Question: How does the animal or destructive consciousness affect us?

Sri Chinmoy: With our destructive consciousness we try to destroy others and destroy ourselves. Unfortunately, in the animal we see the destructive quality looming large. But it is better to have this animal consciousness, to fight and struggle, than to remain in the stone consciousness where there is no movement, no progress.

Now the animal has played its role, and we have come to the human consciousness. We know that movement is necessary; but it has to be dynamic movement, not aggressive movement. In the human consciousness we try to go a little farther with our dynamic movement, but unfortunately, the animal consciousness still lies dormant in us. We try to purify the destructive animal quality through our human dynamism. Then, from the human dynamic movement, we try to go to the Divine. When the human enters into the Divine, we get perfect Perfection and the animal consciousness leaves us totally.