In my early years as an aspirant in the Himalayan Yoga-Meditation Tradition, I was eager to discover and embody my dharma. Dharma is a Sanskrit word with various meanings, one of which is one’s natural purpose, mission, vocation, or calling. That was what I sought. I wanted to find “my work,” which would enable me to access my hidden talents and gifts, and would, in turn, lead me on the path to Self-realization.
When we walk our dharma path, we touch something deeper within ourselves, tapping into our innate gifts to best serve the world and find greater fulfillment. Swami Rama said that our dharma brings us the experiences we need to grow on our meditative path.
Each of us has a dharma, and it doesn’t have to be grand or earthshaking; it can seem humble. Yet it’s our natural mission, and everyone’s is unique.
You’ve undoubtedly met or seen people living their dharma; they radiate joy while doing their work and excel at it, as if they were born for it.
One’s dharma resembles a guiding star or a way of being, rather than just a job description. For example, Swami Veda Bharati once told me that his dharma was to teach. He didn’t mean he taught in a school; rather, he taught with every move and every utterance. He was a teacher inside and out. His teaching took many forms: sometimes he lectured, other times he provided personal guidance, and at different times he wrote. He taught with a glance and through the tone of his voice. I learned simply by watching how he moved and lived. He taught through his presence, even when he practiced silence.
One’s dharma is not imposed externally; it is an essential truth about you that is found within. When you model your life after a character in a movie, pursue a career only for money, or do work to please your parent, it is unlikely to be your dharma.
My dad, who worked as a dentist, suggested that I follow in his footsteps and arranged an interview at the acclaimed dental school he had attended. However, I had no interest in that career. When I went to the interview, I was first asked to wait in a small room filled with shelves overflowing with teeth, and I was repulsed by the sight. When the interviewer asked me why I wanted to be a dentist, I said, “I don’t. My dad wants me to be one.” Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t accepted into the school, and I felt relieved. I couldn’t see myself doing that as my life’s work.
I don’t believe being a dentist was Dad’s dharma either. Although he was skilled at working with his hands and creating things, he found dental work tedious and tiring. After decades as a dentist, he retired and started a new career as a commercial real property developer, where he excelled. He worked day and night out of enthusiasm rather than obligation and achieved great success. Was that his dharma? I don’t know, but I believe it might have been, as it energized him and provided him opportunities to do things he would not have done as a dentist.
There are no written instructions for finding your dharma. As I searched for mine, I felt my way with my heart, paying special attention to which actions brought me joy and for which I had a natural talent. This was a slow process of discovery. Often, the conditioning I acquired as a child obscured my understanding. But eventually, over the years, I found a path that sang to me and was delightful for me to tread.
I worked for several years as a lawyer, and it became clear to me that it wasn’t my dharma. One time, while serving as a Deputy Public Defender, I defended my client in a trial. As I delivered my final argument to the jury, striving to convince them that my client was not guilty, words came into my mind: “My work is to teach something, but this is not it.” I wasn’t bad at law, but the work of a lawyer was not what anthropologist and writer Carlos Castaneda called a path with heart for me. Castaneda said, “For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length—and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.” —Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge.
Law was not a way that had meaning, brought fulfillment, and was rich in joy and strength for me. There are people for whom the law is their calling, but I wasn’t one of them.
I left law and got trained as a personal coach, and found I had talent for the work, but still, something wasn’t quite right.
At the same time, I was drawn to yoga meditation for personal and spiritual reasons, and dived in. I never thought my dharma might be tied to yoga, but of course, what is most important to me would be a clue to my work.
I knew I loved to write. Once again, I didn’t consider that it could be my dharma.
But I was thinking about specific jobs rather than broad vocations. Over time, it became clear that the things I excelled at—public speaking, writing, teaching, and yoga—combined to form my dharma. My dharma encompassed all of those and more.
An important consideration is that one’s dharma may not necessarily be how one earns a living. In my case, I didn’t want to make teaching yoga a source of financial support. However, circumstances arose that enabled me to follow my dharmic path without relying on it for income. Perhaps, if something truly is one’s dharma, this is how it works.
Finding your dharma is not always easy. Many obstacles and difficulties may arise along the way. I like to think of the process of searching for and embodying your dharma as akin to the Hero’s Great Adventure, as described by famed mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book titled “The Hero with A Thousand Faces.” According to Campbell, across all cultures, the Hero’s Adventure myth follows a similar pattern: the hero, initially an ordinary person, receives a call, leaves the land of the known and familiar, and ventures into perilous territories. There, he confronts formidable forces, faces great difficulties, triumphs against the odds, and returns home transformed, with powers and gifts that the world needs. This myth serves as a metaphor for the process through which each of us can grow beyond our unformed, initial selves to embody our true potential. The dharma path is the same.
It’s never too late to begin the journey. Seeking our dharma brings us the experiences and grants us the strengths we need to progress toward our ultimate goal of self-realization. We don’t have to drop everything to find and live our dharma. Simply pay attention and be open to the call.
