Explain the Purusharthas?

Purusharthas: Dharma, Ailha, Kama, Moksha

The four purusharthas are really the objectives of God, of the Supreme Self, the qualities of God. And since an individual person is a reflection of God, is a part of God, it is the rightful pursuit of a person to fulfill these four purusharthas.

An individual can realize him or her self by balancing and fulfilling these four objectives. These four objectives are not independent of each other and should not be viewed in a stand­alone manner. They define and refine the other objectives and allow the other objectives to define and refine it. The activity of fulfilling one objective should also support the fulfillment of the other objectives. By maintaining a balance between the definition and fulfillment of the four purushartha, a symbiotic evolution of the individual self takes place Exclusive pursuit of one purushartha creates an imbalance in a person’s life, and prevents the person from reaching the ultimate destination of their life. As a person progresses through the evolution of their soul, they find that some of the objectives eventually lose their place and importance to more predominantly make way for the others. For example the desire to earn wealth may diminish and disappear, or a person may come to the realization there is no more material desires that they need to pursue, and hence more room is created for the pursuit of the ultimate objective, Moksha.

Ekatvam is founded on the four pillars of Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. The mission of Ekatvam is to help people realize their True Selves, to become one with the Supreme Self in this lifetime, to achieve moksha. Often, people make the mistake of renouncing everything in the pursuit of, Moksha, but that can frequently turn out to be the wrong path, and is not suited for everyone Ekatvam is in place to help people identify their true purpose and their unique purusharthas. Ekatvam shows the way to each individual by helping people see the underlying unity, Ekatvam (oneness), of them with the Universe. The path for each individual to reach the ultimate destination is different, and it is only the individual self that can identify and see the path with the help of the Divine guidance.

Dharma:

A person is born on this earth to perform certain duties. The soul houses itself into the physical vehicle that is the body which most suits for performing these duties. The physical work that a person needs to do, the duties of the person on this earth plane are termed as the Dharma of the person. Dharma is a difficult term to translate into English, but can roughly be translated as the rightful duty of a person. This is the true calling of a person, what they are born to do.

Examples of a person’s dharma are to be a doctor, teacher, writer, warrior, priest, parent etc. Sometimes a person’s dharma is decided by their birth, but it need not necessarily so. A person’s dharma can be a combination of things, and as a person progresses through life, different stages of life may call for different dharma and purposes. Tuning into the inner guide of the heart allows a person to identify their dharma, their true calling.

Artha:

Artha is the pursuit of material wealth, which brings material comforts to a person. People sometimes believe that the paths of spiritual growth and pursuit of material wealth are mutually exclusive, or even that a spiritual seeker needs to be in poverty. But that is not true. If we look at the Universe, it is a reflection of abundance. Nature is abundant in everything, poverty is nothing but a state of consciousness. If abundance is the quality of the Divine, how is pursuit of abundance in contrast with the pursuit of the Divine? If one is in poverty in a state of constantly worrying about how to support and feed, if that is where the focus is on, how can one pursue spirituality? Only when there are no worries is one able to focus their attention to the goal of union with the Divine. The important thing to remember not to be attached to the possession or attainment of wealth. It can be sought with detachment and with awareness, and when done in this state of mind, the pursuit of wealth is not-.different from the pursuit of the Divine, because one sees abundance or wealth as a form of the Divine. And in this state of detachment, one recognizes when one has attained their financial objectives, and hence the desire to pursue more automatically dies away, paying the way for Moksha.

Kama:

Kama is fulfilling one’s desires. Desires are in various forms — to he wealthy, powerful, sexual needs, recognition, service. The Kama purushartha advocates that one’s desires in this lifetime need to be fulfilled, albeit in a state of awareness and without harming anyone in the process. For a person to evolve spiritually and to reach the ultimate destination, the barrier of desires needs to be crossed. This can be done either by fulfilling the desires, or by sublimating them. Suppressing of desires is certainly not recommended because it is like a fully coiled spring that is held down by force, it can erupt unpredictably causing undesirable consequences. As one becomes aware of their desires and one goes about fulfilling them in awareness and without judgment, one soon reaches the stage of being able to sublimate them. The Divine, the Universe, lends a big hand in the process.

Moksha:

Moksha means liberation, realizing of the Self, and is the ultimate destination for this human birth. It is the stage of inner realization that the individual self is the same as the Supreme Self. It is the experience of the cosmos within one’s self. It is the experience of the flow and fusion of the Shiva and Shakti energies in one’s self. It is the experience of union, oneness, Ekatvam, with the Universe.

As all the rivers must eventually lead to the sea, there are many spiritual paths leading to the same destination. Some paths are shorter than others; some are more arduous than others. The path can be difficult to navigate, and the path may not always be visible. A guide, in the form of a Guru is needed to traverse this path, someone who holds the person and shows the way. It is Ekatvam’s mission; it is the Dharma of Amma and Swamiji to help people find their way to Moksha.