Dharma

In the olden days there was a strong emphasis on doing one's Dharma as an essential component of one's spiritual path. And I believe that holds true today as well. If you neglect your Dharma, where is the possibility of any spiritual progress?

But the word Dharma itself needs to be clearly understood. Otherwise one can get all messed up and wound up and end up nowhere good.

Quite possibly the worst translation of "Dharma" is "Religion". Living a Dharmic life does not even require you to believe in God, leave alone the question of which religion you belong to! The word "religion" is in itself strange to the Hindu way of thinking. The quest in this part of the world has always been perfection of character and a complete understanding of reality in all its aspects : external (the Universe), internal (the Self) and the relation between the Self and the Universe. The temples we go to, the divine personalities we worship (people and beings that have attained spiritual perfection), are to inspire ourselves, to meditate, to put forward the effort required for spiritual progress. Our worship is based neither on fear nor on greed but is an affirmation of our own efforts towards making spiritual progress.

Hindu thought itself has six philosophical schools: Nyaya (Gautama Rishi), Vaiseshika (Kanada Rishi), Sankhya (Kapila Muni), Yoga (Patanjali Maharshi), Purva Mimamsa (Jaimini) and Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta (Badarayana or Vyasa). Given the culture of debate inherent in the traditional Hindu way of inquiry, other schools of philosophy are welcome too as long as it can be demonstrated that they lead to the stated goals: perfection of character and a complete understanding of reality in all its aspects : external (the Universe), internal (the Self) and the relation between the Self and the Universe.

So if you ask someone's Dharma to find out if they are Hindu or Christian or Sikh or Muslim, that simply does not make any sense 😊! And if you harass people of different religions in the name of protecting your Dharma, that makes even lesser sense! Protecting oneself is one thing - if an individual or group approaches me with aggression, I certainly have the right to defend myself. But if someone comes and tells me that I need to speak or act against people of faiths different from mine to "protect my Dharma", I would recommend they seek psychological counseling and sort themselves out.

A better translation of "Dharma" is "Duty". Your duty as a son or daughter, your duty as a mother or father, as a husband or wife, your duty as a student, your duty as a teacher or police officer or businessman or lawyer or judge or soldier...

But here too, one has to keep one's commonsense alive!

I have seen people neglecting and abusing their spouses in the name of fulfilling their duty towards their parents. I have also seen the opposite: people neglecting and abusing their parents in the name of fulfilling their duty towards their spouses and children. I have seen parents ask their children to sacrifice their careers just because they don't want to relocate and stay in a different part of the country or world. This is plain selfishness! Then there are situations when parents can't relocate due to health or other reasons. Abandoning such parents in their old age in the name of career is equally selfish!

As I said, one has to keep one's commonsense alive and find balance.

It gets even trickier when you come to one's duty as a student or professional duties. It's all well and good to talk about sincerity and dedication and hard work. But have you noticed that a very very large number of people don't even choose their fields of study or career paths based on what interests them, what they are passionate about. Very few people spend the time to find out what they want to do with their lives! These questions: Do I want to be a lawyer? Or a judge? A mathematician? Or a biologist? Physicist? Musician? Artist? Writer? Engineer? Philosopher? Doctor? Police Officer? Soldier? Nurse? Teacher? Professor? How many people have you met who ask themselves such questions and make conscious decisions about what to study, what to do professionally? How many parents allow their children this freedom to think and choose for themselves?

And what Dharma without even this basic freedom and human dignity 😃?

My interpretation of Dharma in your life as a student and working professional is as follows:

Find what interests you, find your calling(s), and study/work on these with 100% attention, focus and sincerity.

You might want to be a lawyer. Then pursue a deep and thorough study of law with 100% focus and work hard towards being an excellent lawyer or judge. Always side with justice. Stay sincere. Work towards establishing a just society.

You might want to be a musician. Then pursue and practice music with 100% focus and work hard towards being an excellent musician. Use your music to uplift others emotionally.

You might want to be an engineer, a mathematician, a scientist, a philosopher, an artist, a novelist, a poet, a historian, a journalist, a sportsperson, a dancer, ...

Give it your 100%. Stay sincere.

You might want to be pursue more than one interests or passions.

Give them your 100%. Stay sincere.

Spend some time to figure out where your interests lie, what your callings are, and once you have figured this out: Give them your 100% attention and effort. At any given time, work with 100% focus and concentration. Stay sincere.

If you can develop such a mindset and lifestyle, I believe you will make great progress in your profession, in the world, as well as within spiritually.

The challenge is to bring your whole life into as good a balance as possible by fulfilling your Dharma in all its aspects: As a son, as a daughter, as parents, as spouses, as students, as working professionals. I believe this post points out paths as well as pitfalls you are likely to encounter on them.

I wish you a Dharmic life in the true sense of the word 😊.