The fishes in the Portland's Japanese Garden reminded me of the dialogues between Master Zhuang Zhi and Master Hui Zhi. Once they came to a pond like this.
Master Zhuang Zhi says, "Lo! The whitefish enjoy swimming down there."
Master Hui Zhi asked him, "How do you know whether they enjoy it since you are not a fish?"
Master Zhuang Zhi answered, "You are not I. How do you know that I do not know they are enjoying?"
We pray for chaturvidha phala purusharthas - Dharma, Artha, Kamya and Moksha.
Purusharthas are anything a person can possibly get.
1. Dharma is that which is acquired naturally. Dharma essentially translates to 'nature'. It is like the words pranidharma - nature of animals, manushyadharma - nature of human beings, etc. Things like hearing, seeing, speaking, thinking sane, growing old, healing of wounds or pain, death, etc which a man can get naturally, fall under Dharma purushartha. We almost all the time get these naturally. Some are not lucky enough to get things that are naturally blessed too. We pray for Dharma phala that we have these things the way we should.
This is almost a No Effort - with Full Result phenomenon.
2. Artha is that which is acquired by effort. Money, power, understanding, fame, victory etc. Man attains to these things with effort. But as Lord Krshna said, karmanyrvaadhikaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana. Man has authority so far as to put the effort, but the outcome is out of his reach. So ideally a person should chittasya shudhdhayeth karma natu vastu upalabdhayeth - perform karma for clearing the mind of its thoughts (to effectively nullify the mind's existance) rather than to obtain things. Because anyway the results are out of his reach. So we perform the work in the Taoist Wu wei fashion and pray for the purushartha phala.
This is almost a Full Effort - with No control over Result phenomenon.
3. Kamya is that which one wishes for and is acquired by chance. There are a lot of times when we just wish if something would happen.Things like recovering from a serious illness even when the doctors have given up the hopes, getting a Eureka!! invention idea, winning a lottery ticket, having loved back in return for one's love, etc even though need effort from one's side, are seldom blessed with results. We pray for attaining that which we wish and is governed by chance.
This is almost a No Effort - with Full Result phenomenon.
4. Moksha is THAT which is neither attained naturally, nor by Effort and is not even governed by Chance. This is that which can only be defined in 'not that...' way (Naeti marga).
During Hindu weddings, this is the only purushartha a husband and wife do not commit on to! We say, "...Dharme cha, Arthe cha, Kame cha Naaticharami...', meaning we shall share Dharma, Artha and Kamya phalas and shall not over do in anything we obtain either naturally, by effort or that we wished for and obtained by chance. However, Moksha or The Fourth is something that cannot be shared. Once the Moksha or the enlightenment is obtained, there is no going back (yadgatwa na nivartante thadhdhama paramam mama).
This is always a No Effort - Result of Resultlessness phenomenon.
Lord Krshna says there are four types of people who praise The Lord.
"Caturvidha Bhajante Mam Janah Sukrtino'rjuna
Arto Jijnasurartharthi Jnani Ca Bharatarsabha"
7.16 - Jnanavijnana Yoga, Bhagavadgeeta
Arta is the one who cries out to the God when in need. Even though he prays to the lord only when in need, he is still considered to be worshiping. We must have gone through this state in our lives when we find ourselves praying to God and suddenly remember that we had forgotten about God for quite sometime and beg for forgiveness.
Jijgnasu is the guy who questions. He either searches for God and craves for an answer or questions the existence of God and is unable to believe the fact that there can be a super power called God. You already might have or one day find yourself questioning about God's existence. Asking and arguing if God is a helpful, loving, blessing power or a mean kid over an anthill with a magnifying glass [Bruce Almighty]. We shout and scream at God and out of sheer anger, order the wife to stop praying and worshiping God. When the wife asks what else should she be worshiping, we end up saying, 'why not me?!!'. If you have past this stage, you sure can understand Ravana, Kamsa, Narakasura, Nepolean, Hitler and the like. But still this path if pursued without hesitating and drawing back by fear, will lead to God. Not only this negative path of saying God doesn't exist, but also seeking The Truth like Gautama Buddha, Maharshi Yajgnyavalkya, etc come under the same Jijgnasu category. They keep questioning and asking and seeking the answer to the Truth until they ultimately find it. But till the time they actually find The Truth, they are Jijgnasus and are still considered worshipers.
Artharthi is the one who prays to get which can be got. He is the one who prays for the four purusharthas with understanding. He prays for blessings of
1. getting that which is natural,
2. accepting that which is a result of his efforts (karma)
3. gratefully and responsibly receiving that which comes without his effort.
4. The Forth with the understanding that it comes when it comes - Not naturally, not with effort, not even by chance.
Jnani is the person who has attained to That, who is That, who says, "I am That I am".