According to the spiritual, evolutionary view of Tantra, their full-fledged realization of the Divine is the cumulative effect of many lifetimes of spiritual practice. An enlightened human can realize and act on the basis of his or her Divine, spiritual realization. Sometimes even highly evolved people exhibit regressive behavior, driven by certain instincts or sentiments. Many despicable human acts, based on such drives, are devoid of rationality or spirituality. They are reactions stored in the mind through constant repetition of experience.
Sentiments therefore represent the accumulated effect of instincts.
Insects are guided by their instincts. The actions of mammals, on the other hand, are born out of a combination of instincts, sentiments, and a certain level of rationality. In humans, a broader range of expression from the basic to the sublime is available. This gives us greater scope for expressing both destructive and constructive behavior. It soars above the instinctual and mental laws of cause and effect.