KARMA YOGA TALK # 2
THE FOURFOLD PURSUIT
THE YOGA TALKS AT
YASODHARA
KARMA
YOGA TALK # 2
THE
FOURFOLD PURSUIT
Having seen that life
is goal oriented, what does one do? Not only yogis, but wise men
from various traditions have suggested that we counter goal
orientation with some special motivation. There is a Sanskrit
word, "
" which can be
defined as "objects legitimate to pursue." In the East,
you hear the expression "the fourfold motivation." They
are not really four goals; they are the "the
objects which are legitimate to pursue." Whether there is
something above and beyond them which may be grander, or
ultimate, is not the point. The ""
are the immediate objects legitimate to pursue. The fourfold
motivation qualifies as "".
It is not four separate motivations, but rather a single
motivation, like four strands bound together. Although each of
the strands has a Sanskrit name, they are not unique to the East;
they are universal.
is the name for one such strand. The
dictionary lists quite a number of different meanings, "the
order of duties of rules and regulations," the "social
order, as division into classifications like
"householder", student, recluse, 
(renunciate). These are all artificial
divisions. After all, people usually do not fit into the pigeon
holes allotted to them by political, moral or religious
authority. Simply because a man is born into a Brahman family
doesn’t, in itself, give the quality of a Brahman. I need
not be studious, simply because I have become someone’s
student. Simply because I hold house doesn’t mean I live a
householder’s life. Or, living a householder’s life, I
need not hold a house. There is always a certain amount of
coercion in all this. Coercion, in turn, breeds conflict. In any
conflict, it’s a game of chance regarding who wins.
Sometimes the authority wins, and sometimes a rebel. It’s a
seesaw, which can go on eternally.
The most usual translation is
the rather loaded word "righteousness," and because
that’s so loaded with meanings, the meaning we’ll adopt
is simply "order." One could argue that this is
splitting hairs. From the pulpit you hear
"righteousness," and from the Prime Minister, or
President, you hear "order." In any case, in order to
avoid confusion, let’s simplify it further. When the word
"
"
is used, what’s being suggested is that one of the major
goals should be to generate and sustain order in your life.
Two of the strands of the four
may surprise you. They are given names "
" and "
." Normally,
""
is taken to mean "material possessions," or
‘wealth," while "" is
generally taken to mean "the pursuit of pleasure or
enjoyment." They considered both of these valid motivations.
They surely wouldn’t have to convince anyone! Anyhow, they
must have realized that some of this was inevitable, and so they
included it.
The fourth strand is given the
name "
,"
or "liberation," and it’s regarded as total
freedom in which there is no enslavement of any kind. It is
difficult to discuss moksha without returning to our models of
energy moving in consciousness, the circle and the spiral.
In moving away from the center (point of origin), the spiral, or goal orientated motion, seems only to travel farther and farther away with each rotation. However, whether you believe it or not, no matter how from the center the spiral travels, there is a force, emanating from the center, which is intense, which pulls on the spiral, pulling it back towards the center, towards itself. And, in much the same way, no matter how powerful the temptation to reach out to these goals may be, the center [of consciousness] is pulling you back. That constant pull towards the center is there throughout our life! It doesn’t disappear because we are engaged in other activities.
During the day, your consciousness spreads out, out, out, as far out as you can reach. Since the center is constantly pulling you back, there is a tug of war throughout the day. You push, and the center pulls. Perhaps this is one explanation of fatigue, because it is otherwise difficult to understand why fatigue has to happen at all. If we are able to eat and breathe, and otherwise constantly supply the energy that is getting burned up, why must we eventually feel so worn out? Perhaps fatigue happens because you are willfully driving yourselves, pushing, defying the constant pull back from the center.
Perhaps this battle of push and pull also explains why you sleep. Perhaps, at one stage, the center inevitably wins the battle. Perhaps after a long period of externalized motion, when through fatigue, there has been a weakening of the motion of the spiral, the center is able to pull you back, and, because you still don’t want to be aware of the center of consciousness, you fall asleep.
