FEAR - FEARLESSNESS - COURAGE = POST II = WHAT DO "YOU" NEED?

FEAR

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FEARLESSNESS-II

(Continued from previous Post)

FEAR – FEARLESSNESS – COURAGE

FURTHER AMPLIFIED

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WHAT DO WE NEED?

In this Blog Post – we will examine some key aspects of our fears,  fearlessness and courage.

A knowledge of this very important – as we shall see in a future blog post – to become TOTALLY FEARLESS (or nearly so at least).

All of us want to be fearless and courageous. Are these two terms one and the same, or, are they, in some way, different?

FEARLESSNESS VS FEAR

We usually talk of fearlessness in two contexts.

(i)                  when there is no imminent or expected danger and

(ii)                 When there is an imminent or expected danger.

Fear also can arise in the same two contexts, namely :

(i)                  when there is no imminent or expected danger and

(ii)                 When there is an imminent or expected danger.

Fear of the first variety may be for a short duration – when you recall a fear arousing past incident – and experience the earlier fear. But, the fear goes away – quickly. But, if the fear of the first variety – stays on in us on a much longer term basis – through most of life – then what? Then, it may be called a Phobia, which is briefly examined below :

PHOBIA: You really have no cause to be afraid – when there is no imminent or expected danger. You can remain peaceful. You can remain fearless. Fearlessness in this context is normal. When there is no context at all for fear – why will a person be fearful? No need at all. For most people, this is very true. But, some people borrow a context for fear -  from their childhood. Not that they know the context, but a childhood, forgotten context rises from the sub-conscious and makes them fearful – for no immediate apparent reason. This is called PHOBIA. 

The roots of a phobia usually lie in one’s childhood fears. A parent, teacher, preacher, a relative or a friend is usually the root cause of the Phobia. They also may not know that are creating a phobia in the child by what they are telling the child or doing to or in presence of the child - periodically. What is small to these adults – is not small for the child. The child does believe what they say or do and is terrified. 

This apparently unjustified terror may be amusing to the adult – but not so amusing to the child. Some children get over these fears as they grow in a more healthy, reassuring atmosphere. But, some children develop these into innate Phobias – which tend to stay life long with them. Fear of dark places, fear of groups of people, fear of lonely places, fear of cockroaches etc – are all phobias. A causeless FEAR is of greater panic in a person than a FEAR with a justified cause. People with such PHOBIAS  need to be effectively brought out of their childhood Scripts(programs written into their sub-conscious).

JUST FEARS : When there is a just cause for fear, like an imminent risk / threat – do we need to be afraid or not? Some amount of Fear is a natural reaction in the face of such risks / threats – It is true. It is nature’s way of warning us to take appropriate remedial measures.

A well considered response for such occasions must be Fearlessness arising out of confidence and backed by adequate skill and preparedness in tackling the risk / threat. Fearlessness as a well measured response – is essential for all people – when they face a risk / threat.

We call them Just Fears – because there is a real threat / risk which we are able to perceive. But, do we know why they arise? Most of such fears arise due to lack of adequate knowledge, Skill and preparation for handling the risks / threats / dangers. Sufficient knowledge, skill and preparation for handling them well automatically instills enough FEARLESSNESS in us.

A fearless person is prepared well – but he may or may not take the initiative to remove the cause of fear, until it faces him directly. For instance, a wild animal may be evoking fear in all people of the town / village. A fearless person may continue to do his work peacefully unafraid of the wild animal. But, is that all we need in life?

COURAGE : Courage has a more positive quality than mere fearlessness. A fearless person merely averts dangers and threats to himself – as and when they come to him. A courageous person, on the other hand, goes out all the way - to extinguish the object of fear or the fearfulness – not only from himself but also for all those around him. He removes the cause of fear from all. He makes all people around him FEARLESS.

A courageous person is therefore more compassionate than the FEARLESS persons, towards other weaker persons around him. He tries to remove the causes of fear in and around him, thus benefitting others around him. For   example – a fearless person goes on doing his work unafraid of a wild animal that may be a source of fear for people of his village / town, but a courageous person, goes out to drive away the wild animal permanently from the vicinity of the town / village so that the fellow people have no more fear of the wild animal. Courage is infinitely superior to mere fearlessness.

Let us examine the concept of COURAGE  a little more closely. We find, courage also is of 3 varieties :

Saathvic Courage;

Raajasic Courage; &

Thaamasic Courage.

Buddha was most courageous in approaching Angulimaal, the fearsome dacoit who had killed 999 persons already and was waiting for the 1000^th person, and in reforming Angulimaal through his love and compassion, into his own path of courageous non-violence.  

