The Turning Within: Dharma, Education, and the Quiet Mind — Part I

The answer did not arrive as certainty. “I do not claim to know Dharma in its entirety, but from what I have understood, thanks to my teacher, I will try to give an answer.” (Editor) What followed was not a definition as much as an invitation to look at life differently. The word Dharma, it was explained, can have various meanings attached to it, and each meaning is valid at a certain plane.

What makes sense when connected with the world situation and with life in general is that the word Dharma comes from the root dhri—that which holds, that which connects, that which sustains. Dharma is that which upholds, sustains, and brings things together. Anything that opooses that is Adharma. In simple terms, bringing harmony and sustaining harmony is Dharma. Anything that spoils harmony and destabilizes it is Adharma.

From there, the inquiry moved deeper. If there are forces that create disharmony, and if everything stems from a common source, how do these ideas fit together? What is this Adharma? What is this common source? How does it all play together? These are difficult things for the mind to conceive because the world is not just what the mind cognizes.

If our eyes cannot see beyond a certain range, it does not mean that objects do not exist beyond that range. They do. What is Dharma? In comparison to animals, we know what an elephant is capable of sensing, or what ranges a bat can hear. Similarly, the world appears to be manifested at various levels. At the obvious physical level is what we see, cognize, interact with, and experience as real.

But there is also something above, or something behind it—, a force or forces coming together. Consider a practical example. Do we really think that there is a government that exists and functions without forces operating behind it? Not any particular government, but government as a system, a body that governs people. Certainly not.

While it may sound like what people call a conspiracy theory—which it is not—there are things that happen behind the curtain. There are things that happen as causes. For us, they appear only as effects. The world, as it is understood, is a web of people and forces that are operational—Asuric and Daivic. The Daivic work for Dharma. The Asuric work against it. How does this battle become operational?

Through what we see around the world. The medium could be technology. It could be a war whose origins we do not fully understand. It could be a modification of the human mind. It could be a cultural or social belief that is being pushed.

It is a game, it is a battle. If there are forces of disharmony working with great force and effect, there must also be forces working equally hard, perhaps even harder, to sustain harmony. Naturally, this raises another question. Where is this game or battle heading? Is there a scorecard? The answer is simple and yet not that simple. Yes there are ways to observe what is happening, s sort of a scorecard.

In a world obsessed with data, there are indicators available. One can measure symptoms— mental health, the capacity to think, love, peace, progress, aspiration for higher things in life. Is aspiration present? Is peace present? Is the capacity to think deeply present? Language itself tells a story. What we pursue in life tells a story. What occupies our attention tells a story. There is much that can be seen and measured.

By those measures, there is certainly an imbalance. And perhaps that imbalance is by design otherwise we would not wake up. If everything were perfect, it would be heaven. Nobody moves in heaven. Everything is already there. The conviction is that the world is being operated at a level that the human being today cannot fathom. There are dots to be connected.

There are forces that make use of the systems already present—political, economic, cultural, technological—and they are intent on disturbing the Daivic forces. At the same time, there are forces equally intent on sustaining harmony. Those who are in the heavens want to be here on the earth plane because it is too good to remain there. When everything is available, there is nothing to look forward to.

That is why, as the Mother says, the earth plane is the chosen plane for the supramental to manifest. As long as adverse forces are not present, there is little reason to look within. This naturally led to another reflection. How much further must the human being fall before there is a turning back? Before there is a genuine effort to seek, to understand, to aspire for something higher? The answer is not easy.

One can witness death in the family. One can lose someone very close. For a while it affects us. Then life takes over and we move on. A crisis may occur. We deal with it and move on. We see people suffering. We see people dying. Does it raise a deeper question? Often, it does not. Life continues.

So it is difficult to say how much worse things can become before humanity begins to turn. Perhaps everything around us could be destroyed. Perhaps everyone else could be gone. Would that be enough? Even then, one cannot be sure. The real issue is not how far we fall. The real issue is the turning point itself. Where does it happen? When does it happen? How does it happen? For one person, it may be death. For another, it may be reading a book. No one knows what situation becomes the turning point.