Who
Is
Man?
As Written by:
Mr. Ben
Preface
Without a doubt, man has wondered on the threshold of his personality. He has, with all logical thoughts, asked about who he is through different means; his existence, purpose and approach to issues and treatment of other sub-ordinates. Mankind has in a way unveiled certain answers to what entirely makes it. However, man is really not satisfied or better yet, has not come to the full realization of who he is.
What man has unveiled as answers to what entirely makes him are the figured out trivialities; wealth, happiness, success, companionship and so on* Arguably, these thoughts are believed to assert what man should crave for and demonstrate who he is. On the contrary, these trivialities, though not bad per se, are no commensurate to man’s existence.
Now, the question, ‘Who is Man?’ comes to focus. The right answers proffered will go a long way in illuminating extensively man’s viewpoints concerning his purpose of existence and approach to handling issues and treating other subordinates.
Therefore, the come-to-stay classic, ‘Who is Man?’ annunciates to all mankind the desired (rights) answers with proofs through easy-to-relate-with examples. It is the greatest anticipation and hope that this material will immensely influence the perception of those whose thoughts about mankind are myopic and parochial and rightly position man on the threshold of attaining the light of who he is.
*Is contained in the literary piece, titled ‘What Should We Crave for in Life’? by the same author.
Introduction
‘Who is Man?’ is a work-piece that elucidates the entirety of mankind in terms of who he is, what he has and where he resides. Using simple instances, it intends reaching the bull’s eye.
It gives a crux of three major interests concerning man. Analogous to a house owned by Mr. X, say, containing expected facilities such as electronic gadgets, tiles, bedrooms, living room(s), guest room(s), kitchen(s) and so on and Mr. X lives in that house, the identity explains in vivid terms the seemingly hard-nut to crack question; ‘Who is Man’?
At this point, there are basic paraphrased assertions that need to be noted. On these bases, the ‘Who is Man?’ conceptualization will emerge:
The house owner is Mr. X. He lives in a building owned by him. His house contains electronic gadgets, tiles, bedrooms, living -room(s), guest room(s), kitchen(s) and so on. Perhaps, being a visitor who does not know the way to Mr. X’s residence, though very important his house address, your interest essentially lies in seeing him.
In the same vein, being ‘new’ in this field of acquisition, our goal is primarily focused on answering the question, ‘Who is man’? The diagram below gives a three-dimensional analysis of the term ‘man’.
Fig. 1
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Soul (+) Not Drawn to Scale
Notice that the soul and body axis are relatively at the horizontal planes while the spirit axis is at the vertical plane. Why? Here the lines across the soul, body and spirit axis represent the level of quality of information, ascertaining the receptiveness of the soul, the build-up of the spirit and bodily reactions in terms of demonstrated actions. Obviously, the three axes are interwoven such that they depend on each other for a ‘function’ at their respective dimensions. How?
Consider a typical modern-day personal computer. The processor, otherwise known as the brain of the computer, gets information or data from the input device (keyboard, say) and delivers the information as output (through the Visual Display Unit, VDU). Similarly, the soul is comparatively the processor that acts on information received and delivers, determining the orientation of the spirit and body actions. Fig. 2 is a schematic sketch explaining the position of the soul as the yielding-information processor to the spirit and body.
Fig.2
Not Drawn To Scale
A B C
KEY
A- Information that reaches the soul
B- The soul processing the information
C- The soul delivering the information to…
D- The spirit (determining its orientation) and
E- The body (affected by the orientation of the spirit).
The soul, spirit and body dimensions tend toward the positives. Therefore, it is anticipated good and quality information which the soul receives, processes and delivers to the spirit and body (which can be translated as the eventual upright service to humanity). However, consider Fig.3 where the three dimensional axis tend towards the negatives.
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Body (-) Not drawn to scale
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Spirit (-)
By implication, the soul receives negative information, process and delivers them to the spirit that then determines the body’s response or reaction (action). It follows that a debasing service to humanity and declining spiritual growth become the aftermath. In comparison with Fig. 2, the lines in Fig. 3 have the same meanings.
Remember, the soul houses the mind; the thought and action factory. This is a worthy-of-note statement.
Have you heard of the following assertions:
1) Man is a spirit
2) He lives in a body
3) He has a soul?
‘Who is man’ is an interest that builds its uniqueness on the stated three premises with insight-based statements and down-to-earth instances. The concise-yet-very salient chapters are arranged in the following order:
Chapter 1: Man is a spirit
Chapter 2: He lives in a body
Chapter 3: He has a soul
It is expected the outright conviction of the reader of this classic about the assertions as answers to the question ‘Who is man’? This, the author believes, should explain his existence, purpose and treatment (handling) of other subordinates.
Chapter One
Man is a Spirit
When you desire to know the house address of your friend, you are not necessarily knowing his address but identifying with him or her as occupant of the building. Also, if you are a regular consumer of the soft drink, Coca-Cola, though you have the bottle, your concern is to drink the content (liquid).
