The various brakes operating on man

Go straight along the path of karma (action) and dharma (virtue) towards Brahma (the Supreme Reality); this is your destiny. Karma has to be done, there is no turning away. Each has his allotted task, according to the status, taste, tendency and earned merit. Do it, with the love of God and fear of sin, deep in your heart. Welcome pain and grief so that you take both success and failure as hammer strokes to shape you into a sturdy sadhaka. Inner content is more important than outer prosperity.

Dharma is the moral code, the experience of sages, the controlling discipline which checks the mind and the senses. There are many such brakes operating on man. Vyakti dharma (controls affecting the individual, as such), Sahaja dharma (controls affecting the nature of man, as man), Ashrama dharma (controls affecting the stage of life, like student householder, ascetic), Varna dharma (controls pertaining to the duties cast upon man as a limb of the community), etc. All these brakes are complementary, they do not cause confusion, they help progress, each in its own way. Krishna reminded Arjuna of his Varna dharma as a Kshatriya, and also of his Sahaja dharma as a jeevi (an instrument in the hands of the Lord). Besides these, there is also the Visesha dharma (obligations on special occasions or when faced with special situations). You must therefore walk warily towards the Goal.

The temple is but brick and mortar. This idol is but stone. But, you are determined to see in it the Divine Principle. If you can penetrate behind the stone and see the Divine Basis, how much easier it is to see the Lord who resides in the heart of every living, every human being? Try to realise that first, so that your faith in the idol and the temple can be well settled. Revere Man; that is the first step towards reverence for God; for, Man is pratyaksha (perceptible), God is paroksha (imperceptible). (SSS Vol.5)