Instinct

Do you trust your instincts?

Food, clothing and the like are not anything special for beings, but the sense of shame (in doing wrong) is what is special to mankind’.

One of the 1330 couplets of the world-famous Tamil classic, tirukkuraL, written in the first century A.D.

Man is believed to have two kinds of instincts,  the animal instinct and the divine instinct.

The four basic instincts common to man and animals is fighting, fleeing, feeding and mating. These instincts help us in survival in the world.

The divine instinct is very rarely seen, and the persuit of this instinct is spirituality. The gut feeling that guides our actions is one such example. The divine instinct keeps us on the path of Dharma, which can be loosely translated as responsibility and keeps us moving towards our inner nature that is divinity.

However being so immersed in the outer world and external urges we fail to pay attention to the small inner voice that guides us or scolds us when we are wrong. It is necessary that we get attuned to this guiding light within us so that we do not cause harm to anyone and can lead a happy and guilt free life.