Understanding the Meaning and Concept of Dharma

We are a part of the interbeing

Sometime back I read a beautiful article by one of my fellow medium writers that explains the subtle real nature of our existence i.e. Interbeing. I shall set the context of this article in the exploration of understanding the meaning and concept of Dharma by paraphrasing one of its paragraphs that compares reality with the lives of the plants. On the surface, we see distinct individual trees and plants that all seem to compete for air and sunlight but underneath we don’t see the intricate network of interconnectedness through an extensive network of roots that support each other. Similarly, our existence seems to be discrete at the gross level but in reality, it is not.

Inter-beingness is one of the most important philosophical ideas in Buddhism. Thich Nhat Hanh, the father of Mindfulness, was able to re-establish this lost conception in thousands of minds. It presents the hidden subtle truth of our existence by a logical deduction of the components of our being. A lotus flower has a composite existence made from elements of water, mud, sunlight, air, and space. It does not have an independent existence as such. In fact, there is no independent lotus existence apart from the constituent elements. It is one of the manifestations of the interconnected essence of life just like every other form of existence.

Just like a fish net can filter out fishes but not the sand, our sensory organs can only detect the gross perceivable phenomena. To these sensory organs, an independent reality is obvious. Appreciation of inter-beingness begins after our sense organs and mind become sensitive enough to detect subtleness. This capability arises in us either through disciplined practices like yoga, meditation, Qi-Gong, etc., or some unexpected mystical experiences like near-death experiences, psychedelic experiences, etc., or trance-like situations due to extreme devotion towards one form of god or guru. One such instance is enough to make the frog inside our mind realize the presence of a real world outside the walls of its well.

Intellectual understanding by imagination alone may not be effective enough to appreciate the reality of inter-beingness. Meditation or Mindfulness practices are great tools to facilitate this realization but appreciation of inter-beingness alone is not a motivation for ensuing these practices. It is rather a by-product that is achieved while practicing these disciplines with the motivation of achieving mental peace or pursuing spiritual seeking. Nevertheless, the reality is independent existence is an illusion. Our bodies and minds are infinitesimally tiny parts of an omnipresent continuum. If our bodies and minds suffer, other beings are also affected and if others suffer, we also get affected. 

What is Dharma?

If we closely observe the functioning of nature, all the processes can be divided into creation, maintenance, and destruction. The ancient Hindu scriptures have also symbolized these processes by attributing the characteristics to the gods Bramha, Vishnu, and Shiva respectively. A seed that would seem to us as a separate entity from an interbeing called a tree, gives rise to a plant through creation. The emerging tree maintains this life form by producing leaves, fruits, and more seeds. A dead log reaches the culmination of the life process by getting free from all of its constituents. In the continuum of this life form, each component has its inherent “dharma” i.e. the accord or natural principle by which it exerts its existence.

Every human form has its inherent dharma. He/she is born with it as per nature’s intricate plan. Two important considerations at this point are 

i. Each human has a different dharma 
ii. Each human’s dharma is to facilitate a specific function for the universal interbeing

Every person has different natural tendencies and must find his or her purpose and align his/her life to it. Unless one’s life is aligned with his/her dharma, dissonance and discordance continue. Modern ignorant society has been trying to carve the same personality out of everyone and the result is evident before us. The rising mental health crisis and feelings of unfulfillment in life are the manifestations of grotesque societal ideals.

Eventually, every human realizes his/her dharma on its own. Inner work and alignment with natural tendencies slowly reveal one’s purpose. Our present-day education system and societal norms, which were supposed to support individuals in this discovery process have been imposing their set ideals on individuals thus deterring this natural process. The Gurukul learning system, however, understood this very well and was designed specifically to assist humans in discovering their dharma from an early age as opposed to the present situation where most of us are realizing our dharma almost in our middle ages. 

Some of us are meant to be patriotic and energetic to fight for the country’s sovereignty, some are meant to do business, others have to serve, and some have to create art. Not everyone is meant to have a married family life, nor is everyone supposed to raise kids. Someone’s dharma might be to live an obedient life serving their parents, yet someone’s dharma might be to live a rebel life. Some are meant to create wealth and others are to spend it. Even there are some whose dharma is to renounce everything and surrender to a higher consciousness. 

Dharma is not morality

Dharma and morality on the surface may go hand in hand but are not always aligned. Morality is a human-made concept that a majority accepts as right or wrong. Dharma is the natural accord dictated by the intricate subtle laws of nature that are beyond the human mind. A famous mythical story from the Upanishads on the life of King Harishchandra can better exemplify this. 

