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E.2 Conditions

1. I should know my physical needs. I cannot feel prosperous if:

• My needs are not definite. They keep changing based on what the other person has. If my needs are
based on comparing with what the other person has, they will keep fluctuating. For example, if the
other person gets item X, I would also need to have it. Or if the other person gets a bigger item Y, I feel
that I do not have such an item, even when my needs are fulfilled.

2. I should be able to differentiate between the needs of the self and the needs of the body, and know
that one cannot be fulfilled by the other.

If I try to satisfy the needs of the self by physical goods, these can never be fulfilled.

• One is continuous in time, the other is discrete.

• One is qualitative, the other is quantitative (and finite).
• One relates to feelings, the other to physical entities.

For example, if one tries to satisfy the need for respect by goods (e.g., a larger car or a bigger house), it
can never be fulfilled. Or if I try to get respect by position (IAS officer, politician), it cannot be obtained; or
if I try to get it by wealth, it cannot be obtained.

3. Similarly, to satisfy the needs of the body, I need physical assets, and not feelings. No amount of
respect would satisfy hunger, for example.

E.3 Result
It is a common mistake belief today that needs of the body are the sole need. If they are satisfied, all the

needs would be satisfied.

Education today teaches skills with hardly any thought of values. As a result, needs of the self remain

unfulfilled.

There are two type of people, predominantly:

• Sadhan viheen dukhi daridra (SVDD) (i.e. without resources, unhappy and deprived)

• Sadhan sampanna dukhi daridra (SSDD) (i.e. with resources, unhappy and deprived)
• Our education system at best takes students from SVDD to SSDD state.

• Check this point: What did your parents say, you will get after IIT education?

What is needed is to go to the state of:

• Sadhan sampanna sukhi samriddha (SSSS) (i.e. with resources, happy and prosperous)

This will happen only when we understand (possess knowledge) what are my needs, that the needs of self
and body are different, and they both need to be fulfilled separately. If one mixes the two needs, neither
can be fulfilled.

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