For one to be perfect, he must first survive. Perfection embodies the ideals of one asserting his right to live by either completely adapting to the world around him, in such a situation the Oriental philosophies would describe as harmony; or by subduing it, an aggressive approach that has brought some disastrous consequences to both mankind and the environment. Perfection is a state where a survivor is supposed to be free from the limiting bounds of hunger, exhaustion, ignorance and death. It is envisioned as a glorified version of the idealist's person, the personification of a goal of a lifetime of survival. In India, for example, Krishna, the final avatar of the god Vishnu, is said to stand for the future goal of mankind*. In the book "We Are Not the First" (Bantam Books: New York, 1971), writer Andrew Tomas further calls Krishna the "cosmic man," discussing a pattern of development from two previous incarnations: the man with an ax, whom Tomas alleged to be the Cro-Magnon man; and Rama, "a symbol of civilized man"*, or man in his present state. In another development of Indian thought, the survivor learns to transcend his sufferings by engaging himself in long periods of introspective contemplation so as to break into a higher universe, free from the concerns of the flesh. In Palestine, Christianity's Jesus Christ addressed the same worldly worries in His teachings. Concerning hunger, He points to Himself as "the bread of life" (John 6:48), "the living bread that came down from heaven" that if partaken by any man "will live forever" (verse 51). Never to be haunted by the pangs of hunger again. In regards to thirst: "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst" (John 4:13-14). And: "If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (7:37-38). To those who have reached the limit of their
For one to be perfect, he must first survive. Perfection embodies the ideals of one asserting his right to live by either completely adapting to the world around him, in such a situation the Oriental philosophies would describe as harmony; or by subduing it, an aggressive approach that has brought some disastrous consequences to both mankind and the environment. Perfection is a state where a survivor is supposed to be free from the limiting bounds of hunger, exhaustion, ignorance and death. It is envisioned as a glorified version of the idealist's person, the personification of a goal of a lifetime of survival. In India, for example, Krishna, the final avatar of the god Vishnu, is said to stand for the future goal of mankind*. In the book "We Are Not the First" (Bantam Books: New York, 1971), writer Andrew Tomas further calls Krishna the "cosmic man," discussing a pattern of development from two previous incarnations: the man with an ax, whom Tomas alleged to be the Cro-Magnon man; and Rama, "a symbol of civilized man"*, or man in his present state. In another development of Indian thought, the survivor learns to transcend his sufferings by engaging himself in long periods of introspective contemplation so as to break into a higher universe, free from the concerns of the flesh. In Palestine, Christianity's Jesus Christ addressed the same worldly worries in His teachings. Concerning hunger, He points to Himself as "the bread of life" (John 6:48), "the living bread that came down from heaven" that if partaken by any man "will live forever" (verse 51). Never to be haunted by the pangs of hunger again. In regards to thirst: "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst" (John 4:13-14). And: "If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (7:37-38). To those who have reached the limit of their