It does not matter what your activity is, or what name and form you have chosen. A chain is a chain whatever the material it binds, whether it is iron or gold, is it not? So too, whether the work is of this type or that, so long as the Atma Dharma is the base, and Atmathathwa the root, it is Dharma beyond doubt. Such work will bless one with the fruit of Santhi. When the waves of egoist fear or greed drive one forward, either into the privacy of the home, or the loneliness of the forest, or to any other refuge, it is impossible to escape suffering. The cobra does not cease to be a cobra, when it lies coiled. Then too, it is cobra nevertheless. In daily practice, when acts are motivated by the basic Principle of the reality of the Atma, every act becomes stamped with the seal of Dharma. But when acts are motivated by convenience and selfish interest, the Dharma becomes pseudo Dharma. It is a variety of bondage, however attractive it may be. Like prisoners in a jail pushed in a single file by warders, either to the court of trial or the dining barracks, the prompting of the senses pushes the bondsman forward either to a place of sorrow or to a place of relief.

Why, even the feeling, "That is a friend" or "This is an enemy" is an error. This delusion has to be given up. The Lord, the embodiment of Prema, is the Only Constant Friend and Relative, Companion, Guide and Protector. Know this and live in that knowledge. This is Dharma built on the bedrock of Understanding, that is Life built on the bedrock of Dharma. Ignoring this fundamental basis, when attention is concentrated on external polish, the goal moves beyond reach. Attachment to the world can be destroyed only by attachment to the Lord. Why complain that the ground cannot be seen, when what you have been doing all the while is to fix your gaze on the sky? Watch the ground and look at the sheet of water that reflects the sky, - then you can see, at the same time, the sky above and the earth below. So too, if you must adhere to Sathyadharma (which after all is the practice of the Immanent Atmic Principle) you must see, in every act the reflection of the Glory of the Atma; then, attachment to the Lord will transmute the attachment to the world into a pure offering. The goal should not be altered or lowered; that is to say, the essentials should be kept intact. Dharma does not depend on the various names and forms that its application entails; they are not so basic; it depends more on the motives and the feelings that direct it and canalise it.