Dharma can mean many things depending on the context it is used in. We will focus on three types: Universal, Situational and Personal. They inform each other and build on the concept of Appropriate Response.

Universal Dharma is based on the golden rule of non-injury. It is found in every religion, it may be called different names but is refers to not bringing injury to others. In Vedanta[1] it specifically means not to injure another in thought, words and deeds. Across traditions it appears as:

• Christianity: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Luke 6:31)
• Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” (Udanavarga 5:18)
• Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” (Mahabharata 5:1517)
• Islam: “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” (Hadith)
• Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” (Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

Boiling down to: Treat every being with the same care and respect you would wish for yourself — never cause harm and seek to leave others better, not worse, for having met you.

Situational Dharma then is the application of this universal rule, moment to moment. Life is ever-changing and complex. A knife is a weapon in one hand and a healing tool in another. How to navigate the difference is the essence of Situational Dharma.

Personal Dharma is your personal design, constituted in your abilities, talents and tendencies. This design is why we use astrology, numerology, personality testing such as enneagram; we are moved to find out why we are here. It is your unique set and mix that drives you to fulfil your function in this world. Literally what you were born to contribute to the collective.

The Dharma of work works these three into everyday life. For the most part people seeking meaning and knowledge are no longer renunciates living high up in the mountains. They are businesspeople, professionals and working folk; out day in and day out, driving to work, sitting in meetings and just showing up to make their contribution.

The Dharma of Work is the focus of bringing non-injury into the workplace and looking at what that means and how to apply it specifically to the situation (workplace).

For instance, the Dharma of BodyTalk is centred in the understanding of whole and completeness, as BodyTalk is a consciousness health care system. If the practitioner does not understand that their client is not broken and do need fixing, they will fall out of the Dharma of the field they work in. Unless there is a contributing attitude and not a grasping attitude, the practice does not seem to launch. The Dharma of BodyTalk seems to work out extractors over time, naturally and without fuzz and many are left wondering why the clients did not show up. The universal dharma here is more specific than just non-injury, it is holding the individual as its true form, Consciousness. The Situational Dharma is bringing that into every session by seeing the wholeness of the client, even if they can’t. The Personal Dharma is your approach to your practice, some are more talk therapy with sessions, others more focused on tranquillity, based on the core of the person.

The Dharma of each company may be different; it is based on the values and service/goods the company supplies to its clients. If the company does not care for its clients’ needs, over time Dharma will ensure that it folds. Everything in the world lasts only to serve the collective, which includes EVERYTHING. Not just people but every animal and plant, all making up the sum total of the world.

As an employee the Dharma of Work is normally specifically listed in your employee contract, from what is expected of you to working hours. The Dharma includes seeing the company as a person (entity) which requires the same non-injury application. Yet many employees see their office as resource station for their personal needs. By agreeing to a contract, the employee is agreeing to the Dharma of the company, to add their Personal Dharma within the Situational Dharma of work environment.

Many may understand the universal dimension of work, but in the situation they aim for their own wants only. Mostly this is because people don’t have contributing mindsets and are looking for what they can get. If your wanting is not in alignment with the needs of the total, you will simply not get it and, if you do, it will be very short-lived.

The equation is always trying to balance itself and that balance is based on the needs of the total. Your Personal Dharma is specifically designed to ensure that you add your qualities to the collective and thus make the world a more efficient place.

Unfortunately, most are too late in starting to ask what am I suppose to contribute here and focus on the getting (normally money, but could be power or sex). We are more simplistic in our base wants than we care to admit.

If we understand the Dharma of work, we could transform our job into a practice that will have benefit for our own personal development and bring great peace in our work day. I was fortunate to have a first teacher that focused on using work life to tune the spirit. What he meant was that you use the environment of the work day to learn discipline and inner mastery, instead of just what you can extract from the employer. Thus by focusing on how you engage moment to moment, you benefitted the collective and yourself, as you are part of the collective too.

For every situation, before responding, run your response through the triangle of Dharma. Does it harm anyone, how do I apply that non-injury in this moment and is it in alignment with my own design. If we understood this, we would never tell anyone what to do, as we do not have their Personal Dharma and therefore could not possibly know what would be the best for them to do in that situation.

Ask yourself, are you following the Dharma of your work?

[1] Advaita Vedanta – a Science of Consciousness

Lucua Prakashini

https://odysseymagazine.co.za/the-dharma-of-work/

Quick technical question. Does scripture support defining security, pleasure, virtue, and freedom as successive stages of spiritual development? It’s seems that way.

Ramjji:  Yes.  Generally people are fixated on security before they start to chase pleasure.  Pleasure seekers who become addicted often realize that excessive attachment to the senses is a moral issue and go for virtue (dharma).   Once a person has more or less mastered these three motivations and the zero-sum nature of the pursuit of anything becomes obvious, he or she will seek freedom.

But as I am going through the writing process it appears that some, not all, addicts (pleasure seekers) who have repressed their desire for security, because they lack the self confidence to chase it, revert back to security seeking once they are able to achieve sobriety. What do make of that?

Ram:  Yes.  Generally sense pleasure gives more short-term pleasure than the idea of money.  Plus money is generally required for the lazy pleasures that tamasic people favor, so there is always a tension between these two impulses in them.   Rajasic people who favor the pleasure of exercise, however, don’t tend to have this conflict because they are working to master their bodies which basically requires will power, which is a virtue.  But the romanticization, socialization and aspirization of fitness can make fitness expensive for undiscriminating people.   Sattvic people don’t tend to regress as they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and tend to be proactive with reference to security.  Children should be conditioned me to chores, homework, etc. before play.  It is a very useful discipline which should be maintained throughout one’s life.  A financial cushion takes care of rainy days.  When the cash flow starts to slow down one should immediately curtail spending discretionary income.

The lack of self confidence with reference to security is a throbbing yellow light presaging immediate danger.  Pleasure seeking is the be all and the end all of affluent societies but it is a dangerous stage in their development because pleasure seeking saps the will and people don’t do what needs to be done.   We’re seeing the downside of pleasure seeking now in an increase in social and political conflict.     

Thank you and Sundari again for making these regular online teachings and satsangs possible. They are immensely valuable. I really think that they are helping me to understand better, or at least to reflect more deeply, so I can see where I’m still not clear on certain topics. Not to mention that it’s helping me keep my mind on something other than my occasional annoyances, while showing me how I can better deal with them.

My question is: If everything the (waking state) jiva does is mithya, why is following svadharma so important? Isn’t svadharma mithya too?

James:  Yes, svadharma is mithya, apparently real.  If you think you are the apparently real waking state jiva you won’t be happy unless you take care of your conditioning, svadharma.  But there is another svadharma   If you understand that you are the Awareness of the waking state jiva, then your Svadharma is awareness with a capital S, which is not a doer.  This Svadharma is satya, real.  It doesn’t change, stands on its own and is of the nature of bliss.  The mithya jiva is known to it but isn’t “important” to it. 

It “follows” the actions that present themselves to it as a waking state entity only in the sense that is disinterestedly watches them, as one might watch a movie, which is to say knowing that what is happening on the screen is not real.      

As I’ve been reflecting on your recent teachings on the Mandukya Upanishad and the 3 gunas, I’ve been making notes of key points and there are some questions that have come up related to that.

