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

Rod Stryker (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 26, 2011

“Desire is here to stay. The challenge we all face, and which I intend to guide you through, is to learn how to take into account the full measure of who you are and use the positive force of all four of your soul’s desires to lead you to your best life.”
—Rod Stryker

According to ancient Yogic tradition, your soul has four distinct desires:
 
• The desire for purpose, the drive to become who you are meant to be
• The desire for the means (money, security, health) to prosper in this world
• The desire for pleasures like intimacy, beauty, and love
• 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Rod Stryker and The Four Desires

"…Deftly outlines the essence of the human condition and explains how to work with our desires—instead of against them—to find long-lasting happiness in both the material and spiritual realm…Stryker serves as a marvelous guide, one who teaches us not only how to progress on the path, but also how to light our own way. His writing is engaging and even entertaining…The Four Desires will give you a road map for your spiritual journey—and for the ups and downs of everyday life, too." —Yoga Journal

"A compelling and inspiring guide to finding happiness in every aspect of life….a gateway to a new level of fulfillment." —Yoga International

“Rod Stryker’s teachings have given me a whole new lens with which to see the world and my own potential; his teachings are sparks in a powder keg. My life has exploded with beauty, mystery and depth under his tutelage.” —Jennifer Nettles, Grammy award winner, songwriter, lead singer, Sugarland
 
“The Four Desires is a provocative interactive workbook for living your best possible life. The end game here is to know your highest, most authentic self, and create a road map to living out your dreams. (Who wouldn’t want that?) Stryker is a masterful guide, and the journey he creates is fun—and abundantly fruitful.” —Kaitlin Quistgaard, editor-in-chief, Yoga Journal
 
“Rod Stryker is one of the truly bright lights of modern yoga. He connects to the sincere seeker’s heart, while his straight forward scholarship emboldens the mind. The Four Desires is an outstanding book, advancing the integrity and luster of modern yoga.” —John Friend, founder of Anusara yoga
 
“The Four Desires is a rare accomplishment: a book of valuable, profound wisdom that is easy to learn from, live by, and love. I will be carrying a dog-eared copy of it for years.” —Mark Bryan, author of The Artist’s Way at Work
 
“For decades, Rod has led yoga practitioners on the path of inner and outer fulfillment. The Four Desires offers practical and profound teachings from which people of all backgrounds can benefit. It is a treasure that is destined to become a classic.” —Shiva Rea, creator of Prana Flow yoga

“Read The Four Desires slowly, savor its wisdom, and then do the exercises to help embody that wisdom. It will help you live your best life.” —Erich Schiffmann, author of YOGA: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness
 
“Profound enough for the advanced practitioner yet accessible to anyone looking for guidance on their journey, The Four Desires is filled with the wisdom and authority of Rod Stryker’s years of practice, study, and teaching.” —Sally Kempton, author of Meditation for the Love of It
 
“Anyone seeking inner healing and lasting happiness must read this book.” —Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, chairman and spiritual head, Himalayan Institute
 
“Rod Stryker guides us to uncover the beauty, power, and purpose of our lives. This insight leads us to live more meaningfully and richly. This book is an incredible gift to have as both teacher and student, and I am excited to use it as a resource for my own continued growth and self-discovery.” —Seane Corn, yoga instructor, co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World
 

About the Author

Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga®. Widely considered one of the preeminent yoga and meditation teachers in the United States, he has taught for more than thirty years. A longtime resident and teacher in Los Angeles, he now lives in Colorado with his wife, Gina, and their four children, Jaden, Theo, Asha, and Atreya.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (July 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780553803983
• ISBN-13: 978-0553803983
• ASIN: 0553803980
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Hinduism
  • #42 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Spirituality > Meditations
  • #96 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Yoga

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep, Challenging, and Life-Changing June 3, 2011

By David Bennett VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Stryker bases his book on four "desires" derived from the Hindu religion. They are dharma (the desire to fulfill your life's purpose), artha (the desire for means, such as money and security), kama (the longing for pleasure), and moksha (the desire for freedom and spiritual fulfillment).

