What does it mean to be a human + being?

Have you ever wondered what it means to be human? If not, maybe it’s about time to have a closer look at what that really means.

Let me make a bold assumption about you – dear reader: You must be a human being. How I know? The very fact that you are reading these words right now, tell me that you are able to make sense of the written word. That’s what humans do, right? They are trying to make sense of their perceptions. 

But is that all? Are we meaning-making machines here to get lost in our ‘doing’?

I don’t think so. 

We are human BEINGs – not human DOINGs

Did you know that in the German language, there is just one word for our species: “Mensch”. In English, however, there are two words: “human” + “being”. And I think it is a very wise separation.

These two words not only describe who you are as a member of a particular species but, if examined more deeply, also point to the twofold nature of your identity. Human is who you are on the level of form; that is to say, your body and mind. Those two aspects of your form identity make up your conditioned self. That self is conditioned by genetics and the environment, as well as other factors as yet unknown to science. Being, on the other hand, points to the essence of who you are as timeless, formless, and unconditioned consciousness. Human and being, form and essence, are ultimately not separate, in the same way that a wave or ripple on the surface of the ocean is not separate from the ocean or from any other wave or ripple, although it may appear to be so.

Half human. Half being?

Being, or pure consciousness, emanates from the Universal Source of all life as light emanates from the sun. Unlike the sun, however, the Source does not exist in space and time. It is unmanifested and therefore inconceivable, so there is nothing you can say about it. However, your consciousness emanates from the Source, so you can never be separate from it, just as a ray of sunlight cannot be separate from the sun but always remains connected with it. The Source emanation pervades the entire cosmos – which is to say, our dimension of space and time – and it is the intelligence underlying and guiding the evolution of what we perceive as the physical universe. So the universe, including human beings, was not just created in the distant past but is still in the process of being created.

Being human means being imperfectly perfect

Being human means being flawed, making mistakes (many mistakes). It also means loving ourselves through the messy ‘human-beingness’ over and over again. And more than anything, it means that there will always be a perfectly whole BEING beneath the feeling of brokenness that we may experience as part of being HUMAN.

Your being is so worthy. And right now, there is space for you to show up however you need to. ⠀
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You are allowed to feel however you feel.
You are allowed to show up however you need to show up.
You’re doing the best that you can. 
There is space for all of this and more.

I don’t have a pretty message or lesson to wrap that all up with: it’s just real. It’s just what is. The experience we call LIFE – experienced through the lens of being human.

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Ps: I’d rather be an imperfect-perfect human, feeling all the feels, sometimes getting lost along the way – than untouched by life.

Nila

Ps: If you are looking for a simple, yet effective, tool to cultivate a more nourishing and loving relationship with yourself, feel free to have a look at the GOOD LIFE Journal that I created for people like me and you 🕊