The purpose of life

It is not uncommon that we as humans start to contemplate our purpose of being here. We feel that there must be a reason for being here on Earth, as humans. We feel that there must be some deeper meaning to all of this.

Especially when we are on a spiritual path, we may start to think deeper, thinking of what lead us towards this experience, seeking a purpose for this existence.

We feel that life has some aim, that there is a goal to be achieved in life. We may feel that we need to do something great in this life, something astounding.

Let's check up. Who is telling us this? Where are we getting these ideas from? Is it our parents? School? Society? Is it the idea of a separate self existing, and thinking that this separate entity has to do something great, something more spectacular than what is happening around it? Is it not maybe the separate self, the ego, feeling that it needs to justify its existence by being something or doing something great, something meaningful? Seriously, let's check up!

Grasping at empty ideas

The author personally has seen how this idea can drive people insane. Okay well, not completely insane, but how it can consume their minds and trouble them. Seeking some idea, but not knowing what it is.

We can easily fall into this trap of feeling empty, feeling worthless, or ambitionless because we are not doing something important or something great.
What are the consequences of this? We feel frustrated because we cannot find this 'purpose' we are looking for. We get frustrated, we start to grasp more and more at empty ideas, going into things with expectations, leading us to disappointments. Further, we start to feel guilty, because we are not doing what we think we are supposed to be doing, feeling guilty about ourselves or our lives, and this even has the potential to transform into anger, getting angry at ourselves.

See, this is an empty cycle of unhappiness.

A potential approach

What can we do? How do we overcome this hurdle? The one thing we could do is we can stop the grasping, the thinking, the seeking. We can work on our ego-minds, the one feeding these ideas. We can quiet the mind through meditation, we can bring peace to the mind. Consider how the ocean appears in a storm. It is full of waves, rough, unclear, and we cannot see through it clearly. However, when the ocean is calm and waves settle down, clarity comes. It can reflect clearly, and we can also see through it clearly.

Thus, when we have true peace at mind, when we calm the ocean of the mind, maybe, just maybe, something that we have been seeking may come to the surface. Something may appear, that we were unable to see through all the storms we have created in the mind. What we have been seeking, comes to us, instead of us going out, seeking all over.

This is one approach.

What if...

What if, instead of questioning everything, seeking, trying to make sense of everything, and grasping, what if we just let go of all these ideas altogether? We can turn our focus inwards, we can turn our attention inwards, and we can discover our True Nature. When we get to this, we get to fulfillment itself, to peace itself, to happiness itself. Upon realizing what we truly are, we realize that whatever we are doing, it is all purposeful. Even reading this article, drinking a cup of tea, going for a walk, our purpose is just to be. Just by being, we are already fulfilling the purpose of life!

To conclude, we can decide what we want to do. Do we want to continue grasping and being left empty-handed? Do we want to let go of these ideas, calm the storms in our minds, and bring peace to our minds? Or, do we want to turn our focus inward and discover that we have been peace, happiness, and fulfillment all along?

We may come to realize that everything is already perfect, just as it should be. By simply being here and now, in the present moment, by just existing, we are already serving our purpose. 

What is the purpose of a flower? Does it seek a purpose, or is it already serving a purpose, just by existing?