What's Dharma got to do with my potential?
Do's and don'ts basically..
My friends are surprised that I know what I want in my life. I have known for a long time what I want to do and it doesn’t change.
Skip to the next heading if you want to cut to the chase.
It was 2:30. I was eating my lunch - heated up subji from yesterday’s lunch. It was Ekadasi which is a fasting day on the Vaisnava calendar. Fasting from beans and grains helps with digestion and helps one to remember Krsna.
My housemates were coming in to heat theirs up too. I live with 8 young men, a married couple in there 40’s and their 4-year-old. All of them are Hare Krsnas. (Article on what that means coming soon..)
[Name] asked [name] asked “What are the seed verses of the Bhagavad Gita?”
Sitting there knowing I have a tendency to seek attention through speaking, I made a choice to keep my mouth shut except for the necessary opening to continue honoring my meal.
[Name] sat down and started eating. I remained silent and then she said “how are you Muchukunda?” I said “amazing” in the tone I would use to say “I’m OK”
”Wow”, she said, “you were just waiting for mew to ask weren’t you?” I guess she wasn’t used to me not talking. “I have a question for you..” She asked me about her business and I let her speak without giving my 2 cents unless and until she actually asked for it. Turned out there was no question after all. She just needed a sounding board.
Her husband came in on the phone. Shortly after finishing the conversation and hanging up, he exclaimed “OK we’re back on track”
The two of them are going through the process I have been going through for a decade - trying to start a business. I know they will do well because they do well in life.
Actually I know they will do well because they do. (period)
In the film ‘Boy’ by Taika Waititi, the main character (Boy) is buffing the hallway at school as punishment for attacking his bully in class. A tutor gets to talking with him on his way out and says “you’re full of potential” “whats does that word mean - potential” Boy asks. Mr Langstone looks at his watch and says “i’ts 3:30. I’m off duty, You have a good holiday”
What is potential anyway?
Potential comes from the word potent which means power and ability. Its our power and ability. We are all-powerful and able but many of us don’t know what our power and ability is.
In Sanskrit the word ‘dharma’ means our purpose or our occupational duty. We have 2 dharmas. Sanatan dharma - our eternal dharma which is innate and fixed and we have our svadharma - career. For example, I am an artist. That is my sva dharma in this life. I have found that my dharma doesn’t always pay the bills so I have to find another dharma to do that. I chose youth work because I get to teach art. My Sanatan dharma is the same as yours - to serve God. So I marry them together and that’s bhakti yoga lifestyle in a nutshell.
There are two ways to find your sva dharma:
The Hard and Miserable Way
The 5 essential aspects of this approach are as follows:
Stay in your head and think about options and questions.
Say no to doing stuff because you don’t know what the perfect use of your time is.
Sleep only when you're too tired to keep going and wake up when youre too uncomfortable lying in your grose bed.
Exist in a state of analysis paralysis hating your potentially awesome life.
Go on the benefit and pretend to look for work while masterminding the perfect scalable, duplicatable, 6 figure passive income dream life that you think you deserve no less than.
The Spiritual Way
The 5 elements of this path are as follows:
Work with what you have in front of you and build a reputation for doing something well. Listen to what people say about your strengths and let that guide your thinking about your career.
Try and fail and try again using the information you gather
20% of what you do will produce 80% of your results. Listen to feedback and look at subjective facts to identify that 20% and do them exclusively.
Let go of the need to control and enjoy. Be committed to gods ill and let Him be your guide, manager, and giver of the paycheck.
Understand that life like a tree and the fruits are only a natural result of deep roots and a strong trunk. If you didn’t produce fruits today that’s OK. Society will live. Are you living? Make sure you prioritize God and yourself before worrying about adding value to the world.
I always knew what I wanted to do career-wise but the exact details were very vague and that caused a lot of stress. Applying the 5 spiritual principles allowed me to find the clarity I needed to let go of the extras so I could apply myself fully to what I really want to do - Do art and support youth.
Conclusion
Finding your thing ain’t easy but by working with what you have, staying in action, refining what works, being a flexible instrument for divine use, and making sure you are first priority you can find the serenity and clarity to identify and crush your potential.
If you would like a to discuss anything on this topic with shoot me a WhatsApp message on +642041175747
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