Gandhi was most courageous in facing any danger to him self – in trying to bring warring people and their minds towards love and peace.

Christ sacrificed himself on the cross willingly and sought God’s pardon for people who were putting him on cross. This requires extraordinary courage.

Adi Sankara – whose Maanishee Panchakam episode – was a most courageous act for his times – 1200 years ago, of telling the whole orthodox community in India and rest of the world, that it is one and the same consciousness that pervades the high and low and it is a delusion of the mind to make differentiation based on aspects like caste. The truly learned cannot and should not differentiate people based on any such parameters – said Adi Sankara 1200 years ago.

There was no fear in the minds of these great people; there was extraordinary courage – not mere fearlessness. There are such courageous persons – in all parts of the world at different times.

The courage of the type displayed by Buddha, Christ, Gandhi, Adi  Sankara and such persons – for the benefit of mankind – is known as  “SAATHVIC COURAGE”. These people had absolute love and compassion for all in their hearts – and absolutely no fear at all.  

The second variety is  “RAAJASIC COURAGE” – which is more action oriented, may use violence to curb violence and lawlessness, and promote decent social behavior. It may arise out of  ANGER – and usually tries to defend Law, Dharma and Justice.

It is also, to some extent, based on EGO and some selfishness. It may be used for self aggrandizement. But Raajasic courage is needed at times – to protect people from big dangers and big enemies quickly. Of the above two - Saathvic courage is more difficult to practice than Raajasic courage and more beneficial on the long term. For that reason – People with Saathvic courage are as rare as Gandhi, Buddha, Christ and Adi Sankara – not even one in a billion people. Raajasic courage is more common and easier to practice. It is equated with an EYE FOR AN EYE principle.

Raajasic people can some times protect the innocent and the weak from the cruel and lawless persons more quickly and easily  - simply because their method of justice is quicker and easier.

The third variety is THAAMASIC COURAGE. People with Thaamasic courage indulge in violence out of jealousy, hatred, cruelty and selfishness – against defenseless, nonviolent people. They can be criminals, terrorists and murderers. Taamasic courage  makes people essentially indulge in mindless violence and crimes against defence-less people. Every Society must make all out efforts to guard itself against the designs of people with Thaamasic courage. They are more dangerous than wild animals. They are in the society and always planning thaamasic acts (crimes) – and have the guts to carry them out mostly against weak people. Wild animals are predictable and identifiable easily. People with thaamasic courage – are not so predictable.

Another trait frequently seen is – thaamasic people join together easily – to support each other in their cruel acts – while Saathvic and Raajasic people – usually find no such need to come together. But then – this mind set needs change! People with Saathvic and Raajasic Courage must come together - to check the growing violence of Thaamasic People.

FEAR IN RELATION TO TIME:

We have seen Fear with cause, without cause, fearless and courage, the three varieties of courage and how they manifest in the world.

Now – let us also understand the relationship of FEAR to TIME.

Our Fears are related –

(i)                  Mostly to future and therefore to likely but uncertain events

(ii)                to a much lesser extent to Past unpalatable instances with some hurting consequences and

(iii)               very little to current or today’s or this moment’s events.

FUTURE RELATED FEARS : Some one expects to die soon – which is a future event – and therefore he / she  is afraid. You expect an operation / surgery – a future event - therefore you are afraid. You expect your company to sack you – therefore you are afraid. You expect your spouse to ditch you – therefore you are afraid. You expect to fare poorly in an exam / interview – therefore you are afraid. So, thoughts of a catastrophic event – that may or may not happen – but is related in time to the future, evoke fear in you.

PAST RELATED FEARS : You were in a prison or concentration camp or in Police custody or custody of some terrorists. You were probably tortured then. Its memories continue to evoke fear in you – even though you are now free.

Your first marriage had ended in bitterness two decades ago. Now you are fine and happy. But, the bitter memories sit in you and evoke fears in you periodically.

You contracted a major illness a few years ago. You have recovered fully quickly. But, its experience haunts you for a long time.

You were caught by a wild animal and badly mauled by it. You did escape with minor injuries and recovered. The experience continues to evoke deep fears in you periodically. Thus, past bad experiences do leave their imprint and evoke fears in us. We may not get over them fully. They may not develop into full scale Phobias – but, now and then, they may come back into our memories and create fear in us.

PRESENT RELATED FEARS : You are now faced with a problem. Say, you are being pursued by a wild animal. Or, your child is taken away by a thief – who wants a huge ransom. You are now facing a terrorist. You are facing the problem NOW and you are justifiably afraid. 

