Today's Daily Lightwave is commonly depicted as the good angel/bad angel phenomenon. For me this struggle is linked to and has it's antidote the idea of dharma. I'm often reluctant to use the word "right" because it can have connotations of outer requirements and expectations. But the "right" I speak of here is tied to the heart - the dharmic path - which very often might differ from the outer expectations of society, other people, even our own conditioning.
When I embarked on yoga teacher training, I was coming off of a few consecutive years of living without any real spiritual grounding. The little bits of yoga philosophy we were given were the beginning of the end to my spiritual drought. I remember the concept of dharma being especially profound and powerful for me. At the time, I felt it to mean that there was an orderly and specific universal intention for each and every individual. That was incredibly comforting to me as my experience had been extremely lacking in the purposeful direction department.
Though the
word dharma originates in Hindu philosophy it is a universal concept
that finds it's way into all spiritual teachings that I know of. Even a
tiny understanding of dharma has huge ramifications in the human
experience. It brings one into a place where the ego or personality is submitting to spiritual individuality (that which is linked directly to Source). The Chopra Center website describes dharma like this: "Following our dharma in the deepest sense means that we’re not really
obeying the laws or regulations set down by society. Dharma isn’t about
the external world but about aligning with the pure spiritual force
within. When our intentions, thoughts, words, and actions support our
life’s purpose, we are in dharma. And then we bring fulfillment to
ourselves and everyone else affected by our actions."
There
have been so many times in my life when I've felt the painful
consequences of doing what I wanted to do instead of what was truly
aligned with my nature. Of course I still grapple with this! But I now
have a cultivated taste for what's aligned and what isn't so I'm more
likely to make an authentic choice. It's like knowing the bad feeling
you're going to have in your stomach if you eat a bad piece of food even
if it tastes good in the moment keeps you from taking the first bite. I
know, for me, a few experiences of choosing what's right over what's
wanted, leaves an impression that keeps me coming back for more. So far,
I've found nothing more satisfying and peace-inducing than feeling the
freedom from inner conflict that comes when the pull between the ego and
the Self is mastered. Even contemplating this state, causes me to feel a
physiological release in my entire body. This tells me that this way of
being has a direct effect not only on my mental and emotional well
being but on the health of my physical body. Wow! That's something worth cultivating.
It
takes constant practice (surprise!) to live out from this dharmic place
of heart centered alignment. As with everything, the specific practices
needed will differ from person to person and will shift as
consciousness evolves to new states of awareness.
For
further exploration, a few books that come to mind are: Bhagavad Gita,
The Bible (if read from a place of inspiration and not dogma), and The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope.
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