Dharam

Dharam or Religion

Dharam is our universal term for God’s Divine Laws, which govern and empower everything from human behaviour and worship to the movements of the universe. It is beyond dogma and sects. Sectarian religions have been made by humans, not by the Prophets. The truly spiritual person is above all these small paths. God is nearer, than your hands and feet, sitting in your heart, bringing more and more light inside you. God does not need any more praise from us; the whole universe is already praising God. God is so famous that He is concealing Himself. But even though we can add nothing to God's greatness by our praise, we must ever remember God through love, faith and service.

Dharam is not costly temples. It is not the light of a single Prophet; God's Messengers continually come into the world to show people the way. It is not a particular concept of God, for nothing is outside of God.

Religion is God's Love

Religion must never be used to further our own purposes or power. Religion is God's Love. Jesus told his disciples, "Just as I share this love freely with you, share that love freely with everyone. Never think to profit from it. You should have no demands, just as I make no demands of you."

Dharam is...

Dharam is not theory; it is practical application. Whenever Dharam has spread in the world, it has given practical proof of its truth. The Prophets have not just described trees and flowers; they have produced them and shown their beauty to the people. People have very little faith in religion because today there is only talk. For spiritual teachers as well as devotees, putting the teachings into practice requires a life of meditation and love for the Creator.

Each religion has two aspects: Vision and history. Vision is spiritual. It is born of the inner light, of the Spirit. The all-pervading Light of God is seen through the inner light of Gyan in a person, and the words born out of that Light are visionary revelations. Those words can only be understood when we meditate and search within ourselves for God's Light, the source of that vision.

Dharam has no connection with that aspect of a religion that comes from those who just want to prove their own intelligence, and not from the Prophets. History also includes rituals and restrictions on behaviour that develop after the visionary basis of the religion. The Prophet Mohammed, in his greatness and his humility said, "If sometimes you do not follow the Hadith, (reports of what the Prophet Mohammad said, did, or approved), God will forgive you. But if you do not follow what is revealed in the Quran, God will not pardon you."

Most of what we call religion today is simply management, not vision. It is based on selfish motives. Where there is selfishness, there is no dharam.

Essence of Religion

It is our limited thinking that has created the forts and slogans of religions. If you approach the scriptures of all religions from a state of inner wisdom, you will find many similarities among them. What is the essence of religion? Truthfulness, love, faith in God, and service to everyone. We should transcend these sectarian barriers, think of each other as fellow human beings, and regard all Prophets as our Fathers. They all came to love us.