I have been visiting many schools, juvenile homes, prisons, shelter homes, and NGOs working for the upliftment of the children, and at the same time, I am a civil servant working in the Income Tax Department, and therefore come into contact with many privileged people having almost everything that many of those children can't even dream of. Yet, I see a lot of spark in the eyes of those underprivileged children and dullness in the eyes of the privileged. What is the source of that spark and dullness?
The underprivileged are in a frame of life where they are uncomfortable, and therefore, they have a strong desire to grow beyond that frame. Somebody wants to come out of prison, while somebody wants to come out of poverty. Somebody wants to get a respectable job, while somebody wants to get powers. There is a restlessness within the existing frame, and that's why almost everybody has a purpose and wants to grow. There are a few, within that frame, who have given up. They feel that they have tried their best, and having tried again and again, they have given up and have reconciled themselves to the fact that their life is not going to be better.
On the other hand, the privileged have mostly surrendered to the routine. They have almost all the comforts that they aspired for in life, and now they have no purpose in life. I have noticed a strange thing that whenever these privileged people come together, the first thing they talk about is plans for holidays and fun. Job has given them everything they wanted in their childhood: social validation, powers, and money. They have got whatever they aspired to from the job or business, and now that job or business is a burden. But, they can't afford to leave it because they have a very strong fear of going back to the childhood situation and facing the same crisis again. That's why the easiest choice is to continue with the routine while pursuing one or the other hobby. That's what most privileged people do. They do not have any purpose in life, spend most of their time in routine without liking the content of the job they perform, and that's why they look forward to some "escape" from the routine while desperately planning for the next holidays.
The purpose of life does not come from the discomforts. The underprivileged people make efforts to get out of the discomfort. The privileged people become comfortable and stop making efforts. Some people just give up and mentally reconcile with their poor conditions. But this is all within the domain of the known. The purpose of life is to grow within the domain of the unknown. When Mahatma Gandhi is thrown out of the train compartment, he realizes the value of freedom and develops the determination to choose discomfort for that freedom. When Sri Aurobindo was in Alipore jail, he realized the value of exploration of the metaphysical world and began his journey of spiritual realization. When J Krishnamurti was sitting at the top of an organization that had an international reputation, he realized the value of being free, and disbanded the organization to stay free. When Buddha was staying in the palace with all the comforts, he realized the value of truth and left all the comforts in search of truth.
The purpose of life is universal and timeless. It can't change with circumstances or time. The lives of the Buddha, Mahatma, Krishnamurti, and Aurobindo are relevant to all people, regardless of their nation or religion. It is equally applicable in the 6th Century BC as well as in 2025. How can family be the purpose of life? If that is the case, what about those who lose their family in some crisis or do not have a family? I have met people who lost their only son and found their purpose in life in the service of society. How can comfort be the purpose of life? I have been a witness to the restlessness of many who have chosen comforts, and now they are imprisoned in their own creation and do not want to leave those comforts for any exploration. They want to carry their home everywhere they go. Don't they have to go through the surgeries and bear pain? Will they not bear the pain of old age? That's why the purpose of life has to be something that is universal and timeless, like freedom, love, compassion, exploration, awareness, and justice. The people who are intelligent enough to understand that fine difference between desire and the purpose of life keep growing in the worst as well as best of the circumstances, since purpose is like a rocket that may take us even to Mars, while desire is like a jugaad or at best some comfortable car that does not take us very far.
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