FREE ESSAY ON DHARMA

DHARMA

Dharma is the moral law that Hindus follow throughout life. Through the teachings of Gita,
one can find the right way of living and the correct attitude for every situation. Dharma
can be applied to every walk of life; this paper will discuss the application of the
Dharma in a student's life.
According to Gita, the path of devotion is the easiest path to finding God. With worship
and meditation people can find God. Along with worship action is required. Action is the
way of surviving but it should not bind the person, instead this action must free the
person. Therefore action and work must be treated like worship and must be done in the
most perfect way and to the best of one's ability. Yet, one must work and offer the
fruits of this work to God. The Gita teaches that we should live a detached life,
whatever we do is only God's work done through us. This detachment does not mean we run
away from the responsibility, instead it means that we do our best and be free from our
objects of desire. We should reject all worldly things in order to achieve spirituality.
Therefore, our work should not contain selfish interest, as it should be offered as a
service to others and its fruits to God. This is the main theme of the teachings of Gita
that apply to every aspect of life.
According to this view, a student should look for knowledge and perform the academic
tasks not to earn grades or a degree hoping for a better life or a good salary. A student
doing that is acting with selfish interest for the purpose of a reward. Instead, a
student should be detached from such benefit when performing academic duties. These
duties should be performed with God in mind and to be useful in life through action, also
they are performed to benefit the society and humanity. Following the Dharma of a student
will make that student detached from worldly desires in addition it will eliminate stress
from a student's life. This attitude will help students overcome anxiety before tests and
eliminate the pressure of academic work. The general attitude will be that a student does
the work because of wanting to do it rather than having to do it. This will make students
attend classes with enthusiasm and homework will not be a burden anymore. This should not
be interpreted as laziness. A person must still perform the work and to his/her best
ability, only the fruit is rejected but the work itself is welcomed. We find some of
these teachings applied already in classes such as the group-assignments that promote
cooperation and the rejection of selfishness. Students cooperate and perform the
assignment together as they share the knowledge and help each other.
This student dharma will also promote growth of the group rather than the selfish
individual. Envy and tension between peers will be replaced by cooperation and harmony.
The teachings of Gita and the use of the Dharma in the academic life will enhance the
academic experience. In addition, it will enhance each student's abilities, as it will
give more freedom to pursue the knowledge instead of worrying about the grades. I think
that students will have a better academic experience if they follow the Dharma and apply
it to their student life.