DHARMA

Dharma: Western professors have taught that it means “duty.” Getting a little deeper, it could also mean “religion,” “nature,” and “that which holds together.” Religion, in another term, is faith, belief and a dogma you follow. So, dharma seems to mean a belief that your nature is to hold together. A good example a professor gave was: “photosynthesis is the dharma of plants.” It is the nature for the plants to do photosynthesis for it to survive, hold itself together. It continues their species and allows them to stay alive. Therefore, plants, in a sense, believe that photosynthesis is important for itself and its species. Crazily abstract, I know but bear with me…

I cannot help but think what the dharma of the human species is. What is our duty, our path, to survive and to hold ourselves together? We are not completely natural, we have many societal choices for our paths to some supposed duty and dharma. Therefore, survival is a little more complicated than natural physical processes such as nutrient consumption. If that’s the case: what do humans need to survive, to hold ourselves together; what path must we follow to do so?

You know me, an idealist. I hope this more refreshing than it is nauseating – I cannot help but think that dharma is to love one another, to give back to one another so we can survive through all the crazy shit we go through. Sometimes the lack of affection is more powerful and more prevailing than a lack of food. Because, we are all connected – regardless of how much as we try to separate ourselves. In the end we always end up needing each other and needing to give to each other. There are so many paths to that dharma, the duty towards one another: whether it be working at a refugee camp in Uganda, or finding the cure to a disease or donating $30 a month to a kid in Iowa or forgiving some who hurt you or smiling at the man who just cut you off at the post office… Whatever your path may be, using whatever wonderful traits and talents you have – it still seems that it can always lead back to a closeness towards one another because, no matter what, we’re stuck together.