True religion is to recognize the Dharma, the underlying Universal Truth, and to build our life and culture around it. Just as the same physical laws, like gravity, are in operation for all human beings regardless of race, nationality or religion, so the same spiritual laws, like the law of karma, are in effect for everyone. These are the dharmas that we must discover through inquiry into the nature of Reality. For this we must approach the universe with an open mind and heart, not seeking to impose any belief or theory upon life but allowing the being of life to reveal itself to us in silent receptivity.

Dharma as the nature of things is the eternal constant, the Self-existent Reality. No one doubts that fire burns, its very existence proclaims it. Each thing similarly proclaims its dharma or place in the universal order through the qualities which compose it. Each person has his or her own dharma, a unique place and function in the cosmic rhythm. To know the Dharma is to discover not only the unity of Truth but all of its variations upon this overflowing oneness of Self-existence.

Yet while we can perceive the nature of physical objects fairly easily it is difficult to perceive our mental states and their consequences. We do not perceive the results of our actions, like the effects on ourselves of the violence we perpetrate against others, because these effects manifest only through time (and sometimes not until future lives).

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