Message from Sri Sathya Sai Baba to the Russians. Four goals of family life How you can apply this knowledge in practice

People who revere yoga and those who are close to the teachings of Hinduism/Vedism believe that a person has four goals in life - purushartha. It is for the sake of moksha, dharma, artha and kama that a person should live.

The basis of everything is dharma

It is believed that the components of purushartha complement each other. Nevertheless, the drachma is considered the basis of everything. Translated from Sanskrit, this concept means “that which holds.” This is a multifaceted category that cannot be taken literally, relying only on translation. If we understand dharma as the primary goal of a person’s existence, then in essence we are talking about a harmonious way of life, a person’s understanding of his nature. By drachma we mean an individual’s awareness of the meaning of life, his destiny in front of himself, the world around him, the universe. Each person has his own dharma, which is associated with the characteristics of his personality.

This is mobile matter. Drachma is something that changes with a person as he lives and fulfills his purpose in worldly life. Many people come to understand dharma during yoga. This awareness allows you to correctly prioritize, set new goals, and direct energy in the right direction.

They talk about the five pillars of dharma:

Love,
patience,
justice,
knowledge,
devotion.

Relying on them, a person achieves more and copes with life’s difficulties more easily. If the awareness of dharma has not come, life becomes more and more difficult every year. Without the meaning of life, a person feels unnecessary and empty.

Often this leads to the fact that he goes astray and acquires addictions.

The visual embodiment of dharma is the dharmachakra - a wheel with eight spokes. Each spoke is a principle of dharma, which implies that a person should have everything right:

Worldview.
Goals.
Speech.
Way of existence.
Behavior.
Concentration.
Memory.
Force.

Following these eight principles is the purpose of dharma. Only by following them will a person achieve great goals in life, will be able to benefit the world, live his life in harmony with nature, with his own nature and the Universe. And ultimately he will achieve the highest goal - he will cognize the highest reality.

Needs - artha

The second component of human life is called artha. This concept combines everything material, something that is impossible to do without. Artha combines well-being, health, safety and other benefits, without which a person’s standard of living would not be truly worthy.

Artha is also a multifaceted concept. Its important component is the work that a person must do every day of his life. It is simply impossible to achieve material wealth without work. And without a good material foundation, it is difficult to devote oneself to spiritual development.

Through his work, a person creates the ground for personal growth.

But it is extremely important not to overdo it. Achieving material wealth should not become the main goal of existence. The point is not in accumulation, but in creating comfortable living conditions. Incorrectly set priorities and values shifted towards material goods lead a person astray from the true path, preventing the realization of the true goals of artha.

Some ancient texts have reached us - artha-shastras. They represent the documented distribution of people’s roles in life, the principles of the structure of the world, and the organization of society. One of these books discusses such issues as economic development, distribution of responsibilities between ministers, the topic of taxes, war, citizen security, etc.

Earthly needs - kama

Another important component of life is the achievement of earthly pleasures and the satisfaction of basic needs. The concept of kama combines human needs:

in delicious food
comfortable living conditions,
sensuality,
emotional needs, etc.

Kama is interpreted differently in different teachings. Some believe that kama teaches enjoying life as an opportunity to free oneself from suffering. However, the “classical” understanding of this term speaks of the fulfillment of desires as one of the goals of life. True, with an eye to moral, ethical standards, traditions of society, culture, religion. A person must control his desires and not be captured by them. Otherwise, he risks wasting his life. You need to sensibly evaluate your desires and think about whether it’s really worth giving them free rein.

Only by controlling one's desires can a person become truly free and happy.

Kama has its own shastras - teachings. They pursue the goal of streamlining sensual pleasures in marriage, recalling the need to strive for spiritual perfection. The Kama Shastras talk about the arts, including music, theater, architecture, singing, etc. They teach how to raise children, arrange a home, use makeup and clothing correctly, etc.

The highest goal is moksha

This is a complex concept that hides the final, most important goal of human life. Moksha means liberation from earthly shackles and the conventions of worldly life. This is the way back to the truth.

Moksha should not be taken literally as physical death. The chosen ones comprehend it as living people. If a person has known moksha, he is freed from shackles, his existence takes on new forms, illusions are destroyed.

A person who no longer has enough social and material life begins to look for his own path, a path to knowledge of the intangible, known only to him. If the search is completed successfully, the person is freed and finds peace. This is the realization of moksha.

Some seek their path in spiritual practices, others in wanderings to holy places, and still others in religion. When a person finally comes to understand that the source of his own drama is himself, the path of liberation begins.

Moksha is a road traversed through suffering and trials.

There will be no fellow travelers on it. But after the road is paved, moksha will open. A person must understand his essence, throwing off the shackles of imposed conventions and norms. Then his consciousness will expand, and life will transform into Lila.

