The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom

“Your long-term happiness and fulfillment depend on your ability to fulfill your soul’s unique purpose and to fill the place in the world that only you can fill, making the contribution that only you can make.”
—Rod Stryker 
 
According to ancient Yogic tradition, your soul has four distinct desires:
 
Dharma—the desire for purpose, the drive to become who you are meant to be
Artha—the desire for the means (money, security, health) to prosper in this world
Kama—the desire for pleasures like intimacy, beauty, and love
Moksha—the desire for spiritual fulfillment and lasting freedom
 
Learning to honor these four desires is the key to happiness, and to a complete and balanced life. But how can you discern what will truly satisfy your desires? How can you increase your capacity to achieve them? What if your desires seem to conflict with one another? Is it really possible to live a spiritual life while also wanting material pleasures and success?

For more than three decades, master teacher Rod Stryker has taught yoga in the context of its deepest philosophy. His course, called The Yoga of Fulfillment™, has helped thousands recognize their soul’s call to greatness and to achieve their dreams. Now, in this wise and richly practical book, he has distilled those broad teachings into a roadmap for becoming the person you were meant to be. It is filled with revealing true stories, provocative exercises, and practices for unlocking your inner guidance. And even if you’ve never done a yoga pose, you can follow this step-by-step process to:
 
• discover your soul’s unique purpose—the one you came into this world to fulfill.
• recognize the goal(s) you need to focus on at any given time and enliven your capacity to reach them.
• overcome self-defeating ideas and behavior.
• recruit your deepest energies and strengthen your resolve to meet any challenge.
• learn to live with joy at every stage of your growth.
 
The Four Desires is nothing less than a complete path toward living your best life possible—a life that is rich in meaning and in means, a life that attracts and emanates happiness, a life that is your unique gift to yourself and the world.