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Purusharthas,
Four Aspects of Human Life:
Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha
by Swami Jnaneshvara
Bharati
Home
There are four aspects
or facets of human life: dharma, artha, kama and moksha. They have to do
with living one's purpose, having a stable foundation in the world,
wisely fulfilling desires, and freedom from the constraints of one's
false identities. Each of these is a part of life. While it may be true
that ultimately the goal of life has only to do with final liberation (moksha),
the others are virtually essential steps along the way. Recognizing this
is one way of holding the suggestion to live "in" the world, while not
being "of" the world.
1) Artha has
to do with providing for the hunger, thirst, safety needs that are
inherent in living in a physical body. In our modern world, this
generally means having money to provide the essentials. Even the
wandering monk who receives food and clothes from the charity of
others is a part of this, as the food and clothes were undoubtedly a
part of the economic process in one way or another. Artha recognizes
this level of physical or material need, which is not contrary to
spiritual life.
2) Kama has
to do with the fulfillment of desires in the world. Without deep,
latent desires (samskaras) there would be no incarnation. "Kama" is
different from "karma." The meaning of "karma" is "action" and
refers to the playing out of our deep impressions of attraction and
aversion. Kama is the enlivened desire that springs forth from those
latent conditionings. To say that these are not there, and that they
all must be renounced is virtually not practical. Desires must be
acknowledged and reasonably fulfilled with mindfulness so as to move
towards freedom from them, not adding to a continuous cycle of
fulfilling and intensifying.
3) Dharma
has to do with fulfilling our own desires in ways consistent with
the whole of the flow of the universe. It is a process of alignment,
whereby one moves steadily, wisely, and with clear mind in the
natural flow of Truth, God, Divine, or whatever one chooses that
naturally intuited reality. Dharma has been called natural law,
harmony, truth, duty, wisdom, and the inherent nature of things.
The word "Dharma" is from dhri, meaning to hold together,
to sustain. To live in dharma is to live with our individual
nature to be in accord with the whole of the flow of things.
4) Moksha is
the final liberation from all of the deep driving impressions that
continually play out in the mind and the world, that keep causing us
to come and go from bodily form. It means that the deep
conditionings no longer bind. It is freedom from the bondage of our
ropes of karma that seem to bind us. Moksa is the direct experience
of the Absolute Truth or Reality, along with the total setting aside
of all false identities of who we think we are. Self-realization,
the direct experience of our true nature as pure consciousness,
Purusha, or Atman is one stage. That experience, plus the total,
permanent transcendence of the conditionings is moksha.
The four are not easy
to do, to live in daily life. They are points of awareness, aspects of
both our being and the sadhana (spiritual practices) that we each live
on our way to the highest goal of human life. By remembering and
reflecting on these four principles, facets, or aspects of life, the
process is seen in more simple terms. It is not easy, but the simplicity
can be seen and lived.
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This site is devoted to
presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of
the Tradition of the Himalayan masters
in simple, understandable and beneficial ways, while not compromising
quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or practices is the highest
Joy that comes from the Realization in direct experience of the
center of consciousness, the Self, the Atman or Purusha, which is
one and the same with the Absolute Reality.
This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the Yoga
Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the
intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which
complement one another like fingers on a hand.
We employ the classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti
Yoga, as well as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha,
and Tantra Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer
finally converge into a unified force directed towards the final
stage, piercing the pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the
Absolute.
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