Dharma in 2010

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Meeting family, friends, going to parties, making resolutions etc makes this time of the year most taxing, both in mind & spirit. To recover I am drawn more & more to spiritual reading & enhancing my asanas.

This morning I came across the following from my frequent re-reading of the Gita:

?It is better to follow your personal dharma even unto death; to live another?s dharma culminates in fear.?

So, what exactly is dharma?
In Sanskrit [I]dharma[/I] literally means that which is established, firm (often also used in religion). An individual?s dharma is what he or she was born to do, an individual?s personal path through existence. Wouldn?t life be so nice if we came in this world with our individual dharma well defined & tattooed on our forehead? Unfortunate this is not the case ? instead we have to toil & struggle to discover our dharma, most don?t even know they are doing that. From childhood our parents & mentors force some expedient path for us (whether it is right for us or not). This path is often motivated by their own personal experiences or worst still ambitions. Following such a path if it does not resonate with the self causes struggle, a young child (seeking approval & wanting to please) does not know this, unless a rebel the child continues on a path not suitable for her or him. I am very popular with my nieces & nephews since I know their parents & I am willing to question the path they are taking, of course I?m not so popular with their parents.

What I can say is that I carry out many duties during a working week. Some duties are effortless with great results as though providence seems to move to make events & situations possible to facilitate my tasks. And in some case everything is a struggle ? I find I need to put significant effort for meager results.

Do you find this? If so, then examine more closely achievements were everything just moves to allow your duties to fulfill, & do more of these duties & discard that which is a struggle ?these are probably the steps to converge to our dharma.

With this approach I have been able to enhance & discard much in my life ? I feel I am now moving closer to knowing my dharma. I think most people leave this earthly existence unfulfilled with little knowledge of their [I]Raison d’?tre.[/I]

As we take stock of all that has been & reflect on the things to come, focus on your dharma ? the reason why we were born ? let it take centre stage!

Having talked about the positive aspects of dharma, there is one area which concerns me. There exists individuals in this era whose intention is to cause death & destruction, we call them terrorists, but they think it is their dharma. How do you reconcile this? To me those who act in dharma bring joy & happiness not just to their immediate environment but the whole human race. They lift the vibrations of the human race a notch or two. When Mozart composed he was acting in his dharma, when Mahatma Ghandi pursued justice with a message of love he was acting in his dharma, when Michael Jackson performed both in music & dance he was indeed acting in his dharma. The act of terrorists has nothing what so ever to do with religion, but they believe it?s their dharma!
How does one reconcile the Gita expression mentioned earlier in this post with the acts of terrorists?

If any of my fellow yoginis or yogis have thoughts on this controversial area of today?s life please let me know. If this post provokes any thoughts please post them. What is dharma to you? Also what happens when your dharma puts you at odds with the conventions or prejudices of others? Do you conform or smile & trudge along?

Thank you,
`Happy New year to you all & may all your actions coincide with your dharma.
Namaste,
Fin

#2

Dharma also means- “that which leads you from suffering.”

Terrorists cause suffering, so they have a “false-sense” of dharma. The root cause of this suffering is ignorance.

But you have to ask- WHY is there terrorism?
According to the 9/11 Commission Report, they don’t attack us because “we’re free and prosperous”. They do it because it’s what the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) calls “blow back”.

If China planted military bases in the US, we Americans would hate them & commit terrorism against China. The politicians in Washington plant military bases in the Middle East- a hot bed of fanaticism. The extremists oppose the US bases so we Westerners get blow back.

I always say- ignorance causes the evils of collectivism. There’s a lot of ignorance in the Middle East. It doesn’t take much for them to get fanatical. They will easily betray dharma.

The US politicians have a part in ignorance too.

The USA’s dhama is its Constitution- which gives us yankees freedom of life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. But our politicians betray the Constitution. They think “nation building” is a good idea, but it is a very empirical idea. America is a republic not the empire the politicians shape through careless foreign policy.

According to the swamis- India is karmically punished through poverty. They abused the caste system.
If US politicians continue to ignore the dharma of freedom, the West can get more blow back, and this war on terror will bankrupt society. I hope westerners become more awaken and elect officials that want peaceful policies. Peace & Dharma are inseparable.

#3

Dear Fin,

Thank you for the good wishes, same to you.

We need to differentiate clearly between a person’s karma and dharma. Karma is what a person is born to do while in incarnation, but dharma is merely a result of your karma and not as such what you were born to do.

Young souls select to reincarnate in stricter, fundamental and more fanatical societies and religions as the discipline (no matter if we perceived it as ill) serves as a basis for such a young soul to learn what older souls have learned and can enjoy under the freedom of a society and religion that is the opposite to above. A younger soul need the discipline of that fundamental society, no matter what we think of it. Do a blessing for those souls as they are merely learning what many has learned already.

Blessings for the year ahead.

#4

Some of the Dharma Teachings and Practice are:

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*About the Far South Coast Dharma Yatra:

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#5

Religious dharma and yoga dharma are not the same.

gordon

#6

Hi Gordan,

But would you say they overlap & converge to the same point?

