Words From The Master - 09 April 2008

Having a purpose in life

We do not understand how purposeless life is, the way we live it. We believe that our life becomes worthwhile by giving vent to our feelings, by trying to fulfill whatever our immediate desire or impulse is.

What we think as worthy is not worthy, what we think as being purposeful is not purposeful. Our ego constantly strives for purpose. In doing so the reality of the present is missed; the truth and the purpose of life are missed. We need to understand the purposelessness of our goals and ambitions. What we think are the greatest treasures to obtain in this world are meaningless.

Living your life blissfully is the ultimate goal of your life. Life’s purpose is bliss. There can be no other goal or purpose. When we run after other goals we stop experiencing life; we are already dead. Our ego masks the true purpose of life. When we realise the purposeless of what we do, a new consciousness emerges, joy fills us, bliss happens.

When you are focused on material benefits such as your monthly salary or whatever is your time-based goal, you can experience at best, joy on that day. Fear, greed, lust and envy block peace; they demand more and more, even as you acquire more and more. This is not life.

When we drop what we think is our purpose, our goals in life, then we realise the divine purpose, the Lila, the divine play. You start to enjoy the drama without being part of it, and life becomes meaningful. You become a witness, not a player, and bliss happens.

As long as you work towards a goal, life has no meaning. Only when you realise that life has no purpose at all, can you really start living. You then walk the path with no destination in mind, and enjoy each step. You experience bliss. There is a big difference between living and life. You can only be alive and living when you understand that purposelessness of life. Otherwise you just inhale and exhale; so do people in a coma; the only difference is that you are in a walking and waking coma unlike the ones in ICUs. Meditation helps you understand the uselessness of life, the meaning of life as it should be, and the meaning of self, and existence. Meditation helps you realise that the path is the goal. Meditation leads to the awareness that bliss is the path and the goal.