Because most of the concepts were new to me, I found the book challenging, but satisfying. Basically, Stryker uses the "four desires" to help the reader find his or her purpose in life by identifying inner desires and fulfilling them. Starting with finding your overall purpose in life (your "Dharma Code"), Stryker then provides meditative exercises which guide readers to explore inside their minds, to develop more specific goals and aspirations. Exercises include "Forty-Eight Hours of Fearless Action" and "Relaxing Into Greatness." Sometimes what the rational mind thinks is one's life purpose (such as "make a lot of money") might conflict with what the entire self really wants from life. Fortunately Stryker provides ways to bypass the conscious mind and overcome mental obstacles. I should note that this is not a book about satisfying every selfish whim. "Desire" in Eastern philosophy is much more complicated than this, and the highest forms of desire are selfless.

The book made me reflect on my purpose in life. I never really thought about an overarching purpose before, and when I did, I tended to think of it as relating to my career or completing educational hurdles. His ideas got me thinking more deeply about my purpose in life and what hinders my own self-development. He strikes a balance between spirituality and science, and even though the book is largely Eastern in character, he includes Western wisdom too, including Biblical quotes. You don't have to embrace Hinduism to use this book; skeptics and Christians can appreciate it, although there is a strong Eastern spiritual component to it. I am still exploring my purpose, but I have determined that it likely relates to making connections with God and people, and enriching the lives of those whom I meet (as a Christian, I would frame it as more perfectly loving God and neighbor).

Even though I really liked this book, to be complete, let me list a few things that some readers may not like about the book. First, many of the terms will be new for Westerners. I found them hard to pronounce and remember. Stryker explains them well, and it is worth the reader's time to learn them. Second, many of the meditation exercises can't be done very well unless you listen to them. Stryker sells a CD with them on it, or you can record them yourself. The former costs money, the latter takes up a good deal of time. Third, the book is long. With over 300 pages, reading it requires commitment. Fourth, the book might be too spiritual for some readers, even though Stryker tries to include scientific information to back up certain claims. Finally, to get a lot out of it, you will have to invest time to complete the exercises. Some of them are pretty involved and all of them require you to consider the possibility of personal change.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the philosophical side of Yoga (it is more than just poses!). It is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Most importantly, I better understand my purpose in life and have tools to continue to discern my purpose and how I can achieve it. The book can be challenging, both in content and what it asks you to do, but it is worth the effort. I highly recommend it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a whole course in yoga June 24, 2011

By Thomas P. Troyer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I have read a number of self-help books and found that most of them were silly with the useless philosophy, "be happy and everything will be alright" or the author could have summed up anything worthwhile he had to say in a short pamphlet. Many of those books are also filled with incomprehensible Psyco Babble BS. This book is quite the opposite. Because I have studied eastern literature such as the Gita for many years and practiced meditation for about 40 years, I am very familiar with many of the ideas, terminology and techniques being taught in this book. The author's knowledge seems to be correct and his practices are both clear and useful. It is doubtful that there is a better book which really teaches life skills and ways to determine whether you are on the best path to be as sucessful and as happy as you can be. His lessons are based on the ancient teachings of the Vedas; his interpretations are easy to follow and in my opinion make sense.
The meditation (TM) that I practice is different from the ones presented in this book, but they do not conflict or take anything away from my practice... so if you already meditate this book will only enhance your knowledge. At age 63 and retired, some of the lessons in this book would have been much more helpful to me at a younger age but I still found many useful and some were life changing for me. The lesson to determine my life work (direction)was a bit late for me since I long ago found myself on "my" perfect path (work). But the exercises to help me determine why some of my desires were not being fulfilled were incredible. I have already noticed changes for the better in my life with a few very simple exercises.If you practice the ideas in the book "The Secret", you might find "The Four Desires" helpful as well. If you like the uplifting stories in "The Autobiography of a Yogi" sweet, you might find some of the stories in this book equally so. This book is a whole course in Yoga (exercise, meditation, knowledge gaining techniques), take what you want or need, leave what you don't. I could not recommend this book any more highly.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dharma Code to Fulfillment July 7, 2011

By Sandra Brazier VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The four desires, Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha rule our lives. In order to achieve true happiness, one must learn to live according to his or her Dharma, or to be the person you were meant to be. The trick is to figure out what your Dharma Code is. This book helps you discover what this is and much more. Beware though. It is a lot of work. The steps included within this book are based on yogic philosophy, and they seem to be effective. But it does take effort, time, and some insight. This is a very valuable book for those who want to achieve true happiness and are willing to do the work. It is more of a workbook than a casual read.It is a valuable text.