But, If you look at your life closely, the events which should justifiably evoke fear in you are FEARS RELATED TO THE PRESENT and these are of very short duration. Past and Future related fears – in most cases are UNJUSTIFIED. But only they - did, do and will haunt your life – unless you become FEARLESS  and COURAGEOUS.

So, to sum up this post –

Fear comes – mostly from future related events, to some extent from past events, and least from current events. We have also seen that fears can develop into Phobias, or fears may stay as Just fears for short durations. We have also seen the time relationship of fears.

In the previous Blog Post, we have seen that – there is almost nothing in this world – that cannot become a cause of FEAR in some person at some time, in some place, in the world.

From God to ant to the unseen bacteria and virus around us; from the smallest dust particle to the biggest mountain; even our own body parts can be a cause of fear in some of us.

SO WHAT IS OUR NEED?

We must make our journey from fear to fearlessness to courage – in respect of our most common fears.

Can fear as such, of all hues and colours; and of all degrees (smallest to biggest) disappear from our hearts at any time?

Some people and some philosophies say – it is possible. Some have displayed extraordinary levels of fearlessness and Saathvic courage. So – it seems possible. So, let us travel from our common fears to the biggest fears and see what can be done with them all.

From what we have so far seen – the technique appears to be very simple:

1. Identify each of your fears (one by one) and the degree of each (small, not so small, big, very big, mind blowing – and so on). Describe it to your self in terms you feel are realistic.
2. Identify the justness / unjustness of the fear – and its likelihood of occurring  frequently / very rarely / never.
3. Identify what exactly you need – the knowledge and skills – to become fearless – especially if the likelihood is frequent.
4. Go for acquiring the knowledge and skills – to become fearless.
5. Remember that – many times, a mere decision to be FEARLESS – is all that you need to tackle even a just threat / risk. What else is required – will be taught by your fearlessness itself. Some times, more knowledge and skills are needed.
6. Practice Fearlessness and courage. Face the threats / risks squarely. If you have no such threats / risks, help some other people facing them to come out of their fear. Use each such occasion to develop fearlessness and courage. As some one said – if your neighbor is in danger and you do not go to his rescue – remember, next time – it will be your turn. I fully agree with who ever said it.

In the Next Post – we will dissect some of our commonest INDIVIDUAL FEARS – and see how easy it is to tackle them each.

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FEAR & FEARLESSNESS-I = TYPES, CAUSES, REACTIONS, RESPONSES

FEAR

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FEARLESSNESS-I

THE BASICS:

Fear is the most basic emotion, common to all living beings, from a single cell amoeba to the man.

You and I were afraid for the first time in life - when we were pushed out from the secure and tranquil environment of our mother’s womb.

We cried straining all of our frail vocal cords – a most natural way of ventilating our fear, and, we were also struggling to fulfill our first need on the earth - to breath, to inhale. It was the first emotion we experienced on our birth. It is for this reason that most people have so much fear of death too. Fear of Birth and death are both primal fears.

We didn’t come to life with any baggage – other than life itself. Life is considered the greatest gift to us. For us, the visible, physical body and the invisible intellect and emotional quotient represent life. Anything adverse happening or likely to happen to them evokes fear in us.

We do acquire other things subsequently – wealth, property, relationships, friendships, career, honour, position, security and so on – during our sojourn in life. When the loss or damage of any of these things is likely to happen, we feel fear.

COMMON FEARS

We can see two types of fears in the world : (i) collective fears and (ii) Individual fears

COLLECTIVE FEARS : Many groups of people are afraid of other groups of people, for various reasons – based on differences in caste, creed, race, religion, sex, nation, culture, habits, ideologies  and so on. These are collective fears.  Globalization has not fully removed these fears, but has, in some cases, aggravated them. All wars, all tensions, all mutual suspicions are based on one or the other of the above. Don’t we see this all the time in all parts of the world? We are divided so badly and still dividing so badly on all these parameters – all of which look attractive to us – when we are in the company of “our people” – which connotes, our language, our caste, our religion, our state, our nation, and so on. The concept of a Global citizen has not really taken off – to unite people of all hues and colours.

