CosmicWise

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THE LAW OF DHARMA

The Law of Dharma is that which may be described as the principle of 'right action'; this refers to that which is universally right, right for all who are affected by the action.

An action by an individual, a group, a nation or culture is right only when everyone is rightly served by the action according to their needs and earnings. Dharma brings about that which may be called 'good karma' or 'right results'.

“You know what you are actually in love with? Integrity. The impossible.
The clean, consistent, reasonable, self-faithful, the all-of-one-style, like a work of art.”
~ Ayn Ran ~

Since this law mentions the importance of "dharma" I think the reader should know that the term is a familiar one in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and is often associated with the fundamental principle / law that orders the Universe. Literally, it means "that which links man with God." So the Law of Dharma has (once again) to do with bringing ourselves into alignment with the principle of Oneness. As far as I can tell, the only way to align oneself with Oneness is to live life with "integrity". But what exactly is integrity? And.. how can we know with any certainty if we're doing it right?

Many people tend to use the word integrity in a vague manner, as an alternative to the perceived political incorrectness of using blatantly moralistic terms such as "good" or ethical. In this sense, the term often refers to a refusal to engage in lying, blaming or other behavior that generally seems to evade personal accountability. However, integrity is more about holding true to one's personal values rather than feigning goodness in order to meet the popular expectations of those around us. Integrity is the inner sense of WHOLENESS that comes from meeting the world with honesty and a consistent uprightness of character, or rather, doing what you said you would do (by when) / (how) you said you would do it. Looked at this way, integrity boils down to first KNOWING what is important to you and then LIVING your actions accordingly. In a way, integrity is also about how you allow others to see you. Hence, if you ARE what you appear to be, you have integrity and you are compelled to continually address any and all conflicts that may arise within you, so that what you say, and who you appear to be, remain in SYNCH.

The Oxford definition of the word integrity includes words such as honesty, soundness and wholeness. *Honesty* basically refers to being truthful to one's self and others about everything. The concept of *soundness* has to do with the rightness or correctness of one's position, which again brings us back to truthfulness. The concept of *wholeness* refers to a sense of completeness (for instance, not leaving anything of significance out of the picture.) The Truth is not only in and of itself "complete" but it also gives one a sense of completeness, or wholeness, because nothing is left out when one is living it. Integrity, therefore, is about living truthfully, or living life in alignment with one's own truth.

But here is where the waters get muddy pretty fast for a lot of people. The confusion arises over WHERE truth really resides in us--what can we really trust? Most individuals turn to their repertoire of "beliefs" when asked to ascertain the truth about something. This repertoire is stored in the mind/brain and is added to and modified daily as the individual learns new information throughout their life. At any given point in time, an individual is "choosing" to accept one belief over another as being more credible for that day, week, month, etc. and hence it becomes the "truth" for them at that time in their lives. Sometime later, the tides may shift and the old belief becomes supplanted by a new belief that then becomes the "truth" for them. Hmmm... if we choose to search for our truth in the vast bin of beliefs that we each have stored in our minds/brains then we will find ourselves with truth that is forever shifting and changing, much like quicksand. What then?

Since the time of Descartes, we have been hypnotized into believing that we are our minds or our brains, and so, without question, we tend to intellectualize when we are looking for truth. However, the deeper truths as they pertain to our PERSONAL INTEGRITY issue from the deeper strata of our being where "feelings" reside. If we were to allow our bodily sensations to "speak" to us, we'd find that we can easily tap into OUR truth by paying attention to our body's sensations/feelings. As far as our integrity goes, our physical body is constantly messaging us with the answers to the questions that we ask. Getting in touch with where our feelings are coming from allows us to determine whether something we're living through at any given moment is what is desirable, or the truth for us. By focusing on our inner body sensations, we bring ourselves fully back into our life and begin to feel more whole; we truly connect to the source of your own inner truth which then allows us a reference point from which to be more "honest" with ourselves about everything that is going on in our life, and sensing rightness about things leaves us feeling "sound" about our life choices.

For those who have a tough time connecting with their feelings, here's a little exercise you can do to practice getting in touch with WHERE in your body you ARE at any given moment. Think of a quality or characteristic that you honestly appreciate about yourself. As you take a few moments to appreciate yourself you will notice that you FEEL these feelings over the mid-chest / heart area. This is because appreciation is closely connected to the heart chakra. (If, however, this is not your experience you may wish to spend more time with this exercise until you make this connection.) Now, because it is YOU who are doing the appreciating, the feelings of appreciation will, by definition, be originating from you and they are therefore a prime indicator of your truth (as opposed to truths that are merely rationalized beliefs, old programming, and superstitious fears that emanate from your thought process.) This type of exercise will help to get us back in touch with what is true because the body always knows what the intellect has been trained to ignore or overlook.

All in all.. only when we know what is true can we make choices that honor integrity. Only with integrity are we able to act so that our actions serve All and bring about 'right results'.

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Reader's question: Can the dharma also mean "the truth"? In the Order of Interbeing we bow to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangh as a form of respect. These are the three precious jewels as Thich Nhat Hanh calls them, and I believe that dharma in this sense means truth. Would that be the truth of the buddah's teachings? Or maybe "The Truth" being of the "All that Is"?

Response: Buddha's teachings and my perspective, in many instances, do often share common ground--at least, that's what I'd like to think. **smile** When differences seem to arise it is, I expect, due to the way I may choose to express myself at the time. As I said before, the term dharma means "that which links man with God", however I could have picked and ordered my words somewhat differently so as to be more in line with the Buddhist tradition. Perhaps you would not be as uncertain about my intention had I said 'Truth' instead of 'God'. So, yes, to your question. I see terms such as God, All-That-is, and Truth as interchangable.