In the same vein, in identifying who man is, we must concern ourselves with his ‘name’. By the way, have you come across the term ‘inner man’? Many pundits of various meta-physical convictions are familiar with this phrase. It is a term used to describe the reality of man. In other words, ‘inner man’ refers to the originality of man. How? What about those whose convictions are not in agreement with this description?
Undoubtedly, we are familiar with the Homo Abilies nature of man; man’s ability to stand upright and better reason distinctly from other created (living) entities. In fact, the upright man (you and I, as we were made to believe) is the Homo Abilies because this is who he is. Similarly, the ‘upright’ man is a spirit. Here, ‘upright’ is an adjective used to refer to God’s creation- the God-created man.
Even if you do not believe in God, at some point, you, perhaps, through deep thinking, would have (tentatively) seen to a fact that the ‘orchestrator’ of the universe is obviously no mere man. Rather, ‘He’ possesses an extra-terrestrial disposition. In succinct terms, ‘He’ is a spirit. If the ‘orchestrator’ of the universe created an order of dynamics in the rightly structuralized universe, then the creation of man was also possible. Not only that, the ‘orchestrator’, being extra-terrestrial in nature, originally made man in such an orientation. Don’t you think so? Come to think of it, man acts as an extra-terrestrial being to other subordinates; his subjects and other entities he has dominion over (e.g. plants, animals). This is a reflection of character of the extra-terrestrial being.
The wisest book in the world, the Holy bible, in its account, tells us that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and more importantly, breathe life into man and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). The ‘life’ breathe into man was the life of the spirit. Without it, there was really no need for man’s true existence.
Are you aware of the fact that the earth is controlled by spiritual forces and governed by spiritual laws? If you believe so, then what become of your real you? The oblivion of this truth has limited man to the extent he cannot see anything possessing spiritual worth- (over-) prioritizing what he sees. Hence, the craving for trivialities.
A spirit being dwells in eternity. In other words, this real man’s name is extra-terrestrial that is completely cut off from the limiting earthly time. He resides at the fourth dimension, a limitation of the earth’s physically known 3-dimensional plane. In clear terms, the perfected seven spiritual planes are the dwellings of man’s true name. The fourth dimension is the threshold of the other dimensions of the spirit, whether in the positive or negative. Man’s spirituality is determined by the operation it best functions. For instance, if the spirit dwells in either the faith or doubt planes, then the level of spirituality has its operational functionality at the faith or doubt dimension.
Moreover, many creative inventions by men that exceed physical scientific explanations are made possible, courtesy of inspiration; a spiritual undertone. This is the movement of spirit that gives man the impetus to propel in such a way as to bring about an unusual masterpiece of creation or change to his world. Without a doubt, science cannot, in concrete terms, explain such efficacies. This is because the knowledge gained and creativity driven through inspiration is connected with spiritual sources which unequivocally transcend the comprehension of science about them.
It is in the spirit man realizes the importance of certain physically unseen forces that constitute a life-long impact on earth; faith, joy, wisdom, wealth, truth, prosperity and so on (Also, the exact opposite of the terms used included) which goes beyond the physically seen things of the world. No wonder the physical man is left between the devil and deep blue sea when the recognition of this matter is brought before him. A wealthy man, irrespective of how he acquired wealth, is a product of ‘act-the-faith’ exercise which had been aforementioned and executed in the spiritual realm, translating to what he’s been addressed as; ‘a wealthy man’.
Where Spirit Man (+) = Real Man (+) =’Upright’ Man (+)
Not Drawn To Scale
The horizontal lines across the vertical plane represent the dimensions of the spirit (in the positives)
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The lines across represent
The dimensions of
The spirit (in the negatives)
Where Spirit Man (-) = Real Man (-) = ‘Upright man’ (-)
Here, the negatives and positives respectively represent the ‘good’ (as in faith, wealth, wisdom, knowledge and so on) and ‘bad’ (as in their exact opposite) spiritual realms.
The quest and eventual acquisition of all-there-are-to-life trivialities have unequivocally made men and women realize disdain in the form of unfulfilment. Simply, they feel an empty space or vacuum in their lives, despite living in their abundance (money, companionship, certifications and so on. Obviously, what they fail to see is the inability to ‘equip’ the emptiness they feel in their lives. The not-equipped vacuum in the ‘inner man’ or spirit, which, if not equipped with information or truths to fill the empty space, will result in obnoxious aftermaths in their lives. Ask yourself this question; ‘who is a full-grown man without a name’?
The spirit cannot relate with the physical. The physical, being a ‘solidified’ 3-dimensional plane, agrees on a relationship with a being that is also physical. By nature, the liquid content of the Coca-Cola bottle can move freely. But it has to be encased in a bottle for proper consumption; value for money. Also, the house owner needs his house to lay his head, at least. Similarly, man, originally a spirit being, needs a ‘casing’ to relate with the physical. This takes us to the next chapter.
Chapter Two
He lives in a Body
As recognized, the liquid content of a Coca-Cola bottle has to be encased in a solid for proper consumption. A house owner needs his house to lay his head. In the same vein, the body is the casing that the spirit is domicile and ‘encased’ for a proper relationship with the physical world.