INDIVIDUAL FEARS : There are many types of individual fears - like (i) Fear of silence (ii) fear of noise (iii) Fear of darkness (iv) Fear of light (v) Fear of open spaces (vi)Fear of closed spaces (vii) Fear of losing their safety (of home, country, family etc) (viii) fear of adventure ( ix) Fear of being mediocre (x) Fear of excellence! (xi) Fear of living (xii) Fear of dying (xiii)Fear of living in shame (xiv) Fear of living in Debt (xv) Fear of losing love / a loved one (xvi) fear of disease (fear of different diseases evoke different levels of fear in us) / fear of ageing (xvii) Fear of public speaking / singing / dancing / any public performance (xviii) fear of leading / following (xxi) Fear of heights / fear of falling (xxii) fear of depths (xxiii) Fear of flying (xxvi) fear of insects / cockroaches / wild animals /dogs /snakes (xxvii) Fear of injury / of pain / of blood / of injections / of surgery  (xxviii) fear of God / of demons / of hell / of priests / of mythical rites / of unknown places/ of buildings / of structures / of haunted places / of cremation grounds (xxxi) fear of water / fear of swimming (xxx) Fear of rejection – by the society, by spouse, by children, by parents, by employer, by neighbours, by religion, by friends and so on (xxxi) fear of losing employment / promotion / pension / business /income / property (xxxii) fear of marital partner or marital relations (xxxiii) Fear of war and similar occurrences (xxxiv) fear of natural disasters like tsunami and so on.

I have listed some of the common fears across the world. You can add to the list your own fears. You will be afraid – not merely when a threat arises to you – but also when it arises to some one /thing you love or identify with mentally.

Individual fears can also spread from one person to another – and affect whole communities in due course – in the absence of strong, enlightened leadership.

Fears can also be classified as (i) Rational fears (ii) Irrational Fears.

RATIONAL FEARS : are based on real threat and urge us to take immediate action to remove the cause of fear. Like a cobra crossing our path and standing before us suddenly. We must protect ourselves. Rational fear makes us do all those possible actions to protect our self from real dangers. After the cause is removed from us, we quickly return no normalcy and get over our Fear.

IRRATIONAL FEARS : These are not based on reality but on morbid imagination. There is no cobra – but all through the Road, you are looking for one. You are lying in the cosy comfort of your own bed but you are feeling like falling off from a steep cliff and screaming and sweating. Many such irrational fears can take you over – if you do not cultivate FEARLESSNESS and COURAGE. All through our life, we suffer more from irrational fears than from rational fears.

CAUSES OF FEAR

EXTERNAL CAUSES :  For rational fears, the external causes are – some power or some propensity that the fear evoking person, animal or thing has – for effecting some harm to us and their known tendency to cause such harm.

A violent, mad person evokes fear in us. You never know what he will do next.

Some people have the habit of harming others – physically, verbally, emotionally or otherwise for almost no reason. They do evoke fear in people around them. An armed thief or dacoit is a cause of rational fear.

A lion evokes a rational fear in us – because of its wild, carnivorous nature. A cobra evokes a similar rational fear – because of its venomous nature. Fear of fire is a rational fear. But, in all these cases, when we understand how to handle the fear-evoking object, animal or person, our fear comes down drastically. You are not afraid of a cobra or Lion so long as it is in captivity inside a ZOO.

For irrational fears, the external causes are - our parents, teachers, preachers, relatives, friends, the books and periodicals we read, the audio-visual media we use and so on. They are all catalysts and instigators of various irrational fears in us – by what they told us or will be telling us and by many of their actions.

They can of course, create both rational and irrational fears in us. Fear of ghosts, daemons, cockroaches, darkness, open spaces, closed spaces etc are all irrational fears which children inculcate from these (unfortunately) trusted sources. Irrational Fear has been most contagious and spreads through all these media. You tend to believe what they tell – especially of what frightens them and what frightens you, because you believe them or love them. To a certain extent, many people do have a morbid interest in what frightens them irrationally.

INTERNAL CAUSES :

For Rational Fears : While knowledge is the internal cause of rational fear, Ignorance is the internal cause of irrational fear. You, can input  a certain amount of rational fear into yourself – when you perceive  adverse, harmful sensory stimuli, through the eyes, ears, tongue, nose, skin and the mind itself – by proximity with a person, animal or object. You do sense a real danger or harm to you from some sources. Then, you do become ready for guarding yourself from the sources of danger or harm.

For instance, when there is a foul smell, which your nose perceives, you move away. Your nose is made for perceiving an approaching danger and guide you to avoid it. Your tongue warns you not to swallow a thing which it cannot handle. Your eyes, your skin, your ears are all made to guide you to avoid harmful persons, animals or objects. But sensory stimuli only carry impressions into and out of you. If you look at the process carefully – a lion may be standing close to you. It evokes fear in you as an external cause – only if your eyes and mind are functioning at the moment well. So, within us – fear is always aroused by our own sensory stimuli – based on past experience or knowledge.

