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STAGES OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
165 he does not have them as 'owning them. He only holds them as custodian; books, etc.
The guru may be a man or a woman. Dharma — Rules of Conduct
Dharma means the body of rules of conduct. It does two things, it prevents a living being from falling down spiritually, and it helps him to go up spiritually. These rules apply to all living beings, not only to man. All living beings are social, and these rules have something to do with a living being's relationships with other living beings. Our own development only takes place by reason of our actions and life in relation to other living beings. The ultimate object of all these rules so far as they are social, must come to this : that we must do some good to our fellow beings. The object is that we may be able to do some good to the people around us. The basis of these rules is pity, compassion, love, doing good, benevolence, kindness, etc. (called dayā) Love (Dayā)
'Dayā' can be manifested in many ways, and we want to know them, dayā being the foundation of the rules.
One of the ways in which dayā would be shown, would be that he would follow the good ways of his family, for instance, in not killing flies, etc. This is called dravya dayā - the right action without knowing why, that is to say, when the internal attitude of mind is not active.
A second way in which dayā would manifest itself, would be that we should feel a desire that other living beings should develop their spiritual nature; the previous way mentioned simply protected the bodily welfare. Here the desire is to do good to the soul of the other living beings. This form is called bhāva dayā.
Sva-dayā. A third way in which dayā shows itself. Sva means 'one's own'. It is a feeling of pity for one's own soul that it should have been so long, that is, for all past time, in the deluded state of mithyātva --- this pity comes after the samyaktva has been experienced; and in consequence of this feeling of pity, he takes care to remain aloof from the pains and pleasures of life, letting them come and go without identifying his own self with them.
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