Swadharma is not selfish. It’s sacred. It’s how you love yourself enough to be real. 
As Carl Jung has once said, Those who look outward wonder, those who look inward awaken.” 

It was around this time last year when I was at Dhamma Thali, Jaipur, serving in a 10-day Vipassana course. Before beginning the seva, all servers attend a discourse. It’s a kind of orientation to understand how to serve mindfully.

And interestingly, the very first word I heard there was “Swadharma.”

Understanding that one word made me realize how ego can be as subtle as the “me” that always wants to do the right and good thing.
How ego can slowly create an identity based on what it perceives as right and good.
How even the act of generating compassion, the longing for peace, can become fuel for inner hatred and turmoil, if not observed carefully.And later, in the same year an interesting incident happened in one of the courses I attended. The centre was undergoing some construction work, and from the first day itself, it was noisy. Really noisy.
Every time I went to the meditation hall, the only thing I could hear was the sound of drilling, hammering, and construction workers chatting.

Naturally, irritation started bubbling up.
I began thinking about all the effort I had made to come here, all that I had set aside for this one opportunity to go deep and this? A construction site concert?

It felt unfair.

I went to the management, asking them to please do something about the noise.
I told them, “I can’t meditate like this.” I was so sure that no one else in that hall could either.

But beneath that plea, what was really arising was aversion, towards the noise, towards the people making the noise, towards the situation itself.
Yet, ironically, I was convinced that I was protecting peace.
A little part of me was even waiting for that silent badge of honour to be pinned on me, once the noise stopped.

But no one listened to me and I’m so grateful for that.

The course was 8 days long.
And until the 6th day, I stayed trapped in the same irritation, unable to meditate deeply.

Finally, I went to the conducting teacher.
I asked her, with genuine sincerity, “What am I missing? Is it really the noise outside that is disturbing me?"

She gently replied,
“Accept that there is noise. And accept that it’s creating aversion inside you.”

I paused.

Something inside me softened.
Feeling more humbled, I asked, “Then what is it about?”

She told me something more, something simple yet profound. I thanked her and quietly walked back to my room.
That night, her words kept echoing in my mind. I didn’t try to fix anything. I didn’t overthink. I just sat with it.

The next day, I followed the schedule as usual and went to the meditation hall. I sat.

And something unexpected happened.
After a while, I couldn’t hear the noise anymore.

The same drills, the same shouts, the same sounds, still happening.
But I couldn’t hear them.

What changed?

Outside, nothing.
Inside, everything.

What the teacher told me changed something fundamental. She had said:
“It’s not the outside noise, it’s your inside noise that’s playing with your equanimity.”

She was absolutely right.

The moment I stopped resisting the present moment and just accepted it for what it was, I no longer had to fight it. 
My attention came back to myself, to the real noise, the one inside.

Once I did that deliberately and diligently, after a while, the outer noise faded into the background. And I could finally be with my breath, fully and completely.

We often think that changing the cover of a broken sofa will make it more comfortable. But comfort doesn’t come from a pretty cover, it comes from a solid foundation.

Only a sofa with a stable structure can let your ass sit in peace.

And this is where Swadharma becomes essential. And it isn’t just about our external roles being a teacher, an artist, a warrior.
It’s about inner authenticity, living in alignment with our evolving nature, our deeper purpose, and our truth.

Swadharma is also not about being selfish or losing sight of what’s happening outside of your life.
It’s about being true to your own self, because only when we are true to ourselves, can we truly be there for others.
Only when we are authentic within, can we be real in the world.
Only when we feel compassion for our own self, can we extend true compassion to others.
Only when we learn to love ourselves, can we love others with depth and purity.

When we begin to understand Swadharma, our focus starts shifting, slowly, gently, from outside to inside.

We all come into this world alone, and we leave alone.
This truth is not sad—it’s sacred. It reminds us of the unique and individual path we each walk in this lifetime.

It’s the responsibility we carry for our own growth.
It’s the journey of realizing our own potential, of purifying our mind, and becoming an evolved being, with heightened awareness of self.
And only from that space, can we perform our dharma in the outer world, with clarity, with compassion, and with a true sense of unity for all.

Because without Swadharma, whatever dharma we try to perform will carry the invisible weight of ego.

And ego, my friend, can prosper just as comfortably in righteousness and benevolence as it can in selfishness and pride.
It hides quietly behind the mask of being “a good person.”
And it keeps you blind to the greater reality.

Let your journey begin with you.
Let it begin with your Swadharma.

 

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