CAN I LIVE FOREVER?

Lesson Two

THE LIVING ENTITIES ARE EVOLVING THROUGH VARIOUS SPECIES

Transformations of the body

Every living body in this material world undergoes six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, production of by-products (chemicals, offspring), diminution and destruction. These changes happen to all living bodies, whether they be plants, animals or human beings. For example, a child is born, grows into youth, remain young for a few years, produces a child, gradually ages and finally dies. We  cannot stop this by our so-called material science. Sometimes people foolishly think that by scientific advancement  human beings will become immortal. We cannot even stop these six changes in the body, where is the question of stopping death?

Complete and perfect knowledge of evolution

Darwin's evolution theory is an imperfect understanding of the real spiritual evolution, which takes place by the transmigration of the soul from one body to another. Originally, the living entity is a spiritual being, but when desires to enjoy this material world, he falls down from the spiritual world. First, the living entity accepts a body that is human in form, but gradually, due to his degraded activities he falls into lower forms of life - into the animal, plant and aquatic forms. By the gradual process of evolution through 8.4 million species of life, the living entity again attains the body of a human being and is given another chance to get out of the process of transmigration. If he again misses the chance in the human form to understand his position, he is again placed in the cycle of birth and death in various types of bodies. This is the complete and perfect knowledge of evolution.(Srimad-Bhagvatam 4.29.2)

The Padma Purana also says :

jalaja nava lakshani

sthavara laksha vimshati

krmaya rudra sankhyakah

pakshinam dasa lakshanam

trimsal lakshani pashavah

catush lakshani manavah

" There are 900,000 species of aquatic life; 2,000,000 species of plants and trees; 1,100,000 species of insects; 1,00,000 species of bird life; 3,000,000 species of beasts, and 400,000 species of human life".

The meaning of  "species" understood by biologists is different from the meaning implied here. The meaning of "species" used by biologists applies to the gross physical appearance or the gross morphological feature of the living material bodies. The Vedic meaning, however, is based on the level of consciousness of the living being. For example, biologists say that all human beings to one species, whereas the Vedic literatures list 400,000 human species.

In other words, there are 400,000 grades of human beings on different levels of consciousness. In the lower levels of consciousness, a living entity, although in a human body, behaves just like an animal. In a higher level, his consciousness may be slightly evolved and he may be selfish for his family. In a still higher level, he is concerned about his community, then about his state/country. At a higher level, one may become an altruist/philanthropist. And after many lifetimes one starts to enquire about God. The living entity still develops several conceptions about God in many, many lifetimes, until he comes to understand that ,"Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrendering to Him is the highest goal of life". To stop the repetition of birth and death in different forms of life, we must transcend the covering of material nature and come to the platform of pure consciousness. But if we do not learn the transcendental science of Krishna consciousness, then at death we must transfer to another body, either better or worse than our present one.