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The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom
“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.
From the Hardcover edition.
—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.
From the Hardcover edition.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published July 26, 2011
191 people are currently reading
1019 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 11, 2011
I happened to read the book after taking the Four Desires / Yoga of Fulfillment workshop, so I may have a slightly different perspective on the book and material. I enjoyed the book as a refresher on the workshop, and a reminder of where I need to refocus my practice.
Reading the book is a pleasure. It is easy to read and understand Rod's teachings. He does a great job taking these complex topics and communicating them with ease and clarity. The book is punctuated with examples and stories of how the teachings have been applied, which makes the information more relatable and practical.
But for real change, one must do the exercises and practices included in the book, and continue to practice after finishing the book. The practices are not difficult, but do require committment and time, and prioritization in your life.
Overall, I am a huge fan of the philosophy and lessons in this book, and believe that Rod's approach works.
Reading the book is a pleasure. It is easy to read and understand Rod's teachings. He does a great job taking these complex topics and communicating them with ease and clarity. The book is punctuated with examples and stories of how the teachings have been applied, which makes the information more relatable and practical.
But for real change, one must do the exercises and practices included in the book, and continue to practice after finishing the book. The practices are not difficult, but do require committment and time, and prioritization in your life.
Overall, I am a huge fan of the philosophy and lessons in this book, and believe that Rod's approach works.
October 7, 2011
The integration of tantra yoga philosophy into positive thinking is thorough. However, the author lost all credibility with me by misrepresenting science. That he included the Korean study supporting prayer to improve medical outcomes years after the study was retracted and the unethical author lost his job and any ability to secure research funding for fraudulently creating data is inexcusable and irresponsible. This is the worst but not the only misrepresentation of science in the book. I'm not a fan of "think it and it will be" mentality anyway but if this book makes anyone more mindful and committed to meditation then I'm glad it's been published.
April 25, 2016
This book shows you how to find Dharma, Kama, Artha, and Moksha in your life, through meditation, yoga poses, and exercises that reveal what is in your heart, what your unique Dharma is, and how you can create the life you dream about.
Dharma is your purpose in life. It can be a career, or if you can't make a living from it yet are compelled to do it anyway, it could be a calling. Perhaps you will have to make a living another way to support yourself, but that will be all right because you are fulfilling your purpose in life.
Kama is pleasure, and that covers a lot of ground, like good food, love, happiness, and enjoyment of Art, Music, and Literature. Though you can overindulge or sometimes find that desire is infinite, and you can't really be satisfied, there is nothing wrong with pleasure if it is balanced with the other three desires. You don't have to completely ignore your desire to follow a spiritual path.
Artha is prosperity, but it is also the means to fulfill your other desires. It can be a job, income, shelter, food as fuel to keep going, air to breath, water to drink. It is also concerned with physical health. Whatever it takes to keep you going while you are fulfilling your higher purpose.
Moksha is called Freedom in the title to this book, but it is a kind of peace of mind, or Freedom from worry. It is a kind of detachment and acceptance of whatever happens, a contentment that you can feel in spite of your circumstances.
I enjoyed reading it, but now that I have finished reading it the real work begins. It seems very simple to meditate, but can I do it consistently every day? People read self-help manuals and make resolutions, but how many people follow through? I think that if you follow the simple steps outlined here, you will succeed. There are affirmations, self-hypnosis, and other techniques that will make your wishes come true, but this book doesn't sugar coat the fact that you might have to make changes and adjustments within yourself, and do some actual work, to make things happen.
First the book shows you how to discover your Dharma Code. This is kind of your Mission Statement, what you believe is your highest purpose in life. Then you make a sankalpa, which is like a resolution or goal. The sankalpa should be in line with your Dharma Code, your greater purpose, for it to succeed. Let's say that your sankalpas are goals along the way that lead to your main goal, your Dharma. As you pass each milestone, your confidence grows. You work with it for 6 to 18 months until you manifest the change you envisioned. Then you might make a new one. If you meet resistance you might have a vikalpa, something that on a subconscious level wants the opposite of your sankalpa, and you could be sabotaging your efforts. The book has exercises that will reveal any vikalpas preventing you from realizing your sankalpa. There are all kinds of great exercises that I skimmed over while reading it, but now I am going to put the ideas into practice. One of the meditation techniques is called Relax Into Greatness, and I am sure that I can be really great at relaxing, with the help of this book. Another thing discussed in The Four Desires is The Creation Equation. The Creation Equation is Shakti plus Vayu is greater than Karma, Equals Prapti. Shakti is the initial spark or desire to do something or for something to happen. Vayu is the force or energy you bring to bear on making it happen. Karma is the resistance. Prapti is the goal, what you are trying to manifest.
