How do we know whether we are in harmony with our true nature and God’s plan – what does harmony feel like?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
How do we know when we are acting in dharma, that is in harmony with our true nature and God’s plan, how does that feel like? Answer, harmonization is not homogenization.
We never lose our individuality. We always have our free will and based on our free will, we have our individual preferences and those are not entirely eradicated. Rather, they are harmonized with God.
So, basically, consider harmony from various other examples. If you are out of harmony, how does it feel? If you are used to Mac keyboards, and then you are working on Windows keyboard, certain keys like control and command are at different positions. And if you are out of harmony with the way Windows keyboard functions, then two things, we don’t function effectively, the results don’t come as expected.
And we also get agitated by that. So external disruption and internal disturbance. Both come when we are out of harmony.
If we are driving in a country where we are meant to drive on the right, but we are habituated driving on the left and we drive on the left. Again, this harmony is seen by external disruption and internal disturbance. People will be honking at us and we will be annoyed why everybody’s honking at us.
Why are you not able to just drive? When we are typing or driving harmoniously, what happens? We can get on with our real business. Our real business, say, while typing is to send a message, write a code or whatever. And we are driving our purpose to get to a destination.
So when we are in harmony, basically, we can progress toward our purpose with the least friction. So the minimization of friction is a key characteristic of harmony. So inner tension goes away to the extent we learn to harmonize.
Now, because each one of us is a conscious being, so harmony doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t think of God’s plan. Or our nature as one narrow and rigid line that we all have to tow. Rather, it is a direction we pursue.
So for example, even if somebody says they have an intellectual nature, among intellectuals also there can be people of different types. Some intellectuals may be more based on scripture, some intellectuals may be more based on contemporary application of scripture. Some intellectuals may be based more on within contemporary applications, socio-cultural applications, some may be more of scientific presentation.
So we have to find out our individual dharma by self-observation. Again, as I said, harmony means that there is no friction. That means when we are doing something harmoniously, we feel good doing it and we are able to do it well, we do it good.
So inner comfort and outer competence are the signs of harmony. How do we know whether we are acting in dharma, whether in harmony? So broadly, again, there are two aspects to this. That one is through self-observation, the other is through scriptural education.
And both combined for us to help may establish a devotional connection. That means, let’s repeat this point, we learn about ourselves by observing ourselves. Self-observation is an extremely important habit if we want to do anything constructive in our lives.
And just by regularly, at that time, why did I get so agitated? I didn’t have. But we did get agitated and then we have to regulate ourselves. Okay, this particular situation provokes me, maybe I have a vulnerability over here.
I didn’t know I was so good at that. Self-observation is one thing like that. But dharma is not just whatever makes us feel good.
Sometimes, somethings are bad for us and bad for others, they make us feel good. So, foundationally, it is scriptural education. The scripture doesn’t give dharma as an exhaustive set of law codes.
Rather, it gives them as a set of principles and examples. And then we learn what specific practices we can have based on those principles and examples. And that’s how we move on in our lives.
So, to the extent, we study scripture properly, it gives us, you know, studying scripture strengthens our ethical compass, our moral compass by which we get a better sense of what is right and what is wrong. And then, third thing would be developing our devotional connection. So, devotional connection means that we connect with Krishna regularly, internally.
And by that connection, Krishna guides us from within. And then we get our innate sense, this I should do, this I should not do. So, by scriptural education, we primarily get a rational kind of understanding of what we should do and what we should not do.
Whereas, through the devotional connection, we get a sense, all of us have a conscience and the conscience, why we feel something is good or something is bad, we might not always be able to give a rational explanation. Or rather, the rational explanation may come after the sense that I should not do and then we reason why do I feel I should not do this, or I should do this that way. So, the basic point is that the devotional connection helps us and of course, all this happens well, self-observation, the scriptural education, devotional connection, all this happens well in spiritual association, especially association of those who can, who are experienced and expert enough to guide and mentor us.
When we are in harmony with ourselves, that actually helps us to contribute effectively. When we are in harmony with God, that contribution becomes not just effective, but it becomes revolutionary. So, we feel a deep sense of peace and purpose.
When we are connected, when we are in harmony with Him, we experience an