FOUR MAIN GOALS OF HUMAN LIFE

Having a goal and being able to achieve it means being human. An animal, like a person, goes through its life cycle, obeying instincts (nutrition, reproduction, etc.). But it is precisely the presence of a goal that is the main difference between a person and an animal.

In ancient Aryan culture, sages divided a person’s life aspirations into four categories - purusharthas (from purusha - individual soul, artha - goal): drachma, artha, kama and moksha.
In the Charaka Samhita, they are expressed in the form of three innate and instinctive desires - ishan: pranaishana - the desire to live a long and healthy life, dhanaisana - the desire to achieve material well-being and paralokaishana - the desire to find happiness in the future life.

DHARMA

The word dharma has many meanings, so it cannot be translated unambiguously. IN in this case Dharma is following one’s nature, the natural way of life for a particular person. This is what a person wants and can do for himself, for his family, for society, for the Universe, an intuitive sense of duty, his purpose.
Dharma is unique and cannot be copied from another. By following the call of his Self, a person acquires all the benefits, protects himself from misfortunes and ensures good karma. But trying to be someone else, on the contrary, contributes to the accumulation of negative karma. Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita tells Arjuna: "It is better to perform one's duties imperfectly than to perform other people's duties perfectly. It is better to die while performing one's duty; another's path is dangerous."
No one can tell a person what his dharma is, only he himself can feel it. Yoga practices help calm the mind and become more receptive to the voice of intuition. It is also useful to observe what goals achieve happiness.
While doing his job, a person naturally concentrates, natural meditation arises, a person does not wait for tomorrow and does not live in the past - he is “here and now.”
During life, as a person develops, his dharma changes.
Understanding your dharma leads to setting clear goals in life, effective use of energy, correctly made decisions and, accordingly, correct results. However, following the dharma does not mean at all that there will be no obstacles on a person’s path; their occurrence is a consequence of karma, but the obstacles in this case are overcome relatively easily.
If a person does not follow the path of dharma, he begins to feel the meaninglessness of life, emptiness, inability and unwillingness to carry its heavy burden, and a craving for such cheap “substitutes for happiness” such as alcohol and drugs appears.
Dharma presupposes that a person tries not to harm anyone or anything unless his duty is directly related to it. If the performance of duties involves causing harm to another, bad karma does not accumulate.
Walking the path of dharma, a person comes to comprehend the highest reality. Dharma is more broadly defined as the universal law on which the world rests.

ARTHHA

Artha literally means "that which is necessary."
The category of artha concerns the material aspect of existence and combines such components as well-being, a sense of security, health, i.e. everything that allows you to maintain life at the required level. Artha presupposes work leading to the accumulation of material wealth, since without a solid base, spiritual development is impossible. To achieve it, a person must build his life in accordance with legal, moral and ethical standards.
Since artha is not the ultimate goal of life, one should beware of excessive accumulation of material wealth.
It's no secret that modern society is called a consumer society. Humanity consumes and produces a colossal amount of unnecessary products, information and services. All the time and thoughts modern man busy in the endless pursuit of the most fashionable and prestigious. Guided by vanity and false ideas about necessity and goodness, people turn their lives into madness. Meanwhile, producing what you need takes little time and does not create economic, psychological or other problems.

KAMA

The concept of kama is associated with the satisfaction of worldly desires. This is a person’s natural desire for sensual pleasures, good food, comfort, his emotional needs.
Ayurveda is based on the knowledge of the existence of past and future lives. Unsatisfied desires cause suffering in the present and future lives. An indispensable condition for approaching liberation is the fulfillment of all one's desires in accordance with family, social, cultural and religious norms.
However, there is a trap here: often a person becomes a slave to his desires and spends a huge amount of energy and time on achieving insignificant goals. The strategy of “denying yourself nothing” turns him into a weak-willed creature. Therefore, you should be careful about your desires, do not suppress them, but always evaluate the feasibility of implementation. It gives strong will and free energy. An important spiritual achievement of a person is also the ability not to cling to results obtained or desires fulfilled.
Restrictions and prescriptions, discipline in life are also necessary for a person, like a sick person needs a non-bitter medicine taken strictly according to the clock.
Proper nutrition, sufficient and complete sleep, pure consciousness, satisfaction of sexual needs, material comfort, regular spiritual practices and spiritual communication satisfy all the needs of a person, making him happy.

Dharma– supports our existence. Dharma is knowledge of the law and following it, morality, piety, duty and its fulfillment, responsibility, religious duty, support for the law of existence. Dharma is the natural law of how to treat all living beings. The task of jyotish is to interpret the real dharma of a person, but the person himself is able to see his own dharma by lowering the level of gunas: tamas and rajas in his life.

