Purpose of life

What is the purpose of life?

On a day when you are bursting with happiness, did you ask this question? No. Only when life gets a little sedate and depressing you ask.

You need a purpose to life only when being alive is not sufficient. Right now, the biggest thing in your life is that you are alive.

The stock market going up or down is not the biggest thing, you being alive right now is. Everything else is secondary. But most people are not aware of it. Something did not happen or did happen — these are the biggest issues for them.

The mind is always looking for a purpose because people have not experienced life in full. If your experience of life becomes deeper, your question will disappear. When the process of life becomes absolutely exuberant, it needs no purpose.

You go to work, your purpose may be to make this much money or to take care of this or that. But if you go to a party, what is the purpose? No purpose — you just like to be there. If life became like one big party you would not wonder what the hell its purpose is. You just like to be there.

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The article is a creative response to the difficult questions of “Why are we here? What is our purpose?” And I agree with the answer. Since we can never find the definitive answer to these questions, its better instead to immerse ourselves in the universe: Live life to the fullest. Accept its ups and downs. Stop wasting time endlessly on a question we can’t answer.

Some learned sages say “There is no purpose to life. Its all Maya (an illusion) ” But these kind of answers cause lethargy. They seem to imply that given everything is meaningless, one should withdraw from the world. Such answers also cause fatalism because you feel powerless to this great illusion and meaninglessness around you.

This article points out another path: the path of action and execution. When you savor each and every moment you won’t get depressed and ask yourself the meaninglessness of it. So how do I go about doing this in my own life? I’ve been through some ups and downs in the last few months and these are some of my learnings. I’d like to say that I’ve implemented these realizations in my life fully…but that would not be true. I know now that these are some of the answers. Implementing these learnings to the fullest extent could take many more years.

So here are of my learnings (an amalgamation of what I’ve read and experienced. I have no pretensions of saying something new but hopefully i have said it in a unique way):

(1) Keep telling yourself that life is a wonderful experience. Have you ever looked at the stars in a clear sky? Have you ever felt the pulse of people while walking through a busy bazaar? Have you ever felt the excitement of the great change that is sweeping our country and world?

(2) If you believe that life is wonderful and you’re just lucky to be alive then happiness becomes magnified and sadness becomes a temporary feeling. Sadness is merely the onset of change. Its your mind and body adjusting itself for a different experience in the future.

(3) Sadness is to be often welcomed. It forces you to evaluate your priorities. It forces you to change for the better. It sparks creativity. Sadness allows you to become more sensitive to the world around you. You learn a lot while you are sad. Too much sadness leads to depression which may not be healthy. But if you have a firm belief that this universe is interesting and you should just revel in it, and that happiness and sadness are just feedback mechanisms, then you won’t get depressed.

(4) We are all going to die anyways. So why not experience all the happiness and sadness that is in store for us rather than look forward to becoming an unfeeling lump of dust? Does anyone know for sure whether there is God? Does anyone know for surethere is re-incarnation or heaven? No. So until we don’t know that, lets enjoy life with its ups and downs.

(5) If you believe that life is an incredible experience, don’t withdraw from it. Jump into it headlong. Do all the things you want. Meet all the people you want. Love others to the fullest. Don’t hold back.

(6) Give to society and society will give back. Sometimes people give more and get less and vice versa. Thats possible. But no one knows what it will be for you. But you do know that giving more to the world increases your chances of getting more back. Its a positive correlation most definitely!!

(7) Stop thinking of yourself as individual always. We are part of the world. Don’t be greedy for everything. Everyone has a role to play. And everyone will take the world forward. Together. All professions are noble. We need farmers to grow our food. We need scientists to increase our understanding of the world. We need MBAs to sell us soap. All are important pursuits and each of them fulfill a need. Become a farmer if you think you can do a good job. Stay at home and look after the kids if you want. Everything is useful. Just do it well. Because if you do it well you would have lived life to its fullest. Otherwise you would have seen life in an incomplete fashion.