ARANI SERIES
Spark 53
Thursday, August 1st, 2019
SPACE AND SWADHARMA
Psychology meets Spirituality
“I wanted to create a space for myself and I wanted to live in that space,” says John Abraham, a well-known actor of Bollywood, in an interview. I read this in an in-flight magazine yesterday when I flew out of Mumbai to Varanasi. The occasion was his completion of 50 movies (in 16 years). Everybody in this world is constantly influenced by others. Even during school days, one is under peer pressure about the dress to wear, hobbies to pursue and ways to behave, etc. Later in adult life, a man is typically into constant comparison with others and evaluates himself in the light of what others have achieved.
Space for myself
It seems John Abraham found where he belongs and that is good news. Alas, in this mad world, in the midst of comparison and competition, we typically lose sight of the uniqueness of our own personality. We lose insight into where we belong. We try to be like someone and become like somebody. Even if we are ‘successful’ in the eyes of our parents, family members, and society in general, we suffer from a deep dissatisfaction of not being all right. “Where did we go wrong?” We keep wondering. An inner voice surely whispers, “You wasted all your energy to fit into this model or that pattern. You lost yourself in the process!”
The concept of ‘space for myself’ is a modern expression using popular psychology for truth of life that the spiritual text Geetā emphasized several thousands of years ago. “Do not be swayed by influences to embrace paradharma; discover who you are and live by swadharma,” says the ancient text. Shri Krishna warns, “It is better to die while struggling in the field of choices that come naturally to you (swadharma) than succeeding superficially in borrowed ways of living (paradharma),” exhorts the most popular Hindu scripture1. The underlying logic is that the ‘space you create for yourself has the fragrance of being natural to you while all other ways of living suffer from a certain amount of artificiality. In swadharma, you are following your bliss, to use the expression that Joseph Campbell2 employed. In paradharma, you are laboring to please others, and are dancing to the tunes set by the society.
The Ultimate Goal of Spirituality
Paradharma is ‘not your space’. Swadharma is ‘your space’. Vedānta is concerned with something that goes beyond both these. The Upanishads3 want us to realize our ultimate, true nature that is called swaroopa-dharma! Interestingly, this ‘purest truth’ is common to all. Everyone is sat-chit-ānanda (Pure Existence, Pure Consciousness, and Uncaused Bliss)! When we position ourselves in swadharma, a lot of our conflicts cease. We then have a serene mind, a shuddha antahkarana. This calm mind is capable of pursuing the query “Who am I?” without getting unduly sidetracked. The man who is stationed in his swadharma is perhaps not rich, not famous, and – in the eyes of the society – not successful. He is however alert, receptive, and open to a spiritual discovery that changes his life fundamentally. He takes the quantum leap from the limited self to the infinite Pure Self.
Better late than never! Let’s introspect and give up our false ways of living. Self-realization then becomes God-realization.
Swami Chidananda
Notes:
1. swadharme nidhanam shreyah, paradharmo bhayāvahah – Geetā 3.35
2. Campbell (1904 – 1987) was an American Professor and author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
3. If you know who you truly are, you will not suffer anymore from the limitations of this body! – Brihadāranyaka Upanishad 4.4.12