AT THE FEET OF THE MOTHER
Ask Alok da

What is swabhava and swadharma? I didn’t have goals to become a doctor or engineer etc. I wanted to do well whatever it is that I did for work. I don’t like telling people what to do, not interested in attention, but having the space to do my best. I am not a high planning-oriented person, I try to do what I truly want to do. But, all these become an issue in the society, where people are expected to be very driven, especially in work. My vision naturally arises after one phase of life is over and then I get to slid into the next one, but it is smooth and organic. I also don’t like to be around very dominating people, I have an inward turn of nature in general and not boisterous🫤. I like doing everything quietly, [conti]

I enjoy being honest and straightforward but in a grounded way. I am totally undramatic. . I don’t like being around very loud, bombastic behaviors. I am being confused, because at times people read some leadership books, some ideas and they want to bring it into work, which totally imbalances the way of working for me. Whatever can be done organically gets distributed by over-planning and too much eagerness. I don’t understand why we need to copy or borrow some ideas from others, when they can arise in ourselves if we are dedicated to doing the work But, I am the only one to be subtly affected by it, most people chirp around and go on. I feel that my life is not mentally organized (where I plan and do it) but from a different place within, where it either resonates for me to do it or not. I am more free in my action, don’t have many preferences, but I just insist on doing the work quietly, neatly without over planning, even though all the details are eventually taken care of and done correctly. It is just that the manifestation of it is quite different.

How can I understand my swadharma from my personality, are they related? Can our svabhava and swadharma change during the course of our life?

You are ahead of your times or rather while the people are running on the old beaten tracks that lead us nowhere except in unending circles you have opted for the new lane, the road less travelled or the path less taken. Your thoughts, inwardness, attitudes and aims all point towards the readiness for the true spiritual life. To seek the Divine and manifest His Will in all you speak or do is your only dharma now.

Affectionately,

Alok Da

Share this…

Related Posts

I remember once reading in Sri Aurobindo’s commentary on the Isha Upanishad that one cannot become a Brahmin without first becoming a Kshatriya. I believe that I never had the Kshatriya element developed sufficiently within me, and it has always been a source of embarrassment and insecurity for me as a man. 💪🙏🏻🪷[…]

He said both are needed. But these are things ingrained within us. Brahmin and Kshatriya are not  soul states, inner innate temperaments and not so much of outer actions. Nevertheless everything can be developed by practice. By taking the challenges of life, through vigorous physical exercises, by praying for strength, by reading …

Read More >

Bhaiya, Rishi Panchami fast is coming up, and I read the story behind it. Honestly, I found it quite absurd. The story talks about a woman unknowingly breaking certain rules during menstruation, cooking food that her husband eats, and then both of them facing severe karmic consequences in their next life. 🪷🙏🏻 […]

Yes, all these things have been added much later and have no authority in the main  Scriptures. It is a story added in some of the Puranas, mainly I suppose to enforce rules of hygiene for women during the menstrual period. This was one of the ways to instil certain hygiene practices through fear. It has no meaning now. Most of the fasts …

Read More >

How should we understand deities like Subrahmanyeshwara (Skanda/Murugan) and Vinayaka (Ganesha)? Are they individual divine beings, cosmic powers of the One Divine, or symbols of different aspects of consciousness? How should an aspirant in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga relate to them in practice? 🙏🏻✨

The four original gods, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh and, behind them all Krishna, are, in their origin, the four aspects of the One Divine, named in Indian spiritual thought as Sacchidananda. Sat (सत) is infinite existence from which Brahma ji emerges. Chit is Chit-tapas, Consciousness and Force from which Hari or Vishnu ji and Hara or Shiv ji …

Read More >