Dharma means those actions which are in accordance with one’s mental and physical makeup. It implies actions which come naturally to an individual and lead to harmony within the whole framework of the world. It can be roughly, though inadequately, be translated as ‘duty’. Dharma is not a subject that can be discussed in depth in general terms as the dharma of each individual is different. A few basic guidelines can be given to help recognize and tune in to one’s dharma.
Dharma has to be discovered, accepted and lived by doing the work in hand to the best of one’s ability and thinking of nothing but the work and not the fruits. Work can be done as worship if one is devotionally inclined. When one’s dharma is lived one begins to harmonize both with the environment and the inner self. Doing one’s dharma in conjunction with karma yoga can give the experience of higher states of awareness.
All work is the same; there is really no such thing as higher or lower work. Whether one uses the body or mind, it is still merely work; none is any better or worse than the other. It is society that has said that certain types of work are either good or bad, of high or low status. Work is work. There is no difference whether one builds a house, cleans a toilet, or rules a country. The tool of karma yoga is work; the aim is to become the perfect instrument.
If the aim is to make money, one should continue making money. If the desire is repressed externally, the mind will only make money mentally. Ambitions have to be fulfilled, but with as much awareness and detachment as possible. Peace of mind or higher awareness cannot be obtained by avoiding what the individual nature demands. The desire is only suppressed and causes more tension and unhappiness. One should dive into the turmoil of worldly activity and live out one’s samskaras, but with full awareness. This is essential in order to jump out of the everlasting circle of aimless, egotistical activities.
No one should do the dharma of another person, even though he could do it better, or more easily. Helping someone by doing his work may lead to less obvious adverse repercussions, perhaps by making the person lazy or lose self-respect. Everyone should adhere to his swadharma, individual dharma, along with the practice of karma yoga and move into the realms of higher experience and knowledge. It is important to accept one’s limitations and do the actions that seem most harmonious, even if contrary to the expectations of others. Too often actions are decided by others. People feel that they must do something, even though it may be contrary to their individual personality. They feel obliged to live up to other people’s expectations and try to become something that they are not capable of. Unhappiness is the consequence.
Choices should be positive, harmonious and in tune with one’s dharma. The more one is able to become totally involved in the mode of activity, the better. The work acts as a vehicle and leads to one-pointedness of the mind. Problems start to fade away automatically. If one is half-hearted in action, the mind loses its power, is without concentration and tends to dither here and there. Work and dharma should be done with intensity and awareness. The work must seem right and capture one’s interests. It doesn’t matter what other people think.
It is better to do positive work than work with negative repercussions. Positive work not only benefits other people, but leads to a more relaxed mind and disposition. Positive or good actions are more conducive to progress in yoga. In a sense, so-called bad thoughts and acts, egotistical and non-dharmic, mould the character into a certain pattern. This leads to a destiny which is away from the path to higher awareness. On the other hand, good, selfless and dharmic thoughts and actions lead to a destiny which permits the influx of higher awareness.
The aim is to jump beyond the fetters of both good and bad, for they are only relative terms. Transcendence occurs in states of higher awareness, and its meaning is beyond the realm of intellectual discussion. Until these stages of illumination, however, one must try to substitute negative, adharmic actions by positive, dharmic actions. Disharmonious thoughts and actions have to be replaced by harmonious thoughts and actions. In a sense, one uses a thorn (good actions) to remove another thorn (bad actions). Afterwards, both thorns are thrown away.
The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, which takes place due to Arjuna’s confusion about the relationship between worldly duties and higher knowledge.
Like Arjuna, many people do not know how to relate higher knowledge with their everyday life. Of course, people relate them intellectually in order to justify their existence and actions. They believe that this particular state of life with its limitations is somehow linked with and leading to higher knowledge. This is the subject matter of the Bhagavad Gita, a small book of seven hundred verses, and of another important but not so well-known book, the Yoga Vasishtha.
On the battlefield of the Mahabharata war, two armies were arrayed in front of each other. Arjuna, the disciple, is the commander-in-chief of one army, and Sri Krishna is driving his chariot. Arjuna refuses to fight, and he puts hard questions to Sri Krishna. “Lord, you take it for granted that I want to attain spiritual illumination, yet why do you insist that I commit these atrocities, making me fight my own relations? Does this life contribute to or contradict spiritual illumination? If I want to lead a spiritual life and have the light revealed, should I leave this lifestyle or continue living it?” The whole Bhagavad Gita was written in that context.
Arjuna is always hitting on one point: the highest realization is the most important factor in life. He feels that he must remove himself from duties and commitments for this purpose, even though he happens to be the commander-in-chief of an army on the battlefield. A person may be a commander-in-chief, prime minister or head of a household, but he should not try to realize the supreme goal of life by relinquishing duties.
People have never been able to convince themselves that this life is part of a higher life and not contradictory to it. However, highly spiritual people dedicate themselves to spiritual realization and do not retreat from karma. Therefore, it is said in the Bhagavad Gita (3:8):
Niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyaayo hyakarmanah.
Perform the duty you are bound to, for action is superior to inaction.