What I’ve understood so far is that freedom is the ability to discriminate between satya and mithya. We can also describe this as discriminating between the Self / Consciousness (satya or the fourth factor) and the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep and their corresponding jivas (mithya).

Reflected consciousness is original unborn Consciousness (satya) plus a reflecting medium (mithya) – subtle, gross and causal bodies. The waking state, dream state and deep sleep state jivas all ‘experience’ reflected consciousness, in different ways according to the available active instruments.

James:  They actually don’t because they are inert.  The three states and the three material entities are material factors.  They seem to experience.  They are reflected consciousness.

So reflected consciousness is also mithya (the apparently real) appearing to be satya (real) when we don’t understand the relation it has to Consciousness. At the same time, reflected consciousness allows us to infer Consciousness and is non-different from Consciousness.

James:  Yes.  Got it in one.  Go to the head of the class. 

Freedom or moksha is for the waking state jiva. (Freedom for the dream state jiva is simply waking up!) Freedom, you could say, is becoming a ‘lucid’ waker, able to discriminate the real from the apparently real, just as a ‘lucid’ dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming. In the deep sleep state, there are no ‘problems’! But it’s interesting that our waking state activities may influence the quality of our deep sleep state. Have I understood this correctly?

James:  Very good!  Nicely expressed.  One small point, however.  Waking state activities seemingly influence the quality of deep sleep.  If there is any mental activity, we call it the dream state.  However, for all intents and purposes they compromise the “deepness” of sleep. 

As for my occasional annoyances, I am examining them (when I remember) in the light of the values and am slowly reading and rereading The Value of Values. I can see so clearly where my annoyances are related to some lack in developing a particular value. I don’t expect I’ll be able to follow them all, all the time, but if I can change my reactions to more deliberate responses that will already be a great improvement for my peace of mind.

James: I didn’t reply to your email about one of your annoyances, although I intended to, for two reasons: (1) I have been very busy and (2) it was an  annoyance.  Your apparent jiva seems to be quite well taken care of by Isvara so the jiva’s reason for agitating itself seemed a bit gratuitous to me.  I hope you are not annoyed by this remark. 

Much love,

James

It’s taken me far longer to reply than I wanted.  I was so humbled and filled with gratitude at your thoughtful and speedy reply to my first inquiry.  Your words cut right to the heart of my life’s situation and left me with no doubt about the depth of your wisdom.  I am touched that a total stranger would take the time to counsel me so thoughtfully, thank you once again.  You hit the nail on the head so many times in your response and I’ll just get right to the heart of the matter…

Since we spoke stress at the job has increased and at times consumes me.  The worst is when I bring it home and, despite all efforts to the contrary, I am tense with my family or not fully present and weighed down by the stresses of life and work in the stock market.  You stated it perfectly when you said my life is like a mini stock market.  

You say, “it seems there is nothing objective you can do about your profession right now, but basically, gambling is adharmic and contrary to the spiritual laws of the universe.  This is why it is forbidden in the scriptures.  You are not actually creating wealth, which is a noble occupation.  You are placing bets with OPM.  The very nature of this activity produces anxiety.   Anxiety is the arch enemy of discrimination and discrimination is essential for a happy life.   Mind you, Michael, this is not a judgment.  This is just how things are.”

You are exactly right.  That helped clarify something for me.  I realized that my lifestyle / chosen profession is my biggest obstacle to spiritual progress right now. It’s as simple as that…no amount of reading or self enquiry is going to change that. My job produces great anxiety and stress inside me and not only does it prevent me from being as good a father and husband as I want to be and know that I can be, but it will prevent me from seeing my true nature at all.  I imagine it is something like trying to see one’s reflection in on the surface of water which is not calm.  Of course the self still exists (and I am it!) but all hope of glimpsing its reflection (and thus gaining some true “knowledge of self”) will be lost if the mind is so agitated…it will not be able to reflect anything  but its own agitation?? or something like that…

Anyways…I found it to be the mark of a true guru that you can help me see with clarity that at this point what is most needed is not advanced spiritual concepts but a simple change of direction in my life and that is where I am focusing my efforts now.  Make no mistake, once I have this career mess sorted it out and I am in a place of greater peace and stability I hope to make further progress on the deeper enquiry into the nature of things.  

Please pray for me that I can somehow find the right job to provide for my family and allow me to live a more balanced life.  Despite trying not to, I find myself quite worried that I won’t be able to provide.  One of the things I struggle with is, as you have often said, seeing the universe as a benign force and not some hostile alien territory out harm you.  I don’t know if I watch too much news (or study too much history!) or just subscribe to the collective view but I have a difficult time being optimistic sometimes…I do know it’s all a matter of perspective and what you focus on…but I seem to be aware that for all the joy and happiness in life…terror and tragedy lurk everywhere.  I know that sounds godawful…maybe it has to do with seeing my brother’s descent into madness…Although everyone has witnessed tragedy and pain in some form…it is the human condition after all.  

I know it’s a trap to think that if I just had this and that I could be happy, nevertheless, I find myself just hoping I can find a decent job that pays the bills and doesn’t ask me to be a 15 hour/day 6 day a week corporate slave…I long for a simple life with my family that would provide ample time for contemplation and appreciation of life’s simple beauties…Is that wrong?

Is that spoiled of me to think I can have that when the world is filled with billions of pour souls struggling to find their next meal.  You said to me “fuck the bourgeious life”  and man, I’m with you on that Jim, but life scraping by with 3 kids in this “rat race” as you so aptly put it doesn’t sound so great either….in this day and age in America it isn’t easy to live a nice middle class life…it’s like you gotta try and get yours or they run you over.

I know in my heart that is a bankrupt philosophy…I just got to stay positive I guess and hope that a the universe will help provide the answer.  As I’m sure you can tell (I can tell by listening to my own thoughts and seeing what I write)  I’m a little fucked up right now (I don’t mean intoxicated).  Life has me by the balls and too often I succumb to worrying and my own bullshit neurosis.  I try to remind myself of the truth of non-duality, and maintain the karma yoga attitude and while often I forget, it is the only comfort I have right now and it has helped me.  I hope in the coming months that I can make some changes to find some increased stability…then hopefully, with your help, I can get down to the heart of the matter…the truth of all this.  

Thanks Again Jim.

Hi Ed,

Thanks for writing.  I was wondering how things were going with you.  You are very clear about it all.   I am glad that the karma yoga attitude is helping.  It is the only solution in general to the problem of anxiety, but it is particularly important now…until events change the direction of your life.  It is a shame to have to wait for things to force change but if the stress that I hear coming from you is not relieved one way or the other, before long it will create some very intense and probably unwelcome karma.  I can’t see how you can keep this up until the kid in the hopper now is through college.  I was in the same situation in my early twenties and in my case I hit bottom, lost my business and everything that I valued, and had to start all over…but it turned out to be a great blessing.  So it would be smart to patiently start plotting your escape from the rat race one way or the other if you can.     

The  subjective solution is karma yoga.  It means that you would not have to actually change your work and living situation, at least not significantly and not right away.  It resolves the anxiety.  Let me remind you of the reason why the anxiety is gratuitous…because the results are not up to you.  Assuming that you are doing your actions in an appropriate and timely fashion to the best of your knowledge and ability, there is no justification for the anxiety.  You can’t help what brought you to this point.  You cannot do anything about the actions that are yet to fructify so the only issue is whether or not the anxiety is useful. 