I think that mediation is a way to still the conscious mind long enough for the wisdom that resides in the subconscious mind to percolate up. The subconscious mind doesn't think in words arranged in linear patterns. Images, feelings, sensations, and maybe you can know things all at the same time, or two or more ideas that seemingly have no connection are discovered to have meaningful connections. The book talks about the unconscious mind, but I have always preferred to think of it as the subconscious mind. Unconscious seems like you are just in a coma or have suffered some kind of blackout. Subconscious seems like a better term, because you are conscious, but it is of a different quality.
Throughout the book there are lots of stories about clients Rod Stryker has had over the years, some who fulfilled their wildest dreams, and some who couldn't. I found this book very down to earth and I could relate to the stories very easily. There was one very good example of someone who had major setbacks in their life but who, looking back, sees that the setbacks were a part of the path that led them to even greater success. This is Steve Jobs, who was fired from Apple, yet formed a new company called Next that was eventually bought out by Apple who then used the new technology they had developed as their new operating system. Steve also developed the computer animation studio called Pixar. He had another setback when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, yet though at first he was told he had only a few months to live, his cancer was curable, and he beat it. He points to those two events, where he really hit bottom, as being things that spurred him on to greater things. This is called a vairagya, or actually vairagya is a kind of detachment from feelings, and one way you can do it is to look at the bad parts of your life and see how they led you to the good.
This is kind of a self-help manual, and I have read a lot of them with varying results. I think this one is very practical. It quotes a lot of people, from George Bernard Shaw to Einstein, from the Bible to the Bhagavad Gita. It can get lofty and metaphysical, yet it is very grounded and down to earth. It draws on a Yoga tradition that is thousands of years old, yet it speaks in a voice that is relevant today. I am very glad to have this book, and now that I have read it, I will keep it, and follow through with the exercises and meditations. I am sure that this book is going to make a very significant change in my life, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Dharma is your purpose in life. It can be a career, or if you can't make a living from it yet are compelled to do it anyway, it could be a calling. Perhaps you will have to make a living another way to support yourself, but that will be all right because you are fulfilling your purpose in life.
Kama is pleasure, and that covers a lot of ground, like good food, love, happiness, and enjoyment of Art, Music, and Literature. Though you can overindulge or sometimes find that desire is infinite, and you can't really be satisfied, there is nothing wrong with pleasure if it is balanced with the other three desires. You don't have to completely ignore your desire to follow a spiritual path.
Artha is prosperity, but it is also the means to fulfill your other desires. It can be a job, income, shelter, food as fuel to keep going, air to breath, water to drink. It is also concerned with physical health. Whatever it takes to keep you going while you are fulfilling your higher purpose.
Moksha is called Freedom in the title to this book, but it is a kind of peace of mind, or Freedom from worry. It is a kind of detachment and acceptance of whatever happens, a contentment that you can feel in spite of your circumstances.
I enjoyed reading it, but now that I have finished reading it the real work begins. It seems very simple to meditate, but can I do it consistently every day? People read self-help manuals and make resolutions, but how many people follow through? I think that if you follow the simple steps outlined here, you will succeed. There are affirmations, self-hypnosis, and other techniques that will make your wishes come true, but this book doesn't sugar coat the fact that you might have to make changes and adjustments within yourself, and do some actual work, to make things happen.