For Irrational Fears : In the jargon of psycho analysis, if you feel, I AM NOT OK, I am inadequate, I must be afraid – if this is the script (internal program) running in your mind and in your veins – You will be afraid of some thing or other all through your life. As we have seen earlier – our very own trusted sources like parents, teachers and preachers, the books we read and the audio-visual media we use are the creators and perpetrators of irrational fears in us. What is implanted in childhood into our sub-conscious does not leave us so easily – even if later knowledge tells us that there is no need for fear. This needs more intensive training.

LOVE & HATE - Swami Sivananda and many other saints say that Attachment to any thing (called RAAGA in Sanskrit) is a primary cause of fear.

Love based on attraction and Hate based on aversion can lead to irrational fears - of losing the person or thing we are attached to or coming in proximity of the person or thing we are averse to.

A single minute of delay in the child’s or spouse’s coming home can evoke irrational fears about their safety, in many of us. If it does not – you may even be called insensitive by some people. Suppose the delay is an hour – can we treat it as irrational fear? As you can see – the border line is thin in some cases.

Suppose you love your spouse – your own apprehensions of his/her likely absence, divorce or death can evoke great fear in you.

Suppose you don’t have any such attachment or love towards your spouse – then? No fear at all. You may feel relieved. Same is the case with any other thing.  I am not advocating that you must not love your spouse or Children etc. You will, any way. And, you will be afraid of any adverse event likely to happen to them. That’s different subject we will deal with in another post.

EFFECTS OF FEAR

There are many physiological, psychological and social effects of fear.The effects differ based on the severity of the fear.

Biologically some part of the brain like the amygdala and the hypothalamus are immediately activated and control the first physical response to fear. Chemicals like adrenaline and hormone cortisol are released into the blood stream causing certain physical reactions such as:

• Rapid heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Tightening of muscles
• Sharpened or redirected senses
• Dilation of the pupils (to let in more light)
• Increased sweating
• Heavy Breathing
• Shivering
• Urination
• Jumbling of thoughts.
• Inability to sleep
• Some acutely fearful thoughts can make the person sick instantly.
• Socially –we become incapable of normal interaction with other people
• We become incapable of concentrating on any important work – and this may affect our social standing adversely.
• Fear can immobilize our movements.

There are so many such aftereffects of fear. These are all automatic reactions of the body-mind complex – if unchecked. But, what can be our standardized responses – to fear.

STANDARD RESPONSES TO FEAR

Our standard responses to a fear stimulus include the following :

(i)                  fight ( fight the object evoking fear in us)

(ii)                flight (running away from the scene of fear)

(iii)               Freeze ( becoming totally immobile in fear, un able to decide on what to do, which itself is a response)

(iv)               Flock – (coming together of similarly threatened people and then deciding on the above three responses)– or

(v)                 Resorting to extreme steps such as ending one’s life – in extreme cases of hopelessness.

But great saints like Buddha, Christ, Socrates, Ramana Marshi, Mahathma Gandhi etc have shown how one can remain calm, unruffled, loving and smiling – in the face of any threat. This is another way.

We arouse the fear, raise its levels, reduce it and can remove it altogether. It is within our capability. Amygdala centre of Brain may give out alarm signals, which then are picked up by the various hormonal glands, which send out these alarm signals to various parts of the nervous system and body organs for appropriate reaction. But your conditioned response need not be FEAR but can be courage – which can be cultivated at any period of life.

We will now see how we can handle our rational fears more effectively and usefully – and remove our irrational fears,  permanently - in the NEXT POST.

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HOW MUCH DO YOU (NOT) KNOW YOURSELF = ANCIENT INDIAN SYSTEM OF HUMAN GOALS= DHARMA, ARTHA ,KAAMA, MOKSHA

ANCIENT INDIAN

CLASSIFICATION 

OF HUMAN GOALS

INTRODUCTION

What are Human Goals?

Are there common goals for all of us in the Human society? Are we not different from each other in our wants, needs and Goals?

These are questions examined by social scientists in every Society. In a previous post, we have examined Abraham Maslow’s classification of Human needs. He calls the five layers of human needs as Physiological needs, Safety needs, Love/belonging needs, Esteem needs and self Actualization needs. That classification is applicable, by and large for all human beings, with some exceptions of human beings and some exceptions of circumstances. Subsequent authors added a few more needs.

In another post, we have also seen how the five human quotients, namely, physical, Intellectual, emotional, Social and spiritual, drive us to seek satisfaction of each of their innate needs. We have also seen how little each of us knows about our own five quotients – which is very astonishing to us, on close examination.

