Dharmic Living (or Vedic Living) is ‘Life as Nature intended’
Nature (the universe we live in), has one unique, underlying, all-pervasive quality – it is fundamentally intelligent.
This ‘infinite’ intelligence is what makes mountains, moves the planets around the sun, turns seeds into mighty trees, and colourless sap into beautiful flowers. It’s what makes teeny babies into fully-grown humans, and governs the tides, the seasons and the infinite majesty of existence.
The most enlightened cultures throughout history, have all understood that the intelligence that underpins all life is expressed through specific ‘laws of nature’. We humans are intimately connected to these universal, eternal laws – ‘As is the macrocosm, so is the microcosm’, ‘As is the cosmic body so is the human body’, ‘As out there, so in here’.
The result of this cosmic connection is that these natural laws determine how we are designed to live in order to succeed in the ‘game of life’. These laws govern everything from how we metabolize and digest food, how we sleep, what work or vocations are best for us, how daily and seasonal cycles affect us as well as how we can best align our lives with Nature’s highest wisdom.
When we live in tune with the immutable laws of nature, it’s like swimming with the currents of a river. We as if flow downstream, riding with nature, rather than battling upstream. The result is that life is less stressful, less taxing, we enjoy better health, and feel more contented.
Dharma, is a Sanskrit term meaning ‘that which upholds and supports our highest evolution’. Ultimately, Dharmic Living is an attempt to condense timeless spiritual wisdom into a useable framework by which we, the unenlightened, can evolve towards higher states of consciousness, higher states of bliss and to experience a permanent state of peace and contentment.
Dharmic Living was founded by Mark Bunn as a way to crystallise his own attempts to find a way beyond his own lack of inner contentment. If sitting at the top of a mountain represents the pinnacle of human existence (enlightenment), Mark is still bumbling along the path, alternating between successful climbing and periodic falls and descents! (More on Mark)
What is Dharmic Living based on?
Dharmic living is based on the great, time-tested wisdom traditions of the world, particularly the ancient Vedic tradition (Vedic knowledge). We also acknowledge and aim to highlight the remarkable teachings of the Vedic scholar, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi’s unique teachings underpin everything that resembles wisdom under the banner of Dharmic Living.
What is Veda … Vedic knowledge?
Veda means knowledge, but not knowledge as we think of it today. I.e. knowledge found in a book, a library or an ancient scroll. Literally, Veda relates to ‘pure knowledge’. It is knowledge of the very source of life itself. It is knowledge of the primordial, immutable, laws of nature and their structuring dynamics, that are eternally reverberating at the basis of creation.
Vedic knowledge, or Vedic science, is that knowledge that explains the what, how and why of life. At its deepest level, it is a ‘revelation or reality’ - the complete understanding of the source, course and purpose of life. While most people relate Vedic knowledge with the ancient Vedic texts of India (said to be 6000+ years old), the deeper reality is that it is a ‘cognized knowledge’. Through direct cognition (rather than intellectual understanding, contemplation or trial and error), the enlightened Vedic rishis or ‘seers of reality’, experienced the nature of reality.
“Vedic knowledge – the knowledge of life itself – is beyond books. It is the primordial or seed wisdom of life, available to all of us, within our own awareness, our own inner consciousness, at every moment of time … should we be able to access it.”
Special Acknowledgement
It is acknowledged that almost all of the knowledge (wisdom) found on this website and in any Dharmic Living International programs, comes from others.
Supreme thanks goes to the Vedic Tradition of India, and particularly Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (and more recently Dr. Tony Nader), for helping bring the completeness of Vedic wisdom back to the world. The enlightened insights and teachings of Maharishi, and the Vedic tradition of knowledge, are the foundation for much of the information contained in Dharmic Living. With eternal thanks.