My first encounter with Buddhist dharma would be in my early 20s. Like most young men, I was not particularly happy.
Dharma is a sanskrit word. It simply means that which is right, that which is correct, that which is the divine law.
The future of Dharma is in women's hands now because they have this energy which was never really tapped.
Once in a while an enlightened teacher goes out into the world and spreads the dharma. They attract some attention, and it is a great spectacle to see who and why and what is drawn.
The dharma is here. And the dharma is in your heart. Where else would it be?
Where there is Dharma there is no karma. So we have to lean on Dharmic values and we have to build a Dharmic family, we have to relate to that family and we have to relate to it deeply.
There are several realms which ordinary persons do not perceive. Because they cannot see them, that doesn't mean they don't exist. One of these realms is the sambhogakaya that can only be visited by highly realized Bodhisattvas. In the pure realm of the sambhogakaya, the Dharma is continuously taught. One sambhogakaya realm is Tushita, which is presided over by the next Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni dwelled there before coming to earth to give Dharma teachings.
And whatever the form of your own resurrection, you will arise, driven not by the Great Search, but by your own Great Duty, your limitless Dharma, the manifestation of your own highest potentials, and the world will begin to change because of you. And you will never flinch, and you will never fail in that great Duty, and you will never turn away, because simple, ever-present awareness will be with you now and forever, even unto the end of the worlds, because now and forever and endlessly forever, there is only Spirit, only intrinsic awareness of just this, and nothing more.
Start simply everyday by asking yourself, "What is the dharma today? What should I do? What is right? What does the universe want from me?"
If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.
Everyone in advanced meditation practice should be involved with the economic support of the spread of the dharma. We live in a material world, and it's very expensive to teach meditation.
There's something so sweet about being on your yoga mat, whether that be at Jivamukti, Dharma Mittra, or in my living room.
If you let go completely you will have complete peace.
The one who recognizes the uncertainty of phenomena is the Dharma within you.
If you have humility, you are willing to undertake anything to spread the dharma.
A person's ethics and character are not tested in good times. It is only in bad times that a person shows how steadfast he is to his dharma.
Dharma is an ancient word for truth.
Souls have different journeys. The best thing to know is, not what everybody else does, but what you do. Self-discovery essentially is finding your own dharma, your own rhythm.
Dharma doesn't necessarily mean following a mundane and boring life. It means a life of high adventure, not a life of endless, boring repetition.
The very best players, when they are practicing, put everything they've got into it. But then they leave it for a while. And it's the same in dharma practice.
