dharma – (a) the principle or law that orders the universe. (b) Individual conduct in conformity with this principle. (c) essential function or nature of a thing.

In part, dharma is doing the inner work to discover the deepest nature of our self. Because in it’s truest sense dharma is being in alignment with who we really are; no artifice, no pretending. This requires some deeper insight on our part in order to figure out what that consists of. When we do, dharma says we are not only in alignment with the truest essence of who we are, we are also in a cosmic alignment with the innate order of the universe. In fact the two go hand in hand. How to tell whether what we’re doing is really right for us? If we’re really paying attention, we can feel it. Somehow, deep in our bones, we instinctively know. That’s the deeper knowing we want to learn to listen to. The sneaky thing about dharma is that it makes us do the difficult things as well. It brings us face to face with things we wish we didn’t have to do, but know we must. In the end it’s the difficult things that shape us the most.

There is a deeper aspect of dharma; because everything is interconnected when we fulfill our own dharma, we fulfill our part in others dharma. That’s why being in alignment with our truest self is so important, it allows us to play our part in the greater whole, because what each of us does effects the rest of us. We’re each a piece of the puzzle, trying to see how we fit into the larger picture. I think about Hillary Swank in Freedom Writers saying to her husband, the super dreamy Patrick Dempsey with his perfect hair, that helping her kids make sense out of their lives makes her life make sense. That’s dharma! Doing what we were born to do, and in turn helping others do what they were born to do.

“You are what your deep driving desire is. As you desire, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” – Brihadaranyaka IV

In each of us there resides a deep knowing of who we intrinsically are and what we need. The trick is listening to that and then translating what is true on the inside into our daily living. The truer we are to our inner nature the more these two lives come together, the inner and outer. We learn to merge the internal desire with the exterior action.

It would be great if we could all make careers out of our dharma. But even if we can’t, we at least need to give the things we find most necessary a voice in our daily routine. We have to carve out some time in our busy lives and devote it to what resonates with the core of who we are and work on the things that define something deeper in our life. Whether we take the time to write, or volunteer, or dance, once we begin to let that truth of our deepest self and its desires in, it will take root, and soon the garden of dharma will grow up all around us. By giving ourselves an opportunity to be in alignment with what matters most to us, we allow more of those things to makes their way into our everyday life. Discovering our dharma is both spiritual and practical. How many things can we say that about?

Here’s to finding what makes you tick.

kb