The Four-Way Path: A Guide to Purushartha and India's Spiritual Traditions for a Life of Happiness, Success, and Purpose

An inspiring guide to achieving happiness through purushartha (pronounced poo-roo-shar-tuh), or the four ultimate goals of human life, by the bestselling authors of Ikigai and The Book of Ichigo Ichie

In our complex modern world, it can be easy to doubt we’re living the life we’re meant to be living. But the authors of the global bestseller Ikigai, about the Japanese concept that has helped millions of people discover their reason for being, are now on a mission to show how the ancient Hindu concept of purushartha provides a powerful framework for charting a path toward a life of purpose and fulfillment .

Having spent a great deal of time in India, the authors were inspired to write a book honoring the culture they came to appreciate. In The Four-Way Path, they draw on practices from India’s numerous spiritual traditions to show how to foster happiness and achievement by cultivating the four components of purushartha:

• your kama, or what you love doing

• your dharma, or what the world needs from you
• your artha, or what you need to sustain your life
• your moksha, or your truest, most actualized self

If you already know what your purpose in life is, then this book provides a blueprint for living in accordance with your purushartha. If you don’t yet know, then it will give you the tools to start the adventure of understanding yourself better, and to bring inspiration, beauty, peace, and purpose to your daily life.

Héctor García and Francesc Miralles are the coauthors of the multimillion-copy international bestseller Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life and The Book of Ichigo Ichie: The Art of Making the Most of Every Moment, the Japanese Way. Their books have been published in more than sixty languages.
Shashi Tharoor (foreword) is the bestselling author of more than two dozen books about India’s history, politics, and culture, including Why I Am a Hindu and The Hindu Way. A member of parliament in India, he has been under secretary-general of the United Nations and has won numerous literary awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.