Kama one of the purpose of life

Kama sutra, is probably one of the most read and is probably one the most popular books of all times. Because of this books popularity, the word Kama is invariably associated with sex.
This leads to confusion as to why one of the objectives of the life as illustrated in the four Pursharthas is Kama? One of my friends raised this question and very rightly so  – “Vivek one of the thing amazes me is, our Indian Philosophy encourages Pursharthas (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha) but why on the other hand Kama is to be shunned as part of six evils- Is this a dichotomy or an aberration?

Kama is a positive source of energy:

Similar question also bothered me in the past; however the explanation that I have found is very acceptable to me and needs to be shared with larger audience. Kama is not about the Sex alone. This term encompasses all the worldly desires (sex being just one of them). Human desires or Kama is a very potent force that leads to most of the actions and endeavors of mankind. Kama per say can be a very positive force if the mind, body and soul work in unison and make a positive usage of this “energy of desires, impulses and aspirations”. Behind our will power and actions there has to be a strong desire, a strong passion and a very good reason. Kama is all about that.

Kama per say is therefore not a negative term and should not be mixed up with the sex alone. Kama leads to “Karma or actions”. Kama or desires can be of multiple types for example: desire to acquire skills and knowledge, love and affection for even children which gets classified as “mamata”, desire to acquire wealth, desire to progress in life, desire to do research, desire to excel and make significant contributions in a chosen field or vocation, desire to leave behind a legacy, desire to get married and create a family, etc. Such desires in mankind have ensured the progress of humanity. The period of the Gruhastha ashram is to be dedicated to the fulfillment of such desires within the frame work of Dharma about which we talked about in the earlier blog post.

The suppressed desires are wasanas, they do surface unconsciously and create problems:

Wasana is another term which is highly misunderstood. Wasana means all those desires that are suppressed within us or are bottled-up, curbed and are latent in the minds. It is these bottled-up desires which make people do unpredictable things - unconsciously. In Hindu way of life, we believe that it is these curbed or latent desires that cause us to get a rebirth. Hence in the Hindu philosophy we never talk of suppression of desires we talk of management of desires. This means question your desires, challenge them and learn to channelize them, contain them rather than suppress them. 

There is nothing wrong in fulfilling all those desires which do not cause harm to others, which do not come in to the way of your own spiritual growth, which do not lead to compulsive or addictive behaviors. The most important principle being these desires and the fulfillment process has to be within the frame work of the Dharma tenets. The most important thing - the desire fulfillment process should not lead to imbalance in life and should also not lead to the imbalance of body, mind and soul about which we will deal with, in the next few blogs. Hindus have recognized the need for fulfillment of all the legitimate and natural desires of human beings. People however have to remain focused not only on the desires but also continuously evaluate the appropriateness of the process of their fulfillment.

Desires have no limits and the fulfillment process may not be right:

Let us talk of a simple desire like - I wish to visit Singapore, I have never seen this place. There is nothing wrong with this desire; it is very much within the boundaries of Dharma. If the desire is strong one works to save the money and is able to visit Singapore. Now another desire may come up – I want to live in Singapore – another legitimate and acceptable desire. Now with this new desire if it is compelling - one will start working towards fulfillment.  The process of fulfilling such a desire may lead the person to do things that are not necessarily bound by the tenets of Dharma. When questioned the person having such a desire may always justify saying he is just fulfilling a reasonable legitimate desire which is not against the religious tenets or Dharma.

In the quest of fulfillment of desires several people just burn out themselves. They may even dwell in to several undesirable actions. All of us are bound by the pros and cons of our own Karmas or actions. For everything that happens to us in this birth, or in the next birth, has a definite cause and the same is created by our own karmas or actions and most of our actions or Karmas are aimed at fulfillment of our desires..

The problem with the desire fulfillment process is, it has no end point. As one desire gets fulfilled, another set of desires take birth. In this illusionary world (Maya) the human beings keep creating several means of comforts, entertainment and temptations. The nature also creates several attractions. By the time you are thru with one, the other comes-up. We have to learn to deliberately draw a line somewhere and say – “so far and no further”. Enlightened clairvoyant souls have realized the futility of fulfilling the desires, the continuous birth of new desires and the pros and cons of actions that lead to fulfillment of the same. These enlightened souls therefore reach a stage wherein their mind gets focused on the Parma-atman or the creator, the God, and not on the worldly pleasures.