We have also seen the difference between our wants and needs. Our wants are UNLIMITED and as each want is satisfied, another want takes its place. But, our needs are comparatively LIMITED. Between the unlimited wants and the limited needs come some where the HUMAN GOALS. They do encompass the human needs, but not all of human wants, which by their nature are unlimited. Unlike wants and needs, Goals create a wonderful focus for human life.

In ancient India, human Goals were classified into 4 categories, namely - (1) Artha (2) Kaama (3) Dharma and (4) Moksha. The four categories together are called the “FOURFOLD GOALS OF MAN.” In Sanskrit, these are called Chathur Vidha Purushaartha.

All the four goals are wholesomely integrated goals of every one’s life and each person is expected to strive to achieve all the four goals in a wholesome manner.

For each of the goals, there is an underlying science, called a “Saasthra” in Sanskrit.  The ancient sages had propounded their own ideas, the ideas of their venerable ancestors and their Gurus in these Saasthraas. A Saasthra does not consist of a single book by a single sage. There can be many texts  by many sages. But, today, very few of the ancient Saasthraas are available. There are too many, large, historic gaps and too few authentic records. Yet, the substantive content of the Saasthraas can be gleaned to some extent from available texts. These are explained below in respect of the four human goals:

This Introduction helps us to understand that each human goal is backed by a science on the nature of the goal, its importance to man,  how, when, where and how much of the goal is to be attained and the goal becomes irrelevant!

WEALTH (OR) ARTHA

This is the first Goal. Artha  can be loosely translated  as Wealth. Wealth accumulation has been a common goal in east and west in all ages. But, ARTHA is much more than Wealth. Various types of wealth are detailed in many ancient texts. While wealth is a goal, wealth is needed to satisfy various wants and needs. Some are needed to mitigate different types of pain, sorrow, suffering and fear and some are for satisfaction of other physiological, psychological, emotional and safety needs.

Physical strength, children and Spouse also comes under ARTHA. Wife is considered the embodiment of the Goddess of Wealth (named, Lakshmi) and it was ordained that where Women weep, there gods do not send rains.  Apart from Wealth, Wealth earning skills and Possessions are all considered as WEALTH.

But, acquisition of wealth is not considered as the goal in itself.

It is well understood that there is no way any wealth can give happiness. Except to a miser. The real joy of wealth accrues when it is spent in exquisitely designed ways that satisfy some of our very best emotional, social and spiritual needs.

Every spending therefore occurred in community. Even the family Unit was a single large, combined family. People derived maximum happiness from each wealth spending activity and the elaborate procedures surrounding them. If there was one country which derived maximum joy from wealth, it was ANCIENT INDIA.

Artha Sasthra (the Science of Wealth) was taught in the ancient residential schools called Gurukulams. Artha Sasthra written by Chanakya (the famous minister and Guru of the Magadh Empire) brings together some of the teachings on the subject available already. Parts of it can be found in what Bheesma taught to Yudhistir in Maha Bharat. Every Guru taught these sciences to all of their students. But, with the gradual disappearance of most Gurukulams, and the apathy of the ruling clans, many of these sciences (or, Sasthras) have disappeared from public knowledge.

KAAMA

(ENTERTAINMENT - LOVE – PLEASURE SEEKING)

 The second goal is Kaama. Kaama means - Desire, entertainment and any pleasure seeking activity like Love(including man-woman physical relationships).

India had well developed sciences for satisfaction of human desires. Dress, ornaments, buildings, festivities, dances, singing, love (including sex) and all that goes in the name of entertainment and pleasure existed in those days – in a much more enjoyable and scientific form than today.

64 different arts and skills were specifically mentioned, developed and practiced, but there were many others too. Some of these arts and skills were for wealth acquisition, but many were for entertainment, love, pleasure and happiness, not always requiring any support of wealth.

Extraordinary skills existed – for enjoying the pleasures of life.

Some say that the first goal of Artha was mainly for DUHKHA NIVRITTHI (Removal of sorrows, pains, ensuring basic needs etc), While Kaama was mainly for SUKHA PRAPTHI (for attaining pleasure and luxury  of all types, comfort etc). But, the two were never water tight compartments.

Kaama Sasthra, the science of fulfilling various desires and pleasures was highly developed. Bharatha Muni had written a treatise on the famous dance form Bharatha Natyam. The scientific principles governing physical relationships of man and woman were compiled by Sage Vaathsyayana as Kaama Sutras which, because of their nature and wider usage, is very popular across the world. Charaka and other great doctors had found herbal medicines which had extraordinary properties to satisfy human desires of various kinds. Some People knew the art of travelling to distant places without any mechanical assistance. This was the art of Kaama Gamana. Disbelief about some of them will stalk our mind today, since, we have lost most of them. But, even Patanjali mentions a few such powers, in his Yoga Sutras, which he says are easily attainable through the processes of Samyama. Today, almost no one tries to go beyond Meditation into dharana, samyama etc.  These are not called extraordinary powers – but are quite ordinary for the one who goes through the training meticulously.

