Human life as highest birth or just an Egocentric view.

Namaste,

In many dharma traditions the human form of life is considered as the best vehicle to attain self realization.

I have also heard that within the animal species there is no incurment of excess karma, because they only follow their inbuilt nature.

in the songs of Narotama Thakur he sings in bhajan that if one is not engaged in spiritual activities then he is to be considered lower than an animal. The true purport of this meaning is that animals follow their nature and act perfectly in accord with their nature, a dog barks, a cat meows and human asks I am more than this body and mind, its not a disrespect to animals, but to emphasize that the humans natural tendency is to inquire about his real nature, which is higher than the physical conditions, so if one acts outside of that inquiry then he isnt human or animal because he is not following his dharma or inherent existence as human being.

In the story of Bharata Maharaja he became attached to a deer and due to his attachment he had to take one last birth as a deer and then he was released from samasara, he did not have to take another human birth.

In the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu he danced in forest with all beings and they attained their swarupa, again no need for a human birth.

In 24 guru's of Sri Datta some of his guru's were animals. Animals when observed apart from the same tendency of humans for survival have unique skills that humans could only dream of having, as much as we observe them we do not really know what is their dialogue and forms of communication.

I do not know of any scientific study that has full confidence that we can understand the consciousness and communication of animals and other sentient beings, is it us in our ego centric being to limit them, or are they limited to know the Supreme due to being an animal or other species, also if we think like this, then are putting a limitation on the Supreme to communicate with other species apart from us.

Part of me thinking like this is due to the huge egocentric nature of us as human beings. In science the top of the food chain in evolution is considered to be human, seems ego centric, there is no other species that has done more damage to this planet than us. They are dumb because they havent invented cars, rockets, missiles, computers, surgeries and chemical medicines, write books, speak a langauage we can understand, build temples, play music intruments. all of which serve us to how much benefit ?

Also some animals have clear super normal sensory faculties than us naturally. Why is the term animal consider lower than humans.

One could say that these are sensory abilities but we dont know how to measure consciousness because of our limitations, does it mean that they have limitations? not just animals but plants, trees, insects that to many of humans look down on as inferior to human beings. Many species have been trained or lived with humans in harmony and synthesis.

In spiritual traditions its the same thing, only human can attain to self inquiry and realization, where exactly is the evidence, could this also be a egocentric view, maybe in the beginning stages to help us get more serious.

There are also many stories that when animals and sentient beings come to pay respect and they seem to have a faculty to see a self realized being due to their simplicity and connection to their nature, a tree will bow when a saint walks past, flowers will give extra fragrence, animals will loose all fear and come and take shelter. I heard Ramana Maharshi would spend time talking with non humans through silence, most know the story of him and the cow.

Any views on this would be welcome.

Pranam