What Is My Dharma?
Dear friends,
I am part of a spiritual community. As such, "fads" would blow through and be captivating for a time. (Especially decades ago—I like to think we are a bit more mature now.)
Many years ago it seemed as if everyone was asking "What's my dharma?" Dharma can be said to be your true life path. Not just what you happen to be doing, but the path best for you to walk to learn what you need to learn in this life. It is said in India that it is better to do your own dharma poorly than someone else's dharma well. We need to walk the path that is best for us, not necessarily the one that is the most fun, most attractive, or most convenient. So folks of course wanted to know what path was for them. This is not easy to tell, whence the question "What is my dharma?"
Well, at one point someone approached my spiritual teacher and asked him that question. I am pretty sure he could tell what was best for each of us, so his answer intrigued me. He said, "You have many things to learn. If you walk this path [he moved his hand and arm in a certain direction], you will learn one set of things. If you walk this other path [moving his arm differently], you will learn a different set of things."
If we have an open heart and truly want to learn what we need to learn—which is why we incarnated here, after all—we will absorb the lessons that life is constantly presenting to us in whatever situation we may find ourselves in. Too, keeping that attitude maximizes the chance we will know and feel what the best path is for us.
This ties in with my previous letter about ego. If we are filled with our own ideas to which we are firmly attached, our own strongly held opinions, and our own powerful preferences, we are quite unlikely to hear Spirit's gentle whisper suggesting it is time to turn left or right.
May we each go through life with full energy, courage, and joy. But may we always remain open to that gentle whisper from the Divine Guide.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West