Humans are always trying to be better than everyone else. This is why we have competitive games, bell curve when grading students at schools, and why we are always concerned with keeping up with the Joneses. This is built into the human psyche. You will notice that small children are concerned about who gets the biggest piece of cake; just like a monkey will become upset if another primate gets the bigger, tastier banana.
Even in the animal world, animals will fight over who gets the freshest patch of grass or the best position in the herd. All animals, fish and bacteria are constantly battling for the privilege of procreating. They do this with dangerous fangs, beautiful coats, or fanciful dances.
In school settings whenever children are fighting, everyone else will circle the fight, waiting in anticipation to see who the winner will be. These kids will compete by wearing the best clothing, performing the most difficult physical feats, and creating the most elite clubs or groups that keep others out.
Even teachers will reinforce this when they threaten the children by telling them that if they do not study, they will end up being a janitor in the school. This lets everyone know that the teacher has a higher social value than the janitor. The real joke is that the janitor has better pay, better job security, the keys to the whole building, and as in the story of Janis he can unlock the door to heaven or the door to hell.
At work it is more important in your position what you actually accomplish in the company. Your pay is dependent on your title, not your skill or knowledge. Your title depends more on who you know, it doesn’t depend on what you know. At the water cooler everyone gossips and puts others down so that they can take their position and place.
In politics we realize that everyone makes promises that they can never keep. They do this like two prize fighters that spend two weeks before the fight describing how they are going to knock the other guy out, and once they get into the round it is over in 30 seconds. Politics is a lot like pro-wrestling… It's a nice show, tickets are very expensive, you have to be tough to get into the ring. If I got into the ring and got hit with a fake chair, I would still be down for the count. I am not tough. It's fixed and both sides are owned by the same corporation. Root for one side or the other and have a great time. The best part of the show is the Ring Girl. When you go home, you will find that nothing in your personal life has changed.
Medical scientists have found that when you are doing a specific problem like solving a math problem, putting a basketball into a hoop, or trying to ride a bicycle, all of these require different parts of the brain. This area of the brain, temporarily during the process, receives higher blood flow and more energy for the body. The brain never shuts down. When these parts of the brain are not in use, 85% of your brain will be working on social relationships. One exception is the brain runs at tops speed for most of your life, until you fall in love, then it stops working all together, but that is another story.
85% of our brain is related to social relationships because our social relationships protect us from danger, feed us, and give us opportunity to pass our DNA onto the next generation. It also establishes our status or position in the social hierarchy to receive these things that we need in life. The higher our standing in society, the better shelter we get, the better the procreating we get, the better our life insurance policy. This part of our brain is constantly working 24/7. It may power down temporarily to allow a brief activity for a specific part of the brain to function, but it will come back in full force.
When our brains are in The Human Condition, driving in the wrong direction, we can create lots of damage to others, the planet and ourselves. This would be like driving a street vehicle over off-road terrain, it will not take you very far. This Human Condition when used improperly is the reason behind all wars, poverty, and suffering that people inflict on each other.
Here we are going to learn how to deal with The Human Condition where we are always trying to become better than everyone else. We have found that there are three ways that we can become better than others. The first way is to put other people down. We do this through gossip, criticizing or ridiculing others. The word devil is translated from the Greek Septuagint, and the word that it is translated from literally means “to gossip” or “bad tongue”. This is the Devil State.
The next way that we can become better than others is through hard work. We study and learn more than others. We aim to improve ourselves to become better than what we were yesterday. We get things that will make our life better like the car or the refrigerator. We have nicer things to be better than the neighbors. We are smarter, richer, and better because of our hard work and focus on ourselves.
The third way that we can become better than others is by getting down and picking other people up. This requires compassion and empathy on our part. This is something that all of the sages of the ages have done. This is considered the God State because when you pick other people up and improve their lives, they will look up to you as Godlike.
As human beings, we will be in all three states at all times. The question that we will need to ask ourselves is “How much time and energy do I want to put myself into each of these things.” This could be 30% Devil, 30% Human, and 40% God, or 40% Devil; or 50% Human and 10% God. This choice is all up to you. How do you want to divide up your time and energy? This can change throughout the day from situation to situation on what you would like to do.
When you find yourself gossiping or telling jokes this means that you have moved into the Devil State. Comedy is part of the Human Condition. As human beings we all enjoy gossip and comedy, on occasion. Comedy is about targeting someone and shooting them down. If you would like to learn more about this read our work on the Science of Humor.
When you find yourself working extra hard, brushing your teeth, combing your hair, working two jobs, and going to college. When you are reading the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, you know that you are in The Human Condition. As you know our program is not a self help-program, this is a we will help each other program.
When you find yourself taking care of people that are depressed, down and out, and making sure that they have enough food, you know that you are living in the God State. The whole point on the Road to Kaivala is for us to help each other, so that we can reach the highest advancement. When you get to Kaivala, you will become of service to others.
As long as we are Humans, we will always be in all three states at one time. The only way to get out of this is to die, transcend to a higher plane, or get hit in the head with a rock. Our goal is to try to move as much of our time or energy as we can into the God State, and at the same time never letting go of the Human State or the Devil State.
Now get out your stickies. Write down what your schedule is for the week. Use three different colors to indicate the prominent state of Your Human Condition throughout the week. If you hope to change how you live in the Human Condition you can use different colored stickies next to what you are doing right now. Now write how much time you spend in each state.. Now consider where you want to go.. Meditate on this. Thank you for joining us on The Road to Kaivala. You are Great and Wonderful!