The movement away from the
center is not a like a conventional circular outward spiral, and
this is because of the constant pull exerted from the center. The
spiral moves back and forth, towards and away, or if you would
like it put in human terms: up and down. You seem to be climbing
away, but still you come back. You push towards the self-assumed
goal, and at the same time, feel the pull of center. Of course,
"Up and down" may not be as suitable to describe this
motion as are the words: "push and pull." After all, in
the cosmos, what is "up" and what is "down"?
And therefore, it’s more suitable to say "push and
pull," or "for and against," "towards and
away." All our lives, we are torn by these two:
"towards and away." (In Raja yoga, you will find what
is called "
" or, "the inner
torment created by for and against," or what is stated as
"I like this, and I don’t like that." Later on,
we’ll be discussing this again, because, as you shall
discover, it is one of the main themes of Raja yoga.)
Against the backdrop of all that we have discussed so far, you can see that this terminology ("towards and away", "for and against," and "push and pull,") which we have used to discuss the action of the spiral, may be used to further our understanding of "predisposition of the personality." For example, in the case of people for whom order in life is more important than wealth, the pull towards wealth is not as strong as the pull towards order. On the other hand, some people are able to sacrifice a lot of pleasure for wealth. In their case, the pull towards wealth is not as strong as the pull towards pleasure. Of course, as to the relative strengths of each arc within the spiral, infinite variations are possible.
If a chart were drawn of these arcs, it would somehow have to depict that every arc not only touches the personality with, but at the same time also touches the cosmos. In Hatha yoga we said that macrocosm and microcosm were the counterparts of each other. We are like receivers which tune to various stations or channels through which, in total, the entire universe is broadcast. In the case of the subject of karma, it is important to see that each action, represented by one’s spiral, or spiral movement, touches the personality and also the external world, universe, cosmos.
So that if you translate a particular arc as saying: "I must become wealthy!" it touches the personality, and expresses not only the acquisition of wealth in action, wealth, but also expresses its equivalent reaction. First, like a horse with blinkers, you sanction ("by hook or crook") wealth as the goal of life. That goes out as the action motivated by desire to become wealthy. However, at the very same time, that action also "touches" or spreads out in the external world, in the cosmos, in its own way. You may not see it, but that’s another matter. Whether or not you see it happen, it still happens.
The arc touches the microcosm,
quite literally, and therefore, creates and leaves an impression
at that point of contact. The internal effect, the microcosmic
effect of that spiral is regarded as "
" and "
." These two words are often thought to be
interchangeable. However, is psychologically
deeper. You can think of as the conditioning,
while is outward growth of that conditioning.
If is the "body," is the
"dress."
After creating the vasana and samskara internally, the spiral continues, and as it leaves the microcosm with all the energy- motivation, it also goes out into the external cosmos, the macrocosm and becomes... what is regarded as destiny, fate, and reaction. Most people regard this macrocosmic effect as the sole definition of the word "karma", but of course, that is only part of the story.
Within the context of vasana and
samskara, what is meant by the word "dharma" is not
cosmic order. Cosmic order is beyond the ego-sense, and
therefore, not something that the individual can create in
his/her own mind. In fact, cosmic order, which in Sanskrit is
given the name "
," is almost equivalent to "," or "liberation." Within
the context of vasana and samskara, "" means that order which has been
imposed (or superimposed) by the human mind, i.e., rules and
regulations.
You can see that all societies try to divide themselves into distinct "classifications." One society may use the word "castes," another may substitute "guilds," another various "strata":
But no matter what words you use, it all comes down to the same thing, "division of society."
Having created classifications, divisions, someone assumes a position of authority (usually someone who is powerful enough to make himself accepted as an authority). Most people are pleased to have someone in authority. In fact, there is only authority because you accept it. If you didn’t accept authority, it wouldn’t exist! A particular scientist is an authority on the nature of the universe simply because you have accepted him as such an authority. It is the same with all people in authority. If you were to brush them aside, much as you would do snow that lands on the shoulders of your overcoat, the authorities would all fall away like so many snow flakes. You don’t do that, because you like to have, and therefore, want to have someone in authority. You put them there, and then crawl to them on your knees. Someone who assumes this authority lays down the rules, the duties, and responsibilities. You should be aware that this is most often the real context in which dharma is to be viewed.