First the book shows you how to discover your Dharma Code. This is kind of your Mission Statement, what you believe is your highest purpose in life. Then you make a sankalpa, which is like a resolution or goal. The sankalpa should be in line with your Dharma Code, your greater purpose, for it to succeed. Let's say that your sankalpas are goals along the way that lead to your main goal, your Dharma. As you pass each milestone, your confidence grows. You work with it for 6 to 18 months until you manifest the change you envisioned. Then you might make a new one. If you meet resistance you might have a vikalpa, something that on a subconscious level wants the opposite of your sankalpa, and you could be sabotaging your efforts. The book has exercises that will reveal any vikalpas preventing you from realizing your sankalpa. There are all kinds of great exercises that I skimmed over while reading it, but now I am going to put the ideas into practice. One of the meditation techniques is called Relax Into Greatness, and I am sure that I can be really great at relaxing, with the help of this book. Another thing discussed in The Four Desires is The Creation Equation. The Creation Equation is Shakti plus Vayu is greater than Karma, Equals Prapti. Shakti is the initial spark or desire to do something or for something to happen. Vayu is the force or energy you bring to bear on making it happen. Karma is the resistance. Prapti is the goal, what you are trying to manifest.
I think that mediation is a way to still the conscious mind long enough for the wisdom that resides in the subconscious mind to percolate up. The subconscious mind doesn't think in words arranged in linear patterns. Images, feelings, sensations, and maybe you can know things all at the same time, or two or more ideas that seemingly have no connection are discovered to have meaningful connections. The book talks about the unconscious mind, but I have always preferred to think of it as the subconscious mind. Unconscious seems like you are just in a coma or have suffered some kind of blackout. Subconscious seems like a better term, because you are conscious, but it is of a different quality.
Throughout the book there are lots of stories about clients Rod Stryker has had over the years, some who fulfilled their wildest dreams, and some who couldn't. I found this book very down to earth and I could relate to the stories very easily. There was one very good example of someone who had major setbacks in their life but who, looking back, sees that the setbacks were a part of the path that led them to even greater success. This is Steve Jobs, who was fired from Apple, yet formed a new company called Next that was eventually bought out by Apple who then used the new technology they had developed as their new operating system. Steve also developed the computer animation studio called Pixar. He had another setback when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, yet though at first he was told he had only a few months to live, his cancer was curable, and he beat it. He points to those two events, where he really hit bottom, as being things that spurred him on to greater things. This is called a vairagya, or actually vairagya is a kind of detachment from feelings, and one way you can do it is to look at the bad parts of your life and see how they led you to the good.
This is kind of a self-help manual, and I have read a lot of them with varying results. I think this one is very practical. It quotes a lot of people, from George Bernard Shaw to Einstein, from the Bible to the Bhagavad Gita. It can get lofty and metaphysical, yet it is very grounded and down to earth. It draws on a Yoga tradition that is thousands of years old, yet it speaks in a voice that is relevant today. I am very glad to have this book, and now that I have read it, I will keep it, and follow through with the exercises and meditations. I am sure that this book is going to make a very significant change in my life, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
May 2, 2012
Firstly, I really appreciate the author, to understand an alien language like Sanskrit and correctly translate them for the masses, is not an easy task. The author comes out as an erudite scholar in his subject.
But I felt something is amiss. Even after reading the book I am stlll not clear as to how to bridge the gap between desire and reality. I wish he had given that point by point. There are times when he says surrender, accept things, don't secretly harbor opposite emotions, put laser focus on what you want etc. but as I said there is something amiss
The mapping of our desire is a good technique. I felt I needed something in all 4- dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. It was tough having just one --so really had to prioritize.
For those already familiar with Yoga and few Sanskrit terms this book will be more comprehensible.
A well meaning book .....
But I felt something is amiss. Even after reading the book I am stlll not clear as to how to bridge the gap between desire and reality. I wish he had given that point by point. There are times when he says surrender, accept things, don't secretly harbor opposite emotions, put laser focus on what you want etc. but as I said there is something amiss
The mapping of our desire is a good technique. I felt I needed something in all 4- dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. It was tough having just one --so really had to prioritize.
For those already familiar with Yoga and few Sanskrit terms this book will be more comprehensible.
A well meaning book .....
