Although consciousness is the common factor amongst all sentient beings, including humans, aspiration for progress is a special attribute of a human being. It is this aspiration that becomes a burning ambition and makes a person rise gradually to higher levels of materialistic or spiritual progress. There are only two types of human beings who do not have such an ambition: an idiot or an ascetic of the highest order. An idiot, due to his foolishness and an ascetic due to his Divine knowledge remain away from worldly ambitions and they are satisfied. Idiots are immune to the ups and downs of the world. There is not much difference between them and other creatures that are solely driven by the desire for sensual pleasures. These creatures, living a routine life, may be kept in the lowest category.
A category higher than this comprises of people of materialistic viewpoint. Such people have ardent desire for name and fame. This eagerness for the satisfaction of egoistic drives and cravings for money is called greed and is found, more or less, in the majority of people. In the highest category are those who are driven by a single-pointed urge towards spiritual awakening. It is the noble aspirations filled with goodwill for all that form the basis for spiritual progress. In fact, the life that is filled with nobility of thought and deed and is being lived with an ardent desire to promote social welfare, is the only life worthy of a human being. He has taken birth only for this lofty purpose. Indeed, the measure of true progress of a person is the loftiness of his aspirations.
*–Akhand jyoti july-Aug 2003*