Questioner: Earlier you said that there has been no inward evolution, nothing has changed inwardly, so we are essentially the same people who were roaming the jungles once. But still, somewhere in the course of evolution, we did become this human species with a higher capacity of consciousness compared to the rest of the physical nature. So, hasn’t there been at least some level of inward evolution?
Acharya Prashant: There has been no inward evolution. Let’s discuss that.
Look at an amoeba or a paramecium. Don’t you see that its basic instinct is just the same as that of the most evolved human being? It wants to exist, you want to exist—what has changed? You are still the amoeba. Oh, you can contradict me in a thousand ways possible. What I am saying is so vulnerable to arguments that you can trash it in no time. But with some empathy and understanding, try to get into the truth of it.
With all our evolutionary gifts—intellect, memory, muscle, the subsequent development of a suitable and comfortable ecosystem aided by technology—are we still fundamentally different from any other kind of conscious lifeform on the planet anywhere else? Tell me, please. An amoeba reproduces, so do we. An amoeba eats, and so do we.
“No sir, but, you know, there is so much that we do not share with amoebas!”
Let’s see, please. Is there anything that you do that is fundamentally not centered on stuff that an amoeba does? An amoeba wants its space, its territory—even a little plant does, a blade of grass does, and the most primitive being does. See what you use your knowledge and your skills for. Aren’t your resources, your money going so much towards acquiring space and territory, both physical and psychological? Tell me, please.