The trick of karma yoga is to focus on the actions themselves, not on the results.  Results will come.  But if, once you have done the action you are still worrying about the outcome, your mind is still agitated about the result of the previous action, the action occupying your attention at the moment will get short shrift.  You then may not evaluate information dispassionately and the next buy or sell may not be the correct one, considering your goal.  In other words, the anxiety compromises future results.

When you believe the stakes are high, anxiety becomes a habit on its own, whether or not the situation justifies it, which it never does.  So, see if you can keep your attention on the work itself and leave the results to the field.  There must be so many things to do that you can just keep your working through the list and not think about what will come of the actions.  Of course, you can always worry about how long the list is    I am not saying that it is easy.  It will definitely be difficult because everyone you associate with is cranking out anxiety twenty four seven and it is bound to leak into your mind. 

The other issue is that you are not doing work that is in harmony with your nature.   Some people thrive in that kind of environment.  They love uncertainty.  I am a bit like that, not so much anymore, but when I was younger.  I don’t seek change but I welcome not knowing what will happen.  I feel confident that I can handle whatever comes and land on my feet.  But not everyone has that nature.  You are the sensitive spiritual type in a world of wolves.  The competition is not good for you.  

So there is a values component that is going to have to be addressed at some point.  When you get stressed you often develop a lot of physical habits that are meant to take care of it.  You spend money on things that only give temporary relief.  Maybe you drink or dine out or live in a neighborhood that is above your means, drive a four wheel drive even though you only drive on city streets etc.  In your mind luxuries may become necessities.  You suffer so much you feel like you need to ‘treat’ yourself.  So if the problem centers around money, there may be things you can do to take some of the pressure off…’downsizing’ to be polite.

Of course the sheer volume of activities needs to be reduced too but this may be difficult because you need to be faithful to the choices you have made and work them out carefully.  The basic problem is that you took on too much too early.  But you should not become discouraged.  You should look for small ways to buy some quality time with the family.  Nor should you blame yourself for wanting what everyone wants.  The actions have been done and there is no taking them back apart from walking away from it all…which you cannot do because you would not be able to live with yourself, even if you were cooling your heels on a beach in some tropical country. 

Not only that, but you can also downsize your view of ‘success.’  For a spiritual person there is really only one definition of success and that is peace of mind.   I imagine that you want to give your kids ‘the best that life can offer.’   But isn’t the best you can offer only love?  If you bust your butt and ruin your peace of mind to give them ‘the finer things’ but neglect to give them the love and attention they need, you have not done the best by them.  They will just learn that life is about working their fingers to the bone and being unhappy and that is what they will do, irrespective of their Ivy League educations, etc.  I spent more than twenty five years in India and I am always amazed how Indians in general handle their dollar-a-day no-pot-to-piss-in poverty better than we handle our prosperity.  It is because as children they are loved very well. 

In  your case, I think a media fast would help.  The society that America has become is almost totally fear oriented.  You can’t help but absorb it.  Although there is nothing dumber than fear, the society makes it out to be smart. If you doubt that this is a benign world, think about why the insurance companies are the richest institutions in the society.    

Anyway, Michael, I am sure that you have not failed to consider all of this.  The most important bit is that you really contemplate carefully about the idea that you are responsible for what happens. What happens is not up to you.  You may very well make a series of exceptional trades that bring in big bucks and get you a fancy promotion and let you get a nice place in upstate New York and keep chickens and an organic garden and live happily ever after.  The whole thing may come crashing down and you find yourself on welfare.  Who knows?  Even the masters of the universe with their big trading programs don’t know.  Nobody knows.  So it is pointless to take the negative or the positive view.  Just do your work as best you can and leave the rest up to God.   And write me from time to time and let me know how it’s going.

Love,

James

Suffering 

1.  To Arjuna who was overwhelmed by compassion, distressed and tearful, Krishna spoke these words, “to behave like this is not becoming for a righteous man.  It does not enhance your reputation, nor does it lead to heaven. A successful warrior does not give in to unmanliness. It does not benefit you.  Overcome this emotional state, get up and fight!”

4.  Arjuna replied, “Oh Destroyer of Demons, how can I fight against these men who are worthy of worship? It would be better to beg for food than to kill these exalted men who taught me everything I know.  Whatever wealth and pleasure I will gain from this war would be stained with blood.  It is impossible to tell whether it is better if we should conquer them or they should conquer us. How can we continue to live once we have slain these brave men facing us?   

Even if I were to obtain an unrivalled and prosperous kingdom by winning this war I do not see anything that will take away this pain that disturbs my senses. You are right.  I am emotional and confused.  I am your student.  I take refuge in you.  Tell me what I should do.”    

 
Then the great warrior said, “I shall not fight” and fell silent. 

Self Knowledge

Standing between the two armies, Krishna, as if smiling, replied, 

11.  “The wise grieve neither for the dead, nor for the living.  There was never a time that I did not exist, nor you nor these kings.  Nor will any of us cease to exist in the future.  Because those who live in a body experience birth, childhood, youth, old age and the gaining of another body it is foolish to grieve.  Sense contacts give rise to ever-changing sensations of heat and cold, pleasure and pain.  You have no choice but to experience them. Only a respectable person unaffected by pleasure and pain is fit for liberation.  

16.  What is unreal does not exist.  What is real never ceases to exist. This knowledge will set you free. Know That to be indestructible which pervades this entire universe.  No one can bring about the destruction of That which never changes.  The Self…which is not an object of knowledge…is indestructible even though it lives in dying bodies. Anyone who thinks that the Self kills or that it can be killed does not know the truth. It is not born so how can it die?  It is ever present and not subject to time.  When the body dies it does not die. How can you say that you are a killer if you know the Self as it is?  Just as a person changes old clothes for new the Indweller gives up its old body for a new one. 

23.  Weapons cannot destroy the Self.  Fire can’t burn it, nor can water wet it.  The wind cannot dry it.  It is changeless, all pervading, immovable, and eternal. Knowing that it is not an object of thought, and not subject to change, you should not grieve.  Even if you see the Self caught in a constant cycle of births and deaths you should not grieve because what is born dies and what dies is reborn.  It is foolish to worry about what cannot be changed.  

28. All beings are unmanifest in the beginning, become manifest in the middle of their life cycles and return to the unmanifest condition in the end.  What is there to grieve about, Arjuna?

29. Some people see the Self as a wonder.  Others speak of it as a wonder and some hear of it as a wonder. Yet, even after hearing about It people do not understand It at all. This Self, the one who dwells in the bodies of all beings, is always indestructible.  Therefore you ought not to grieve for these people.   

31.  Also, if you consider this situation from the standpoint of your duty, you should not waver.  Nothing is more auspicious for a warrior than a righteous war.  Only lucky warriors are given the opportunity to fight an unsolicited war.  It is an open gate to heaven. But if you forfeit your honor and refuse to do your duty you will incur sin.  People will speak of your unending infamy. For the honorable person, dishonor is worse than death. Your peers, the great warriors, who esteem you now, will see you as a coward.  They will mock and ridicule you.  They will belittle your talents and say unforgettable things.  What could be more painful?  Consider this:  if you die you will gain heaven.  If you win you will enjoy the world.  Therefore, stand up and fight!  See pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat in the same light and prepare for battle.  You will incur no sin.  
 