DHARMA

It is difficult to find an English equivalent for the Sanskrit word “Dharma” , which is the third human goal.  There are 2 meanings for the word.

In the first meaning, DHARMA tells us what are the appropriate actions one can indulge in on each occasion of one’s life. Not merely wealth getting or wealth spending or entertainment activities but many other activities. Dharma lays heavy stress on Just means for achieving the goals of human life. In this meaning – most of the time, Dharma is placed before Artha and Kaama – to signify the importance of means – to achieve the goals of Artha and Kaama. Artha and Kaama are the ENDS, but Dharma is the means ( in this meaning). No just occupation is considered inferior by Dharma. 

In the second connotation, DHARMA defines good and unselfish deeds which must be performed by all individuals on a daily basis and the result of such deeds. On the negative side, it also lays down the list of bad deeds and their result.

This meaning of Dharma closely follows the principle of Cause and Effect inherent in the theory of Karma. It in fact says that there are always two results for every good and bad deed.

One is the Visible, Direct and Immediate Result – on the doer of the deed and on the beneficiary/receiver of the deed.

The Second is the Invisible, Futuristic and Indirect  result that arises from the GOODNESS / BADNESS  implicit in the deed.  The motive behind the deed also counts heavily in deciding the indirect, future result that should accrue to each party. For example, when thief steals money, the direct result is, he gets the money or the goods which he steals. But, a definite, futuristic, invisible result now follows him and makes him pay for his unfair deed at some time, in ways decided by the Dharma. There is no escape from this result awarded by the Dharma.  

The invisible fruits of the GOODNESS / BADNESS are finally reaped by us in a VISIBLE FORM – either in this life in future , or in some cases, in a future life. It is of course difficult for us to connect the original GOOD/BAD deed with the invisible result which accompanies us and which fructifies on some future date in a VISIBLE FORM.

This implies that, in the current life, we are mostly, reaping the effects of  THE GOODNESS/BADNESS  of our deeds of the past  in this birth or those of a past birth.  The invisible effect of Good deeds is called PUNYAM and the invisible effect of the BAD DEEDS  is called PAPAM (Or Sin).

Our stock of PUNYAM and PAPAM which remains unspent in current birth will definitely accompany us to our next birth. All other things which we  accumulate in life through good and bad deeds  can never accompany any of us after death. We all know that. It is also said that our Punyam and Papam will determine the course of our future  in current birth and in our future births.

We may or may not believe in Next Birth or karma theory etc – But logic tells us that  – for every action, there must be an equivalent and opposite reaction. If that be the nature’s law – how can there be NO BAD EFFECT on you for your  BAD DEEDS? How can nature allow you to get away with the enjoyment of things stolen by you, without compensating for the suffering inflicted by you on others in the process?

We can cheat the judicial systems, law enforcement systems and everybody else – but the Nature’s infallible and inviolable Law of Karma is always with us. It calculates and gives you what you deserve on the basis of your deeds  – not necessarily what you want or need and not necessarily when you want or need.

Dharma is laid down in various Dharma Sasthras. There were many of them, but very few have survived. Manu Dharma Saasthra compiled by a famous king called Manu is available in bits and pieces, but, is widely misunderstood. Lord Krishna speaks of Karma theory in detail in Bhagavad Gita. Dharma prescribed in Vedas is considered more authentic, but Social systems and practices have moved far away from Vedic days. Yet, the Dharma Saasthra when examined in depth, appear highly relevant today, than at any time.

LAW OF ATTRACTION : We all talk of the Law of Attraction. It is a popular law now and largely it is true. But, You are not attracting and getting some thing merely because you want it badly.  It comes to you –because you have done some thing - either known to you or unknown to you – to deserve it. Sow the seed – and get the appropriate fruit at appropriate time. Sow the seed of Love- you get the fruits of LOVE. Sow Dharma – and your needs of Artha and Kaama are fulfilled.

 In the absence of Dharma, even the money, food, house etc you get – will give you suffering and not joy.  Let us understand that – Dharma is – as much a need as Artha and Kaama. You carry Dharma – the invisible result of your deeds always with you. If you are peaceful and joyful today – it is the invisible result of your own earlier deed fructifying today! If you are not – that too is the result of your own deeds.

