Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Dharma vs Religion.



I happened to find this document in one the google groups. This work was put forward by Toronto Dharma Study group. One of the lucid and crisp document that explains the difference between Dharma and Religion. 


                     DHARMA*               is much more than          RELIGION
1.  Universal;   Applies to:  All Entities in Existence
                                        All Times
                                        All Places
                                        No Exclusions
 Applies to:    Believers only
                     From the time of the Prophet
                     All places
                     Non-believers excluded
2.   Eternal; Without Beginning and Ending, with the entities in
     existence ever Forming and Reforming
 One Historical Beginning and Ending;
 Religions rise & fall
3.   Eternal Principles (as in Shruti)
 Historical Commandments, Canons and Dogmas
4.   Definition: That which upholds
                      That without which nothing can stand  
                      That which maintains the stability & harmony
 That which relates man by faith and belief to a
 transcendental God 
5.   Innate & Natural Order;
      Inner Order Participating in the Larger Order
 Organized & Institutionalized order
6.    One; All Inclusive, All Encompassing
 Many; Each one Excusive
7.   Genuine Pluralism with Mutual Respect
 Exclusive with Tolerance
8.   Principles Unchangeable;   
      Application Contextual (Flexible) leading to the best Dharmic
      Actions in different circumstances
  Commandments & Canons Unchangeable and Final;   
  Application must conform
9.   Realized by many Seers (Male & Female); No specific Founder
 Founded by specific Prophets
10. Inherent part of the Infinite Reality that is both Transcendent &  
      Immanent
 Dependent on unique conceptions of God
11. Many Ways to Practice (Sva-Dharma)
 Each one has exclusive Way of Practice
12. Understanding/Self-realization
 Belief
13. Justice is Win-Win as per Principles of Dharma
 Justice as Punishment or Reward by God
14. Interpretations Propositional & Open for Self-Discovery
 Interpretations are forbidden
15. No conflict with Science, as it is integral to Dharma
 Always in conflict with Science
16. Dharma provides for adhyatma-vidya (First-Person Empiricism)
 Practices must conform to scriptures
17. All Human (Male & Female), Plants, Animals, Matters are Sacred
 Human and  All other entities lack divinity
18.  Goal: Liberation from All Limited Views
               Self-Realization; Moksha; Nirvana; Enlightenment
 Goal: Salvation/Paradise
19.  Inquiry & Questioning encouraged
 Beliefs are immutable, and cannot be questioned
20.  Idea of Conversion absent; Understanding encouraged
 Conversion is mandated; Understanding is not sufficient
21.  Dharma nurtures & enriches All Traditions
 Religions digest the local traditions
22. Allows many freedoms: freedom to learn from within oneself,
freedom from conditioning and karma, freedom from historyand institutional authority, freedom to choose own personal path, freedom of choice of personal deity.
                           
Burden of sin and guilt; controlled by institutional
authority, historical precedent, and religious
exclusivity