Karma Yoga

39.  So far I have told you the wisdom of Self knowledge.  Now listen to the wisdom of yoga which will free you from bondage to action. In this yoga, no effort is wasted, nor are any unsuitable results produced.  Even very little karma yoga protects one from great fear.

41. You should have a clear understanding about the nature of liberation.  Those who lack discrimination entertain many erroneous notions.  Full of desire and believing there is nothing better, non-discriminating people engross themselves in rituals for the purpose of gaining pleasure or power or heaven.  They utter flowery words concerning various practices that are meant to make them happy. Because those seeking power and pleasure are easily led astray by the promises of ritual activities, discrimination does not take place. 

45.  The subject matter of the ritualistic portion of the Vedas is related to the three qualities. Realize yourself to be free from the three-fold qualities and from the sorrow that arises from contact with the pairs of opposites.  Be ever established in sattva, free from the anxiety to acquire and protect.  Be a master of yourself.  For the one who knows the Self the Vedas are of as much use as a small puddle when the land is flooded. 

47.  You can choose which actions you wish to perform but you have no control over the results.  Don’t think of yourself as the author of the results of your actions and don’t be attached to inaction. Remain steadfast in yoga and act without attachment to the results.  Remain the same in success and failure alike.  This steadiness of mind is called yoga.  

49.  Desire prompted action is inferior to action performed with the karma yoga attitude.  Take refuge in this attitude.  Those who perform action only for the desired result are misers.  

50.  The karma yoga attitude causes steadiness of mind and frees one of good and bad karma in this world.  Therefore, commit yourself to karma yoga.  Karma yoga is discretion in action. With the karma yoga attitude the wise, no longer concerned with the results of their actions and free from the bondage of rebirth, accomplish the result that is free from limitation.      

52.  When your intellect is no longer deluded you will become dispassionate concerning what has happened and what will happen. When your mind is no longer concerned with the results promised in the Vedas it remains steady and becomes established in the Self.  This leads to Self knowledge.”  

Chapter 3 

Karma Yoga

1.  Arjuna said, “You say that knowledge is superior to action, but if this is true why do you encourage me to do this gruesome deed? You are confusing me with seemingly contradictory words.  Decide what is best and reveal the one path to liberation.”

3.  Krishna said, “I ordained a two-fold lifestyle for beings in this world…the path of knowledge for renunciates and the path of action for doers. You cannot get free of action merely by the nonperformance of action.  Nor can you attain liberation simply by renunciation. Indeed, you cannot avoid action even for a second because sattva, rajas and tamas compel you to act.  

6.  A person who controls the sense organs yet still craves sense pleasures is confused.  It is better to control the senses and act with the karma yoga understanding.  Because action is superior to inaction you should do what has to be done.  It is even impossible to maintain the body without action.  

Karma Yoga Spirit

9.  Actions other than those done in a sacrificial spirit bind you to karma.   The Creator instilled this spirit in the beginning and said, “By sacrifice you shall multiply.  It will fulfill your desires.”  Honor life with this spirit and it will honor you.  This attitude leads to freedom.  When you honor life it supplies desirable things…but if you enjoy its gifts without offering something in return you are a thief.  Those who eat the remnant of the sacrifice incur no guilt but those who eat only for themselves verily eat guilt.   

14.  Living beings are born of food, food comes from rain, rain comes from the effects of sacrifice and sacrifice is born of action.  The Vedas encourage a sacrificial religious attitude and the Vedas come from the imperishable Self. If you keep this attitude you are always in harmony with the Self.  The lives of those who do not live in harmony with the cosmic order but pursue sense pleasures instead are wasted.     

17.  Nothing need be done by those who delight in the Self, are satisfied with the Self alone and whose lives are centered on the Self.  They have no reason to do or not to do…nor do they depend on objects for their happiness.  Do what is to be done well without attachment and you will attain the highest good.  Not only will you attain liberation by acting in this spirit you will inspire others to act in this way.  Because whatever a role model does is done by others.  
 

I need not act.  As far as I am concerned everything in the three worlds is perfect so there is nothing for me to do.  Yet I act because if I become lazy and refuse to act people would follow my example. They would become confused.  The social bonds that keep a society healthy would unravel and it would deteriorate.       

24, 25.  Just as the unwise who are attached to the results of their actions act only for themselves, the wise should perform action without attachment for the good of others.  They should not lecture the unwise concerning action and its results.  Instead they should encourage them to act in the right spirit by example.  

30.  With a discriminating mind free of anger, expectation and a sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ offer your actions to me and fight!  If you faithfully follow this teaching without finding fault you will be freed from the results of your actions. But if you are doubtful and do not follow it you will not progress.  It is wise to act in harmony with your own nature.  Because all beings follow their own natures automatically what use is control?

34.  Attachment and aversion to sense objects are your intractable enemies.  It is better to die imperfectly performing one’s duties according to one’s own dharma than to live performing the dharma of another well.  The dharma of another is fraught with danger.  

The Power of Desire

36.  Arjuna said, “What is that terrible force that causes self insulting actions even though there is a strong desire to the contrary?”

37.  Krishna said:  “Rajas produces desire and anger.  It is a great glutton and an inveterate sinner.  Know it be an intractable foe.  Just as fire is often covered by clouds of smoke, as a mirror may be covered by dust or a fetus is hidden in the womb, Self knowledge is hidden by Desire.  The insatiable fire of Desire is the constant enemy of the wise because it prevents Self knowledge. Situated in the senses, mind, and intellect, it deludes the person and obscures his or her wisdom.  Therefore, Oh! Arjuna, control the senses at the outset and destroy this force, the killer of wisdom.

 
42.  The sense organs are subtler than the body; the mind is subtler than the sense organs; the intellect is subtler than the mind and the Self is subtler than the intellect. Know That which is beyond the intellect, steady your emotions and destroy this hidden enemy.

Job wise, I manage large IT projects for a global company. Overall, it uses the skills that Ishvara has given me in leadership and people management to good effect and overall it is a good job – I am content with it. I apply the karma yoga attitude to the job and also have a good work-life balance.

Senior leaders within the organisation often tell me I could do more – which to them means climb the corporate leader. Recently, I was also approached by a head-hunter about a director level opportunity in a different company, it would be a promotion and most people would jump at it ! The role sounds ok, but at the same time I know it would involve considerably more responsibility and long hours, and knowing there is no joy in objects – ultimately won’t really be fulfilling. Plus, it is likely the work-life balance I currently have would be impacted.

My current lifestyle offers me the opportunity to focus on my love of Vedanta, and allows me to lead a simple sattvic lifestyle.

Coming back to swadharma – do I serve Ishvara by applying the leadership skills given to me and take on more senior positions ? or do I follow the swadharma of a mumukshu and be content with what I have, which I feel is my new Swadharma ? this is where I am stuck.

The teachings say we need to put moksha front and centre of our lives with a burning desire – this is one of the most important qualifications. Therefore, pursuing opportunities in the world of objects, does not qualify the mind.

