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. God is not a Christian. He is not a Hindu, neither a Muslim nor a Buddhist. He is above all these religions or cultures. He governs over everything in the entirety. He is the Supreme Will whose manifestation is the vast creation where we find ourselves occupying the multi-microscopic spot on this planet. Under His command, the solar system, the galaxies, the planets, the gravity and all other heavenly bodies perform their duty. He is not up there in heaven. He is everywhere, knows everything and He is the most powerful. One of the world's greatest Scientist Albert Einstein towards the end of his career concluded that 'the more I go on discovering this universe, the more I am convinced that there is a mysterious energy sustaining the entire universe". This is what has been said by our sages thousands of years before him. We know that the person you call yourself is the mind, body, emotions and the life energy. You are a miniature cosmos by yourself which is longing for infinite expansion. Confusion is a mental state characterized by not knowing what is going on around you while in case of conclusion, you are dead sure of what is going on. But that's the dead end. No further progression is possible. It is my request to all my folks living in and outside the country to examine the depth of both the situations so that you really move ahead in your endeavor as a full-fledged human being. It is seen that self-preservation is what all creatures are doing but when it comes to human being we want little more than that and a little more till we can have the entire cosmos. This human being is looking for limitless expansion, towards boundlessness. It is a generally held belief all around the world to fight against the negativity and secure a situation where good triumphs over the evil. Since historic times the trend to fight the evil has been pretty much there in the own definitions of those exerting themselves. Countless numbers of battles and big wars fought in different parts of the world have however only remained a nightmare despite all the striving primarily because there are two or more conflicting parties involved each claiming themselves for the greater good. Question to ponder however arises as to what is the measuring rod for what is good or evil? Or where have we practically gone wrong in these assumptions? Why have individual countries and the world at large not been a better place despite all these struggles? |
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PO Box 36381 | 4121 SE 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50320
Email: bci@bhutaniowa.org
Copyright © 2020 | Bhutanese Community in Iowa | All Rights Reserved.
PO Box 36381 | 4121 SE 14th Street, Des Moines, IA 50320
Email: bci@bhutaniowa.org