Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.

Published on www.acadun.com

The Netherlands

14th September 2014



Essence and Pride


Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction arising from one’s own achievements, including the achievements of one’s close associates or from qualities or possessions that man has, which are widely admired by society. This means that man’s appearance and what he does and achieves can give rise to pride.


Children feel happy because of their appearance, but not by what they do. They surely are happy when they are dressed up well and do something. But this happiness is interpreted as pride by the adult and not by the child, because the child does not know what pride is or that it can do. The child is always happy until it comes to know that it is a doer. It is only a modern adult who knows that he is a doer and feels proud when he does or dresses.


What does this signify? This signifies that even primitive man initially was happy by the way he dressed, but did not know that he did it. And when primitive man came to know that he was a doer, pride arose in him.


Therefore, pride arises out of the belief that man or woman is the doer, and can dress up to be either smart or beautiful. Children, when they come to know that they can do, feel pride too. Therefore pride is a natural feeling evolved by the essence of life.


The feeling pride has different intensities from minimum to maximum, as does every feeling within man. The range of pride is from the minimum humility, satisfaction, delight, joy to the maximum, which is pride.


The more man believes that he is a doer, the range of pride is present in individuals as a process of evolution and man is not in control of it. As the understanding happens to man that he is not the doer, as the enlightened have proclaimed, and that whatever is meant to happen will only happen, including the feelings, he understands not only his own feelings better, but also the feelings of others, including pride.


And as the understanding deepens and cements, man becomes compassionate, loving and caring to one and all just as the enlightened are.

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2014


Editor’s Note:
A modern adult, driven by the knowledge and conviction that he does and can do, takes pride in his achievements. An enlightened adult, through his or her understanding of the unlimited essence of life, understands that the characteristics of modern man, epitomised by expressions of anger, greed, laziness, pride, hate and jealousy, arise in life’s intrinsic nature. Man is powerless to initiate or control such characteristics but, by grace, will come to understand.
Julian Capper. UK.


German Translator’s Note:

Pride is the reward we give ourselves for our achievements. It is one of the many carrots before a hard working man's eyes. But does man really need to get a carrot, be it at least pride if not something material, in order to function in this world? If this were true, modern man would not even exist, because it would be the achievement of primitive man that the species homo sapiens has come to exist and to survive until today. And, as this wise article reveals, primitive man functioned perfectly without knowing that he did and therefore without being proud of what he did. This should make modern man think about what the true function of pride could be. It is there to strengthen the belief that man is a doer whereas he is not. A wonderful function of life to maintain its illusions as real to the human mind. 

Marcus Stegmaier, Germany



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