Artha– material well-being, earnings, economic potential. Artha is nothing but resources and economic development person. Artha includes: achieving fame, accumulating wealth, acquiring knowledge and professional skills, gaining a high social position. In other words, artha is success in our material world.

Kama- these are desires and satisfaction of one’s feelings on different levels, physical pleasures, sensual pleasure, lust, passion. Kama is also relationships with other living beings.

Moksha– liberation from the mortal body, liberation from samsara, from suffering, dissolution of misconceptions/illusions.

Note:

Dharma – 1,5,9 houses
Artha – 2,6,10 houses
Kama - 3,7,11 houses
Moksha – 4,8,12 houses

If you look a little deeper into the theme of the houses of the horoscope and how the four goals in a person’s life are interconnected, then you can see how the houses of dharma, artha, kama and moksha are intertwined. In the houses of dharma, one way or another, the themes of a person’s duty and responsibility, his moral values, knowledge of the law, religion, following this path, etc. appear. In artha houses, how a person achieves prosperity and success in this life is how he accumulates resources for a normal existence here. In the houses of Kama, a person’s strongest desires are manifested, what he wants most in this life. In the houses of moksha, themes of something transcendental, secret, the theme of human transformation appear.

How can you apply this knowledge in practice?

It’s simple, open your natal chart and see which house contains the most planets. This knowledge will tell you a little about yourself, about what is important to you in life: dharma and following the path of dharma in life, perhaps moksha, and that is why your financial affairs are not working out, because... The soul itself, before birth, wished to deal with issues that would relate to moksha and spiritual development in life. Knowledge must be practical, so apply it, educate yourself. Only by understanding yourself and understanding your destiny can you understand others.

Theoretical part

Meaning of life

From the point of view of yoga philosophy, human life is not meaningless. The meaning of human life is to develop your mind and moral qualities to the maximum (determination, perseverance, patience, responsibility, goodwill, generosity, equanimity, insight, etc.). It is for this purpose that we have a physical body, since without it it is impossible to develop in this world.

Four purposes of human life

By experiencing human existence, we can move towards one of four goals:

- dharma(search for purpose)

- artha(achieving success)

- Kama(search for pleasure)

- moksha(desire for liberation)

The first goal in Sanskrit is called "dharma" - that is, following your inner nature, your purpose. When a person sets such a goal for himself, it means that, without being distracted by anything, he does what he is predisposed to and honestly fulfills his duty.

The second goal that a person can set for himself is prosperity. In Sanskrit it is called "artha". When a person sets such a goal, he no longer just strives to do something in accordance with his nature, but strives to do it most effectively and achieve success in it.

The third goal in Sanskrit is called "kama", which translates as pleasure. Everyone knows such a treatise as the Kama Sutra. So, the word “kama” in the title of this treatise indicates that it talks about how to properly enjoy while building a marital relationship. But if in the Kama Sutra pleasure is derived only from marital relations, then “kama” as the goal of life is a broader concept. This is the enjoyment of life in general, as the goal and meaning of life. When a person sets such a goal for himself, then whatever he does, he does everything only to enjoy, to have fun.

And the fourth goal is liberation, or "moksha" in Sanskrit. When a person gets tired of material success and no longer wants to enjoy what it gives usual life, he sets himself the ultimate goal of human life - to free himself from such a life, because it becomes a prison. The best example is former entrepreneurs who, on the wave of success, leave their business, family, go to India or Thailand and engage in some kind of creativity or yoga there. Or an even better example is clergy who leave worldly life with its bustle and settle in monasteries.

Yoga and the ultimate goal of human life

Exists two paths to the ultimate goal of human life- liberation from conditioning material world caused by the influence of the three gunas:

1. Be disappointed in life, because for a long time there were no normal relationships in the family, normal relationships with friends, or because for a long time I did something I didn’t like and did not achieve success in anything.

2. Tired of life, because everything I wanted to achieve, I achieved (in the family, in work, in business, and in creativity).

Yoga helps you move towards liberation in the second way: first, achieve real success in work, business, creativity; create happy family With a good man, raise worthy people and provide them with everything they need, and only after that, with a sense of accomplishment, free yourself from the conditioning of this world.

Self-test questions

What is a sense of life?

What are the four purposes of human life?

What is the ultimate goal of human life?

What are the two paths to the ultimate goal of human life and which path does yoga help to follow?

Practical part

Exercise 1. Garudasana (Pose of the King of the Birds Garuda)

Execution technique

We stand up straight, bend our knees and intertwine our legs so that the right thigh is on top of the left, grabbing ourselves by the left shin with our right foot. We bend our elbows and with our left hand we braid our right hand from below and join our palms. We remain in this position for some time, and then change to the opposite.

