Dharma is about Acceptance
Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra in Parisamvada
There are four divisions in which the human mind works. Technically the words are Dharma, Jnana, Vairagya, Aishwarya. These are the tendencies that need to be strengthened. The sense of duty /discipline, understanding /knowledge, distancing of oneself, and a feeling of enthusiasm. As against that, we speak of the four contrary qualities which unfortunately are there in great abundance with us, namely, Adharma, Ajnana, Avairagya, Anaishwarya. Not carrying on with one's responsibilities, ignorance, total attachment to material objects, and a continuous feeling of despondency and hopelessness.
The suggestion is, strengthen the good qualities. And in yoga, we find that there are certain techniques that can help in this. For instance, creating detachment - it comes easily if one has mastered relaxation. Tension is when we are holding; relaxation is when we are giving away. And this is seen in life. For example, in Shavasana, if one can let go, one experiences relaxation; otherwise, one is tense and stiff. The other tendencies like becoming knowledgeable, being aware of what one is doing are to be inculcated, as against ignorance or not even caring whether we are performing an Asana correctly or not, etc. So these are the ways in which we can understand many activities in life, including the Yogic techniques.
The first thing that is suggested is a sense of discipline; being conscious of the environment in which we are and trying to see that we function according to that environment. The example that they give is of fish in the water. The fish is in an environment - water, and it has to learn and accept it and carry on its duty. It can't jump out of water. It will die. So too, in our life, there are certain duties. If we carry on the duties we can survive and we can continue. But this is exactly what we don't understand. We are continuously complaining about the government, about society, about our family. If there was no government there would be chaos. We are able to carry on our conversation since there is a government. But we don't accept it. We are blaming them. Our mind is continuously occupied with their shortcomings, or we are talking or having discussions against the present laws, corrupt officials, and so on. There is a high amount of negativity. The fact is that we have to be in that environment; we can't create our own government; we can't create our own officials. We will have to function in that environment. If we happen to be politicians, we can start thinking in terms of changing the government. But we are not politicians. We are clerks in some place or officers or teachers, etc.
So, we have to establish ourselves into a certain kind of tendency, a certain kind of trend. It is partly acceptance that is, accepting things as they are. We can't change them. We are born in this world, we are here. We can't change the world. We can't go on complaining, "I wish I was not born in this world." It is an idle wish. We are born and that's the end of it. Accepting my place and carrying on with whatever my responsibilities are, would do good to me and also do good to my surroundings. But this is an area where we are very poor. We are not able to accept the arrangements in which we are.
So, do your duty! Don't get out of doing your duty and thinking about society, the world and the country. If occasionally I have to cast a vote, I can do that. If I am in a discussion, I can give some views but I must not get overburdened by the constant jargon I hear everywhere. It has no meaning. It is just a good pastime. No sooner people are together in a railway compartment they start to talk "These things are bad, that is bad, what a government, what kind of people," etc. It is just a topic for discussion. It doesn't do any good.
The idea is that we have our own definite place in life, we have to accept that place and contribute whatever we can. That is Dharma.
Dharma is about Acceptance
Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra in Parisamvada
There are four divisions in which the human mind works. Technically the words are Dharma, Jnana, Vairagya, Aishwarya. These are the tendencies that need to be strengthened. The sense of duty /discipline, understanding /knowledge, distancing of oneself, and a feeling of enthusiasm. As against that, we speak of the four contrary qualities which unfortunately are there in great abundance with us, namely, Adharma, Ajnana, Avairagya, Anaishwarya. Not carrying on with one's responsibilities, ignorance, total attachment to material objects, and a continuous feeling of despondency and hopelessness.
The suggestion is, strengthen the good qualities. And in yoga, we find that there are certain techniques that can help in this. For instance, creating detachment - it comes easily if one has mastered relaxation. Tension is when we are holding; relaxation is when we are giving away. And this is seen in life. For example, in Shavasana, if one can let go, one experiences relaxation; otherwise, one is tense and stiff. The other tendencies like becoming knowledgeable, being aware of what one is doing are to be inculcated, as against ignorance or not even caring whether we are performing an Asana correctly or not, etc. So these are the ways in which we can understand many activities in life, including the Yogic techniques.
The first thing that is suggested is a sense of discipline; being conscious of the environment in which we are and trying to see that we function according to that environment. The example that they give is of fish in the water. The fish is in an environment - water, and it has to learn and accept it and carry on its duty. It can't jump out of water. It will die. So too, in our life, there are certain duties. If we carry on the duties we can survive and we can continue. But this is exactly what we don't understand. We are continuously complaining about the government, about society, about our family. If there was no government there would be chaos. We are able to carry on our conversation since there is a government. But we don't accept it. We are blaming them. Our mind is continuously occupied with their shortcomings, or we are talking or having discussions against the present laws, corrupt officials, and so on. There is a high amount of negativity. The fact is that we have to be in that environment; we can't create our own government; we can't create our own officials. We will have to function in that environment. If we happen to be politicians, we can start thinking in terms of changing the government. But we are not politicians. We are clerks in some place or officers or teachers, etc.
So, we have to establish ourselves into a certain kind of tendency, a certain kind of trend. It is partly acceptance that is, accepting things as they are. We can't change them. We are born in this world, we are here. We can't change the world. We can't go on complaining, "I wish I was not born in this world." It is an idle wish. We are born and that's the end of it. Accepting my place and carrying on with whatever my responsibilities are, would do good to me and also do good to my surroundings. But this is an area where we are very poor. We are not able to accept the arrangements in which we are.
So, do your duty! Don't get out of doing your duty and thinking about society, the world and the country. If occasionally I have to cast a vote, I can do that. If I am in a discussion, I can give some views but I must not get overburdened by the constant jargon I hear everywhere. It has no meaning. It is just a good pastime. No sooner people are together in a railway compartment they start to talk "These things are bad, that is bad, what a government, what kind of people," etc. It is just a topic for discussion. It doesn't do any good.
The idea is that we have our own definite place in life, we have to accept that place and contribute whatever we can. That is Dharma.