I remember James saying to me, that after he spent two years with Swami Chinmayananda decisions such as job, value for money, relationships and even where he lived were simple ; if it didn’t support moksha he said no to them.

Any guidance would be appreciated 😉

Rory: I read your email with interest and my feeling is that you answered your own question. Your slight uncertainty comes down to a question of values. Specifically, what do you value most and what is your highest goal? According to the scriptures, life’s highest goal is moksa–liberation. It’s all that we can really ‘take with us’ from the mithya world, because moksa frees us of the imperative to keep ‘returning’ here in order to satiate the itch of the vasanas and play out the impetus of past karma. If you think about it, nothing worldly can lead us out of the world, it can only keep us bound to the world. You can spend a lifetime slaving away to amass wealth and success, but when you get to the end of your life find that all you’ve really amassed are vasanas for those things…vasanas that will only carry you to the next round of fun and games in samsara! This isn’t a problem in itself…unless you happen to be a mumukshu and realise that this setup isn’t the best way to go.

The mumukshu needs to fully assimilate the value of moksa. Often spiritual seekers have only a partially assimilated value for moksa. In other words, they know it’s important and a priority, but they have other competing vasanas, such as the desire for prestige and fortune, or for certain objects and experiences. Unclear values lead to unclear priorities, and a partially assimilated value for moksa that’s competing with values for worldly things will not likely win out.

It sounds to me like you’re already clear on the benefits of moksa. In Vivekachudamani, Shankara stresses that life’s greatest blessing is to have not only a human birth, but a good mind, good karma, the desire for freedom and access to the teaching and a teacher. This is life’s highest blessing because it’s the setup for moksa. Nothing in this world can lead us beyond the world, but Vedanta + a qualified mind + a teacher is all that’s needed to ‘bestow’ our birthright of freedom. Worldly joys are finite and always offset by sorrow, whereas moksa is an infinite and lasting joy because it’s based upon that which is infinite and lasting–our own ever-free, self-effulgent nature as awareness/consciousness. The realisation of this inherent freedom does not come easily to a mind habituated to worldly cravings and suffering. Indeed, applying Self-knowledge and re-educating the mind is pretty much a full time job.

As a householder, it sounds like you’re quite lucky in that your current job allows you to take care of your worldly duties and responsibilities while allowing you to keep a sattvic mind and to devote your spare time to Vedantic study and practice. That’s the ideal set up for a householder.

Of course, I’m well aware that conflicts can arise when we realise that our personal values aren’t reflected by the values of those around us. While Vedic culture recognised moksa as a legitimate goal–and, indeed, the highest goal of life–modern culture has absolutely no recognition of that. As a result, you’ll have to accept that your co-workers, bosses, and even family and friends may not understand or appreciate your values and priorities. Outside of the Vedanta sangha, you’re unlikely to have anyone pat you on the back and congratulate you on your commitment to karma yoga and moksa! More’s the pity. In my own life, I’ve experienced some flak from friends and family for my lack of worldly ambition. Admittedly, health challenges have also contributed, but I saw through the emptiness of worldly attainment at quite a young age, and as a result was never greatly enticed by the promise of fame and fortune. I had a burning desire for freedom, however, and that only grew and grew as the years went on. The funny thing is, moksa is often quite fatal to ambition, because you end up feel utterly satisfied with whatever you have in life. As long as your basic needs are met, and as long as you’re following the appropriate dharma, the need to strive and attain drops away, and you feel perfect contentment, satisfaction and fulfilment with even the most ‘meagre’ of things. They don’t warn you about that! But it’s rather wonderful. Contentment with what one has is one’s of life’s greatest riches. Just be aware that family and friends may not understand or share that contentment. We live in an avaricious, consumer/capitalist driven world, where ambition and greed is seen as the norm and anything less is suspect. But when you’re truly happy in yourself, the conflicting opinions of samsaris will no longer bother you.

In summary, I say be aware of your svadharma and your highest values. Let those guide in when making decisions. As a householder, you have worldly duties to take care of, but that should never be too much at the expense of your ultimate goal, moksa. Karma yoga plus an attitude of devotion and dedication to Vedanta will carry you far! Don’t let the samsaris pressure you into becoming one of them 🙂 

John: So much wisdom in your response! You hit on a couple of key points for me. For the seeker of moksha, it can be a lonely place outside of interaction with teachers like yourself or attending satsangs. As such, the question I raised is seldom discussed ..in fact, I am often amazed at how many folk do not even reflect on their lives in basic ways.

It is almost a ‘corporate crime’ to admit you are not ambitious…often better to smile and just get on with one’s duty at work with the karma yoga attitude. …is my approach.

I guess the reason, I did have some confusion originally, is because the teachings say we should give to life and be of service to Isvara and as I have skills in management etc by not fully actualising these in the workplace, I was somehow not following my Swadharma and serving Isvara! After, I sent you my original email I reflected more and considered the situation does not necessarily need to be either/or, in that I can be of service in the workplace and ‘give back’ as long as one does so with the karma yoga attitude.

However, discrimination is key in this approach, because there will come a time, which it does for me were good results are noticed and folks will push me to take on more responsibility and as such pressure, with ultimately less time for studying and applying Self knowledge to my life ..so in my case, I keep my head low and let the other more ambitious folks reach and stretch for the dancing carrot. As you say, values are so important!

I too have found how very little interest these days in acquiring objects and even experiences, such as fancy holidays – what a relief!! As you say, it is a side effect of applying the teachings to one’s life – and it feels wholesome and great! In fact, besides occasional contact with close family and a few close friends I am quite happy to live a low profile lifestyle, it feels like a blessing.

Rory: I’m glad the response was of some help! I’m always delighted to help, just a little slow in responding, alas.

I agree, moksa can be a lonely pursuit without the presence of a sangha. The average person will find it ‘kooky’ at best. I’ll never forget meeting up with a friend I hadn’t seen for a number of years, and eventually he concluded “Oh, so you’re still into your Buddhist shit!”. It wasn’t Buddhist and it certainly wasn’t ‘shit’, but that’s about all it would amount to the regular Joe. I think I just smiled and said ‘sure am’. But no, most people don’t self-reflect very much at all. They just march on like clockwork toys, wound up to pursue specific aims, mainly relating to security, wealth and pleasure. 

I can only imagine how the corporate culture would react to sattvic values! Qualities such as contentment and lack of ambition would most certainly be seen as heinous weakness of character! It doesn’t bear thinking about. Alas, rajasic and tamasic people have never had held the sattvic in any esteem whatsoever, unless perhaps there’s a way to exploit it for some gain. Your response is perfect, just smile, feign agreement and do the work with the karma yoga spirit. We can play the game while keeping the knowledge that it is in fact just a game.

The teachings do indeed state that we should live a life in service of Isvara. That’s where karma yoga comes in. With karma yoga, our every action, right down to cleaning our teeth and sweeping the floor can be an act of service, bearing in mind that the universe and environment is Isvara‘s body. Being able to use your work skills in a constructive and positive way is a wonderful opportunity for you to serve the Lord. The degree to which you do this, specifically in terms of workload etc, is a matter for your own discretion. Everything has an upside and a downside in maya, and it’s really a matter of seeing how these weigh in. If you feel you want to offer more in certain areas, and feel the benefits offset any downside, then that might be a good choice. Although, more isn’t always better. Again, for the inquirer, the inner work–worshipping Isvara by devoting time to our sadhana and inquiry–is no less important than the outer work. Sometimes we just need to be clear about that, and not be too upset when we realise that others with opposing values judge us harshly for what they see as missing opportunities or wasting our time. Always be clear on your goal, and allow your values to guide your priorities accordingly.

