The performance of our duty relates to the spiritual law or 'cosmic blue print' of our particular birth that has arisen from our prior circumstances. It is likened to the DNA within each cell of our physical bodies. This law of our specific birth is the law of right and appropriate functional action (swadharma) in the context of the given circumstances of our particular life span. It is the law of our human birth, which is like a rose being born as a rose. No matter what actions we take to convert a rose in a lily, it will still grow up as a rose. Creation has already made it choice. Each of us has a basic nature within us at birth. When we discover our true nature and act accordingly, we can grow up in harmony with this nature. When we are in harmony with our basic nature, we have a sense of fulfillment in life and a feeling of independence. A completeness will be felt within each of our physical body, mind and spirit. When we honor the 'cosmic blue-print' of our own birth, a sense of self esteem and respect for life permeates our actions.
We are made of a variety of birth opportunities and patterns of growth. The fundamental law of our inner birth and growth is the basis for all our actions. If we follow that law, we will experience a feeling of success within our daily life. If we disobey the law, there will be a feeling of non-fulfillment in life. Finding, abiding and acting within the law of our birth sets the stage for our personal harmony and inner peace and happiness.
Discovering and realizing each of our special dharma is the first stage on the path of our inner advancement and outer development. There is a hunger in our soul in the shape of "I want this"; "I want this" (Idam Me syat, Idam Me Syat) and we must find out what exactly that hunger is. Buddha, Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Ramana Maharshi left their home and took to a life in solitude, whereas Janaka, Krishna and Gandhi led a family life and participated in public and political activity. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a Grihastha- Sanyasi. All depends on the call of conscience, the inner urge, the inner compulsion, the pull of our innate nature. When once we find it out or when people whom we respect enable us to find it out, we must be bold enough to act according to that call, that compulsion, that urge and go forward experiencing the freedom of conscience. This applies as much to physical and material growth as to the spiritual enlightenment. This is called the performance of one's own duty (swadharma). This is our life mission, which will bring about integration and completion of our personality. If we discard this principle, we would fall into a mental trap of merely making empty statements and assertions, with no real understanding of our life mission.
[Based on the essay 'A rose is always a rose', published in Mountain Path, October- December 2010, pp 83-87]
