The Having & Being Of Human-ness

I love this funny yet wise quote:

Monkeys are superior to men in this - When a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey. ~ Malcolm de Chazal.

Interpret it in whatever way we want. But we can't deny that this quote is saying that a monkey only sees a monkey in the mirror but if we give a man/woman a mirror, he/she would see more than a man/woman.

We have judgments, pre-conceived ideas, interpretations of what if/what is supposed to be and so on. We make things complicated for ourselves and we become confused. More often than not, we gravitate towards the negative, and for no good reason.

In our grandparents' time or even great-grandparents' time, things were less complicated. I do not mean that they do not have to deal with their mindsets, but they had less of a challenge because their world was larger than life. Now, we live in a reality where the world is so much smaller. Speaking to someone thousands of miles away is no longer an issue, our emails sent electronically is received within a second.

The fast pace just means we have become far more impatient. This adds to our stress levels and in turn, causes our bodies to react, AND in the long-term -- health challenges.

So HAVING a human experience means, we have difficulty keeping things simple. Notice that I did not say "being human means we have difficulty keeping things simple"? Being human does not mean that we are forever fated for failure and craziness.

BEING human means, we need to accept that the human experience brings us from drama to enlightenment. And having human experiences is a pathway to our highest potential. 

If we can see the difference between the Having and the Being, our worldview will shift totally. We will understand things, situations and people from a totally different perspective.

If we are having a human experience, we will interpret the actions and words of one who is Being from a judgmental perspective, and we will project things that are not really there. But if we are simply Being, we will naturally be observers of other people's words and actions. 

I read this about two decades ago, and I really like it: the sound HU in ancient Egyptian times was the sound of divinity, and when sounded, it allows us to connect to the inner core of our beings, bringing us back to the essence of our power and to where/when we were created within our hearts.

Combined with the word MAN -- HU-MAN, it means we are mortal beings with our core connected to the sound of divinity. Isn't this interpretation liberating?

Human experiences are merely opportunities for us to find our way. There is no other way to learn and grow except to experience the lessons.

We are not our experiences.  They are methods for us to get to our enlightened state. 

An enlightened mind simplifies and comes to a full circle of human experiences and becomes an HU-MAN BEING, in the most real sense. Perhaps nature's wisdom through the monkey has been trying to teach us this from the beginning of time. 

First published in 2018, edited in 2022 ©2022 Shamala Tan

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Shamala Tan is an author, spiritual entrepreneur and healer. Her work focuses on transforming the lives of others on the spiritual, emotional, mental and earthly levels.

Shamala’s clients include small business owners, holistic practitioners as well as those seeking to find more significant meaning and value in life. Shamala offers laser coaching to her clients on a one-to-one basis or in a group environment, offline as well as online.