In this context, people who find themselves among the "privileged" never quote the laws of dharma when it goes against them. For example, a Brahman or swami may quote the dharma in order to let it be known that all should respect him, fall at his feet in his presence, and that kind of thing. But does he also read to you from the same book about the duties of a monk who has renounced the world, a sanyasi? No, if had to do that, he’d probably run away, or jump in the lake! He uses the law of dharma to let you know that he’s superior, or born superior!
And so, this is the type of which is subject
to perversion. When perversion takes place, it leaves a stamp of
perversion within the human mind, which inevitably creates the karma
of reaction. In total, this makes three
distinct aspects of karma.
First, there is the action itself, with its motivation. Secondly,
there is the impression that is left in the individual’s own
mind or personality, and thirdly, there is the reaction they
(these two) bring about in the cosmos. It’s not all that
different from the simple law of physics that you learned in
school: "every action is followed by its equal but opposite
reaction."
This is true of all motivation,
and of all action. It’s not true of , because is not a goal as such. But you can see
that it does apply to all the rest. In the second strand of the
fourfold motivation, ,
you are told that it is all right to earn wealth. However,
regardless of what the scriptures say or don’t say about how
to earn it, it's very difficult to prevent perversion. You can
always introduce a rationalization to justify why a certain kind
of earning is all right. It also leaves the taste for wealth,
power, prestige, acquisition, possession. It creates the habit in
me. And, it brings about a reaction externally. That this is also
true of , the pursuit of pleasure, I think needs
little if no comment at all. It’s a case of the more the
merrier, till a breakdown occurs, and that’s that.
The great sage Sri Shankaracharya, once sang a song about a young man who lived a life of enjoyment, and who inevitably grew old. The song mentions that although body had grown old, the desire within him hadn’t; it was still as vital as ever. The old man sat at the edge of the lake, still dreaming of the "good old days." He was beyond doing anything about his desire physically, so what else could he do? He sat at the waters edge, and went on "chewing" his desires, dreaming of them.
,
, and have been called
"valid goals of life," because they were seen to be
inevitable. However, those who stipulated rules and regulation to
govern this fourfold motivation, thought it fit to point our that
it is only all right to pursue and , wealth and pleasure as long as both
remain within dharma and moksha. They said: "Think of wealth
and pleasure as a stream, or river. You must build two strong
banks on that river: one is ,
and the other is ." They hoped that one day, there
would be an awakening to the fact that your life is going come to
an end, an awakening to the fact that throughout your life you
have been hunting for wealth and pleasure without ever being
satisfied with all that you have enjoyed. In other words, they
hoped that the pull towards the center would one day be strong
enough, that like nightfall and sleep, we would suddenly collapse
into the center, and look for, and find liberation. That was
terribly optimistic of them, I think. Perhaps we shouldn’t
be so hard on them. Suffice it to say they were great optimists.
If you are serious students of
yoga, seriously interested in the fourth strand, freedom, you
need not be as interested in the 
, as you
need to be in the 
. This is because it does
no good worrying over whatever reaction is going to invariably
take place. If a bullet has left the barrel, it’s going to
reach its target, if not now, sooner or later. And so, the yogi
doesn’t waste any energy over it. It is far more important
to ask about the impression that is currently being created,
right at the moment (right now!) by the motivated action, by the
selfish action, by the ego-motivated action, and to question
about how to deal with that. If you have killed one hundred
people, and wish to only worry about the payment in kind for each
one of those murders, you will have a very long wait indeed
before you have put that worry behind you, because, obviously you
can’t die one hundred times in one lifetime.
In spite of the fact that some reaction is coming, what the most important thing to deal with is the habit of aggression that in turn becomes the habit of murder. And so rather than worry about what may or may not come back as the reaction, and when and how it may happen, the correct emphasis for the student is on the internal tendency, and the reason is obvious: once the taste has been created, that tendency craves repetition. How tendency, which demands and craves repetition, is dealt with becomes the most important factor in the life of a yogi.
Copyright © 1997