Purusharthas: the 4 goals of spiritual life

What is spiritual life?
And what are the reasons for the frantic external search for it?

We can certainly see that in the last two decades, the overwhelming emergence of New Age trends in our society has subliminally conditioned the attitude and behavior of so-called alternative circles towards spiritual life.

It seems that, in order to have a spiritual life, we have to belong to some religion or esoteric movement, as if spiritual life were external to our own existence.

As if the rituals of the various movements, religions and gurus were the only possible means of validating the spirituality of our existence as human beings.

What confusions can we observe?

In the world of Western yoga, the importation of the particular religious views of Indian masters has been downright amusing.

Watching Western students, very serious and convinced, chanting mantras, bowing and kowtowing, prostrating themselves on their knees and hands to their chests before statuettes of Shiva, Patanjali and other deities from the Indian universe, is surreal to say the least and reveals how lost we are in the search for our spiritual life.

But I have to agree that, with appropriate lighting, some burning incense, and all topped off by a timeless, understanding and inviting smile from those who lead the practice in these pseudo-mystical atmospheres, it is the right recipe for intimidating those who naively approach these movements and give in to group pressure, silencing the alarm bells inside the heads of those who are less daring.

And do they understand, or question, why they participate in these rituals before yoga classes?

I admit that in India, the land of yoga and Shangri-La, of all the mysticism that fills the minds of Europeans, and in the context of a school run by a recognized Master, out of respect for tradition and education, one must follow the school protocol.

But transferring this to yoga studios in cities, towns and villages in the West causes a strange sensation, a certain itch on the skin of anyone with a shred of mental health.

Using the teachings of masters of recognized and unequivocal value, Master Krisnamacharia was careful to draw the attention of Western students not to confuse their choice within the rituals of Indian culture with the practice of yoga.

But this call for attention was completely ignored.

Just visiting the so-called “Shalas” is enough to observe the pseudo-mystical frenzy with which they adorn the place where sadhana (practice) is developed.

Perhaps for those who have been to India, the reproduction of these rituals has some meaning and provokes nostalgia for a time in their lives when they were involved in the discovery of another culture.

I myself have to confess that, in the 1980s, after a few trips to India, my house was full of cloths, yantras and Indian artefacts. But that happened exclusively in my private life.

Today it is hilarious to see how some yoga teachers, in order to give themselves an air of importance and seriousness, dress in Indian clothes and place the red sign between their eyebrows.

The sad thing is that some are really excellent teachers and great human beings. They did not need to resort to this silly fantasy to value themselves.

The truly comical and embarrassing thing is to realize that, as a rule, people have no idea what the red dot between their eyebrows means.

Traditionally, in Indian culture, the red dot between the eyebrows (Bindi) made with mercury sulphate symbolizes feminine strength (Shakti) and is considered the symbol of marriage. That is why widows and single women do not wear it (for those who wish to respect the norms of Indian tradition).

With the trivialization of Indian culture, it became a merely decorative symbol to give an esoteric air. And to top off this mischievous side of its use, there is an Indian legend that says: odalisques wear the Bindi because they believe that this third eye helps them in the arts of seduction.

Nowadays, it seems that everyone wants to buy a quick passport to spirituality and that spiritual life happens by becoming Shantis and carrying a sticky mat on our shoulders, walking from yoga center to shala, and from shala to yoga center.

I don’t know if for some hidden reason, but the pragmatic concept of the Purusharthas is very little discussed among yoga movements.

Understanding and studying them could prevent countless mistakes in the understanding of spiritual life.

Perhaps studying the pragmatism of the Purusharthas would deflate the Shanti impetus that some practitioners use as an excuse for their insufficient and rudimentary emotional, social and professional capacities, to free themselves from their natural responsibilities, fleeing to the countryside in the utopian search for Mother Gaia’s Shangri-La.

An overwhelming percentage of these alternative people return years later in precarious situations to urban areas, asking for logistical and economic support from their parents, family and former friends, trying to stay “updated” in a world that has moved on in their absence.

After all, the scene of hugging trees and saluting the sun in the cornfields is not as romantic as they imagined.

They discover, astonished, that the Shanti scene of Buddhist monks hugging and walking with tigers, as well as their power to tame them with their minds, was a fallacy. After all, the animals were all drugged and the monks were getting rich from the trade in the meat and skins of the poor tigers. Not to mention the embarrassing slaughterhouse where they butchered the adult animals and their cubs, inside the monastery itself.

Other alternative people stay there, self-sufficient thanks to contributions from their parents and friends.

But I must mention that a negligible number manage to maintain truly sustainable and exemplary projects for the health and balance of our planet, perhaps because they understand, unconsciously or not, the application of the Purusharthas.

But now let’s get to the proposed topic.

The Four Goals of Life – Purusharthas

According to the perspective of Indian culture and practical philosophy of life, in which yoga is expressed, man’s existence (PURUSHA) has four goals (ardha) and is not complete until all four are developed, lived and realized.

If any of the first three are ignored, fulfillment will be irretrievably compromised.

The four goals are as follows:

1. Dharma – means law, in the broad sense of achieving self-realization, as well as the life that is lived in accordance with law, whether established by statute or universal law. In this sense, it is the path of justice, the right way, the knowledge of behavior appropriate to the surrounding circumstances, what is considered decent or proper, virtue, duty, man’s effort to be and understand what he is, the courage, honesty and tolerance to navigate between the context of the laws of society and the universal laws.
2. Artha – means health, success, family, acquisition of material goods, self-realization in the social and professional world. It designates the cause, the reason for economic development, material prosperity. Artha also means the development of the capacities for the conquest of matter, not only in the gross sense of acquiring goods, but in the sense of using matter as an intelligent instrument of spiritual evolution. Using possessions, without being them. In this way, we value work and understand that gains and losses are inherent to life.
3. Kama – Pleasure, sexuality, delight in all its forms, self-realization on a sensual and sensory level. Considered essential for spiritual balance and development.
4. Moksha – Total liberation from the chains of existence, spiritual self-realization.

The practitioner must always keep these four principles in mind.
If one aspect is neglected, it is likely that he will not succeed in the others.

The first three goals of life, the Purusharthas, determine the quality and character of the human being.

(As honey is the essence of the flower, pleasure is the fulfillment of desire.
Virtue, health and pleasure must be sought together.
He who seeks only one of the three is unworthy, he who seeks two is mediocre.
The best is he who seeks all three.) Mahabharata

Stay tuned, in the next articles we will delve deeper into each of the Purusharthas.