Bhagavan says, man’s basic needs can be reduced to five

Five basic needs of Man

As Bhagavan says, man’s basic needs can be reduced to five. These are wealth, love, recognition, growth, and contribution. Everyone wants wealth in so many forms in order to lead a comfortable life. Based on one’s own concept of comfort, he wants more or less wealth but everyone wants it. Similarly, everyone needs love. This need has two sides such as the need to love and the need to be loved. Much can be said about love and it is the most misunderstood term too. So Bhagavan tells what love is not so that we may not misunderstand it for mere attachment, infatuation, longing, demand, etc. We find people trying to dominate others and to establish their views and thus to occupy the central stage always and thus engaged tirelessly in the ffort of achieving recognition through various ways.

These three are the base needs of an individual whereas growth and contribution are the superior needs. Beings who are more spiritually evolved cannot be happy with the fulfilment of the three base needs. They want to grow. Growth of and for oneself after a particular limit serves much in helping others to grow too. It is here that it acquires superiority over the three former needs. Or rather it gradually begins to inspire one to contribute to others and their growth and happiness. Contribution is the subtlest and most sublime of the needs of an individual.

Through spiritual evolution man starts to feel his innate urge to help mankind as his higher self becomes aware of his passionate need to grow and contribute. The most wonderful aspect of these two higher needs is that the man who starts concentrating on them fulfils the former three needs without any effort, even though he may not have them even in the periphery of his concerns. So a man who grows and naturally starts to contribute to the welfare of the suffering souls starts manifesting grace in his life in such a way that much of the karmas are cleared and all his other needs get easily fulfilled. This wonderful aspect is why most spiritual paths ask men to do real and genuine charity work.

But charity today has taken a twist like “throwing” alms to the destitute or depositing an amount regularly in the name of an agency which doesn’t have even a remote relationship with charity. Real charity springs from an emotional sharing, an intimate experience of the suffering of the fraternity, arousing deep feelings within the heart resulting in deep prayer to God to alleviate the suffering of the miserable soul. It also results in realising the immense love and grace God has already showered on us providing all the basic necessities to a large extent enabling us to offer our lot to the suffering souls.

Hence, it has to be understood that God directly helps mankind by providing everything that is necessary for man. As well He has provided us enough chances to seize every opportunity to help one another and evolve spiritually at a greater pace too, which otherwise might be practically impossible too in any other way. Those who are spiritually evolved never let such an opportunity go away and thus progress on their path by leaps and bounds.
Written by Venu Nair