In recent times, especially with the spread of social networks, everyone believes they have the right to give their opinion, judge and criticize. Everyone wants to influence others, usually with the goal of shaping other people’s behavior so that it responds to their worldview.
This constant interference cannot but generate an opposite reaction of rejection. Ultimately, every action generates a reaction of equal intensity, but in the opposite direction, according to Newton’s third law, also known as the “principle of action and reaction.”
Ancient wisdom proposes a different path: dharmadhatu.
What is dharmadhatu?
As with many terms in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, it is difficult to find an exact translation. In Mahayana Buddhism , for example, dharmadhatu means the “realm of all things or phenomena,” but also indicates the “deepest nature or essence,” as well as the purified mind in its natural state, free from obscurations.
In a way, the concept of dharmadhatu also refers to the harmony of the universe, which occurs when we allow each “thing-happening” to be freely and spontaneously itself, without interference. For each “thing-event”, called shih, we understand everything that surrounds us, which has a unique and individual character, from people to animals.
The control that distances
“Let everything have the freedom to be as it is. Do not separate yourself from the world by trying to organize it around you,” recommended Alan Watts, alerting us to our tendency to want to control everything.
However, this attempt at control ends up exerting a force on the things that, in the end, we will receive with the same intensity, which will cloud the very nature of the phenomena and people around us.
Control only generates anxiety in those who try to control and discomfort in those who are controlled. As a result, frustration will grow and the distance between them will widen more and more. Each attempt at control denies the authenticity of the other and, therefore, distances us from his essence.
If we push someone to behave in a certain way, to what extent will their behavior be sincere? Will it continue when it is no longer under that pressure? Control camouflages true intentions, becoming a curtain that prevents us from knowing the other. At the same time, the other feels that he cannot express himself authentically.
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow also believed that excessive control over oneself or others ends up hindering the process of self-actualization; That is, it becomes an obstacle to fully developing human potential. This control will prevent us from expressing ourselves freely and genuinely, which is why they referred to the need to establish non-directive relationships.
How to apply dharmadhatu in everyday life?
Dharmadhatu does not mean sitting idly and doing nothing. In fact, it is important to make a distinction between the kind of freedom that dharmadhatu proposes and the mere laissez faire with which we often confuse it.
Western laissez faire implies staying on the sidelines and not getting involved, assuming an almost indifferent and indolent attitude. Instead, dharmadhatu involves a conscious effort to understand or get closer to the essence of others and phenomena.
It is a complementary concept to wu-wei, which involves abandoning the desire for control and letting things flow naturally, following their current. To achieve this, at its base is the intention to transcend, the desire to thoroughly cleanse our mind of preconceived ideas.
“Just like a candle in a jar does not provide any clarity; Likewise, inside the jar of passions the dharmadhatu is not observed either. If we pierce the jar in some places, rays of light will emerge from those same places,” wrote the Indian philosopher Nāgārjuna.
Therefore, this concept encourages us to free ourselves from the prejudices and stereotypes that cloud our vision while we open ourselves more to the essence and flow of events, trying to understand what is happening inside and outside to develop that wisdom that goes beyond the criticism, letting everyone find themselves and, along that journey, develop their natural potential. Only in this way can we relate from our essence, with a curious, free and authentic attitude.
References:
Nagaryuna (150-250) Elogio al Dharmadhatu. Clásicos de la India.
Kang-Nam Oh (1979) Dharmadhātu: An Introduction to Hua-yen Buddhism. The Eastern Buddhist; 12(2): 72-91.
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