Kama is the reality:

For most of us who are part of the materialistic world the concept of getting detached from the desires of the life is very difficult to manage. We get so much attached to the worldly things, materials, possessions, people, near and dear once, position, power, wealth, etc that some time on the way we forget the ultimate purpose of our lives. 

We can however make an attempt.  If we understand that non fulfillment of desires / expectations is the cause of frustrations, envy, anger and negativity of all types, it becomes a good beginning. One should start questioning everything that comes to our minds, start challenging the desirability of our newly born and the latent desires. This in itself is half battle won. One should also start thinking of the process of fulfillment of chosen few desires and start testing the process with our own capabilities, aptitude, the road blocks and the methods to overcome the same, this in turn should be tested with the tenets of the Dharma. Such a process will ensure we focus on critical few and we manage and contain what is not desirable. We have to accept that happiness does not come from the fulfillment of desires, it comes from being comfortable with your-self, it comes from sharing and giving – refer to my first blog on Pearls of Wisdom.

Human beings should live a complete life - Upanishads

This means:

 A life that is Soundaryapurna or Beautiful. Most of the wise persons looking at your life should say that this is a beautiful balanced life. Beauty referred here is the internal or intrinsic beauty of your personality & the achievements you made in your life. Beauty of your values, love and compassion with humbleness.

A life that is Sukhamaya or full of Happiness. Happiness coming from the inner self and this should not be confused with pleasure, joy or fun, which are short term.

  

A life that is Tejomaya or full of brightness or aura that you acquire. Aura or Tej  comes from several sources.

1. Due to Knowledge you acquire and share with others
2. Due to Contributions you make
3. Due to Spiritual development  the serenity or Satvikta that you develop.

A life that is Parakrami: The challenges that you take, your  accomplishments, significant contributions that you make to the society in a chosen field, significant road blocks that you bust – all for the right causes.

Artha and Moksha:

Up till now we have dealt with Dharma and the Kama. Artha and Moksha are the other two Pursharthas, about which we will talk about in the next two blog posts over one week.

Disclaimer: The pictures in this post are downloaded from Google images.

The concept of “Dharma” – my reflections

In my earlier blog-post I talked about the purpose of life and the Dharma being the foundation for everything that we should be doing in the life. Today I will talk about the meaning of the term Dharma as understood by me.

Considerable confusion existed in my mind about the difference between the term Religion and the word Dharma. Some understanding that I developed: There is no synonymous term to the word Religion in the Eastern Languages. Religion as we understand is a western concept. The term Dharma is all about the guidelines and the code of conduct that a person is expected to follow. These guidelines as articulated by our ancient seers are for various stages of life. Really speaking these guidelines are the frame work for the way of life.

I am not an expert on religions, however from what I understand similar guidelines or the philosophical foundations exist in all the religions. These religions do differ from each other on superfluous plains – dress codes, symbol, rituals, food habits etc. However the foundational philosophical tenets are very similar in all the religions. Many of the religions that have survived and blossomed for several centuries, these  would not have been in existence if they were fundamentally against building a sound social fabric and code of ethics and conduct that are close to human values. Human beings are same all over the world and they are glued on to very similar human values.

Dharma to me is a way of life and not some religious dictate:

Dharma to me is all about the righteous behavior that we are expected to exhibit. This is all about the norms, the purity of life. Dharma can be described by many people in many different ways. For me it simply means: Sat-sang, Sat karma, Sat bhavana and Sat vichar. Let me illustrate my understanding of these terms:

1.    Sat-sang: Ensuring we always remain in the company of wise / good people from whom we can learn and get guided. Sat means truth, pure, clean. This term therefore tells us to avoid the company of wrong / evil people who can make negative impact on us. This is all about right associations. Ask yourself – Are you always associated with good human beings who are positive, who have good character and those who are value creators. Refer to my first blog on Pearls of wisdom.

