The first characteristic of Dharma is Amity
May the sacred stream of amity
Flow forever in my heart.
May the universe prosper,
Such is my cherished desire.To a man, in whose heart the seed of Amity has sprouted, the whole world appears to be full of friends. In whose heart Love and Amity are overflowing, a voice arises : "While I may be unhappy due to my acts, let not bad times descend on others. May all souls be fulfilled! May all be freed from their bondages, freed from their shortcomings! May no one be dependant and a burden on another!"
The second characteristic of Dharma is Appreciation.
May my heart sing with ecstasy
At the sight of the viruous.
And may my life be an offering
At their feet.
This feeling is borne out of respect for the good qualities of others. A heart full of this feeling is over joyous, seeing the virtues in good people. His heart dances like a peacock, when he sees saintly people, living a simple life and treading a virtuous path. These good people, through the example of their own lives show the world the pat to self-realization. Such great souls, through their shining and inspiring example show the right path, to those who have lost their way.
There are those, who step back from showing their respects to the elders, but would not hesitate to stoop before a corrupt and drunken high official. They are not ashamed of this. Man cowers before the powerful and the moneyed. But stands arrogantly in front of the honest and the simple-because he is bereft of appreciation of the characteristics of the virtuous. One with a heart filled with feeling of Appreciation (pramodabhava) is full of compassion.
The third characteristic of Dharma is – Compassion.
May my heart bleed at the siht of
The wretched, the cruel, the poor.
And may tears of compassion
Flow from my eyes.
One in whom compassion has blossomed, his heart is always overflowing wirtrh empathy for all the being of the world – regarding the sorrows of others as his own, he is always striving to remove the sorrows of others.
Amity alone gives birth to the feeling of compassion. One shows sympathy for the unfortunate and the suffering. His heart cries for the fallen and the virtueless. He feels, that today drunk with power and wealth, the today drunk with power and wealth, the viruteless do not listen to others. What will happen to them when their pool of punya has dried up? Who will then lend them support? Today they laugh and commit wrong, which their worst tears! will not be able to wipe away! The well, from which they are drawing the cool waters of pleasures, will one day have to be filled up with their own warm tears! In the eyes of the world, those heartless people who appear to be happy today will be the unhappy people of tomorrow. When such thoughts come to the mind of the compassionate, then their heart wells up, and tears roll down their eyes in sympathy for the unhappy person.