It’s wonderful that you’re already tasting the fruits of that Self-knowledge. As you say, it is the biggest relief imaginable when we start to wiggle free of the relentless push and pull of rajas and tamas and all those extroverting worldly vasanas. The greatest contentment is truly to be found within.

Dear Jane,

I’d like to flesh out the dharma topic a little more.  You said that my attack on Robert is a violation of my svadharma, which is writing and teaching Vedanta.  Svadharma, what your do for yourself from the point of view of your individuality, flows from svabhava, your basic personality structure, not from a specific set of generic actions incumbent on a particular social role.  For instance, karma yoga is an attitude one does for one’s self that exhausts unwanted karma plus sattvic dharmic actions that a person does that benefit his or her self and society. 

But the field in which he or she does those actions is determined by his or her svabhava.  Bhava means experience, in this case how you experience yourself.  An artist experiences his or herself differently from a business man.  A mother experiences herself differently from a father, etc. Any type of person in any field that wants moksa can become a karma yogi.  It is an assumed secondary identity for achieving a particular purpose. 

Keep in mind that we are only talking about a samsari or a Self realized person, not a Self actualized person who is an apparent person, not an actual person.  “He or she” is Being shining as Awareness.  No dharmas apply.  No bhavas apply, except the experience of limitless bliss.  In conventional worldly terms this person is an actor that can play any role that any situation that is presented to him or her demands, with the idea of supporting dharma.  In my reply to your email I played the role that you assigned me, teacher of Vedanta, and related to your idea of what a teacher should or shouldn’t do.    

I’m telling you now that you actually wrote the real me, not the apparent me.  I am completely disassociated, meaning free, of the body and the word James.  I am unaffected by the roles Isvara presents to me.  Isvara is the factor in reality that generates experience.  The jiva doesn’t generate experience although it thinks is does and Existence shining as Awareness doesn’t either.  Why? Because it is everything that is and is not subject to modification.  In fact, I’m not slightly bored or bothered by this task.  No task is beneath me or beyond me.  I’m completely blissful, got all my wits about me and am enjoying every minute of my life on earth, irrespective of what anybody thinks about me, positive or negative.  

This is why you only get real Vedanta from mahatmas, not from conceptual entities like James or Robert, or any other jiva.   The word mahatma means limitless Existence shining as Consciousness, not a person.  When Ramana was asked if he was a teacher, he said no.  Vedanta is apursheyajnanam, not from human beings.  It is from Isvara, which is not the same or different from the Self.  If you understand this you are free, in this case free of the idea that James is a Vedanta teacher or that you are a student of Vedanta.  This understanding needs to be in place or you won’t get the benefit of listening (sravanna), the foundation practice of Vedanta.  You will always interpret the teachings through a filter, not hear the teachings as they are.  Your interpretation was that I should be writing uplifting books, not attacking a scummy internet troll.  

Robert is pissed off because he thinks he’s a teacher and that I’m a teacher that doesn’t like him being a teacher that is trying to ruin his reputation, for the reasons I gave in my last email, which is correct as far as that “I” is concerned.   You will notice that I make a point of calling attention to the fact that I am talking to the Self under the spell of ignorance, trying to appeal to that while castigating the person that he obviously thinks he is.  If he was a proper mahatma he’d welcome a debate and we’d have a nice dharma combat as they did in the old days.  

In those days people were actually interested in the truth and would give up erroneous views and accept the orthodox view.  Obviously Robert has a problem with orthodoxy .  You won’t find the idea that there is any Self at all in the James that Robert is talking about.  That James is just Robert’s hate.  He’s just a typical pissed off jiva who doesn’t want anybody raining on his parade. 

Anyway, this is how Vedanta looks at this situation.  It is not a good situation or a bad situation.  It just is.  Life just is and we need to deal with what is, not what we want or think about what is.  And you do that by dropping the thoughts and letting Isvara respond to Isvara as you watch (sakshi  bhava.)  

Much love,

James

I know Spain has been deeply affected by Covid and you have been prevented from travelling and teaching, but what the hell is going on with you? You must be bored, frustrated or maybe avoiding writing that strange book challenge (a book about Vedanta that doesn’t mention Vedanta?), I mean seriously, do you really have your heart in that?

You have always taught students to stay in their own karma stream and not do the Dharma of another man, so why are you giving Robert Harrison so much air time (4 Satsang posts and more to come)?   You can tell me to f*** off, I don’t care, but you are not beyond reproach.  Who appointed you the ‘Fake Guru Slayer’? stop hiding behind the excuse that you have the responsibility to uphold Dharma and the teachings or that you care about him.  I don’t know Robert, but he is small fry compared to other fraudulent teachers out there.  I looked up his Youtube clips and he only has 60 views per video!, he’s hardly worth all this time and effort.  Nobody knew who he was until you outed him to thousands of your students.

Obviously this man has psychological issues and is desperate for love and attention.   He is now thriving off all the attention you are giving him.  Let him fall on his own sword and let his gullible students get burnt and wake up in their own time.  You and Sundari must feel aggrieved that you were fooled by him.  I have been duped out of tens of thousands of dollars from fake Vedanta teachers, I too have a streak in my personality that wants to expose them and take these teachers down, but I control it and feel grateful that Ishwara lead me to Shining World. 

I woke up this morning to read all four of the satsangs you have devoted to Robert and truly James they are such low vibration garbage, haven’t you got anything better to do with your time?  Like tending to your beautiful Spanish garden or writing the books you are called to write by Ishwara and not some rich dude who gave you money.

With love and respect

Judy

Hi Judy,

I agree that it is a shame to spend time trolling around on the bottom of the ocean of samsara hunting down slime sucking bottom feeders.  However, while it is an unenviable task it only consumes a small fraction of my time.  Keeping in mind the suffering of others, I feel a little ashamed to say that Covid, thanks to Isvara, has been a blessing in disguise.  I’ve been able to work on finishing projects that have been in the pipeline for a couple of years, manage the growth of ShiningWorld without stress, work in the garden and generally enjoy myself mightily now that we are settled and travelling is out of the question.  I’m rested and alert and very grateful what can only be called ideal circumstances. 

One project that is nearing completion is the project to which you referred entitled  “The Wall,” a Pauranic story commissioned by a friend teaching Vedanta without the “Vedanta” so to speak.  Another is commentaries on Sat Darshanam in a new Vedanta style which I’ve attached to this email.  Keep in mind that it is not the final document, which I’ll publish soon.  I’d love to get your feeback.  It’s been a real joy and a challenge to approach Vedanta from this perspective.   Another project, a translation of Katha Upanishad for the upcoming seminar, I’ve also attached for your enjoyment.  So don’t imagine that I’ve lost my focus because of this unsolicited pesky issue.  In any case I will explain my thinking to you.

