❓QUESTION: I thought dharma was something like a higher purpose, but it turns out to be shackles. Or are these different things? What then is dharma?
❗️LEE'S ANSWER: It's simply a word. It floats in the air, much like the word “valor.” However, when these words are imbued with additional (emotional) meanings, stories are crafted, and moral implications are established, that's when everything truly begins; The Game commences.
At its very core, the word “dharma” signifies something akin to a law. In a broader sense, this isn't the Law of Attraction, but rather “human laws.” The difference lies in the Law of Attraction describing a universal mechanism for everything, while “human laws” are either contractual or imposed concepts.
In Hinduism, dharma was extolled to uphold the governing structure, which essentially meant legitimizing manipulation. Prior to our current civilization, dharma was understood more generally as a description of the structure of archetypal connections. For instance, a king possesses a king's dharma, meaning his life and purpose are not illustrative for a warrior who has his own dharma.
This implies something along the lines of, “this is your profession, which demands of you...” and “you excel in your profession because you have successfully fulfilled your responsibilities.” In this context, if our presidents adhered to dharma, they would be evaluated based on the extent to which the people's welfare increased during their presidency.
An approximate sentiment would be, “Show me the growth in teachers' salaries, and I will tell you how effective your president was in office.” Conversely, all rhetoric about “I wanted to, but obstacles prevented me” represents “poor adherence to the presidential dharma.” The example above demonstrates how the term “dharma” can be interpreted without delving into historical details.
Furthermore, when dharma was considered the norm, no one questioned that “the fulfillment of professional duties” could be interpreted differently. Consequently, a current presidency would not be judged by “I like him more than another,” but rather by strict metrics – whether tangible improvements in people's well-being were achieved or not. The approximate meaning is “the strict execution of one's functions according to their defined purpose.”
