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april 2018yogajournal.com.auethics—doing right by yourself, your
family, your community, the world.
Your dharma should govern your every
action and decision in life, says
Kempton.DEFINED AS“material prosperity,”
“wealth,” “abundance,” and “success,”
artha is the material comfort you need
to live in the world with ease. In short,
it’s the stuff—the capital, the computer,
the business suit—you need to get
your dharma done and support your
life’s mission.
Artha refers to things—your
apartment, your car, your pots and
pans. It can also mean the knowledge,
understanding, or education you need
to get along in the world—something
you certainly need to pursue the dharma
of a doctor, for instance. It also means
good health and, of course, it means
money.
Like dharma, artha can be a
moving target. “When I used to teach
the purusharthas, artha meant food,
clothing, and shelter,” says Kraftsow.
“Now it means food, clothing, shelter,
a cell phone, and Internet access.”
That’s a little joke, of course, but it
also points to a fundamental truth:
What you need depends on who you are.
“What artha means for a beggar is the
begging bowl; what it means for a
business executive in Los Angeles is
driving a Lexus,” says Kraftsow. “If
you’re doing a business deal, it means
wearing a nice suit or a good watch to
look professional. The yoga community
shouldn’t get the message that you can’t
have a nice car or a watch. You might
need those things to play your role.”
Just don’t get carried away by the
notion that artha is everything, or that
more is always better, says Brooks, who
adds that a perceptual shift may be
needed to deal skilfully with artha.
“What artha asks us to do is learn to
live in a world of material objects that
exist for our benefit,” he says. “It’s not
about rejecting the world, but about
figuring out how to be content with the
things you own, borrow, or steward.
And it requires that you ask: What do
I see as truly valuable?”
Brooks asserts that we are not
human without artha; Kempton agrees.
“Artha is the skills we develop to live a
successful life,” she says. “I’ve foundthat if human beings don’t get artha
together in one way or another, they feel
bad about themselves. Artha is one of
the basic human dignities.”ACCORDING TO ROD STRYKER,kama,
or the desire for pleasure, is what
makes the world go ’round. “Desire for
pleasure is what drives all human
behaviour,” he says. “Kama can be
sensuality, but it’s also art, beauty,
intimacy, fellowship, and kindness—
it’s what brings a sense of delight to
our lives. There can be pleasure even
in sacrifice.”
Kama gets some bad press,
Stryker notes, possibly because it’s
the purushartha most likely to run
amok. Excessive kama can lead to
overindulgence, addiction, sloth, greed,
and a whole host of other “deadly sins.”
But it is good, and indeed necessary,
when it exists to support dharma. “If
we set kama in the context of dharma,
we understand it to be a part of the
richness of life,” Stryker says. “Every
accomplishment has been sought for
the pleasure that it provides. We live in
service to a higher purpose, but along- KAMA pleasure
- ARTHA PROSPERITY
that path there is the pleasure we take
from family and friends, art, love, and
harmony in the world around us.”
Brooks agrees, saying that whether we
deal with it skilfully or not, there is no
life without kama.
Shining the light of awareness on
your desires can help you focus on the
ones that honour the true essence of life.
“The conscious pursuit of kama is a
profound yogic practice,” Kempton says.
“To practice kama yogically means to
practice being fully present with
whatever you’re experiencing. There are
many levels of pleasure, from eating a
pizza to finding a meditation practice
that allows your heart to expand. As a
yogi, you learn to distinguish. You know
which pleasures are saturated with
consciousness and are drenched in the
ecstasies of the soul, and which ones
leave you depleted or lying to yourself
about what is really going on.”
Brooks notes that focusing on the
right kinds of pleasure can lead you
toward your dharma—and help you
fulfil it with passion. “Passion is never
the problem,” he says. “Passion is the
solution.” Find your own solution by
inquiring deeply about your own pursuit
of pleasure. PHOTOS: BEATRIX BOROS/STOCKSY; IPOPBA/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM