Four Levels of Humanity

SELFLESSNESS: INHERENT IN OUR DESIGN

Is ‘selflessness’ the basic feature of this creation? Well, facts and observations clearly support this truth. If we throw a glance on this Nature, we find the beautiful melodies of selflessness pulsating in its every fibre. Look at the sun. It shines for all, provides life and growth for all without demanding anything in return. A tree generously offers its shade and sweet fruits to whosoever comes to it. A flower spends its entire life to fill our lives with fragrance. A river flows relentlessly just to quench the thirst of living beings by offering its sweet waters. The air doles out life-giving oxygen for the sake of survival of one and all. Such is the design of Mother Nature, which symbolizes selflessness as its core feature.

It’s not Mother Nature alone. Selflessness constitutes the basic trait of mankind as well. It is said that human beings are genetically designed to be selfless. Not only does anthropology (social science) say so, but research too supports the same. Though we are designed to be selfless, and we may also see this feature being expressed at some instance in varying degrees, but one the whole, we seem to be drastically losing on this aspect in our everyday life. Nature has kept intact its basic nature of selflessness, but man seems to have lost it. Today, the philosophy of ‘I, me and mind’ dominates the world. These have become the buzzwords of the time, with everyone treading the road of selfishness. Unlike the grammar rule, which says that ‘I’ should be positioned at last, today ‘I’ is so very dear to us that we cannot think even in our dreams of shifting its placement anywhere else except the first one.

in reference to the context of selflessness, we can categories people on four scales or levels. These four categories can also be represented on a number line of selflessness as shown in Fig. A:

a. THE NEGATIVE LEVEL OF 
SELFLESSNESS: INHUMANLY SELFISH

            This category includes those who believe in gaining at the cost of making loss to others; who look for their own comfort by bringing discomfort to others; who look for their own delight at the cost of hurting others; who aim at progressing by kicking and killing others.

            For this set of specifications, if you are asked to choose for this category an appropriate model of negotiation from the 4 models as shown in Fig. B, then perhaps there won’t be any ambiguity or delay in answering the correct option.

            It is clear that the philosophy of such people resonates with the policy of ‘You Lose, I Win.’ And, sadly, this is what is becoming everyone’s philosophy today. Shocking statistics of frauds and scams speak aloud of this bitter truth. According to the Financial Fraud Research Center, more than 30 million consumers are defrauded every year. An average of $1.2 million is lost for every workplace fraud committed. In retail frauds alone, the annual cost is over $400 billion. 77% of frauds within companies are not publically reported upon detection. If one attempts to list the types of frauds, the list would perhaps have no limits. Medicare frauds, Insurance frauds, Business trading frauds, Employment frauds, Mortgage frauds, and so no. The common headlines today are: so and so agent ran away with all the money of his clients: an insurance company proved to be fake one, with its owners looting away the hard-earned money of gullible masses; money from ATMs got stolen away, and likewise.

            In the guise of providing service to others, this kind of people actually fulfil their selfish motives. This mentality can be aptly cited through the following incidence:

A car was swiftly and smoothly covering one stretch of the road after another. However, suddenly it met some hiccups, where after it stopped with a sharp jerk. The person driving the car came out and found the tyre of his car being punctured and also stuck in a deep hole. The hole probably went unnoticed by him as it laid covered with some dry leaves and mud. Confused, tensed and seemingly helpless, the man somehow tried to push the car to bring the tyre out of the hole. But, his efforts fell short measure. With a dire call of help from within, he surveyed in all directions. To his great relief, he saw a small tent enclosure nearby, wherein two persons were sitting and talking to each other. He approached them and sought for their help. Those two men instantly got up to look into the matter. They did the needful and finally the car was ready to cover its further journey. The car owner thanked them again and again and offered them some money for their great help. Just before sitting in the car, he happened to ask them, “What do both of you do?” The two men looked at each other and then with a cunning smile on their faces, replied, “We do what we did for you…..After you leave from here, we will prepare the hole again for the next car to get stuck and punctured, so that we can offer the same kind of help to him as well!”

