An important thing you should know: accept honor only from the person who has experienced you. He can never dishonor you. Even if he dishonors only he will suffer. You will not suffer. Live on the path of dharma, righteous conduct, having a clear understanding about you and allowing only the people who experience you to honor you. You will see that even if those people dishonor you, you will not be touched in any way because dharma is so powerful. It fills your inner space and protects you.

Dharma means to be clear, honest to your center, to your understanding.

Dharma is what we call righteous or conscious behavior.

It is not the moral behavior demanded by society. If you follow the law of society you are protected in the outer world. If you follow the law of dharma you are protected in the inner world. When you are in dharma you will always be right and you will never fall in depression.

We bother so much about following the law to have the protection from the outer world. Understand, follow the dharma. You will never fall into the difficulties and depressions that come from the inner world. The inner world problems are much stronger, more difficult and more dangerous than the outer world problems. When inner world problems happen, immediately you are shaken and you will invite outer world problems.

In all your relationships be righteous, be clear. You will see that even when somebody who experienced you through your teachings dishonors you, you will not feel affected. That person will fall into depression. Just like a law of the land that is laid down logically and enforced properly by society, the spiritual law of dharma is enforced by Existence. Dharma is enforced properly and it is still alive.

Please understand, enlightened beings are happening again and again in the planet earth just to remind you of this one truth that dharma is still alive. The cosmic law is still alive.

There is a beautiful scriptural statement: dharmo rakshati rakshitaha. When you protect dharma, dharma will protect you. When you uphold the cosmic law and live by it, the cosmic law strengthens you. The law of dharma is so powerful.

People ask me, ‘Swamiji, I have seen good people suffering and bad people enjoying. How do you justify this?’

Understand the truth that first of all, good people never suffer. They may appear to be suffering. If there is suffering somewhere the dharma was lost. It is a perverted understanding that good people suffer and bad ones enjoy.

A funny one-liner:
What is luck?
The factor that is responsible for the success of those you don’t like.

Perverted understanding is not dharma.

One more important thing, you don’t even have to be honest to the higher understandings that have not become part of your experience.
No.
Be honest and true to your own understanding. That is more than enough.

If you are in the level of a dharma, just completely be in that dharma. That is swadharma, being in tune with, honest with the dharma that is your core. You will then see that there will not be any unnecessary movement within you. You will not fall into the low mood. When you protect dharma, it protects you. I tell you, when you protect the dharma, it gives so much of strength and so much of courage.

source: Living Enlightenment