the purusharthas
Purusha = soul Artha = for the purpose of The 4 aims of life are called Purusharthas in Sanskrit. According to Tantric scholar and professor, Douglas Brooks, What the Rig Veda suggests is that the purusharthas are the inherent values of the universe. The cosmos is considered a living being, and the issues of law, prosperity, desire, and freedom belong to it. These are not just human concerns or psychological concepts. When we engage them as human beings, we are aligning the microcosm with the macrocosm. The cosmos is all laid out for you; your job is to get with the program. When you step onto the yogic path you engage in deliberate living. You learn to wake up to your highest purpose and confront those old patterns and conditioning that keep you entranced with your ego. You begin to stay present to all aspects of life, realizing that the beauty, messiness, joy and pain are all avenues for growth and freedom. The fourfold aim of yoga (purusharthas) entails: Dharma (Purpose) Artha (Prosperity) Kama (Pleasure) Moksha (Freedom) As you begin to live your life on purpose, you experience tremendous authenticity, harmony, joy and inner peace. As such the beginning of the year is a perfect time to explore the fourfold aim of yoga. When you are in alignment with your highest truth, life becomes simple (not necessarily easy:). You understand the reason for getting out of bed on a daily basis Dharma (service to the world) Dharma translates as duty, law, or truth. In Ayurveda the dharma of the soul in general is to serve or give of yourself, with love. In other words, your unique dharma is how you show up and serve the world. It means uncovering the unique gifts and abilities that you bring with yourself in order to fulfill your life s purpose, your reason for being here. Your life s purpose does not have to entail that magical career path or the one that helps you achieve the most material gains (although this is perfectly wonderful too). Your life s purpose is the one that connects you to your Highest Truth. You can gain clues about your life s path through observation of your childhood. What activities made you feel most alive as a child? Coloring or drawing? Your path may be the literal path of an artist or your path may be one of creativity in general. Did you spend hours in nature? Your path may be one of conservation or perhaps your path is to help others see the connection between all things. Connecting to your life s purpose is the first step to deliberate living. In Vedic Astrology, the houses that rule Dharma are 1, 5, 9 As a child, where did you spend most of your time? (ie. Indoors, outdoors, alone, with people) What made you come alive, get excited as a child? (ie. Science, playing with your imagination)
What types of activities did you excel in as a child? (ie. Learning, reading, sports, art, etc.) What are your life s roles or obligations? (ie. wife, husband, parent) What could you do everyday that would make you feel alive, content? What comes more naturally for you than others? (ie. Ability to listen, organize) What do most people seek your advice on or compliment you on repeatedly? If you could teach something, what would you teach? What awards have you won for your talents? (ie. In business, other) What would you like your life to look like?
Values are the guiding principles that will help you connect to your dharma and realize your true potential. What are your core values? Circle 20 values that resonate with you from the list below: Abundance Acceptance Achievement Adventure Ambition Assertiveness Awareness Balance Beauty Bliss Boldness Bravery Calm Certainty Challenge Clarity Community Compassion Confidence Connection Devotion Discipline Discovery Duty Empathy Contentment Courage Creativity Desire Determination Empowerment Excellence Expertise Faith Family Fitness Flexibility Focus Freedom Friendship Fun Generosity Grace Gratitude Greatness Growth Happiness Harmony Health Honesty Honor Humility Humor Imagination Independence Individuality Inner peace Innovation Inspiration Integrity Intelligence Intimacy Intuition Joy Justice Kindness Knowledge Leadership Learning Love Loyalty Make a difference Meaning Mindfulness Money Motivation Openness Optimistic Passion Peace Perceptive Persistence Philanthropy Playfulness Pleasure Power Practicality Preservation Progress Professionalism Prosperity Purpose Recognition Recreation Reflection Relaxation Reliability Resourcefulness Respect Reverence Sacredness Self-reliance Sensitivity Sensuality Serenity Service Skilful Solitude Simplicity Spirituality Spontaneity Stability Stillness Strength Success Support Teamwork Thoughtful Tolerance Tranquility Trust Truth Unity Variety Virtue Vulnerability Wisdom From your list of 20 values, choose between five and ten that are most important to you: Artha (service to family) The second aim of the fourfold path is artha (prosperity). This is the material means you need to honor your life s purpose. In exploring the concept of artha, you can look at it in terms of what types of material means do you need to accomplish your life s dharma, including your financial means, home, giving back, etc. Shifting your perspective towards material wealth and truly understanding what it is that you need to accomplish your life s purpose helps you cultivate a deeper more meaningful relationship with artha. In Vedic Astrology, the houses that rule Artha are 2, 6, 10 What is your relationship to money? Do you associate your worth with your material possessions?
