Dharma Artha Kama Moksha
Millenia ago, seers in the ancient Eastern tradition articulated the blueprint for the fulfillment of the objectives of human birth as was shown to them in the highest supreme levels of consciousness. The Supreme Self pervades and exists in all dimensions in all beings, sentient and insentient. It is that Supreme Self that exists inside each individual self, in each individual person. And therefore every individual person is none other than the Supreme Self, for how can the part be different from the whole.
In order for an individual to realize their supreme Self, they need to identify the reasons and objectives why they came into being on this earth plane, and fulfill them. The ancient seers clearly articulated the objectives of humankind as "Purusharthas" -- 'Purusha' means an individual or person, and 'Artha' means meaning or objective or pursuit. They articulated four Purusharthas as:
Dharma : Righteousness, Duty
Artha : Wealth
Kama : Desire
Moksha : Liberation
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. In fact, it is both your individual and soul purpose.
An individual can realize him or herself by balancing and fulfilling these four objectives. These four objectives are not independent of each other and should not be viewed in a stand-alone manner. They define and refine the other objectives and allow the other objectives to define and refine itself. 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 purusharthas, 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 predominant objectives. For example, the desire to earn wealth may diminish and disappear, or a person may come to the realization that there are 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, 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 themselves 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 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 dharmas 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 path 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 what 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 is not to be attached to the possession or attainment of wealth. It can be either transcended or sought with detachment, and with awareness. 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 automatically dies away, paving the way for Moksha.
Kama: Kama is fulfilling one's desires. Desires are in various forms -- to be wealthy, powerful, sexual needs, recognition, service, etc. 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 or transcending 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 judgement, 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, realization of the Self, and is the ultimate destination of 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 them the Way to their inner Guru. It is Ekatvam's mission, and it is the Dharma of Amma and Swamiji to help people find their way to Moksha.
Source From: http://ekatvam.org/liberation/dharma-artha-kama-moksha.html
Translated into Chinese by this blog author Zen Leow.
千年以前，古老的東方傳統預言家揭示人類出生的目標藍圖同時對他們顯現了的最高層次的意識。最高的真我自性(The Supreme Self)彌漫，存在於一切眾生，生物和非生物的各個維度。最高的真我自性(The Supreme Self)存在於每個個體內和個體本身。因此每一個人莫過於是最高的真我自性(The Supreme Self)，這又如何讓(人)這部分不同於這整體。
為了使個體實現他們最高的自我，他們需要找出他們為何應運而生在這地球的原因和目標並且完成這些目標。古代先知明確闡明人類的目標，稱之為"Purusharthas" — —'Purusha' (梵我)指個人或人，而'Artha'指意義或追求的目的。他們明確分說明四個 Purusharthas:
Dharma : Righteousness, Duty 義務 責任
Artha : Wealth 財富
Kama : Desire 慾望
Moksha : Liberation 解脫
四個 purusharthas是神(God)，最高的真我自性(The Supreme Self)的目標和，和神(God)的品質。因為(個體)人是神的反射，是部分的神(God)，因此應履行這四個 purusharthas。事實上，它是你個人和靈魂的目的。
人可以實現以平衡或旅行這四個目標來實現自我。這四個目標不是獨立的，不應被視作獨立方式。他們(相互)定義和改進其他目標也允許其他目標從新定義和完善自己。實現其中一個目標也能支援其他目標的實現。藉由維持(四個purusharthas)定義和四個 purusharthas實現的平衡，個體自我共生的進化將會發生。僅僅追求的其中一個 purushartha 將會造成一個人生活的不平衡，並防止此人到達生活的最終目的。正當以個人的經歷靈魂的進化，將會發現其中一些目標將會最終會失去他們的地位和重要性而趨向更重要的目標。例如，賺取財富的欲望可能會減少和消失，或一個人可能會意識到，再也沒有更多的物質欲望，他們有更多的空間去追求終極目的—Moksha解脫。
Ekatvam 基於Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha成立。 Ekatvam 的使命是幫助人們認識到他們真實的自我，並成為一個與最高的真我自性(The Supreme Self)在這一生中合一，達到Moksha解脫。人們通常犯的錯誤所有事情,是為了追求解脫，而放棄一切，但這經常就是錯誤的道路，並不適合每個人。Ekatvam 是為了幫助人們辨認出真正目的和人們獨特的 purusharthas。Ekatvam 通過幫助人們看到自己與宇宙的統一性， Ekatvam （合一），顯現個別的道路。每個人到達最終目的的路徑不相同，只有每個個體自己只能透過神性的指引才能辨識和看見他們的路徑。
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