In a nutshell, by hook or crook, by plunging others into the ditch of loss, pain and harm, such people seek for their benefit and pleasure.

b. ZERO LEVEL OF SELFLESSNESS:

INDIVIDUALLY SELFISH

This category includes those who are focused on their growth, their profit, their comfort, but not with the mindset of hurting others. For such people, the whole world shrinks to ‘I’, shutting off everyone else from their zone of concern. They are least bothered about anyone else, and their whole sole motive of existence is restricted to just one person, i.e. they themselves!

However, great wise men have always discouraged this kind of selfish mentality. Once, someone asked Socrates, "Sir, why do you ask everyone who comes to you to become your disciple to first look into the pond and tell what he sees?,' Socrates replied, "Because through this, I get to know what he cares for the most."

Inquisitive: But, how do you do that?

Socrates: On looking inside the pond, those who say that they see the whole pond, the fish swimming around, the other creatures, the plants, etc., I accept them. But, those who say they see their own reflection, to them, I ask to go... because they indirectly intend to say that they are in love with their own self and have no concern for others. And, selfish people have no place here.

The same was the message given by Shri Ramalrishna Paramahansa. When Narendra (who later became Swami Vivekananda) expressed his desire to go into the state of samadhi and remain deluged in that ecstatic state, his Master, Shri Ramakrishna rebuked him outright by saying, "Narendra, how can you be so selfish! I thought that you would serve the suffering masses, awaken them by giving the message of Truth and save the dying humanity. But, you seem to be concerned only about your own happiness! This kind of behavior is not expected out of you, Narendra!"

c. POSITIVE LEVEL OF SELFLESSNESS:

LIMITEDLY SELFLESS

This section comprises of those people, ho circle of concern extends beyond themselves to include their family, the near and dear ones, and the spread may expand to include society and/or their nation at large.

This expression of selflessness bears the support of several evidences. For instance, we see that parents think for their children before themselves. The problems and pain of children become the problems and pain of the parents themselves as they care for them and are deeply concerned about their well-being. Expanding further, the attribute of selflessness may increase wherein one feels the pain of the people living in his society. Such people follow the practice of serving their fellow-beings as a gesture of their selfless attitude. Undoubtedly, this kind of gesture is much appreciated and represents a higher level of altruism. And, then there is also the uppermost stage in this category, when the level of selflessness rises even higher, to bring in one's periphery of concern the whole nation. They are the ones who love their country to the extent that for them, the definition of life becomes serving their nation.

The great freedom fighters who lived and died for the sake of their country are classic examples in this regard. Popularly known as 'the Father of the Nation', Mahatma Gandhi used to say that, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” His incidents of raising voice against the British and standing for the welfare of the people of his country are well known. Seeing his deep concern and untiring work for the people of his country, once someone asked him the reason as to why he did so much for others? Mahatma Gandhi's reply was, “It is not for others. I am here to serve myself only, to find my own self-realisation through the service of others.”

Two weeks before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. made a wonderful remark in his speech, “Nobel Prize doesn't make one great, but selfless service does. And, everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”  His words were not tall talks; instead they were the expressions of his own identity. Martin Luther fought against racial prejudice, was jailed along with a large number of his supporters, organised demonstrations and marches even though he met with a lot of criticism. But still, he did not stop his efforts despite the constant threat of

death.

Though this category scores far more than the earlier ones, yet it cannot be designated as the ultimate expression of selflessness as it bears constraints of being bounded and/or expectation of having something in return. For instance, parents, no doubt, look after their children with utmost level of care and concern. Yet, apparently or subtly, their concern is backed by some kind of expectation from their children. Similarly, those following the principle of serving their society/nation might also have some subtle expectation of return for their service, be it in the form of praise, rewards or other expressions of honouring the merit. And, if not, then also the spread of their selflessness remains bounded in the lines of their society or country.

Thus, there is yet another level on the scale of selflessness, which is the highest expression of altruism that is tending towards infinity