Appearances to the contrary notwithstanding I don’t feel personally aggrieved that we were misled nor do we feel guilty for helping Robert.  We were kind and helpful towards him.  There’s a good guy in there somewhere struggling with some very entrenched samskaras and we did our best to serve him.  And for the last three or four years we took the view that you express; that it was beneath our dignity to dirty our hands.  But people kept coming to us asking for clarity and somehow expecting us to set things straight.  Sundari wanted nothing to do with it, although she will post her side of the story presently.  She was completely fed up and wants nothing more to do with it.  This campaign is all on me.    

I probably should remind you that the satsang section is not a blog, although it may seem so the last week or so.  It is simply a way to answer questions about Vedanta that come to me unsolicited.  It is a service to Isvara, meaning the people in my life.  I get nothing out of it except the satisfaction of serving the Lord in the form of this great teaching, which is more than enough.  So the question is: does this campaign to discredit Robert as a Vedanta teacher qualify as karma yoga i.e. service to Isvara?  Or am I a just a nasty aggrieved person who has been conned by a conman?  And the answer is a resounding yes to question one and a resounding no to question two.

You will be happy to know that now that I am cheerfully committed to this unenviable job even though I’m in danger of displeasing some people who think I should, as Michele Obama says, “go high when they go low” there will be fewer posts on this topic in the satsang section.  We will probably set up a separate site with the whole thing so that people who are interested can go there.  There isn’t much more to say since what we are doing is clear and my reason for doing it is are clear.

Anyway, the way I see it is that I’m not going high or low.  I’m serving Isvara.   What does that mean?  Is it just another clever spiritual bypass to cover up a hurt, insecure vindictive me?  Since nobody knows but me and I respect you for chiding me I will try to explain. 

Being an outspoken public figure is not easy, particularly in these times when people are so unsettled.  People project.  Not everyone projects sweetness and light, although a good 98% of the projections coming to me are positive, mostly praise and gratitude, because I’m a positive person and I’m presenting a positive vision.  Once in a while people project their dissatisfaction.  In this case Robert projected love and respect at first and later jealousy, anger, resentment and now hatred. 

Both the positive and negative things that come, come from Isvara.   If I refuse to accept the negative and only revel in the positive, I’m not free.  So I need to respond appropriately according to my nature keeping in mind universal dharma. 

How would you feel if someone you trusted and served sullied your most cherished values?  As the Gita says, a karma yogi should not avoid conflict.  Arjuna  has a nasty job to do and his sattvic compassionate nature causes him to justify adharma, which is not doing what he needs to do, with a bunch of high-minded sentimental ideals.  Krishna actually calls him a eunuch!  That’s not PC.  And, if you are familiar with the story, Arjuna ends up killing a lot of people.  His brother pulverizes Duryodhana with a club. 

So what should I do?   Hold my nose and wash my hands of it or get down in the trenches and muck out the shit?  Give him a hug and feel sorry for him owing to his miserable childhood?  He didn’t have a miserable childhood.  He had a nasty rebellious cruel nature from the get go.  He says so in his blog.  This man is a hardened criminal who came into my life under false pretenses, hates me and wishes me ill.  I’m not worried about physical violence.  I’m an old man and could die any day and he knows very well that they will lock him up for a very long time if he crosses the line.  There are many other factors that mitigate against that possibility, not to mention that people like that he’s coward.   You may not feel that the truth is worth suffering for but I do.  God is great.  So, without obsessing about this situation…I am moving forward very nicely on all other topics…I will do my level best to see to it that it is as difficult as possible for him to inflict injury on Vedanta and innocent people.  Isvara is dharma raja, king of dharma, and nothing pleases Isvara more than establishing dharma.  Establishing dharma means destroying adharma.  And nothing pleases me more than serving Isvara. 

Finally, since there is basically no other way to deal with this issue except in the court of public opinion in which Robert lives and dies I’ve been forced to use the only weapon I have at my disposal.  And I believe Isvara selected me because I’m a suitable vehicle.  I’m not a coward and I’m not burdened with attachment like Robert is.  It may take a while but as it says on the stocks that are preserved in a park in Dulwich, England, “It is sport for a fool to make mischief.  Let thy wicked ways correct thee.”  Right now Robert is both wicked and a fool.  This is just his karmic chickens coming home to roost.  He deserves every bit of it. 

So there’s your answer.  You need to know that I appreciate how much you appreciate me and what I do and for expressing your view openly. 

Much love,

James

Around a decade ago, I decided to put to bed “stuff” I had observed between me and the people that were close to me. Is it necessary to know what the jiva is meant to be/do, i.e. svardharma, something specific, or could this jiva be like a floater? Like an extra in a film?

You do noble work teaching and I do noble work as a wife, previously as a dutiful daughter and as a jnani with a brain injury!!!!! You have shitty teeth or had, and I have a daft brain owing to the jiva’s karma. But it doesn’t matter, because I get to shine, shine, shine. There you go, I answered my own question, unless you know different?!?!?

James: You answered it, but I will answer it too. Go to the head of the class! Gold stars all around. Play hooky all week, no consequences. The short answer is yes, the daft-brained floater is an extra in the movie or the second-string team member who sits on the bench the whole game wishing he could play like Michael Jordan. The svadharma teaching is for daft-brained people who don’t know they are daft. Fortunately we know we are off our rockers. They need something to do. As Vidyaranya says, “Jivas enjoy action.” No blame. So we tell them a nice little story about serving God according to their proclivities and hope that one fine day they will get off the bench and become the star of the show.

Jean: You know your svardharma and love life in Maya. Well, I have never really had that. I have the qualities of a nurse, which my mum said I should have been one. Anyway, I do not have that love of life here as James seems to.

James: James can’t help it. What appears as James is just a puppet on Isvara’s string.

Seeker: Being brutally honest is an Asperger’s trait. I’ve always found it vital and unavoidable to just say things as I see them or even as they are. And it’s not always okay to do that. It feels “right” but it can hurt or upset people. So that alone is something I must work on refining, and only acting on when appropriate (I think – correct me if you disagree, please). But this ability or tendency to be honest or to prefer brutal honesty is not something I take credit for. I know it to be from Isvara.

James: Being brutally honest is for the birds. It should only be reserved for extreme situations. It is from Isvara but since you are the Self you should override Isvara in daily situations and be smart (invoke sattva). The Gita says, “Let not the wise unsettle the minds of the ignorant.” Nobody needs to know what you “really feel.” Cultivate diplomacy. However, when some lie consistently generates conflict, then brutal honesty is dharmic. People will be hurt but dharma requires it.

I found your Asperger’s diagnosis very interesting. It’s definitely Vedanta-related. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the clarity of your insight into the nature of your mind is due to your dedication to Self-inquiry.

