Why on earth, we would put such a heading? Of course we do not want to offend anyone, at the same time we really want to bring out the essence, the core heart of the topic As It It with love, sympathy and compassion. Mind you , speaking such way does not mean we do not like humans or animals.

Before we begin further into the topic, we would first see the similarities and differences between human beings and animals (including birds, beast, reptiles etc).

Basic Similarities:

Humans	Animals (birds, beasts, reptiles, aquatics etc.)
They are living entities	They are also living entities
They eat, sleep, have family life, defend	They also eat, sleep, have family life, defend
They take birth, get old, get diseased and die	They also take birth, get old, get diseased and die
They have a place of living	They have a place of living
They have mind, intelligence and ego	They also have mind, intelligence and ego.

Basic Differences:

Humans	Animals (birds, beasts, reptiles, aquatics etc.)
Their intelligence is far superior than any other animals	Overall their intelligence is lower than humans
They take control over natural resources	They do not take control over natural resources
They use their intelligence to make their lives more comfortable	They can use their intelligence to make their lives somewhat comfortable

Most Critical Differences:

Humans	Animals (birds, beasts, reptiles, aquatics etc.)
They can inquire about Self Realization	They do not become Self Realized.
They can inquire about the existence – who am I? What is the purpose of my existence? Why do I exist? What is beyond the sky?	They do not inquire about the existence?
They can take actions on the path of Self Realization	They do not even understand what is self-realization?
They understands the difference between body and soul.	They do not understand the difference between body and soul.
They can realize that I had come empty handed, naked and I will leave this world empty handed, naked then what is that force keeps me pushing even though I may not desire to pushed like that.	They have no clue of their best interest.
They can scientifically understands the existence of God and develop their dormant love for God	They do not even know about their existence what to speak of God.
They can follow the path of austerity and renunciation from sense gratifications.	They remain absorbed in various sense gratifications.
They can follow the path of Spiritual Perfection	They would remain engaged in eating, sleeping, mating and defending.

Of course, there may be many more differences and similarities and we won’t be able to write down all. The gist is that inquiries on Self Realization makes a human human, otherwise he is considered as an animal (human body but animal consciousness).

Then the next questions are – What is the benefit of becoming Self Realized? How would I know what is real Self Realization or what is a bluff Self Realization? Whom should I approach and how to verify if that person is already Self Realized?