Historically, Bhutan was divided into petty kingdoms ruled by dharma rajas known as the desis who were religious as well as political heads of the state. Like elsewhere in the world, they engaged in constant battles with the neighboring kingdoms. Dharma was used as a tool to enhance their petty expansionist interest let alone promote spiritual progress. The residue of the spiritual side has come down to us in the form of the so-called dharma we see today. Here is a great need to comprehend what the real Dharma implies in the present context of universality, concept and practice and see spirituality as something distinct from the cultural hangovers. I have taken insights from Swami Ananda Prabhu and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev to compile some of the ideas below with anticipation to broaden the horizon of the readers.
There is a general tendency to equate religion with Dharma which is a serious mistake. Religions flourish with a belief system, an established leader, a defined code of conduct which comes in the form of a book or a set of teachings. In sharp contrast to this, Dharma encompasses much broader view of the entire human race not just the followers or believers. It does not demand your obedience nor does it propose belief to any god or a deity or a particular philosophy or scripture. While it can be perceived that religions came to this world undoubtedly with a motive for human well-being during different times in history, the dharma which is popularly known by the name Sanatana Dharma means it has neither beginning nor end. Here God is not the ultimate goal rather Mukti or Liberation is. It is said that there were thirty-three million gods and goddesses but that was when the population was so much and culturally everyone had the freedom to make their own deity or Ishta Devta loosely translated in English as demi-god. It is essentially a Godless culture because there was not a single God we were following. And all we seek is the divine. In a nutshell it can be clearly said that what we want is to know the truth and realize our true nature. Given that we must discard the false identity that we attach ourselves and realize our pure humanity as a stepping stone. |
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Copyright © 2020 | Bhutanese Community in Iowa | All Rights Reserved.
PO Box 36381 | 4121 SE 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50320
Email: bci@bhutaniowa.org