2.    Sat-bhavana: This is all about ensuring we always have pure heart and complete absence of evil within us. Bhavana is all about imaginations, sentiments, feelings, fancies, susceptibilities. These have to be pure.

3.    Sat-vichar: This is all about purity of thoughts that are not evil, not negative. It is believed that thoughts are as powerful or may be more powerful than the actions. If we are full of negative thoughts our actions will also become negative.

4.    Sat-karma: This is all about good deeds, the work that is aimed at larger good, the one that is aimed at helping the society, needy and the one that has no malice or selfish interests. It is all about selfless virtuous actions.

Dharma is all about duties:

The term Dharma is all also about the duties that arise from the four ashrams. Some of the duties also come to us from the roles we perform or the profession to which we belong to, for example if I am a teacher, it is my dharma to ensure right efforts are made in a self-less fashion to create and disseminate knowledge in such a way that my students are benefited. No compromises are expected in this process. It is all about putting in the heart and soul and endeavor to excel. Dharma also deals with ethics, moralities, truthfulness, etc. 

Dharma is all about repaying the five debts:

 

Dharma also deals with the duties and the same are illustrated thru the concept of debts in the Indian Philosophy. The debts that we need to repay while we live are illustrated below. These Runas or debts also indicate the purpose of our life.

Type of Debt or Runa	How to repay the debt?
Rishi Runa: Debt from the learned. They are the Gurus, the scientists, the spiritual leaders, the researchers, the thinkers. They gave us wisdom and knowledge.	Lifelong learning with an open mind. Financially or thru service - help / support institutions of learning. Create new knowledge, challenge and rediscover, invent. Sharing is critical.  Aim at becoming a coach / teacher for those who need the knowledge – share what you know.
Dev Runa: Debt from the Devatas. In Hindu way of life a Devata is not the creator or God as understood by the western thought. God is Param Atma or the Bramhan. The Devatwa is a pravrutti or tendency. Those who are divine, do good work for humanity are considered as Deva-swarup or God like, and are therefore called Devas.	How to repay their debt?  Actions that support  / nurtures the work of good human beings. Help, be compassionate, love & support the needy. Become the source of motivation and joy to the depressed. This also includes service & support to the people who are like God. In short become like a Devata or become like God.
Pitru Runa: Debt from ancestors, elders, and parents. They gave us the culture, education & everything that we have including the physical body.	Ensure respect & care for the elders. Nurture & protect the heritage - culture, traditions & arts. Find the meaning behind everything, reject what is not right and relevant at a point of time and accept what is right and relevant. Pass on the heritage to the next generation – ensure continuity.
Bhut Runa: Debt from nature. Focus is on the environment – both living and non-living. In this term Hindu way of life looks at all the elements of nature and environment as Devatas. We worship Warun-dev, Agni-dev, Sun, moon and planets. We also worship animals who are useful to human beings.	Learn to live in harmony with the nature. Use it to the minimum, conserve and nurture. This Debt is all about environmental protection and conservation of flora, fauna and the related areas.
Samaj Runa: Debt from society. Social systems & governance are necessary for human survival. They provide support system, security, education, & means of livelihood. They ensure social fabric. Some examples: cultural centres, charitable institutions, Government institutions, industries that create an engine for prosperity, employment and growth etc.	Find opportunities to contribute to social causes - financially & thru service. Uphold & champion legal & social framework necessary to maintain & improve society. Ensure material pursuits, create new economic engines, lead / support social reforms, work for weaker sections & be a champion for their rights. This is also about becoming excellent citizens of the society where we live in.

It will therefore be seen that Dharma becomes the foundation for the life. Dharma acts as a regulator. All our actions in the life have to be guided by the fundamental principles of Dharma. Our pursuits of Kama and Artha have to be in the framework of Dharma.

Readers may refer to my first blog on “Pearls of Wisdom”. These pearls or guidelines or the frame work, has no religious connotation, it is all about the “code of conduct” that I articulated and I am urging my children to follow. To me that is like Dharma.

My next blog will deal with the concept of "Kama". This will be published in next 3/4 days.

Disclaimer: The images in this blog post are downloaded from Google images