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About dharma

A spiritual discourse on dharma, happiness, and ethical living.

"Joy is not a quantity; joy is a quality. The same joy which the ant has, the human has, or a big elephant has."

"Dharma rakṣate, rakṣate dharma. If you protect your dharma, then dharma can protect you."

A teacher expounds on the ancient Sanskrit prayer for universal happiness, using the example of ants to illustrate the nature of joy. He explains the profound meaning of sukha and delves into the concept of dharma as duty and righteousness, contrasting it with sin (pāpa). The talk explores the metaphorical garden of the heart, the role of discernment (viveka), the cosmic accounting of Dharmarāja, and concludes with a prayer for right action guided by divine principles.

Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Weekend seminar

Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāgbhavet. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ—all should be happy. Not only humans; every creature, each and every entity wants to be happy. A very tiny, small ant runs day and night, here and there, to be happy. When two ants meet each other, when they cross their path, sometimes you can see they embrace each other. Have you seen them? Observe them properly. They come and they embrace, and then they go again. They are not boxing each other. So when you see these two ants meet on their highway, they come together, touch each other, and then go their separate ways. Just sit somewhere and observe their will. They feel joy in their heart. Now, how big is the joy? How big a room does the joy need? Joy can be in very tiny things. Joy is not a quantity; joy is a quality. The same joy which the ant has, the human has, or a big elephant has. Every creature searches day and night for that kind of joy. And therefore, great sages say: sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ—everywhere should be happiness, joy. Sukha. Sukha cannot be translated merely as joy or happiness. Sukha is a very beautiful word. I can give a little commentary on this. Sukha means, let's say, you are in your house or at home or in your garden, and you are very happy. There are no disturbances. There is a very good, pleasant atmosphere. The season is good. You have very, very good health. You have a very harmonious family. Your husband or wife is very, very kind to you. You have mental tranquility; you have a feeling of happiness in your heart. No one is against you; no neighbors are against you; no colleagues are against you. You have no money problem; you have everything. All that I say, and more than this, is put into one word that is called sukha. Sarve means everywhere. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ—all should have such a happy life. And if we really wish this, then it can be. We can realize this. Therefore, think always about what is right and what is wrong. You should give the judgment, not wait for somebody else to give the judgment. You are the wise one. So you know what you are doing, and you know what reality is. That will make your life happy, and you will have so many loving friends—only give up the ego. So in your garden—the garden of your heart, or garden of your mind, or garden of your consciousness—there are two trees standing. Now, which tree should survive and which tree should be pulled out? One tree is the tree of dharma, and the other tree is the tree of sin—dharma and pāpa. There is one, the secretary of God, whose name is known as Dharmarāja. Dharmarāja is the king of dharma, who always follows the dharma. That's why Yudhiṣṭhira was known as Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira in the Mahābhārata. From the five brothers, the Pāṇḍavas, the eldest one was Yudhiṣṭhira, and he was known as Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira. What does Dharmarāja mean? He followed the dharma. What is the dharma of a son? Towards father, mother, brothers, uncle, country, friends, and so on. And you listen to what he says; he did it, he followed the dharma. So Dharmarāja is the king of dharma. Entire dharma is under his principle. It means he followed the dharma. Therefore, it is said: dharma rakṣate, rakṣate dharma. If you protect your dharma, then dharma can protect you. If you can't protect your dharma, then dharma cannot protect you. For example, the dharma of your eyes is to see. If you can't protect your eyes, then they can't protect you either; you will fall into a hole. But if you can protect your eyes, they will protect you. This is a little example. So dharma rakṣate, rakṣate dharma: if you protect the dharma, dharma will protect you. If you protect your child, your child will protect you. If you protect your colleagues, your colleagues will protect you. Both hands fast together. Dharma is mostly valid for humans, because animals are doing automatically. They are doing their dharma perfectly. They have certain periods in their life where they have certain feelings; the rest of the time they are peaceful. But the humans have crossed the border; they don't follow the dharma. Another Dharmarāja is someone in the heaven, you may say, or Vaikuṇṭha, or the Svargaloka, or in the astral world. The name of the God is called Dharmarāja. And he has one record, a file, a register, and in that register, every individual's bio-data is written, and all your stories are described. Whatever you are doing, each and every second of your life is noticed there. When one will pass from this world, at that time, there are two persons involved in it: Yamarāja and Dharmarāja. Yama is death. Dharma is life. Yama is death, and Dharma is immortality. Now, according to that register, if there is a majority of negative karma, then Yamarāja sends his messenger; he sends his messenger to bring that soul from this earth, so Yama comes to take away his death. And if the dharma is more in your life, then it is said the devas come, or you can say the angels come to take you. Both these stories are in every culture, very vivid. And that book is known as destiny. That is our deeds, our karma. So who are we to decide? We can't decide, but we have the freedom to decide to do things correctly. God has given us, as humans, the freedom to become God through your deeds. And how? Cultivate the tree of dharma. So dharma is not only religion. Here, dharma means obligation, duty, responsibility, and the right way of thinking. Satya and asatya: what is the truth and what is not the truth. Jñāna Yoga says there are four principles, and it is said, as a human, first what we should develop is viveka. Because viveka has the tendency to make the differences between satya and asatya. So always seek the satya, the truth. If you are angry with someone, be truthful, please. What is the reality in it? The reality may be that you are offended. Your ego is offended. Your selfishness is offended. Your greediness is suffering. Look, what is the reality? Be honest with yourself. It means you are torturing your own life. You are standing in your own way as a big obstacle, a rock, and you have forgotten the dharma. When you have forgotten the dharma, how can dharma please remember and protect you? The tree of dharma is dying. The tree of dharma is drying out. It needs the water of love and mercy. Dayā needs still some kind of nourishment, devotion. When you see a small child, what do you feel? Love. It doesn't matter if it is a child of a human, or a small bird baby, or a little rabbit baby, or a cat baby, or a dog baby. You feel so loved, and that is a real love. And that love forces you to touch that. You touch the head of the child, or a cat, or a baby, because that's your mercy which is overflowing now, over-flooding, and you touch that. With what kind of thinking? How beautiful it is. How nice it is. There is purity coming. If we develop such a love for each other, and among all humans, there will be no fighting. These are the teachings of the great masters. They experienced this. They taught this. It is their message for us. If you can't help yourself, then be sure you have darkness in front of you. Don't terrorize yourself by criticizing others. No one has clean hands. Everyone has somewhere some mistakes. That's human weakness too, and that makes us human. And that keeps us on this earth still. Why do you search for mistakes in others? Did you search yourself? I went to see the bad things, searching in others. I didn't find them, and when I searched my own heart, I found it, that no one is so terrible or bad as me. When you are searching for negativity in others, already first you are a negativist. You are a human. You are a wise one. You are an educated one. You are an experienced one. You are a humble one. Why can't you forgive someone's mistake? If so, then try to help others to overcome and find the right way in life. And if you can't do this, then at least don't harm yourself. Therefore it is said, "Lord, give us right intellect, and right consciousness. Guide my senses, my mind, my words, my thoughts, and my actions towards you, my Lord, that I never do anything which is against your divinity in your divine presence." Principles, not divine will, because God doesn't have any will. He himself is will, but he has his divinity there. Some principles are there, so may we do correctly. That's how a yogī leads the life to become a yogī. Recording location: Czech Republic, Strilky, Weekend seminar

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt, what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

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