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The Holistic Mystic: |
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What’s so Special About Humans?©
by Lonny Brown, HHc.
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"I have taken teachings from a variety of Zen masters,
several of whom were cats."
~ Eckart Tolle
I have a 17-year-old cat named Samson. He is smart, playful, thoroughly relaxed (except when hunting), and obviously doesn't worry about a thing. Does he know something I don't? Do cats have Buddha-nature? Is it merely a case of ignorance is bliss? If Samson knew how messed up the world was, would he exhibit Feline Anxiety Disorder? On the other hand, if cats ruled the world, it might not be messed up at all..
The Human Animal
Philosophers and scientists have pondered for ages the question of what makes us "human." Did standing upright reaching for fruit give our prehistoric ancestors a critically different take on the world? Was it their opposable thumb, which made tool-making possible? Other primates fashion rudimentary stone hammers, and crows have been observed using sticks to excavate insect holes.
Language too, used to be considered a hallmark of our species, but new studies of sea mammals, elephants, and birds reveal sophisticated verbal communications, as well as melodious songs. Recent brain and field studies on dolphins and whales demonstrate a wide range of emotions, including joy and grief. And if you've ever seen video of Emperor Penguins greeting their mates after six months of separation and a 60-mile trudge across arctic ice, you know that animals can dance at least as gloriously and tenderly as humans.
What about our sense of humor? Of course we know how puppies love to play. One diligent biology student demonstrated that certain spiders laugh when tickled. Chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary relatives, are known for their hysterical antics. Is this the real precursor to our humanness? One sense of humor the animals don't have is laughing at another's misfortune. Ever wonder why we do that?
Some say it's the capacity to reason that makes humanity the Crown of Creation. Of course there are many unreasonable people. Indeed, an emblematic disconnect between reason and behavior often makes Homo Sapiens act more "animalistic" than the animals do. The same goes for the seemingly uniquely human ability, self-reflection. While we don't believ rabbits, frogs, even the great apes "meditate," we also know that a lot of people don't. Will we become more human if we get more introspective?
Unlike us, animals have little or no awareness of time. This special human asset is also one of our greatest liabilities. Through time awareness, we can perceive our mortality, and perpetuate stress indefinitely. Our extendable memory enables us to carry a grudge, while the ability to imagine a future allows us to postpone hostility for later retaliation. We call the animal world "wild," but there, hatred and revenge are unknown. Is organized warfare the true identifying marker for earth's dominant life form?
Homo Sustainus
Perhaps the key to our search for the essence of human nature is our extreme adaptability. Countering the evolutionary strategy of all other known organisms, human success comes not from carving out and defending an ecological niche, but by conquering them all. Only mankind has inhabited the tropics and the arctic and the mountains and the deserts. We have survived naked and bundled up. We've even gone into outer space and the deepest oceans. It seems we're destined to colonize the solar system as well, if we can finally manage to overcome our own excesses.
Humans can be carnivorous or vegan, nomadic or agricultural, tribal or solitary. They can also be kind or cruel, enslaved or liberated, fearful or courageous, ignorant or enlightened, lazy or industrious, inquisitive or oblivious, empathetic or indifferent. For better or worse, a profound impressionability goes along with this adaptability: environmental influences are highly determinant, especially during our comparatively prolonged childhood. No doubt genetics also influences individual strengths and weaknesses.
Still, whether through luck or catastrophe, grace, hard work, self-help, religion or therapy, most of these varied traits and characteristics can be acquired or dropped - not over eons of evolution, or even generations - but almost any time, by any individual. Yes, we are creatures of habit, but we are also incredibly adaptable.
Homo Enlightenus
We are at the point in history when more people than not are realizing the connection between destiny and choice. We call this democracy, another distinctly human development. The current phase of mankind's evolution is more socio-spiritual than biological.
In colonial America, before there were any states to be united, Massachusetts chose to call itself a "Commonwealth," thus building into its very identity the realization that, whatever happens, we're all in this together. Today's commonwealth is the world itself, or what Buckminster Fuller called Spaceship Earth. This idea-who's-time-has-come will make the difference between global sustainability and mass extinction. Just as human ignorance and competition created the dangerous eco-imbalances now threatening us, only human ingenuity and cooperation will restore natural harmony. Perhaps we will be fully human when our neighbors, the animals, no longer fear us.
Appreciate Yourself
With some sense of urgency, Buddhism calls birth in a human form the Precious Opportunity, because we are so uniquely positioned between the animals and the gods, instinct and knowledge, heaven and hell, time and eternity. Enlightenment becomes feasible when one can cease fighting for survival, look up, listen, and contemplate this life and universe. This potential for awakening is surely one of humanity's greatest gifts.
Perhaps Samson the cat is already enlightened, as he blissfully reposes on the couch, oblivious to all such human enterprise and machinations. But he is also a direct beneficiary of civilization; longevity being his reward for domestication. In fact, statistically, neither one of us would have lived this long "in the wild," which is, evolutionarily speaking, quite recent. Whether through fortune, cunning or karma, individuals, families, tribes, nations and species survive, thrive and co-evolve, weaving this mysterious, miraculous web of life through time on Earth. What a thrill and privilege to behold!
Lonny J. Brown is the author of “Enlightenment In Our Time” (www.BookLocker.com/LonnyBrown), "Self-Actuated Healing" (Naturegraph, Publ.), and the online column, The Holistic Mystic (TheMetaArts.com). His writings on holistic health have appeared on AOL’s Alternative Medicine Forum and in Alternative Health Practitioner, Yoga Journal, and many other progressive publications. Brown teaches holistic health, mind/body healing, and stress reduction courses at hospitals, schools and businesses throughout the US. www.LonnyBrown.com |
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Lonny Brown,
HHC.
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Lonny J. Brown, HHC is the author of "Self-Actuated Healing" (Naturegraph, Publ.), and "Enlightenment In Our Time," (BookLocker.com/
LonnyBrown).
His writings on holistic health have appeared on AOL's Alternative Medicine Forum and in Alternative Health Practitioner, Yoga Journal, and many other progressive publications.
Lonny Brown teaches holistic health, mind/body healing, and stress reduction courses at hospitals, schools and businesses throughout the US. His Web site also features essays, tapes, books, and links to a variety of integrative health sources.
holistic.com/lonny
lonny@holistic.com
lonnybrown@aol.com
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