January 10, 2012
I loved this book, and I highly recommend getting the accompanying CD to have the best experience of doing the meditations. Towards the end, I found the example personal stories a little superfluous, and I find some of the scientific references questionable, but otherwise this book is amazing. Rod Stryker offers a fresh approach to traditional yoga practices to identifying and achieving your heart's desires. Accessible even to skeptics, the meditations and exercises are practical and his writing style up-front and encouraging. I look forward to revisiting it often.
August 17, 2012
I really enjoyed this book - I read without doing most of the exercises and plan to re-read it and do them this time around. We did as a book club and the discussions were great. I LOVE the meditations, which I purchased as a download. It is meant to look into what you're meant to do (dharma), to help you live a fulfilled life - helps you look at what is holding you back in life...
February 8, 2014
My favorite yoga study book so far. I've instituted many of the practices and have seen a marked change in my life. Heads up - this book discusses ancient yogic traditions. I wouldn't recommend it to people who haven't already studied yogic philosophy.
March 14, 2015
What an amazing way to reflect, guide and interpret your way in life. I found this book to be life alerting in many ways. Truly a gem for the mind..enjoy! 6 stars!!
January 30, 2025
Important book, it's going to be a long long book throughout the year (or years?) as the exercises required consistent practices.
April 1, 2019
“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
I well-written and insightful book that guides you to finding your true desire at this particular point in your life, and providing exercises and tools to help you fulfill that desire. I found some of the introductory writing to be a bit esoteric and unnecessary, but the majority of the book is incredibly helpful and powerful. I found the meditations and yoga nidra to be incredibly powerful mechanisms for unlocking your subconscious desires as well as tools to solidify your resolve to achieve them. I am very grateful to have found this book.
—Rod Stryker
I well-written and insightful book that guides you to finding your true desire at this particular point in your life, and providing exercises and tools to help you fulfill that desire. I found some of the introductory writing to be a bit esoteric and unnecessary, but the majority of the book is incredibly helpful and powerful. I found the meditations and yoga nidra to be incredibly powerful mechanisms for unlocking your subconscious desires as well as tools to solidify your resolve to achieve them. I am very grateful to have found this book.
February 23, 2018
Either this was the best self-help / spiritual book I have ever read or it came to be just at the right time in my life. I absolutely loved it. It took me close to 3 months to get through it; there are a lot of exercises and meditations, which I found really worthwhile and which really helped me clarify some goals. I plan on continuing to use many of the exercises and meditations in my daily practice (you can get a recording of them on CDBaby). This is one I will likely keep and work through again. Some knowledge of yoga may be helpful but is not required.
September 27, 2025
It took me 10 months to finish this book. This is not my usual speed for reading a book, but with this one I took my time taking in all of the lessons and now that I’m done I am going back to the beginning to start again. This is one of the most inspiring and helpful books I’ve ever read. I have the feeling that I will be working with the lessons for the rest of my life. Highly recommend.
October 6, 2019
The premise is good. Because he uses the Sanskrit terms I felt I needed to learn the terminology to follow the ideas presented as a result, I struggled through the book. Uses lots of examples/stories to explain concepts which is good.
July 4, 2021
Very nice book about creating a life of purpose joy and freedom. The exercise s in the book will help you to realize what you really want in life and how to achieve your goal with the helps of yoga tools
March 23, 2017
Game changer. Must read.
October 25, 2018
A way to work through life. It is a read to go back to regularly.
March 10, 2019
This book had a profound impact on how I think about life and how I live it. I recommend it to anyone trying to figure out their life purpose and what to do right now to achieve it.
November 12, 2019
Read and re-read many times
August 22, 2012
I picked this book up because a friend had mentioned it. I don't know if the self-help aspect works, of course, or at least if it would work for me, but reading the ideas they seemed pretty logical to me. That is, I don't think it really promised the moon, though some of the stories of course seemed to imply that. But I do tend to think that changing your mindset can have some effect on what happens in your life (without magically removing all obstacles) so I didn't find the advice ridiculous.
Not sure how I felt about the meditations mentioned in it. There were a couple of "science" things mentioned I knew were wrong, like the study that allegedly proved that women got pregnant when people were praying for them, and the one about the frog that doesn't jump out of the water if it's boiled slowly enough. I assume Stryker, like many people, are just repeating these things because they get tossed around a lot but they're not true.
