Self-realization · 4 of 11
Dharma: the nature of a human being
Dharma is not a religion. It is the nature of a thing, as burning is the nature of fire. The nature of a human being is to seek the Infinite.
On each page the marked passages are the words of Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, from the books. The lines between them are ours and only lead from one passage to the next.
Nothing finite is enough
The argument begins with something anyone can check: no gain puts an end to wanting.
Mere acquisition of wealth, power and position does not satisfy a person. The acquisition of something limited only creates the want for more, and the quest for happiness finds no end. The hunger for possessing is unending. It is limitless and infinite.
The world itself is finite and cannot provide infinite objects.
Dharma means nature
From here comes the definition. The hunger that nothing finite fills is itself the sign of what a human being is.
In reality, behind this human urge is hidden the desire, the longing, for attainment of the Cosmic Entity. It is the very nature of every living being. This alone is the dharma of every person. The word dharma signifies “property”. The English word for it is “nature”, “characteristic” or “property”. The nature of fire is to burn or produce heat. It is the characteristic or property of fire and is also termed the nature of fire. Similarly, the dharma or nature of a human being is to seek the Cosmic Entity.
Here dharma does not mean any particular religion; it means the quintessence of one’s very existence.
What is shared with animals, and what is not
Eating, sleeping, fear and procreation are a nature too, and animals have it. Human dharma begins where that one ends.
Svábhávika dharma means that dharma by the performance of which physical integrity is maintained – that is, áhára, nidrá, bhaya and maethuna [eating, sleeping, survival and procreation]. Bhágavata dharma is that which differentiates human from non-human. The object of both, svábhávika dharma and Bhágavata dharma, is the same: to get sukham [pleasure]. But in svábhávika dharma the intensity of sukham is limited, while in Bhágavata dharma it is beyond any measure, it is ananta.
The four marks of human dharma
Human dharma is described by three movements and their result.
The very essence of mánava dharma [human dharma], lies in three factors, plus a fourth factor which is the resultant of the first three: (1) vistára, the principle of expansion; (2) rasa, the principle of total surrender to Parama Puruśa; (3) sevá, selfless service to Parama Puruśa and His creation; and (4) tadsthiti, the final ensconcement in Parama Puruśa.
Human beings want expansion, but this is not possible by depriving others of their wealth. It is possible only by drenching one’s human values and existential awareness in a flow of sweetness and expanding them throughout the universe – by infusing the sweetest feelings of the innermost recesses of one’s heart into the heart of each and every entity.
Service, the third of them, is where this part of the philosophy opens onto the next: the welfare of all.