:: Article 3

I was recently reading the controversial book by Desmond Morris – “The Naked Ape”, which talks about the biological origins of Man. It is a fascinating book. It stirred the moral conscience of many when it was first published. The books talks about how mankind still remains a remnant of his primate ancestor – the ape. Even though technologically and culturally we have evolved beyond recognition; deep down we still carry the genetic underpinnings of our origin. The book reveals how this nature is reflected in our most common activities like sex, rearing among others. At first reading this book will most definitely affect the sensibilities of many and that according to me is the most surprising fact.

Somewhere down the millennia we have adorned a new status for ourselves. We started believing that we are a different species specially endowed with capacities that make us unique amongst organisms. Today it is inconceivable that we can think of ourselves as organisms. We have started to think of the world in human terms. Scientifically, we call this as anthropomorphism. It means that we conceive everything around us in terms of human reactions. The gods that we build are humans; the behavior of animals and phenomena is interpreted in terms of human characteristics. We have in a sense isolated ourselves from the world around us. And this isolation has caused immense problems for us. We are afraid of our instincts. The primordial genetic programming is being suppressed for the sake of societal structures. We fail to understand that we are nothing but the product of the cosmic will and as Will Durant put it – “after 2000 years of civilization, we are still nothing but a trousered ape”. The aberrant behavior of individuals is mainly due to this false isolation. UG Krishnamurthy described his transformation as a return to his womb. No concepts, No verbalizations but intense sense of life. He wouldn’t talk about it because there is nothing that could be talked about. Life is a perennial flow and there is no stagnant pool in it. The need for survival necessitates communication, but words should not be the boundaries of our life. While it is true that we have evolved beyond recognition, it should not blind us from the fact we are a part of the Cosmos sharing this earth with all other organisms. And more so we are essentially an organism. We have as a specimen tried very hard to suppress our genetic needs but it as an undeniable fact that the biological pull is always there in all our activities and relationships. We clothe them in fine words and push it under the carpet and deny its existence. All the aberrations that we see in human behavior are due to this blind-eyed attitude towards our primeval nature.

The first step towards it could begin with an deep understanding that we are not the pinnacle of creation. We have been around for roughly 40 to 50,000 years, whereas the universe has been in existence for over a billion years and there is no reason for us to be arrogant or proud of our existence. The earth is a tiny speck in the Universe. We are one amongst millions of galaxies. The sheer breadth of our cosmos should make us humble. From the movement of a blade of grass to the expansion of the Universe is controlled by the Cosmic law. There is no need for us to try and push anything. Let us accept the flow deep within and allow the Universal drama to unfold itself. We have to play our part well.