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Lesson VIII: Dharma.377
Lesson VIII: Dharma.
harma” is a Sanscrit word which is translated into English as “Virtue”;
“D “Duty”; “Law”; “Righteousness”; etc. None of these English words
convey just the exact meaning of Dharma. We cannot improve on these
definitions, but we may adopt one which fits closer into our particular
conception of the truth of Dharma, so we will consider that, for the purposes
of this lesson, “Dharma” means “Right-Action.” To be more definite, we might
say that Dharma is the rule of action and life best adapted to the requirements
of the individual soul, and best calculated to aid that particular soul in the next
highest step in its development. When we speak of a man’s Dharma we mean
the highest course of action for him, considering his development and the
immediate needs of his soul.
We think that this lesson will be timely and will answer the demands
of many of our students. We hear, on all sides, the old question, “What is
right?” People are not satisfied with the old answers, which seem to belong
to the past, and which make certain forms, ceremonies and observances
equally as important, if not more so, than right-action and right-thinking.
The advanced student sees the absurdity of the old divisions of “right and
wrong,” and knows that many things which have been condemned as “wrong”
are “wrong” only because certain men arbitrarily have called them so—and