Aim:
To realise that each of us has a dharma (right conduct) to perform, and to fulfil it to the utmost of our abilities.
To understand the importance of good company and friendship.
Introduction:
What is dharma? 'For fire, the capacity to burn is dharma. When it cannot burn it cannot be fire, it becomes only
coal. Dharma of sugar is its sweetness. If there is no sweetness, it cannot be sugar, but only sand. Therefore
if we do not propagate with our conscience, it cannot be dharma. In everything, we should follow the conscience.
If you follow worldly dharma, it will never be permanent. Dharma is of two types: one is worldly dharma, and the
other starts from Divinity. Following God's will is real dharma. Swadharma.' - Sri Sathya Sai Baba
We each have a duty to perform, either as a son, daughter, sister, brother, husband, wife, mother or father etc.
We each have a set of rules to abide by, yet how many of us do actually fulfil these duties?
Good company is an essential part of right living. A cup of water can gain value when mixed with ten cups of milk.
But a cup of milk loses its value when mixed with ten cups of water. Good company is milk, bad company is water.
The company you keep can very much affect your actions. i.e. right action can become wrong action purely as a result
of the influence of the people you are with or the friends you choose.
Associated values with right conduct:
| Cleanliness | Dependability | Initiative |
| Duty | Ethics | Helpfulness |
| Contentment | Courage | Perseverance |
| Gratitude | Goals | Healthy Living |
| Good Behaviour | Leadership | Proper Use of Time |
| Resourcefulness | respect | responsibility |
| Sacrifice | self-confidence | Simplicity |
| Self-sufficiency | | |
Quotations:
"Our characters are the results of our conduct"
- Aristotle
"Work is Worship. Duty is God. Even the tiniest work is a flower placed at the feet of God."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba, discourse on the 20th February 1993
"Deeds determine ones's place in society. One becomes and outcaste or an highly placed person by one's deeds.
Evil deeds are easy to do; good deeds are difficult; but good deeds pay the highest rewards."
- Buddhism
"Man is known by his deeds and is judged even so by God. God will reward good deeds and punish evil ones. To profess goodness is of no value; one must do good deeds, or be condemned."
- Christianity
"Do good at all times, for man will be judged by his works."
- Judaism
"One becomes what he does. The doer of good deeds will become good, and the doer of evil deeds will become evil. Action,
the doing of good, is superior to renunciation. Thus, at all times, one should be doing good."
- Hinduism
"We come to the Wise One through good deeds. It is important that we keep ourselves physically fit to do good deeds at all times."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba
"Be good, see good and do good."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba
"Sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Activities:
1. Examine the company that you keep. Are you straying from the spiritual path, or is the company you keep beneficial for you? See if you need to improve upon the situation. Is there anything attracting you to 'bad' company? What do you define as 'bad'?.
2. Why do most of us still persist in wrong behaviour although we know what it is wrong? Discuss this or use it as a title for an essay.
3. What are the four 'F's (see Quotations)? Who is the master? Who or what is the Devil? Why does it say 'Fight'? Is it not bad to fight? What is the Game? And how do we finish is? Conduct this as a study circle.
4. Read 'The voice of the Avatar in Dharma for Life - The Divine teachings of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba'. What do you think about Dharma (right conduct) of each family member? Do you feel that you practice a different Dharma (right conduct) for each role you play in the family?
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