Seeker: I absolutely agree. I was too identified previously. I came to a distancing of Self from jiva, a few years before we crossed paths, but the teachings have continued to enable me to observe from a neutral place. One thing to say on that and that you may be able to help me with is that I’m very, very literal. That means that when I hear or read things that have a subtle meaning, I can only understand the subtleties once I understand the concept being alluded to. (This is probably true for all minds, but this mind is particularly “dense” or slow to catch on to implied meaning if it isn’t a meaning I’m already acquainted with. So disentangling the double-speak of self and Self and myself and Myself has often been troublesome. Sometimes when I listen to you teach I almost want to interrupt (interrupting is a common Asperger foible) to ask if you may have made a mistake in what you said or if you meant exactly that. The literality of a misunderstanding perhaps due to a grammatical error or slightly incorrect pronoun or whatever catches my brain and it gets hung up there. Never mind. ☺

James: Taking things literally is a tamasic trait. It is actually the social norm. It is fine when you are dealing with other literalists. But not everyone sees things “as they are,” meaning as you see them. So you need to figure out who you are interacting with. When you are sattvic you can appreciate implied meanings.

I, for one, find literalists boring, no offense. If at 4:55 someone asks me what time it is, I will round off. I will say it’s 5:00. But a literalist will correct me. He or she will say, “Why did you say it’s 5:00?” as if there was something wrong with me. When you are under the spell of the rajas/tamas syndrome you have no imagination, no sense of humor.

However, if you are “serious” about actions and results in the transactional reality, i.e. daily life, you need to be a literalist. If the bureaucracy wants a document signed in blue ink, you need to sign it in blue ink. You can’t say, “What’s the difference?” To you the important fact is the signature, not the color. But to a literalist the color is the issue. When the mind is rajasic or tamasic, it is not subtle.

The objectivity you gained from this diagnosis shows that you have assimilated Self-knowledge to a considerable degree. From the beginning I felt that you processed information differently from most people. I saw it as a kind of “blind spot” and took it as a classic case of denial.

Seeker: I’m very curious to know what you thought was the blind spot or denial. Please be direct with me on this, as it’s something I just don’t see or understand, when others mention it.

James: The Aspergers is the blind spot. It “denies,” i.e. doesn’t understand, the views of society. Aspergers people just come in with a very strong tamasic component by no fault of their own. But they are very self-centered, i.e. only concerned with what they want. They are not pretending to be ignorant, at least when they are young. Later, when they start to mature and develop some objectivity, they may feign ignorance because it suits their fancy. But usually, they are well taken care of and have little incentive to question the feeling of difference. Take the case of a sex worker, for instance. If he or she were differently employed there would be no problem fitting in. “Normal” people don’t do sex “work.” If, he’s honest and says, “I’m a gigolo. I fuck rich ladies for money,” it is going to create an instant judgment and make a possible relationship very difficult, unless he’s speaking with a rich old gal who wants sex. Even then he can’t really say it; he needs to pretend that he cares about her. If you have a secret – any secret – known or unknown – you avoid contact and feel bad because you can’t be honest. This may not be the reason you feel uncomfortable – it’s probably just the Aspergers – but I picked up on the guilt right away when we first met. But I didn’t make a judgment. I just wondered what it was about and why. If you had felt judged, you wouldn’t have opened up to me. I’d have been just another bigoted person to avoid. But obviously the point is that your wiring – your svabhava, in Sanskrit – is just different. Now that you have this kind of clarity, it will be much easier to negotiate your interactions with others.

Seeker: Yes, yes, yes. For now I’m still just taking stock, but once things settle a little more, I know this will be the case. Already I feel so much less charged around interactions that I have more recently been so reactive to. I think I reached a tipping point, that precipitated the recognition that it’s actually the wiring. I became more vocal about not being able to or willing to do what was expected of me (e.g. make small talk when I can’t and don’t want to).

James: The problem of fitting in is due to a very pervasive ever-present thought: my self-worth is defined completely by how close my behavior conforms with what is considered “normal.” In terms of the social construct, behavior can be symbolized by a bell-shaped curve. Most behavior falls in the middle, which is defined as normal, whereas the behavior on either end is considered abnormal. But the problem lies in the simple fact that one’s behavior (svadharma) is a result of one’s nature (svabhava) which we call one’s wiring, or programming. It is a problem because we don’t wire ourselves, we are wired by “God,” i.e. whatever wrote the program. Understanding this means that whatever guilt you feel for not conforming to the norm is completely gratuitous, which means that you should be comfortable as a misfit.

Owing to the internet the world is in the process of atomization so society is starting to recognize that people have their own “truth.” So the pressure to conform is much reduced. In any case, you are free to let go of the belief that people who are wired differently are qualified to evaluate you. Whether you have a name like Aspergers or not, there is always a fraction of every society that is wired differently. The good news is that they don’t burn us at the state or crucify us as they did in the good old days.

Seeker: This is the part that I’m not fully grasping. How is an individual dependent on society as such? I get the vice versa because society is composed of individuals, but individuals? Are they dependent on the collective? Sorry to question this, but I’m wanting to really get my head around what the non-dual implications really are. I feel as though something about the non-dual nature of reality hasn’t fully landed for me.

James: Everything you have comes from others, doesn’t it? You want things because someone or something else has them. You want money. You don’t print it. You need people to give it to you. Society is people with gunas. At the same time you need to give what you have to society or society, i.e. people will not take care of you. There are no non-dual implications. The Self is beyond the individual and beyond society. The issue of normal and abnormal is pure duality. If you identify as the Self, Isvara will see to it that society takes care of your “getting and keeping.” In other words, you won’t care if you are “normal” or “abnormal.”

Seeker: There is definitely something to that – if one wants to be valued, accepted and loved from without – one needs to conform. I get that the aim is to shift from dependency on that “normality” in society. But I’m struggling still, to distinguish the ordinary psychological concept of loving and accepting oneself, from what Vedanta says, i.e. if society and the individual are one and the same (non-dual), then it would seem that society needs to love the individual.

James: You are confused about the relationship between the Self (satya) and the world, i.e. society (mithya). There is no difference between Vedanta’s idea of loving and accepting one’s self and the normal psychological concept. Love is love. It is the nature of everyone, whether they are into Vedanta or not. Even rank criminals love something, if it’s only life. But since most people are rajasic and tamasic the love gets is perverted because it is filtered through the gunas. Your parents thought they were loving you because they knew you would have a lot of problems when you grew up if you were “different.” You just didn’t appreciate the reason they abused you.

There is only one Self and its nature is love (ananda). If you think you are a unique person, you are ignorant. You are actually the Self.

James previously: “In terms of the social construct behavior can be symbolized by a bell-shaped curve. Most behavior falls in the middle, which is defined as normal, whereas the behavior on either end is considered abnormal. But the problem lies in the simple fact that one’s behavior (svadharma) is a result of one’s nature (svabhava) which we call one’s wiring, or programming. It is a problem because we don’t wire ourselves, we are wired by “God,” i.e. whatever wrote the program. Understanding this means that whatever guilt you feel for not conforming to the norm is completely gratuitous, which means that you should be comfortable as a misfit.”

Seeker: Ah – I think I’m beginning to see something. The range of misfits is far broader than conventional society would previously have said. So the misfits and the mainstream individuals are the whole. Is that what you have been meaning?

James: Yes. Both the so-called normal people and the misfits are part of the whole. Normal people aren’t “normal” unless there are misfits. Or, to put it differently: if there were no misfits, there would be no normal. Duality (normal and abnormal) is purely conceptual. Both normal people and abnormal people are people first and foremost. If people related to each other as people first, there would be common ground and a lot of the conflict would stop. But when you ignore the people part of you and focus on the normal or abnormal idea, you have an unresolvable situation, i.e. suffering.