Life can be lived in two ways: either as a continuous fall… then you are pulled by the unconscious forces of gravitation; you need not make any effort. You are not trying to reach to the peaks, you are simply a rock rolling downwards. Naturally it appears easy, comfortable, convenient. If you conform with the society, if you live according to the tradition, if you follow the crowds, life is easy—but at a very great cost. You don’t grow. You miss the whole point, because life is significant only when it is a continuous growth.
Man is the only animal in existence who has the capacity to evolve. Charles Darwin says that monkeys have evolved and become men. I don’t agree with him, I can’t agree with him. Not that I have anything against the monkeys—they are good people!—but if what he says is true, then why have not all the monkeys become men? For millions of years monkey have remained monkeys. Why are they not growing? They should have taken at least a few preliminary steps by now, but they are exactly the same as they have always been.
You can find proofs for Charles Darwin’s theory only if you watch the politicians. Then one suspects he may be right—otherwise not! Otherwise, monkeys have remained monkeys.
In fact, Darwin’s whole theory is only a guess; it is not yet scientifically valid. And spiritually it is never going to be valid, because those who have known man’s spiritual growth have come decisively to this conclusion: that man is a different being altogether from any other being on the earth. He is an evolving animal. No other animal evolves; they remain the same. They are very conformist: they don’t go beyond their heredity. They never cross the limit of what is allowed by their instincts; they never do anything beyond the instinctive, beyond the unconscious.
It is only man who has been able to produce a Buddha, a Lao Tzu, a Jesus, a Bahauddin. It is because of buddhas that we can say man has the capacity to be a God. Man has an infinite potential.
But then you cannot live an easy life. You cannot just be a Rotarian or a Lion. You can’t be just a Hindu or a Mohammedan. You can’t go on following the crowds. Crowds behave instinctively; they don’t know anything of the beyond. Their life is easy. If you are part of them your life will also be easy, but there will be no growth. And growth is all that matters.
The only thing that matters in life is growth. Unless you are moving to the ultimate peak of becoming a God you are wasting a tremendous opportunity.
