What does it mean to be human?

We all have an idea about what it is to be a human being. We know what such a being looks like and we can distinguish him or her from the animals. The humans walk on two legs, they can speak and sing, they can feel glad or sad, many can read and write, and they can invent and produce lots of things. Our intelligence is higher than that of animals and we have formed advanced societies, we have schools and hospitals, we have infrastructure and we move around a lot. We talk on telephones and fly around in aeroplanes. We also have an advanced thing called the internet and a lot of us spend a long time each day in front of screens.

All this means that we are very different from the animals – indeed we consider ourselves to be advanced human beings.

But what does Martinus say? Would he also call us human beings? Well, of course to some extent, but Martinus distinguishes between earthly human beings and real human beings.

The real human being

A real human being is, according to Martinus, a being who has put all killing, all intolerance, all hatred, all greed, all egoism, all anger, all jealousy and meanness, all disrespect, all self-glorification and all pride behind him. A real human being is full of compassion and will go to any length to help his neighbour. He would not dream of participating in the killing of anybody, animals included, and he would never eat meat or fill his body with poisonous substances such as tobacco, drugs or alcohol. A real human being lives only to serve others and is humble and altruistic. He radiates love wherever he goes and forgives everything.

The earthly human being

This distinction means that the vast majority of us humans fall under the category of ´earthly humans`. We kill animals to eat and we keep them in small sties or pens so that they have already been caught at birth. We are quite callous about the miserable conditions they live under, and we turn the blind eye to their sufferings. We do not really care because we want our steaks and Wienerschnitzels. Our palates and old traditions dictate what we eat and because “we have always done that” we still think it is our natural birth right to go on doing it. But it is not real human behaviour.

A lot of us ´earthlings´ also participate in wars and terrorist attacks. We think we have to have wars, because “we have always had them” and that it is quite all right to kill other earthlings as long as they belong to the enemy. We have laws that prevent us from running around killing other humans in society, but in a war, it is quite all right, and we will not be prosecuted.

Also, many earthlings pursue riches and glamour and think they are worth more than others because they can live in palaces, drive around in fancy cars, go dressed in fur coats and wear lots of jewelry. They dedicate their lives to creating a lot of riches for themselves and they do not really care about the starving beggar in the street. He is not their problem, but making an impression on their peers by throwing big parties and exhibiting their riches is of much greater importance.

We are all on our way to becoming real human beings

But according to Martinus this state of affairs is only a phase. We are all, every one of us without exception, on our way to becoming real human beings. But this process takes a long time, it takes many lives or incarnations. As we did not all start on our present cycle at the same time, we all stand on different stages of evolution towards the real human stage. Some have come quite far, and they think about the well-being of their fellow man before they think of themselves, they help and support where they can, they contribute to charities and spend time helping others. They care about the environment and try to stop pollution and waste. They live on a plant-based diet and find the production of meat appalling. They radiate tolerance and universal love, and they are approaching the state of the real human being rapidly.

Behind them on the ladder of evolution we have those who still go to war, who go hunting and fishing, who think it is their birth right to eat animals and who think riches and glamour will make them happy and envied

The Earth is a mess

Right now, the earth looks like a real mess, because the earthlings are the ones in power, egoism is at the core of their mentality and ´I want more` is their mantra. But it will not always be like this. It will not, because the number of the compassionate humans is growing, and one fine day they will become the majority. And then things will change for the better. When we no longer have greed, money and the lust for power at the steering wheel of the planet, but compassion, kindness and love, then things will change rapidly.

The pedagogy of life

But, you may now ask, how will this come about? How will the greedy become the compassionate? Is that at all possible? Yes, it is, because we reap as we sow. Even the worst and most callous murderer will one day become a real human being who can only radiate and express universal love. The law of karma decrees that what we do to others, we eventually do to ourselves, so when we go out into the world and sow misery for others, when we kill, steal, maim, injure, lie and suppress, then we have sown a fate that will not be pleasant when we must live through it ourselves. We will be killed, stolen from, maimed, injured, lied to and suppressed just as we once did to others. But this a great teacher, and once we have suffered ourselves, we will change our behaviour. It is only though ´life´s own speech´ that we will learn and progress. The law of karma is life´s biggest teacher and its functioning works over many lives. What we have sown in one life, we can reap in a later life. For that reason, it is impossible to understand one´s fate in a one-life perspective. As long as we think that we only live once, we are blind to the pedagogy of life.

Practice, practice, practice…

Once we take stock of our less human sides, we can actively do something to enhance our human sides. We can practice being kinder, more tolerant, more moral, eating a plant-based diet, helping more, polluting less, taking responsibility for the environment etc. We can all improve if we want to. The room for improvement is the biggest room there is.

So, go out into the world and practice being human. Practice kindness, compassion and universal love. Help where you can and smile! It is only through practice that we become good at things, and what can possibly be more fun that practicing kindness? The sooner we do, the sooner will we become real human beings.

You can read more in my books. See: www.newspiritualscience.com