Meanings of Life🔗

18.29 Now hear Me explain, fully and separately, the threefold division of intellect and resolve, based on modes of material nature, O Arjuna.

18.31 That intellect is in the mode of passion that cannot distinguish

between principles of right conduct and wrongdoing, and right and wrong action, O Arjuna.

18.32 That intellect is in the mode of ignorance that accepts unrighteousness as righteousness and thinks everything to be that which it is not, O Arjuna.

18.33 Consistent and continuous determination in controlling mind, breath and senses for uniting with the Divine is goodness, Arjuna.

18.34 Craving for results of action while clinging to goals of proper conduct, pleasure and wealth is the state of passion.

18.35 Ignorant resolve that cannot go beyond dreaming, fear, grief, despair and, delusion — such is in darkness, Arjuna.

Here Krishna refers to the approach known as the purushartha or meanings of life.

Dharma, artha, kama and moksha are the four purushartha. These can be translated as righteousness, wealth, desire or lust and liberation. These are the four fold meanings of life. I prefer not to call it purpose of life. There is no purpose to life. Once we install a purpose to life, it becomes a goal post. Attachments and expectations result.

Life is a path without a destination. Once we assume there is a destination, we hurry. The future becomes a stress-inducing factor. Let us say we travel from New York to Washington. Once we fix Washington as our destination, the next issue is, 'When will we reach there?'

Subsequently all that torments us from then on is, 'When will we reach there?' It is a different matter that we may have nothing to do in Washington once we arrive, and therefore there is no need to hurry. In the process we do not enjoy the journey. The journey is an evil that we must cross in order to reach our destination. What a sad way to lead one's life.

In life do not fix a destination. Each journey must be enjoyed. The path and the journey are what life is. Enjoy the people you meet, the experiences you have and what you pick up on the way without being greedy to acquire more. The journey, the path, becomes so enjoyable that whatever destination you reach is the right destination.

People who ascribe a purpose to life are disturbed. Philosophers who have no other work create false purposes to life. Philosophers exist to confuse people whereas mystics solve problems and provide guidance to awaken intelligence. When we let life lead us, when we take life as it comes, we enjoy every moment. We truly live in the present, like a God. We realize our potential.

Purushartha provides four meanings to life. Dharma is right conduct or virtue. Buddha preached this as the middle path and the first of his three great principles of Dharma, Sangha and Buddha. Traditionally it is Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. But I feel Dharma and Sangha are the means to reach Buddha, the Divine. Dharma is therefore the road map when we start the journey of life. This roadmap has been charted by great sages who looked within and brought out the truth of their experience in terms of how one should lead one's life for it to be meaningful.

Artha is stuff we pick up on our path and journey, the material things we need to sustain ourselves. Kama is the pleasure of senses we experience and enjoy on this journey. These are rightful acquisitions and pleasurable experiences. Do not feel disturbed by the need for these. But do not become caught up in them and forget to move on the path and enjoy the journey to the fullest.

Moksha or liberation is the ultimate meaning to life. This is the culmination of the liberation from expectation, desires, greed and fear and liberation from attachment to desires. This understanding that non-attachment and absence of expectation leads to liberation can fill us with bliss.

Here Krishna gives the essence of how we should lead our lives to make them meaningful. He says that goodness or satva is the state in which there is clarity between right and wrong, and whatever one does with one's body, mind and senses is done with a view to liberate ourselves from attachment and desires in order to realize that we are Divine.

Q: Master, you said earlier that differentiation between right and wrong is only in our minds. Can you explain why Krishna tells us to have clarity between right and wrong?

In purely spiritual terms, in the definition of Existence, there is no differentiation between right and wrong. God does not sit and judge. Nature and God do not keep accounts. An enlightened Master is beyond your normal understanding of right and wrong.

However, in day-to-day life, in practical terms, there are social guidelines and limits to what you can and cannot do. You cannot live within a society or even outside a society without following accepted norms of behavior.

Krishna makes recommendations throughout Gita for everyday practical life: to be in the flow with Existence while simultaneously being in line with societal norms. He does not talk only about people who move to isolated forests to contemplate the infinite. His advice to Arjuna is practical and valid for each of us, whether a student, scholar, householder or businessperson.

Therefore, He speaks about practicality and spirituality. He takes us to Quantum Spirituality. He advises how to lead a day-to-day life while moving up spiritually into Self-realization. For that reason, He advises to understand right and wrong and to guide our body, mind and senses accordingly, free from attachment and expectations. In this way, we become in tune with our Divine Self.

Another aspect to His advice is born out of His concern for our life beyond. What we do in this life determines what happens after our body perishes. Whatever we do follows us. Intent and result of our

action (karma) follows us from birth to birth through the transitions of death as the mind set (vasana) and recreates us in the same mold as our vasana. We become truly what we do as well as what we think, desire and intend.

That is why enlightened Masters, the rishis, laid down guidelines. This is dharma. Following one's dharma in the true spirit of moksha (liberation), without fear or favor and without desires and expectations makes life worth living. It makes the journey blissful.

If, on the other hand, we do not differentiate between right and wrong, both in principle and action, the pursuit of material pleasures and acquisitions with attachment and expectations breeds aggression, rajas. This is why businesses often do things that are blatantly antisocial. The pursuit of wealth so confuses the minds of top executives that the line between right and wrong becomes blurred. If someone points this out or tries to correct them, they are attacked as wrong doers. We observe this often in society.

When we think that the terrible deeds that we do are the best for us and we carry them out with deep emotional attachment to the action and end result, we are in dark ignorance or tamas. This is especially true of political leaders. They convince themselves that wrong is right and execute their nightmares on humanity. The greater the power they wield, the greater the damage they inflict.

You may ask, what can we do? What could anyone do with a Hitler in the past? What can anyone do with modern day Hitlers who use democracy as a weapon? Unfortunately, we can do little, directly and instantly. We can only transform ourselves first and by the light of our transformation influence others. Each one must internalize the truth and transform. Otherwise it will be another coercion; it will be another dictatorship in the name of spirituality.

The truth is that once we evolve, renouncing our expectations and attachment, we see these events, however nasty they may be, in a different light. We realize, 'Yes, they are bad and should not happen.' We know that we can do little to influence these events. Even so, we know there will be a correction. Existence may not work like lightning; all the same, there will be a payback. We do not become disturbed. We stay still in satva.

This does not prevent us from doing whatever we can to right what has gone wrong. We must do whatever we can. However, do not think we are capable of correction or that we are the corrector, if that is the right word. This will entangle us back into attachment. When we have intelligence, the buddhi, to work this way without ego and expectation, Existence provides us with whatever we need in terms of sakti, the power to do what we need to do.

You may ask, how can we determine what is right or wrong? It is a relevant question. In simple terms, Patanjali's Yoga Sutra lays down straightforward guidelines for right living, as the five yama or disciplines. Patanjali says these are satya, truth; ahimsa, non-violence; aparagriha, living simply; asteya, not coveting what others have; and brahmacharya, living in reality. If we use these guidelines for our thoughts, words and actions, we will stay on the right path. I can speak about each of these disciplines for hours; unfortunately there is only limited time here.

In our annual Himalayan trips, those who accompany me do a viraja homa on the banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh: they take these five vows of yama and wear the sacred thread and saffron cloth I give them for protection. I do not monitor to see whether they follow this strictly or not, but they will tell you that these vows make their trip more enjoyable.