domenica 25 marzo 2012

Purushartha, the aims of the life

The aims of the life of every person according to Indian tradition are four and are called purushartha (purusha = person, artha = aim). These are dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Each person in your own life has to achieve these goals.
Dharma is the duty, virtue, righteousness, behaving ethically according to the environment, nature and the circumstances in which the person is located. There is not a absolute moral, that works for everyone, there is a individual, particular moral, which varies according to the historical period, social class, the situation in which one lives. For this reason we speak of svadharma ie individual dharma.
The other purpose is artha, the attainment of material wealth, prosperity, the fulfillment of their work, establishing and maintaining a family.
The third human purpose is the desire, material pleasure, kama, satisfaction of the sensual world. In kama are all part of the pleasures related to the body, the satisfaction of hunger, thirst, sleep, sexual desire.
The ultimate purpose, the final aim the satisfaction of which interrupts the samsara, the cycle of rebirth, is moksha. Only a balanced person, who has got the other three purposes of life can achieve this goal, and certainly he cannot achieve it in one lifetime.
Moksha is freedom from desire, from the illusion of maya, ignorance of avidya. With moksha every individual existence ceases and the Atman merges with Brahman, which is sat-cit-ananda, existence-consciousness-bliss.








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