Not sure how I felt about the meditations mentioned in it. There were a couple of "science" things mentioned I knew were wrong, like the study that allegedly proved that women got pregnant when people were praying for them, and the one about the frog that doesn't jump out of the water if it's boiled slowly enough. I assume Stryker, like many people, are just repeating these things because they get tossed around a lot but they're not true.
May 7, 2014
On the whole, an inspiring meditation on living your purpose, taking in the present moment, and working within a natural flow of personal evolution. I'm excited to put the guided meditations outlined here into action, because I could certainly benefit from becoming more in touch with my intuition and inner peace.
The vague co-opting of scientific theory and experimentation, however, cheapens Stryker's premise. He might have done better to expand more upon concepts of the niyamas, such as santosha, rather than hopping on the bandwagon expounding the wonders of the power of attraction.
So, while I'm a bit skeptical of his methodology, there was a lot of wisdom here that I felt privileged to receive. The book has immediately enriched my yoga practice, and I suspect I will return to its contents repeatedly.
The vague co-opting of scientific theory and experimentation, however, cheapens Stryker's premise. He might have done better to expand more upon concepts of the niyamas, such as santosha, rather than hopping on the bandwagon expounding the wonders of the power of attraction.
So, while I'm a bit skeptical of his methodology, there was a lot of wisdom here that I felt privileged to receive. The book has immediately enriched my yoga practice, and I suspect I will return to its contents repeatedly.
March 31, 2015
On my second journey through this book, and will probably be reading it for the rest of my life. Rod Stryker creates a fail proof approach to finding your life's purpose and taking the necessary steps to take action toward fulfilling it. He translates the yogic philosophy into a modern day aid in living the best life possible and has opened my eyes to a whole new world of healing and transformation. Would love to take his Yoga of Fulfillment course sometime.
I owe a lot to this book! Pulled me through many emotional transformations, and has made me see that our desires are what fuel us toward our greatest power, if we choose to listen to them a little closer.
I owe a lot to this book! Pulled me through many emotional transformations, and has made me see that our desires are what fuel us toward our greatest power, if we choose to listen to them a little closer.
December 21, 2013
I bought this book because I was going to a Stryker workshop and wanted to know more about his philosophies before I went. I have mixed feelings about the book. I would very much recommend it to someone learning about the process of manifestation and discovering one's soul purpose and true goals. In this way he clearly defines a program to do this, with more nuance and spiritual focus than many prosperity/manifestation writers. For me, there was little that was new other than the sanskrit/tantra connection to these principles. Overall, he is a great teacher and this is a good book.
November 4, 2018
Another prerequisite for the Total Yoga Nidra training course.
I almost didn’t finish it, simply too much ego, too many suggestions to buy his recorded practices, and the cutesy marketing names? Ugh. “Relax into Greatness”? Please.
I did appreciate what he had to say about contentment at the end of the book, so I’m glad I slogged through to the end.
I also give him credit for making dense yoga philosophy more accessible.
I almost didn’t finish it, simply too much ego, too many suggestions to buy his recorded practices, and the cutesy marketing names? Ugh. “Relax into Greatness”? Please.
I did appreciate what he had to say about contentment at the end of the book, so I’m glad I slogged through to the end.
I also give him credit for making dense yoga philosophy more accessible.
December 3, 2011
Mixed feelings - some powerful explorations of crucial yogic ideas but then he muddies the waters with stories that don't connect, faulty research cited, and plain bad writing. Because I know enough to tease out the good stuff, and because his meditations on the CD are excellent, I can say worth reading but with care.
August 21, 2012
If you can tolerate the yogi-ness, there are good exercises to build a strategic plan of sorts for your life. Definitely has some good nuggets.
August 5, 2012
Who knew this would be a workbook. Tasks man... it's all about prioritizing what you actually do.
May 1, 2012
one of my favorite yoga teachers doing what he does best....spreading the ancient teachings in the modern world.
September 3, 2012
Fantastic!
January 7, 2013
This book was very enlightening. the writing exercises really open you up to your deepest desire in life.
Read
March 2, 2013Very motivational. Methods to "create a gap" and "seed the gap" - all in the approach to making the goals you have become reality.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews