The four motives that underpins the actions of men

There is a motive for every action that emanates from anyone and that is backed by our desires. Sometimes, motives are very clear because the actions embarked upon exposes same. Thus, the motive underpinning anyone's activity are either overt or covert depending on the activity or how the intentions behind the motives are read.

According to the Rosicrucian Fellowship (2022), there are four motives of action: Love, Wealth, Power, and Fame. "These are the four great motives of human action. Desire for one or more of these is the motive for all that man does or leaves undone"(www.rosicrucian fellowship.com, 2022).

Desire which actualises our motives could mean a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. Metaphysically, desire is "An expression of the inmost being of man; the onward impulse of an ever-evolving man. It springs from deep within Being and it has enduring power (www.truthunity. net,2022)".

Thus, desire is the oil that lubricates the four motives of every human action. For any motive to be realised, one must have a desire to accomplish it.

The great Leaders of Humanity have wisely given them as incentives to action, that man may gain experience from the motives that underpin their actions and the desires that spur them on and learn thereby.

These motives: Love, Wealth, Power, and Fame are necessary and all aspirants on the path may safely continue to use them as guiding post for action. But then, the spiritual aspirant must transmute such motives into something higher. "He must overcome with nobler aspirations the selfish love, which seeks the ownership of another body and all desires for Wealth, Power, and Fame for narrow and personal reasons".

The point being underscored here is, the desire for Wealth, Power and Fame should be that which would be used to the greater benefit of the good of humanity and not for parochial, selfish and self-aggrandisement.

"The Love for which he must long is that only which is of the soul and embraces all beings, high and low, increasing in proportion to the needs of the recipient (www.rosicrucian fellowship.com,2022)". If an action isn't motivated by love which takes into consideration the need of the recipient then, that action might not be well intended.

Anyone on a positive spiritual path must learn to develop and transmute all other motives to the services of humanity with love as the base.

"The Wealth, that which consists of abundance of opportunities to serve his fellow men; the Power, that alone which makes for the upliftment of humanity; the Fame, none save that which increases his ability to spread the good news, that all who suffer may thus quickly find solace for the heart's grief(www.rosicrucian fellowship.com, 2022).

From the foregoing, whichever motive one desires to accomplish should be that which seeks to elevate other humans and free them from their bondage.

To conclude, in the pursuit of Love, Wealth, Power, and Fame, the question that must engage the minds of all aspirants is; to what end does one need these things for? If the intention isn't to help better a lot of fellow humans but for other self-seeking purposes, then such motives are as useless as the venture itself.

Let our motives and desires be guided by lofty ideals such as altruism, fellow feeling, kindness and the desire to serve others.