The Bhagavad Gita outlines twenty key dharmic qualities of mind that can be cultivated in order to express our inherent Divinity. These qualities are as follows:
1. Resisting the tendency to pander to our ego and its endless desires, addictions and lower impulses.
2. The absence of pretention and the need to impress and manipulate others.
3. Non-injury to all beings.
4. Having an open and accommodating attitude toward life rather than a rigid, closed mindset.
5. Straight-forwardness, honesty and the harmonious alignment of our thought, word and deed.
6. Service to your teacher. This doesn’t mean becoming a slave to the guru, but simply honouring and respecting your teacher and doing your best to realise and embody the spirit of the teaching.
7. Cleanliness in all aspects; physically, mentally and in terms of our actions, habits and behaviour.
8. Steadfastness; the ability to persevere and commit to your true goal with constancy and determination.
9. Mastery over the mind. Perhaps then most important quality a human being can develop! The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. It must be appropriately trained and brought into alignment with dharma and the higher values outlined in the scriptures.
10. Dispassion toward sense objects. Another vital qualification for all seekers. Many waste their lives in a haze of blind, narcotic hedonism. It’s vital that we learn to master and control the senses, lest we be controlled by them.
11. Absence of egoism and the ability to see beyond the ego part of our nature.
12. Being aware of the limitations of birth, death and body-identification. This means becoming clear about the zero sum nature of material reality and knowing with surety that lasting happiness can only come from within.
13. Absence of the sense of doership. This comes from analysing all the consitutent factors necessary for action to take place. Ultimately, all actions are done by Ishvara, which alone is in control of all factors in the material field.
14. Absence of excessive attachment to our family members, friends, home and belongings. This doesn’t mean we don’t love those in our lives, but that we love with what Swami Dayananda calls “dispassionate caring”. Attachments bind the mind and prevent the full assimilation of Self-Knowledge.
15. The ability to retain even-mindedness and equanimity even amidst life’s greatest challenges and hardships.
16. Unswerving devotion to the Divine.
17. The ability and willingness to retreat to quiet places and disengage from the world’s constant hustle and bustle.
18. Being able to feel happy and content by oneself; or the absence of craving for the company of other people.
19. Constant and unwavering application of Self-Knowledge to the mind. This alone liberates!
20. Devotion to spiritual Truth. This understanding of the true nature of Self and Reality must so strong that it overrides the mind’s tendency to relate to life through a screen of division, separation and disconnection. It means seeing ourselves as we actually are, pure Consciousness, and not the body/mind/ego we might initially appear to be.