The body can relate easily with the physical world, earth, thanks to the functional presence of the human sense organs. As a matter of fact, the human body is a perfect match to the natural world!
As aforementioned, the body is a ‘casing’ which practically demonstrates thoughts and actions. By primarily writing, gesticulating or involving itself in certain ‘do-it’ activities, the body attains the bull’s eye. Of course, thanks to the senses it has.
To relate perfectly with the physical world and successfully create and impact or occupy and balance the earth’s eco-system, it must be living. Also, for the proper functioning of the human sense organs responsible for the physical activities in the world, the nucleus, which is the engine room of the body, has to be present. The nucleus, analogous to the liquid content, which is the ‘life’ of the Coca-Cola bottle, is the human blood.
Therefore, it will be impossible for man to relate with the physical world without the presence of blood. Afterall, the life of the physical man is in the blood. This implies that for the continued existence of mankind to demonstrate its unique thoughts and actions, the ever-present human blood is undoubtedly essential.
The demonstrated thoughts and actions could tend towards the negatives or positives, depending on the quality of information received.
Body (-)
The arrow signs represent the realistic good and atrocious deeds of humanity over the millennia, centuries or decades, as the case may be.
Consider a brand-new car with no driver. Obviously, as the Newtonian law of motion states, it will exhibit inertia-the reluctance to move when it is static. In a way, the instance is akin to the human body with no ‘driver’. Then, who is the ‘driver’? No doubt, without the consent of the ‘driver’, the human body cannot physically reach the destination of demonstrating its unique thoughts and actions. Interestingly, the driver and his brand-new car (the ‘driver’ and human body, in a respectively compared analogy) all operate on the horizontal (physical) plane.
The next chapter discusses the essentiality of the ‘driver’ as it affects the thought and action processes demonstrated by the human body.
Chapter Three
He has a soul
The ability of the human body to relate with the physical world via demonstrated thoughts and actions is made possible by the soul possessed by man. The soul, in agreement with the body, makes the relationship existing between the 3-dimensional world and humanity possible.
Considering the building owned by Mr. X, Mr. X would normally lay his head inside it because the building’s interior has living room(s), bedroom(s) and other accommodation-friendly facilities. The Coca-Cola drink contains special constituents such as carbonated water, carbondioxide and other preservatives that bring about its unique taste. In a similar fashion, man has a soul responsible for his ability to think and act physically using his body (in agreement).
In a sense, the soul ‘houses’ the mind. With respect to the previously given example, the house owned by Mr. X is the soul and its interior is the mind. No matter the look-alike exterior look of the house owned by Mr. X and those of others, there are differences, one way or the other. Also, the interiors are uniquely different.
Therefore, the soul is what makes the physically unique man. In other words, the soul is the:
S-Source
O-Of
U-Unparalled
L-Lure
This is responsible for the ‘drawing’ of people of different social, economic and political interests toward identifying with and ardently following cut-across-all-barriers ideologies, postulated by an individual or a group of people. However, the soul’s engine room is the mind. The need to look into the soul’s nucleus becomes undoubtedly essential.
The mind, an essential component of the human soul, is akin to the computer processor, responsible for the processing of information from the input (keyboard, say) and delivers it as output through the output device (Visual Display Unit, VDU). The mind receives information, processes it, ascends it to the spirit and create an enabling environment for the body to practically think and act on it, whether in the positives or negatives.
The diagram below shows a driver-in-a-vehicle stance, explaining the closeness of the mind and body.
Fig. 6
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Vehicle
Here, the driver A is the mind and vehicle is the body. Obviously, without the driver, the vehicle will remain static and without the vehicle, the driver cannot showcase his driving skill. Precisely, without the mind, the body cannot relate with the physical and without the body, the mind cannot pilot demonstrated thoughts and actions. In all, they are sine qua non to each other. Notice: the arrow sign (E) indicates the driver and vehicle are on a horizontal plane. Hence, the reason for the sine qua non relationship.
The mind exhibits its ‘driving skill’ by:
M-Meditating
I-Intensively,
N-Never
D-Declining. The ability of the mind to depict its most outstanding quality or ‘driving skill’ is a reflection of its processing power on information received (knowledge) and delivering it to the ‘appropriate’ quarters for their respective dimensional functions, despite oppositions or inevitable odds ( in the positives or negatives).
Figures 7 and 8 show the mind (soul) and body axes as found along the horizontal plane.
Soul (mind)
(+)
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Fig. 8
Soul (Mind)
All symbols have their usual meanings.
Interestingly, God made man in such a creative fashion such that MAN;
M-Meta-physically
A-Ascends
N-Naturally.
In other words, man’s ‘upright’ positioning is spiritual; meaning that man is a spirit. However, in order to relate with the 3-dimensional world of his existence, the agreement between the body and soul (mind) must be established. The 3-dimensional operating human body must be stretched beyond its naturally recognized limits through the active Meditating Intensively, Never Declining Quality of the mind, thereby ascending processed information to the spirit which eventually ascertains the body’s level of ascertained thoughts and actions.
Always Remember These: The spiritual controls the physical. The man-spirit control is made possible courtesy of the information processed by the mind and acted on by the body.