The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma

Washington, D.C.
Monday, September 20, 2010
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Mr. Gurcharan Das will present his perspectives on how the Great Indian epic, the Mahābhāratā, illuminates and provides solutions to our present-day moral dilemmas.

From The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2010:

"The most damaging fallout from this economic crisis may well be a loss of trust in the democratic capitalist system, especially if those who are unemployed and suffering begin to believe that "anything goes” in an unfair world. In the rush to rewrite the rules of the game, policy makers might consider the message of dharma from Indian philosophy and literature, which offers a more nuanced answer to moral failure and the ethics of capitalism.

Dharma can mean virtue, duty or law, but is mainly concerned with doing the right thing. It is the moral law that gives order and balance to each human being and the cosmos. The concept is uniquely suited to guiding us through our present economic and regulatory quagmires because it is concerned with the achievable rather than the ideal. It recognizes that happiness comes from upholding a certain balance, by living according to a system of beliefs that restrains and gives coherence to our desires. Dharma does not seek moral perfection as Christianity or Islam does. Hence, pragmatic Indian statesmen throughout history have turned to it to address issues of public policy.”