What is dharma?
By achilles2010
@achilles2010 (3051)
India
June 8, 2010 9:26pm CST
It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations.
For many Buddhists, the Dharma most often means the body of teachings expounded by the Buddha. The word is also used in Buddhist phenomenology as a term roughly equivalent to phenomenon, a basic unit of existence and/or experience.
The word dharma is of great importance in Indian philosophy and religions. In a Hindu context, it means one's righteous duty. In modern Indian languages, it can be equivalent simply to religion.
I do not think dharma can mean religion. On the contrary, dharma and religion are two separate things.
Even King of the Jungle Lion has dharma, though he does not have to follow religion to live according to his dharma. His dharma is to catch, maraud and eat living things. If he does not abide by his dharma, he will not survive.
What is our dharma as humans? As human, we are expected to be kind, loving, sympathetic, patient, tolerant and humble. If we do not have these qualities then we are not human. We see we cannot follow our dharma without religion as lion does. We have to follow several strictures to be able to follow our dharma. Living according to one’s given nature is dharma.
Another way to follow dharma is to live without following any religion, but living morally according to moral teachings. For doing so we will have to make conscious effort to be able to live according to our given nature. May be we will have to rely on our instincts to follow our dharma.
Nevertheless, what according to you is dharma? Is it a religion or it is a basic unit of existence and/or experience?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@bodhisatya (2384)
• India
9 Jun 10
Karma is Dharma.
You are the son of your now aged parents, to look after them is your dharma. You have a responsibility towards the society in which you live in, to ward that off is dharma.
Dharma to me is something which my inner-self tells me to do without being scared of the outcome of it.
I don't know if many would agree with me on this or not, but I do really feel that simply praying before an idol and turning your back from your duties is the biggest adharma. I have had encountered many a people who seek shelter by the name of God and find lame excuses to hide from their responsibilities. I believe God won't be happy with that
Perform your duties, and keep chanting the name of God!
Thats what I truly understand and have poured out all my thoughts here
Perform your duties, and keep chanting the name of God!
Thats what I truly understand and have poured out all my thoughts here@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
9 Jun 10
Karma is your performed actions and dharma is the actions you must perform according to the given nature. In any drama on the stage the role you play is karma, how well you must play it is your dharma. Further, a inner self of a thief tells him to steal because if he doesn't then his wife and children will go hungry. He goes and steal without being scared of the outcome of it is not dharma. Please elaborate what you wanted to say here exactly? I think not living as a human being but living as what you are not is the biggest adharma. I agree with you that chanting gods name and neglecting your duties too is adharma. Thanks for your response.
@bodhisatya (2384)
• India
9 Jun 10
Hi again dear friend,
Well, to talk about the thief, he has got a moral obligation to feed his family. Now how he choses to do that is his choice. But if he wards off that duty saying that he isn't in a position to secure a well dignified job and maybe he thinks God will come down himself for his aid is like being foolish.
Thakur Ramakrishna Paramhansa said to his disciples how one can be righteous inspite of being attached to the worldly things,
Here the narration goes like this,
" have you seen the women of the villages carrying water pitchers one above the other on top their head, maybe seven at a time. They fetch water from far distant places where the well is. While making their way back and carrying theor child also on one side of their waist they chatter on with their pals about regular day affairs. But their entire concentration is always fixed on the water pitchers and no matter what the weather condition is or how porr the roads are, or how hard they have to trudge through the paddy fields they never let the pitchers to fall."
We must be doing what we are supposed to do in a clear conscience and deep within we must think and surrender to God.
Hope I could have explained better.
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
9 Jun 10
bodhisatya, you explained it very well through the example of women carrying water pitchers on top of their heads. I would call it an unconscious awareness. All of us have to be unconsciously aware of our dharma while we are performing our worldly task. I am sure then we would never go astray. A woman who has never carried a pitcher on her head would never be able to do it with so much adroitness. They are able to do it because of constant practice. They may have been learning it right from their childhood. Therefore, I feel it is wrong to think that a person would be able to carry out his dharma if he were not taught from childhood how to practice his dharma. Here we have a point to ponder. Whether, we as parents, as teachers, as responsible members of the society are giving our children a right training in practicing dharma right from the childhood. I think our system of education; our training does nothing in this direction. For this reason, we have brought forth in this world the adults with decrepit morals. I would like to have your opinion on this.
@sherielapjat (169)
• India
9 Jun 10
hi achilles,according to me dharma is not just a word. it has a lot of meanings. it is a kind of rule, which humans are already belong to, unknowingly . it is written on every humans heart. in my view, dharma means the dos and donts which humans already belong to , and there is always a quarell between do's and donts in our mind. and if you are going to do 1 thing this quarrel will act there. if you are going to do the wrong thing your mind will not 100% agree with that. this is because you have dharma in your heart and we hindus believe that those who violate dharma will be punished by the god. and not only humans ,every lives have its own dharma,as a lion attack its prey only if it is hungry ,that is its dharma
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
9 Jun 10
sherielapjat, you have raised a very valid point. Considering you are just 18, my hats off to you for thinking so deeply. It is very late and I am sleepy now. I cannot keep awake because of age. However, I would like to discuss with you. I will return back tomorrow morning. Please bear with me. Good Night.
