So what do i exactly mean by making conscious decisions?

Defining Consciousness:

Let us say, I decided to have some tasty fish for dinner. I can actually understand the life cycle of the fish and how much pain I would have caused by hooking it and killing it. I also know how tasty it would be when i cook it with the right ingredients. In this case, i can say i am conscious of both the pain i am causing and the happiness i bring to myself.

Mind you, this has nothing to do with non-vegetarian food – the same applies to potatoes and aubergines. So, when i take a “decision” to eat fish, it is no more because of some unknown and uncontrollable internal push to eat fish – the so called “instinct”.

The issue with Instinct

But this is not the case with most of us. Not many take conscious decisions. We tend to give our lives in the hand of the instinct. So, the next obvious question is why should i not go with my instinct?

Well, as Osho puts it in one of his books, there are three levels where a mind can be in – instinct, intellect and intuition. Instinct is what is passed over by our genes and comprises of all mundane stuff like beating of the heart and blinking of our eyes. It is carried over from one generation to another.

Intellect on the other hand is learnt by experience and by the application of the brain. Intellect can be passed on to the next generation and the genetic makeup gets better from one generation to another because of the addition of this intellect.

Intuition is a separate case all together. It has to be learnt but cannot be taught. It descends on to a person as a knowledge that does not reason. Hence there is no need for the brain to parse intuition or understand it. Intuition is what explains the purpose of this very existence. It is the one that provides us with answers to all questions. Unfortunately, it cannot be passed on or shared.

So, by just going with instinct, we are no different from the cows that gaze grass everyday monotonously without second thoughts. They take no effort to understand why they have to gaze. They don’t care if their milk is adulterated or not when sold. They are driven by instinct. They just do what they are programmed to do.

We humans are definitely better than cows in many respect. Then why should we stay where we don’t belong?

Now that the question on why we shouldn’t be in the hands of our instinct is answered, it is time to understand how this links to taking conscious decisions.

Forget intuition, even intellect is a gift that not many other beings enjoy. A tiger cannot turn herbivorous, even if it wanted to, because of its very own instinct.

With intellect, fortunately we are not forced into this trap of following the orders of our ancestors. On the other hand, we have the ability to change and rewrite the way we and our future generations can lead their lives.

The only way to make such a change is by understanding the world better and taking conscious decisions that have an impact on every being in this world. Decisions like climatic change, competition and wealth. These decisions not only define today but they define tomorrow as well.

So ask yourself! How conscious am I? Am i just driven by peer pressure to “succeed”? Am I driven by hastiness to earn more than everyone else? Am I ready to do something I wouldn’t do to my own family, just for business? Am I the person who i want to be?

It’s time to get these answered!!!

Rise up, you are human.

Related posts:

1. The counter intuitive theory
2. Weird thought:Our Brain-Master or Slave?
3. Weird Thought: Why aren’t we programmed?
4. Weird Thought:The energy domain
5. Is Technology killing Society?