Right Action Is Same in All Religions
There is not one dharma [right action] for Indians and another for Westerners. Dharma is universal. Yes, there is a test that may be applied to any action and you may thereby determine if it is according to dharma. Let not that which you do, harm or injure another. This flows from the recognition that the light, which is God, is the same in every form, and if you injure another you are injuring that same light that is yourself. Dharma enables you to come to the recognition that anything that is bad for another form is also bad for you. The test for dharmic action is stated very clearly in the Christian religion. That is: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
For our spiritual life, dharma is the basis. Dharma does not depend on an individual. Dharma does not depend on a period of time or a particular situation. Dharma depends only on truth. That is why it has been said that there is no dharma other than truth. To be able to develop equanimity is a correct aspect of dharma, and for this, one must have unwavering mind and thoughts.
Dharma will compel integration of thought, word, and deed. It will cleanse the mind and rid it of greed and hate. Every faith is but an endeavor to cleanse the impulses and emotions, as part of the process of discovering the truth of the world, seen and unseen. No one who has trodden that path and engaged himself in that process has escaped calumny and cruelty.
Muhammad, who sought to establish the primacy of One Formless Absolute, had a large share of persecution, defamation, and privation. Jesus attempted to rebuild mankind on the basis of love and was crucified by little men who feared that their tiny towers of hate and greed would be toppled by his teaching. Harishchandra, who had resolved never to waver from truth, was subjected to ordeal after ordeal, each more terrifying than the previous one. Those who seek to know God must steel themselves to bear insult, injury, and torture with a smile.
Source: Digest, pg. 80
Dharma trains you to be calm, level-headed, and secure in equanimity. Sensual life is adharma, the spiritual life is dharma. Dharma is that which sustains, saves, and sanctifies. Man is born and is given a lease to life so that he may earn the knowledge of his identity with the Infinite.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 2, pg. 230-231
Dharma must be surging from the heart as the cool energizing water of prema and shanti, love and peace. You can learn what exactly dharma is from Ramayana. Rama is the very embodiment of dharma; every word and every deed is resonant with its message.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.7, pg. 215
