Every living organism struggles to survive. Attempting to avoid death only illustrates that the living being has an ultimate reason for living. Living beings all innately want to remain living. Why would any creature desire to avoid death unless its central characteristic was being alive? Survival is hard work. Creatures work very hard to eat and drink enough to survive every day. In terms of energy expended, dying would certainly be much easier. Living organisms all pursue survival because there is an ultimate reason for living.
The missing link within the concept of survival and evolution is an understanding of who desires to survive. If we accept that in order to distinguish life from dead chemicals there must be an awareness of life; the question becomes: Who is aware of being alive? Who distinguishes itself from non-life? Distinguishing between life and non-life requires an entity who must be conscious of being alive, and who must value life. Without valuing life there would be no quest to survive, as dead chemistry would preferable since it requires no effort to remain alive.
If we accept the existence of a being who in every living creature desires to survive, then we must ask, for whose benefit is survival? If the living organism dies, which all living organisms do, then who is left to benefit from the that species’ longer survival? Why would a bag of chemicals adapt so that the next generation could survive better? What would the purpose of that extended survival be?
The living being, relative to its current level of consciousness, has specific desires, goals, and a basic quest to survive. The living being is capable of love, fear, anger, compassion, and consciousness because the living being is alive, and these elements are characteristics of living beings. As components of living beings, these emotions translate and reflect through each physical species in one way or another. The living being is the source of the energy and personality residing within each physical body. Whether single-celled, human, animal or plant, every living organism is powered by a distinct living being. Without a living being inside, the body is lifeless and there is no quest to survive. Without the living being’s continued quest for survival, there can be no functioning DNA, nor any altering of DNA.
With the physical eyes of our physical bodies, we cannot perceive this living being. This is because the living being is nonphysical and transcendental to the body. With this understanding of the living being, we can begin to make sense of how and why the living being evolves, and why the particular species reflect that evolution. We can also understand why species are so similar.
We might first clarify the elements that provide the foundation for the evolution of the living:
The human form of life is capable of greater awareness and thus has greater responsibility for the decisions made by living beings within these forms: The human form of physical body has a greater awareness of life and the consequences of activities. The human form is a life of greater responsibility.
The human form is a lifetime at the crossroads.
The missing link within the concept of survival and evolution is an understanding of who desires to survive. If we accept that in order to distinguish life from dead chemicals there must be an awareness of life; the question becomes: Who is aware of being alive? Who distinguishes itself from non-life? Distinguishing between life and non-life requires an entity who must be conscious of being alive, and who must value life. Without valuing life there would be no quest to survive, as dead chemistry would preferable since it requires no effort to remain alive.
If we accept the existence of a being who in every living creature desires to survive, then we must ask, for whose benefit is survival? If the living organism dies, which all living organisms do, then who is left to benefit from the that species’ longer survival? Why would a bag of chemicals adapt so that the next generation could survive better? What would the purpose of that extended survival be?
The living being, relative to its current level of consciousness, has specific desires, goals, and a basic quest to survive. The living being is capable of love, fear, anger, compassion, and consciousness because the living being is alive, and these elements are characteristics of living beings. As components of living beings, these emotions translate and reflect through each physical species in one way or another. The living being is the source of the energy and personality residing within each physical body. Whether single-celled, human, animal or plant, every living organism is powered by a distinct living being. Without a living being inside, the body is lifeless and there is no quest to survive. Without the living being’s continued quest for survival, there can be no functioning DNA, nor any altering of DNA.
With the physical eyes of our physical bodies, we cannot perceive this living being. This is because the living being is nonphysical and transcendental to the body. With this understanding of the living being, we can begin to make sense of how and why the living being evolves, and why the particular species reflect that evolution. We can also understand why species are so similar.
We might first clarify the elements that provide the foundation for the evolution of the living:
n The body is constantly changing: The physical body is a moving, changing structure. It is constantly undergoing molecular and biological transition, as it exchanges molecules, cells, and form. The physical bodies we wear now are not the physical bodies we wore even a year ago. Within five years, every molecule has been exchanged for a new one, and we are wearing a completely different body.
n Each living being displays emotion: As evidenced by experiments on plants, bacteria, and other types of animals, all species have the capacity to exhibit emotions. Each living organism exhibits the will to survive and avoid pain. Through these exhibitions, each organism seeks relative happiness.
n Each living body contains a distinct living being: All living organisms, including humans, animals, plants, bugs, amoebae, etc., each have within their respective physical shells a distinct individual living being.
n Each living being is transcendental by nature: The living being cannot be measured, quantified physically, nor perceived by the physical senses. It is of another dimension. The living being’s actual nature is transcendental—outside of the physical dimension.
n Each transcendental embodied living being is prone to misidentify with the body: The risk of being embodied is mistakenly assuming that identity. The living being mistakenly identifies itself as the physical body, seeking satisfaction through physical means.
n The physical shell of each living being adapts to environmental challenges: The living being, seeking fulfillment through physical embodiment, stimulates an adaptive physical response to environmental and internal challenges. This is an attempt to improve physical conditions—increasing the likelihood of physical happiness—just as the man improved his house to suit his liking.
n The current physical shell of a living being reflects the consciousness and prior activities of the living being within: Each species of physical body allows different capabilities of expression and consciousness. Some species have greater capabilities for awareness while others have less. The distinct capabilities of each physical body of each species reflect the graduated consciousness (or evolution) of the particular living being occupying that body.
n The mind is a subtle body covering the living being, forming the platform upon which the gross physical body is formed: We shape the mind by our various desires and sense activities. The mind thus creates the basis for the type of senses and the type of physical forms we take on.
The human form of life is capable of greater awareness and thus has greater responsibility for the decisions made by living beings within these forms: The human form of physical body has a greater awareness of life and the consequences of activities. The human form is a life of greater responsibility.
The human form is a lifetime at the crossroads.
