A key concept in Yogic scripture and Ayurvedic practice is the four proper goals or aims of a human life. The four puruṣārthas in order are

(1) Artha: roof over your head, money in the bank

(2) Kama: feeling good, having fun

(3) Dharma:  awake to a bigger purpose

(4) Moksha: perpetually getting out of your own box

 

I rap with Acharya Shunya of Vedika Global about the dynamic pulsation between moksha and dharma in the modern age:

• Why The concept of life purpose (purushartha) in ayurveda and why that matters for health
• How is dharma changing with technology, and societal freedoms?  

 

What you’ll get out of tuning in:    

• To live your dharma, you need regular access to moksha, your freedom. Acharya says, “if you don’t claim moksha, which to me is moment-to-moment claiming of our selves, then you start living a script, and scripts are toxic.” Today we have such a gift of wealth of tools and choices for pulsating between “the moksha moment” and what we are called to do next. Tune in to hear Cate and Acharya rap about moksha and dharma in the modern age with our abundance of technology and cultural habit of trying to push through murkiness rather than sink into it. Tap in to acknowledging your deeper desire for spiritual freedom from listening to their discussion of how dharma is changing with technology and societal freedoms and how moksha creates inner space for decrystalizing our illusions and boundedness.

Links:
If you want to watch Cate teach on this - she has a video on YouTube. Start it at minute 3:09.  The video is a quick dive into an innovative practical interactive approach to the 4 Aims of life teaching – the purusharthas.

• Awake Living + The 4 Aims Of Life

 

Show Highlights:

• 14:00—Acharya breaks down the Sanskrit of moksha to show the process of finding where we are “bound” by beliefs or culture or some other lack of tuning in inwardly.
• 20:10—Can we honestly confront the sleepwalking behaviors of modern society within ourselves? Are we living in right relationship to the technology and tools available to us today?
• 27:30—Looking at Oprah’s life, we get to realize how many models are out there who are tuned in to self-invention as a regular practice.
• 30:12—We can tap our intuition to lean in to always being a bigger version of ourselves by letting go of our selves and what we think we already know. Cate and Acharya rap about their personal exponential growth through decrystalizing the illusions and boundedness.
• 34:30—Cate and Acharya explore the discomfort around pausing to accept that being unclear can be okay, and trying to push forward through obligation is trying to follow a script. There is a bridge to explore between knowing and not-knowing.

Favorite Quotes:

• “There’s a stress that comes from when moksha isn’t experienced and dharma is” --Cate Stillman
• “From a moksha place, what will dharma do with me next?” --Cate Stillman
• “Moksha is not an event. It’s a journey, and we can’t have a one-time episode of remembering our spiritual bigness.” --Acharya Shunya
• “With more moksha, there’s more potentiality for what’s possible.” --Cate Stillman
• “I’ve become a first-class passenger through life, and I’m still waiting and pausing to decrystalize that illusion as life keeps presenting itself to me.” --Acharya Shunya
• “Trying to push through the darkness is inefficiency. I’m slowly learning to recognize when I’m not clear and waiting for the moment to present itself for when movement is ready.” --Cate Stillman
• “Do your work with utmost sincerity. Leave the results up to the God principle. It enables me to be a free actor on the world stage.” --Acharya Shunya

 

BIO:
Acharya Shunya is an internationally recognized lineage-based spiritual teacher who awakens health and consciousness with Vedic spiritual teachings and Ayurveda lifestyle. She is the founder of Vedika Global, a wisdom school and spiritual community in California, and President of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine.

She is a designated advisor to the Government of India, Ministry of Health (AYUSH), on Yoga and Ayurveda. She was named amongst the top 100 Ayurveda and Yoga trailblazers by Spirituality & Health Magazine. Acharya Shunya is a sought-after speaker, delivering keynote addresses to audiences including: World Ayurveda Congress, National Ayurvedic Medical Association, University of California, Berkeley.