Effect

Improves flexibility of legs and arms

Strengthens leg muscles

Develops a sense of balance

Improves concentration

Contraindications

Knee injuries

Elbow and wrist injuries

Exercise 2. Bakasana (Crane Pose)

Execution technique

We squat down, place our hands in front of us on the mat, rest our knees on top of our elbows and lean on our hands, transferring our body weight forward. We lift our legs off the floor and, to balance on our hands, linger in this position for some time, maintaining balance.

Effect

Strengthens hands and wrists

Tones the abdominal organs

Strengthens abdominal muscles

Strengthens the nervous system

Improves coordination of movements

Contraindications

High blood pressure

Hand injuries

Pregnancy

Exercise 3. Viparita karani (Inverted body position)

Execution technique

Lie on your back, raise your straight legs up and, placing your hands under your lower back, raise your pelvis so that your legs are bent at a right angle (90 degrees). We linger in this position for as long as it feels good.

Effect

Improves cerebral blood supply

Cleanses facial skin

Tones the internal organs

Gives rest to the heart muscle

Trains the body's ability to regulate blood pressure

Contraindications

Heart diseases

High blood pressure

To sign up for individual training, you can get more exercises and a detailed explanation of each point of the theoretical part, as well as get a personal consultation by contacting the author. For those who practice yoga according to the program of the author's closed yoga school "Insight", all services are free, for others - by agreement.

My Skype: seahappiness

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Although the goal of life is life itself, the Vedas nevertheless describe 4 types of internal values that every person possesses.

Moksha, dharma, artha and kama– these are 4 types of values that are uniquely mixed in each person. Depending on the proportions of each goal, the individual nature of the personality is formed.

Moksha – liberation from suffering (≈0.1% of people)

Or in other words, the search for an eternal source of happiness and inner peace. Moksha translated as liberation, problem solving, freedom. Every person strives for inner freedom and self-acceptance, consciously or unconsciously. Freedom from experiencing material adversity and from attachment to external circumstances is the goal of life called moksha.

Looking around you can understand that a very small part of humanity is clearly aware of their suffering, therefore moksha a rare goal in life, if you take statistics around the world. Although moksha is the highest of all goals, a fairly small proportion of people seek a fundamental solution to their underlying problems and dissatisfaction. The bulk of humanity prefers temporary “anesthesia” and oblivion of the deep layers of consciousness with the help of material pleasures.

Disadvantage moksha is disinterest in material development and, as a consequence, indifference in the social and mercantile life of the world. Although, on the other hand, this deficiency is fully compensated by spiritual taste and subtle development. People with a predominant goal of moksha should make efforts to share the light of knowledge with the people around them and the world.

Dharma – following honor (≈1% of people)

Dharma a rather broad concept, if we take Vedic philosophy and psychology. Dharma translated as nature, duty, morality, manners, purpose and law. This purpose of life can be described as adoption of a certain order and code of life and strict adherence to the rules.

In practical terms of life dharma takes 2 main forms: (1) following the rules of an organization or (2) following one’s own principles and laws of life. Dharma not such a rare goal of life as moksha, but also far from popular in the modern world.

The main disadvantage dharma is ossification in the built order. Therefore, followers of the dharma goal of life are recommended to frequently review and update their life paradigm and internal values, so as not to get stuck in their archaism.

Artha – desire for wealth (≈9% of people)

“Money is power and opportunity” is the slogan of people who follow arthe. And they are somewhat right. If a person thinks a lot about money and prosperity, he/she should definitely develop in this regard.

This goal is quite widespread in the world, but it also has a certain threshold for entry and adherence to it. Not every person is destined to become rich and control large amounts of resources.

Negative side arthi is a strong conditioning of money and opportunities. The minds of such people are periodically overshadowed by external successes and take away the opportunity to focus on inner reality.

Kama – material pleasures (≈90% of people)

The first place in the world in popularity is occupied by pleasure as the goal of life. Most people in the world are in constant pursuit of various material circumstances. Moreover, many of these people do not make appropriate efforts to achieve what they want, which causes a storm of indignation and complaints about life.

Because the 90% of people everywhere and always will look for a buzz, the world will always revolve around production and consumption various types pleasures. And this is absolutely normal for modern times and culture.

Any pleasure becomes boring and needs a change of surroundings and scenery, this is main drawback kama . The temporary nature of material circumstances will not give you the opportunity to enjoy yourself forever, and sooner or later you will have to look for new pleasures. But most people are not at all embarrassed by this and they embark on more and more searches for material happiness, which they will never find.

Each life goal has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. I invite you to reflect on what mixture of goals and values you have and how this manifests itself in life. I hope this article helped to take another small step towards self-awareness and understanding of your nature. Happy thinking!

Roman Gavrilov