However much we may earn the  ARTHA  and KAAMA – WE have to leave them behind on earth when DEATH  comes. All relationships also end with death. But, our Dharma is the only wealth which accompanies us. Spirituality emphasizes this in many ways. You need this invisible baggage of DHARMA in your next birth. Likewise, the PAPAM or SIN that we do, also accompanies us to the next birth and  gives different types of adverse effects. This third goal thus lays down that means are of great importance for earning and spending the first two goals of artha and Kaama.

Most people are aware of and are working  for these 3 goals only. 

But, do these three goals satisfy us in sufficient measure?

This is the question which comes up before every human being all through his life. Human wants are unlimited. As each want is satisfied, another want takes its place. So, we are in a vicious circle of wants, efforts and ends. Even DHARMA deos not really free us from this vicious circle.

Also, all the three Goals examined above and all the five types of needs of Abraham Maslow suffer from some serious limitations. Some of these LIMITATIONS of our goals were examined by the ancient Indian Gurus as below :

(i)                      PAIN : The very act of seeking the three goals involves inherent suffering and pain. The very desire itself, the efforts made to satisfy it, the efforts to be made to retain the achieved goal all involve pain. There is always the fear of losing what is achieved. Most of the desired objects  come into our life, stay with us for some time and then, go away from us. You must acquire them again. This unending pursuit of human wants involves pain. In many cases, the pain is much more than the pleasure that we get. Pain is longer and pleasure is shorter.

(ii)                 DISSATISFACTION : Every thing that we acquire may give us some satisfaction. But, it also gives us some dissatisfaction. Either we want more of it, or, we want some thing better than what we got. There is nothing that gives us complete satisfaction and only satisfaction. Always some dissatisfaction comes along. It creates seeking of some other or some more of the same – to avoid or to take away the dis-satisfaction. There is never a time that we get complete satisfaction and only satisfaction.

(iii)                 DEPENDENCE : whatever we seek or achieve, creates some dependence of us on it. We depend on the house, the spouse, the money, the friends and any thing that we acquire because of our efforts. This dependence also causes Pain and dis-satisfaction.

(iv)               TEMPORARY : All want satisfying things are temporary and have no permanence. The most beautiful wife ages soon. So will you too. The cleanest house becomes dirty and dilapidated. We are constantly reminded of their temporariness – even while they are with us.

 Thus, all the goals we achieve suffer from these limitations. Do we not need a goal which is free from all these limitations? That is our fourth goal – called Moksha or liberation.

MOKSHA

The goal of Moksha is elaborately dealt with in all Upanisads. Moksha or Liberation is – liberation from all the limitations of the aforesaid three Goals. All struggles, wants, dissatisfactions, pains, bondages and all fears must end. How does that happen?

Liberation is said to happen when you know YOUR true self or true nature. The body-mind complex that you possess comprises of the five universal elements  of space, air, fire, water and earth.

Be it your beautiful wife or husband or  a great meal, or a house, or any other thing that satisfies your want, it comprises of these five elements in some proportion. The five elements within you are seeking union with the five elements outside you. You want more and more of them – but this wanting never ends.  The wealthiest man is just as much dissatisfied and unhappy as the one on the roads -as this wanting never ends.

Now, the fourth goal of Moksha liberates you from this seeking by giving you your real nature back. Your real nature comprises of  three dimensions. First – the real you have no birth, no death, no illnesses, no growing old or young, no decaying and no pains. This dimension of YOU is called SATH. The second dimension is called CHITH -  that you are actually the CONSCIOUSNESS pervading your body and mind (and every where else in the Universe) and not the body and mind. The body and mind are given to you in this birth for certain purposes. The third dimension is, AANANDA – or joy. It is not that you are merely joyful – but you are joy itself. 

“YOU are the consciousness, which has no birth, death or suffering and is pure joy”.

All meditation is contemplation on this real you. Can you meditate on this?

It doesn’t matter, if this is confusing and you can’t agree with this because of your presently-held belief systems. The experience of this dimension of truth is not easy – for most people. The body-mind complex looks and feels so much like the real you.

But, this meditation (contemplation) has significant other tangible benefits for you. From a purely worldly life point of view – You will experience a calmness, a joy – which you can’t experience in any other worldly activity. You become much more joyful than you are today and reduce your sorrows and sufferings drastically, through simple means. This is a gradual progression towards liberation.

Liberation is not, repeat, NOT, some thing which happens after death. Liberation is said to occur instantly on realization of the truth.

Do you want to be more joyful – and less suffering? You do! Try this contemplation and meditation. Go to a competent Guru to teach you this. You lose thing – except, your tensions and suffering.

       

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