Being born in this material world

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Living in this body is a great blessing to work off karma, and unlike any other creature on earth, human beings have chakras, a spiritual consciousness and the ability to attain enlightenment. It may be a long time before we can establish ourselves in bodies again and work on our spiritual and psychic evolution at an accelerated rate like it is possible on this earth. It would be a great mistake to give up here and have to struggle repeatedly to get back into a body to work out unfulfilled desires. Even though we are often relieved by the continuing struggles and suffering associated with being on earth, we are also blessed to have a longer stay here to accelerate our evolution which is not as possible in the astral realm in our lives after our stay here on earth.

[Jitendra Hy-do-u-no-us?]

Man is a special creation, although the human body is made after the animal pattern. Human ears resemble seashells; and the tail or  coccyx, at the end of the human spine resembles that of primates. The  Darwin  point at the top of the ear is a vestige of the long ears of the donkey; our intestines resemble the snake. In his quick movements, restless eyes, and grinning face, man resembles the monkey. The racing power of man is akin to the racing power of the horse. Man can be brave like a lion, crafty like the jackal, cruel like the tiger, meek like a lamb, musical like the Nightingale, ferocious like the wolf, and hypocritical like a cat that looks innocent after it has just eaten a tame canary.

One might then ask “How is it that there are animal characteristics in man, if he is a special creation distinct from the animals?” the answer is that for further advancement the most highly evolved animal souls were made to reincarnate in specially created human bodies.

~Paramahansa Yogananda .