King Harishchandra was one of the most truthful, honest, and just kings during Treta Yuga. While on a tour of the jungle, he accidentally disturbs the austere spiritual practice of sage Vishwamitra, which he has been continuing unhindered for several years. To do penance for his mistakes the king had to sell his wife and son as slaves to keep his promise of paying to Sage Vishwamitra. If we view his act from the lens of morality, it is wrong. But he was governed by his dharma to keep his promise at any cost. 

Acting according to one’s Dharma doesn’t necessarily have to be beneficial for everyone all the time. A warrior’s dharma to kill at war doesn’t benefit his opponents. A tiger’s dharma to hunt a deer for survival is not beneficial for the deer. The law of nature that dictates one’s dharma, is not in place to benefit one over the other. Causality governs this law and each one’s dharma stems from the need to maintain the decorum within this intricately woven interdependent existence. Based on their mental constructs, humans give such meaning based on their perception of the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the acts.

Purpose of Dharma

Dharma’s objective is to maintain the harmony of the interbeing. Compassion, selflessness, brotherhood, justice, forbearance, truth, honesty, and justice are the virtues by which the interbeing strikes its balance. Anger, jealousy, ego, lust, attachment, and greed are the characteristics by which disharmony propagates. Humans just like any other beings are the components by design to keep the stability of the interbeing with their dharmas. In this grand design, each human just like every other being has a dharma to play. Balance is upheld through the three acts of creation, maintenance, and destruction. 

Someone’s dharma may be to create constituents of harmony for the interbeing. An artist through his creations inspires others to follow the path of dharma. Some create businesses to generate and improve the balance of wealth so that the needle shifts from general sensitivities of jealousy & greed toward brotherhood & justice. Someone’s dharma may be to maintain the constituents of harmony for the interbeing. A judge maintains justice of the society, a server maintains the order of a service. And someone’s dharma may be to destroy the components of disharmony to the interbeing. A dharma guru destroys the ignorance of humans that could lead them to the path of adharma (non-dharma). An army destroys the perpetrators that invade with ill intentions. 

Why is there Adharma?

Adharma arises due to ignorance. A person not evolved enough to understand the laws of nature and the intricate workings of dharma is highly likely to bring forth the components of disharmony. An ignorant person may create things like pornography, hate speech, etc. that arouse anger, lust, or greed among others, thus spreading adharma. Some ignorant people may help sustain the disharmonious components like supporting a corrupt administration. Some destroy the equilibrium by unleashing injustice, murder, selfish violence, etc. on the world. When the adharma begins to impede harmony, nature strikes for balance through the actions of someone or the other who undertakes dharma.

When ignorance shackles the mind and adharma takes hold, the person is bound to suffer. Attachment, anger, ego, lust, fear, etc dominate his thoughts and he becomes restless. A veil develops that prevents him from accessing his wisdom and thus realizing his dharma. He may be in the illusion that the suffering is due to the adharma of another person but it is his ignorance. Being part of the interbeing, it then transmits this suffering to others. Without suffering himself, no person can cause suffering to others. A wounded toe alone can transmit pain throughout the feet but not a healthy one. 

Prevailing of Dharma

Knowledge is the solution to prevent adharma from spreading. Wise gurus, yogis, saints, and hermits have been acting instrumental in this noble cause of this divine plan, throughout the history of mankind. Through their austere and esoteric practices, they not only purify the components of adharma from their gross existence but also from the subtle existence of the interbeing. They pull impurities from different parts of the interbeing like a magnet and decontaminate them. Just like the roots underneath the ground do their work, these beings also perform their dharma of destruction of the adharma at a subtle psychic level. The yogis act like the lungs of the interbeing. Several of them have been playing their role in silence in the distant mountains or forests and yet many do so while remaining amidst us. 

At times knowledge alone is not sufficient to render adharma to concede. When the spread of infection is too bad, the body needs to be severed. Before the war of the Mahabharata, Krishna went to Duryodhana to help him understand his dharma. But Duryodhana had been already blinded by the impurities of anger & greed. You can read more about how impurities take our minds away from our control in my book, Boxing Thoughts. The war had to unfold and the dissemination of knowledge alone, even from the god himself was sufficient to restore dharma. Absolute destruction becomes the last resort to uphold the integral harmony of nature. Covid was a strike of nature to maintain the balance against the mindless acts of humans. 

May we all understand our dharma and proceed from darkness to light…