Dharma is an ancient Sanskrit term which means following righteousness and doing spiritual practices such as daily meditation. Our goal should be to channel our natural human instincts in a positive direction for our physical, mental and spiritual development. Wisdom, and not mere intellect, is a very rare, timeless quality that the world desperately needs. A wise person, understanding the deepest truths of life, becomes a fountain of divine love and inspiration. There are saints who, though illiterate, are respected by all for their wise counsel.
Wisdom comes through knowledge of the self, through deep reflection and meditation.
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton urged spiritualists to take moral stands and point the way towards a new future that is not based on materialism and exploitation. A new human ethics based on universal principles of morality should be the base of economic activity and global peace. For example, the ancient yogic principle, aparigraha is an ecological ideal of simple living, not accumulating unnecessary things. On the personal level it encourages the adoption of a humble lifestyle and donating extra wealth to charity. On the social level it is the basis of creating a ceiling on the excessive personal wealth that is robbing the planet of the resources that God gave to humanity.