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
10 Jun 10
You spoke about quarrel between do's and don'ts. These are emotional conflicts, which prevent us from performing the right dharma. How these emotional conflicts are emanating in us? We as humans are the visible personification of finest extract of our ancestors who brought us forth into this world. Their good, bad and painful experiences abide in us as instincts. Whenever we have to make a choice between right dharma and adharma these rise as impulses in us and create a condition of conflict. Some of these elements had sought escape in their painful moments and some stood up to fight. Some chose an easy way out and some chose a difficult path. Between these conflicts, we have to choose the right path. If we make a wrong choice, we begin to walk in the path of adharma. Therefore, our progenitor’s karmas are still influencing us. They can still lead us to hell or we can lead them to heaven by making the right choice. For this reason, God has given us a free will. We can not only make our own destiny but also change the destiny of those who brought us into this world. I would like to hear your comments on this.
@sherielapjat (169)
• India
10 Jun 10
yes you are true, and hats off to your knowledge.and i think, our mind had certainty about what is dharma and what is adharma. and that is why we are so satisfied after helping a poor person as our heart know that we had done our dharma there,and thus our progenitor's blessings and satisfaction will come to encourage our mind . but when we are shown an adharma, our mind knows that it is an adharma, and that is why we cant get any self satisfaction through that karma, and also we have to make our mind to believe that it was necessary in that situation, still too we will be so aware about our adharma.and as you are said it might be the influence of our progenitors. but as per my believes, there is always a quarell between pandavas and kaouravas in our mind,and when we are doing an adhrma, we are helping the kourava side to win the battle, as though our mind know that they can never win.to me this mahabharatha battle is not performed in kurukshetra long ago, the battle is in our mind and it is also performing in every day and influencing our every decision.but when you take the dharma's way because you are then following the gods way who helped the pandavas to win.and thus we will be happy. and when you are doing an adharma you are against the god in you, and he will always remind from your mind that you are doing the wrong thing, and that is why we are not satisfied after doing an adharma.thus you should follow your mind in any kind of situations so that the god in you will help us always.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
9 Jun 10
"Even King of the Jungle Lion has dharma, though he does not have to follow religion to live according to his dharma. His dharma is to catch, maraud and eat living things"
Sounds equivalent to the ancient Greek use of the word 'psykhe'
all the best urban
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
9 Jun 10
I thought PSYKHE (or Psyche) was the goddess of the soul, wife of Eros the god of love.
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
9 Jun 10
achilles, before this post, the word dharma to me is just a name of a woman in an American television program called Dharma & Greg. Dharma is all the adjectives you enumerated there - kind, loving.... plus - with a strong sense of humor.
Thanks for telling me about these qualities that make us human. I will try to inculcate these positive qualities in my being. One day, when I have perfected this, I will buzz you and shout DHARMA!
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
9 Jun 10
Hi eileen you are already a kindly and humane person. I have already seen this in your posts. You can shout DHARMA even now if you want to.
1 person likes this
@avani26 (1518)
• India
9 Jun 10
I really am surprised with the amount of knowledge you have as far I can know and understand Dharma means the source of things and Truth.
Dharma is also used to refer to the teachings of the Buddha, not in the context of the words of one man, even an enlightened man, but as a reflection of natural law which was re-discovered by this man and shared with the world. A person who lives their life with an understanding of this natural law, is a "dhammic" person, which is often translated as "righteous".
The Buddha would teach the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Three Marks of Existence, and other guidelines in order to achieve the freedom and liberation from suffering.
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
10 Jun 10
Thanks for your comments. Buddha realized that inability of human to abide by dharma is the cause of human sufferings. He therefore enacted four noble truths and noble eightfold path that would make them righteous and achieve freedom and liberation from sufferings. I agree with you.
@princesscarren (85)
• Indonesia
10 Jun 10
if there question, what is dharma I will answer as I know about it. Hinduism describes as the natural universal laws whose observance enables human to be contented and happy. and to save him self from degradation and suffering. dharma is moral law combined spiritual discipline that guides one's life. Hindus consider dharma the very foundation of life It means "that which holds" the people of this world and the whole creation. dharma is the "law of being" without this things cannot exist
@manish1234 (179)
• India
9 Jun 10
hello sir what id dharma it is a very nice question for me dharma is something which i got my own definiton for that DHARMA is a shear hard work for me the prayer for me believe in every god since god is one i will say it is ONE it is something which teaches us to be a good human being and it is in every dharma which preaches the same teachings so dharma is EK
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
9 Jun 10
You are right manish, "to be a good human being" is our dharma.
@mallu30 (461)
• India
26 Apr 11
Whatever we do without expecting any return is dharma. If we do charities, donate something, it might bring us peace and happiness, but only when we do without any expectation. So whenever we do something without expectng someting in return, is called dharma.