What do you think about prosperity or abundance? If you could do one thing every day, what would bring you the most happiness? How would this influence your choice for a career? How would this choice help you fulfill your life s purpose? Ayurveda teaches that our wealth is in our health and we need our health to perform our duties... How is your health? What activities and practices do you engage in to stay healthy? What is your relationship to gratitude? Is your home your sanctuary? Do you have a sacred space within your home that you can come to for spiritual practices and to recharge and restore? In what ways do you give back? (ie. vote with your dollar, choose organic, volunteer)
Kama (service to self) The third aim is explored through kama or pleasure. Kama translates as pleasure, desire, or psychological values. While the Western culture tends to overemphasize pleasure or desire, you cannot deny it s importance for growth and life. Kama can be witnessed through your many relationships. It is important that you take time to be outside, to be still, to enjoy good company and to nurture your soul on all levels. Kama is anything that brings a sense of delight into your life. One of the first steps is to recognize your desires. In Vedic Astrology, the houses that rule Kama are 3, 7, 11 What is your relationship to kama, does it bring you closer to or further away from your highest truth? (ie. do you believe it s selfish) What types of activities bring you the greatest joy? What are your hobbies or passions? What would it mean to experience ease in your life? What would you have to do to make this a priority? (ie. give up putting others needs ahead of my own) In Ayurveda, we talk about the science of rejuvenation or Rasyana. What practices do you engage in to create balance and rejuvenate your body & mind? What is your relationship to the arts? Do you spend time at museums or see plays? How could this help you tap into the experience of kama?
What activities do you engage in to grow as a human being? Moksha (Self-realization) The final aim on the fourfold path is moksha (freedom). Moksha translates as liberation or freedom. Moksha is said to be the highest aim of the 4 aims of life. You must accomplish the first three in order to achieve spiritual liberation. According to the teachings of Ayurveda and yoga, the nature of the soul is eternal pure beingness, fully conscious and blissful. When you experience this at your deepest core, you are free. Moksha is the ultimate purpose of yoga- liberation from the confines of ego, your samskaras and identifying with prakriti (material world). However, you don t have to wait for enlightenment to experience freedom. You can experience moksha anytime you connect to your highest truth, get absorbed in the moment and serve the world around you. It is in these moments that you turn inward and connect to your True Nature, that place of innate perfection, wisdom, grace and beauty. In Vedic Astrology, the houses that rule Moksha are 4, 8, 12 What is your connection to Source, God, Great Spirit? How do you visualize your concept of the divine? (ie. man with beard, goddess, guru like Yogananda) How does this relationship sustain you in your life? According to yoga philosophy and Ayurveda, the highest aim in life is Self-Realization. What practices do you engage in on a regular basis to connect to your True Nature? How do these practices remind you that there is something larger than you at play and that, ultimately, we are one?
How would your life unfold if moksha was your guiding principle? Explain. Do you feel free or stuck? What do you need to release in order to feel free? (ie. limiting thoughts, relationships) Jyotish, The Science of Vedic Astrology is a tool to understand your karma and past lives. Are you aware of your purpose of being here in this lifetime? In other words, what is your soul lesson to learn? (ie. surrender, forgiveness, love). Explain. What clues can you uncover about your soul lesson by understanding your Ayurvedic prakriti or constitution? (vata, pitta, kapha). Explain. In The Four Desires, Rod Stryker helps design the life you were destined to live through dharma (purpose), artha (prosperity), kama (pleasure), and moksha (freedom). Stryker shares a technique for further uncovering your Soul s purpose. Think forward towards the end of your life where some of your closest family and friends have gathered for a significant birthday (maybe your 90th) to pay tribute to how well you have lived your life. (Use the questions from above for the following exercise). Think about 4-5 people that would be able to share how you lived your life according to each of the four aims of life They will be paying tribute to you at your birthday Choose one individual for each of the four aims Write out the tribute from their perspective (from their view, what were some of the major celebrations and obstacles that you faced in each of the aims) Dharma (Purpose) Dharma is your life s path, your purpose for being here. When you are in the flow of your life s purpose, you feel it, you re vibrant, full of energy, content, at peace. When you are off your path you may experience anxiety, stress, frustration, and/or disconnect. Sitting at your birthday party, think about your life. What would your dream life look like? What would it have meant to follow your life s purpose?
Artha (Prosperity) Artha refers to your concept of success in material terms. What were the means necessary to fulfill your dharma? Were you able to shift your relationship to money? Sitting at your birthday party, think about your home(s), geography, savings, giving back and anything else you want to include associated with artha. Kama (Pleasure) Kama refers to seeking pleasure, anything that tantalizes the senses, and/or touches the heart. How did you embrace joy, beauty, and sacredness throughout your life? Sitting at your birthday party, think about the many ways you drank from the soma (nectar) of life and truly savored each and every moment as it unraveled. Moksha (Liberation) Moksha refers to spiritual evolution; how we work through the elements that close the heart like fear, grief, and anger; how we keep our hearts open to experience freedom and truth; how we connect to our True Nature. Sitting at your birthday party, think about the many ways you worked to connect to your True Nature and live from that place daily.