Yoga in my opinion is the most elegant & effective method for getting to know yourself.
Would you say religion when not perverted by man aims for the same?

Namaste,
Fin

#7

Hello Fen,

No I don’t think I would say they “overlap and converge”.

And since religion is created by man I don’t know if it is possible for it to stand without man’s perversion of it.

namaste

gordon

#8

Dharma is one of those pesky words that are used in different ways, so its hard to know exactly what someone is talking about when they use the term. I think the differences are not so much between yoga dharma and religious dharma, because dharma really isn’t a yoga word. But there is a difference between how Hindu’s use the word, such as in the Bhagavad Gita, and how Buddhists use the word. I have seen dharma described as a “preventive measure” in modern Buddhism, meaning a type of practice that is intended to reduce unfavorable karma in this life and in future births.

#9

I once observed three types of birds by the bay near where I live. There were small birds who flapped their wings furiously and never got more than ten or fifteen feet above the water. There were gulls who could fly a little higher and soar on the air currents without so much effort. Then there were a few hawks who were circling way up high, just catching the air currents and hardly ever flapping their wings.

My point is that, no matter how hard they flap their wings, those little birds will never fly as high as one of those hawks. But there is a fine line between following your dharma and following the path of least resistance. Water and electricity always take the path of least resistance. But it seems to me that part of the essence of life is struggle. Determination and struggle make us strong, following the path of least resistance makes us passive and weak.

And then there is also the old debate about predetermination versus free will.

#10

[quote=Pandara;26716]Dear Fin,

We need to differentiate clearly between a person’s karma and dharma. Karma is what a person is born to do while in incarnation, but dharma is merely a result of your karma and not as such what you were born to do.

Blessings for the year ahead.[/quote]
Hi Pandara,

As always good to hear from you. Wish I was in SA; UK winters are turning into a challenge with heavy snow & low temp?

Karma is the culmination of all our actions in this life & past lives. There are 4 classified type of Karma:

[ul]
[li]Sanchit Karma ? All of our Karmas from all of our many life times. We can not work out all of our karmas in any one life time.[/li][li]Prarabdha Karma ? In any one life time another type of Karma is called Prarabdha. It means that which is for that particular embodiment & includes the positions of the planets at our time of birth (giving rise to Astrology).[/li][li]Kriyamana Karma ? Returning karma from another life time which we have chosen to work through in this life time.[/li][li]Argami Karma ? Our present actions which will produce results sooner or latter.[/li][/ul]

Dharma, however is the guiding light for the evolution of consciousness. It is the sure & firm hand on the tiller. Actions carried out in dharma causes every cell to vibrate with joy. Actions carried out, divergent to this guiding light cause fear.

This is how I differentiate between Karma & Dharma. Is this also in line with your thinking?

Namaste,
Fin

#11

[quote=InnerAthlete;26783]Hello Fen,

No I don’t think I would say they “overlap and converge”.

And since religion is created by man I don’t know if it is possible for it to stand without man’s perversion of it.

namaste

gordon[/quote]

Hi Gordon,

Hindus religion has its origins in Sanskrit text (Vedas, Upanishad etc), the same is true of Yoga (Sutras of Patanjali).

Hindu saints & sages perfected Yoga as a means for enlightenment?
Indeed mention of Yoga is evident in Bhagavad Gita & many other Hindu Texts.

Namaste,
Fin

#12

[quote=Asuri;26787]
But there is a fine line between following your dharma and following the path of least resistance. Water and electricity always take the path of least resistance. But it seems to me that part of the essence of life is struggle. Determination and struggle make us strong, following the path of least resistance makes us passive and weak.

And then there is also the old debate about predetermination versus free will.[/quote]

Hi Asuri
Expression of yourself thro your art is fraught with much anguish & often pain (look at the life of Van gogh or Beethoven). This chosen path is not only a path of least resistance but a compulsion for the artist. The artist is indeed in his element when performing his art but excellence is not without pain.
However all who attain acknowledgment in their craft talk of the joy of oneness they experience when they surpass their own expectation, akin to the enlightenment mentioned by sages & saints.

So the way I see it Asuri, is that most people squander their life in skirmishes that has little to do with their dharma or their path of least resistance. But as my dear friend Pandara would say - well this is exactly what they need to do to experience growth ?

Thank you for you thoughts?

Namaste,
Fin

#13

The way I see it, Fin, some people are born with the ability to fly high, seemingly without effort. Others simply don’t have that kind of ability. That is their dharma, in the Hindu sense, as I understand it. A man has got to know his limitations. If you’re just a little bird or a gull, there’s no sense trying to fly like an eagle. It’s just wasted effort. But if you really are an eagle, by all means, spread your wings and fly, man.

An eagle’s flight may seem effortless to us, I’m sure that all life involves some level of struggle and suffering. To try to avoid that struggle by taking the easy road isn’t dharma, its taking the path of least resistance, and only leads to more suffering. I write this just to clarify what I meant.

I thought a little about your original post, and I think that it may very well be the dharma of a young Islamic man to take up jihad against us. It may also be his dharma to die in a drone attack or spend his life in prison.