Questions and Answers About Living One’s Dharma

There are three types of dharma. Sva-dharma means what you do in relationship to yourself as you are now. Then, there is manusya dharma – what you do in relationship to other living entities; your ethical conduct. And, sanatana-dharma is who you are and your activities in relationship to Krsna. In all these areas, you need to find who you are. 

Question: It can be difficult to find your place and authentic self in the world (your sva-dharma). Does finding it also lead to finding your spiritual dharma or identity? 

Answer: No, that in itself could lead you to a lot of material attachments. For instance, Mick Jagger has found his authentic self – he is a musician. There are many successful people like that who are still sleeping, perhaps, in spiritual life. 

However, finding your authentic self helps you to find what you’re supposed to do in this world and to live a disturbance free life. If you don’t find it, very often you come to what is known as spiritual bypassing. That is a terrible thing, where you declare something as spiritual, which is not spiritual at all, but instead it is some type of con. To avoid that and other problems, it is good to be properly situated.

Question: How can one do selfless devotional service, while at the same time consider who one is on the human level and what service is authentic for us? The challenge seems to be that much of our perception of self is based on our false ego and not really the true self. Based on that perception, we may choose to act in a way that seems in line with our nature, but is actually not what is best for us. Following that perception we may even resist Krsna’s arrangements meant for our growth in the name of living authentically instead of embracing those arrangements.

Answer: It is the firm understanding of each spiritual tradition that in the beginning of a sincere, committed spiritual life, it is important to learn the craft. For that, during Srila Prabhupada’s times, we had training programs like ‘bhakta programs’. Srila Prabhupada always insisted for his disciples to be trained so that they know what is what and how to actually walk the spiritual path. For instance, part of this was learning the scriptures and getting their Bhakti Sastri. Prabhupada’s idea was: training must come first. 

We can view walking the path of bhakti as an art. A craftsman is not always artistic. But every artist has to know the craft! In other words, a committed devotee, that is, a devotee who wishes to go all the way, should know the philosophy, the rules, the different applications of spiritual life. He or she should know how to worship Krsna. He or she should know how to put on tilaka. They should know all these things. Then only, they can offer a wonderful, authentic service to Krsna. 

From a lecture by Sacinandana Swami at Goloka-dhama, February 22, 2024

Srila Prabhupada: What Is Bhakti Yoga

When all the senses engage in relationship with the Personality of Godhead, one’s perfection is technically called bhakti-yoga, which entails detaching the senses from material indulgence and attaching them to the service of the Lord. When one is freed from all designated conditional life and fully engages in the service of the Lord, one’s service is called bhakti-yoga.  

From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.21.13.