Chapter 2: Two Kinds of Fulfillment 
Rod Stryker’s Four Desire (4D) Virtual Book Club

The other day I looked out my kitchen window and the view was absolutely stunning. After moving across the world, I finally felt I had arrived.

As I started writing this article and reflecting on the two kinds of fulfillment, I began to question that feeling. Did the feeling come from the attainment of the desire, was it just a nice day, or had something changed inside of me?

The two kinds of fulfillment that chapter two discusses helped me to understand this question I was asking myself.

1. Fulfillment that comes from the attainment of something; material or nonmaterial, substantial like a car or intangible like a particular emotion you long to feel.
2. Fulfillment that comes from within, that is inherently present; it is not inaccessible nor is it in distant places [it] appears to be the experience of bliss.

Why did I want my fulfillment to come from #2, the more “blissful” one?

And as some of us often do, we look at life for answers, and we have more questions. If you kept reading past the description of fulfillment as separate (which I didn’t at first) there is another option: accepting ourselves as human and part of this reality, right now. Most of us really do live in this world even if at times we want to escape it. Wanting to have something, whether it be recognition that you made the right move, or the feeling that you are connected to a greater, divine source doesn’t have to be on separate terms.

The best of both worlds, is a truly tantric approach; “Tantrics are not looking for liberation from the world but enlightenment in the world. To maintain an awareness of the divine reality while fulfilling one’s responsibility in the world.” This quote comes from Rod Stryker’s ParaYoga Teachers Manual and it’s essence is what in sanskrit is called pravritti margrga. We don’t have to choose to live in the world or to try to escape it and suppress our desires. Instead, we learn which of our honest desires are going to launch us toward what will truly bring joy and contentment to our lives. I can now look out my window and feel accomplished; I have made the right move. Seeing the beauty of this external world is connecting with that divinity within.

What are some examples of the two kinds of fulfillment in your life?

Aloha,
Chanti