Understanding the Needs of Self and Body

Understanding the Needs of Self and Body – The human being is the co-existence of ‘ I ‘ and the body, and there is an exchange of information between the two. We can make this distinction between the self and the body in terms of the needs as shown in the table below:

In time needs are…	I	Body
Needs in quantity, needs are…..	Trust, Respect…… Happiness (sukh) Continuous Qualitative	Food, Clothing…… Physical Facilities (suvidha) Temporary Quantitative (limited in quantity)

Needs are…… The needs of the body like food for nourishment clothes for protection, and instruments to ensure the right utilization can be categorized as being ” physical in nature, or also called ‘ physical facilities (suvidha) whereas the need of 1 is essentially to live in a state of continuous happiness (sukh). The needs of the body are physical in nature, whereas the needs of the self (1) are not physical in nature – like trust, respect, happiness, etc.
In time, needs are…… The needs of ‘ I ‘ are continuous in time, unlike the need of the body. which is temporary time. We want happiness continuously. We also want the feeling of respect continuously and so also acceptance in a relationship. If we talk about food, clothing, shelter, or instruments, these are needed only for some amount of time, or we can say that the need for physical facilities of the body is temporary in time- it is not continuous.
In quality, needs are… Physical facilities are needed for the body in a limited quantity. When we try and exceed these limits, it becomes troublesome for us after some time. Let’s take the example of casting. As far as, physical facilities (say rasgulla) go, they are necessary for the beginning. but if we keep consuming, it becomes intolerable with the passage of time. This applies to every physical facility. We can only think of having unlimited physical facilities, but if we try and consume, or have too much of physical facilities, it only ends up becoming a problem for us. Whereas the needs of ‘ I ‘ are qualitative (they are not quantifiable), but we also want them continuously. Our feelings are qualitative. Either they are or they are not. Ex. Happiness is qualitative. Either we are feeling happy or we are not. Also if a feeling is not naturally acceptable; we do not want it even for a single moment. If acceptable, we want it continuously.
Needs are fulfilled……. The need of the self (1), for happiness (sukh), is ensured by the right Understanding and right feelings, while the need of the body, for physical facilities (suvidha), is ensured by appropriate physical-chemical things.

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Understanding the needs of self and body

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Needs of the Self are Qualitative

Human beings are a complex combination of the sentiment ‘ I ‘ which relates to all feelings and the material ” body ‘ which refers to all the physical facilities available to them. The need for self is sukh (happiness). Sukh is qualitative. Therefore the needs of ‘ T ‘ are qualitative. They are not quantifiable. We also want them continuously.

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We cannot talk of one kg of respect or one meter of happiness. Our feelings are qualitative. Either they are or they are not. Ex. Happiness is qualitative. Either we are feeling happy or we are not. Also if a feeling is not naturally acceptable; we do not want it even for a single moment. If acceptable, we want it continuously. We can see this with the example of respect. We don’t want the feeling of disrespect even for a single moment since it is naturally acceptable to us.

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Nature man is fond of comfort and happiness so he goes on making desires and ambitions one after the other to enjoy more in life. To lead a comfortable life he also accumulates many facilities, so that he may become full of comfort and happiness. Sukh depends on our thinking so many times we are surrounded by materialistic possessions but we feel unsatisfied People think that their happiness depends upon suvidha (facilities) but is it not so: happiness depends upon one thinking or our mental satisfaction.

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The needs of the Body are Quantitative

The need of the body is physical facilities. Physical facilities are needed for the body in a limited quantity. When we try and exceed these limits, it becomes troublesome for us after some time. Let’s take the example of eating. As far as, physical facilities (say rasgulla) go, they are necessary in the beginning, but if we keep consuming, it becomes intolerable with the passage of time.

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This applies to every physical facility. We can only think of having unlimited physical facilities but if we try and consume, or have too much of physical facilities, it only ends up becoming a problem for us. When we try to perpetuate physical facilities, the following pattern results. With time it successively changes from:

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Necessary and tasteful Unnecessary but tasty => Unnecessary and tasteless => Intolerable!

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