"Purpose of life" is something we are trying to discover through the spiritual journey. A few years back, I designed a Google survey and sent it to a few friends to discover the most common conflicts in midlife. One of the most common responses of the people was that they were confused about the purpose of life. Having achieved the target milestones in their careers and families, they had little to look forward to. I see most of them today after 4-5 years. All of them have set new targets for themselves. Some have made health and fitness their priority, while others are investing their time and energy in spiritual pursuits.
A friend shared a video this morning that's basically about Zen's understanding of life's purpose. It says the ego seeks the purpose of life. Life is all about living in the present moment rather than discovering its purpose. It reminds me of the story of the frog in the well, told by Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He said that a frog lives in the open sky and near the sea, and it falls into a well. While trying to come up, he meets a frog living in the well since his birth. He asks the frog to come out of the well as well. But the first frog fails to persuade him. Finally, the first frog has to leave him and come out of the well.
Now, the question is whether living inside the well is like "living in the present moment"? Hardly a few participated in the freedom movement of India, and so many Indians just accepted slavery as their destiny. Is that like living in the present moment? Is that like "surrendering to the destiny"? When the Pandavas were cheated by the Kauravas and sent into exile, Duryodhana refused to return their kingdom, and they fought for their rights. Why did Krishna not tell them to accept that as their destiny and live in the present moment? When Ravan kidnapped Sita, why did Ram fight to bring her back? Why did he not accept that as his destiny?
There are two fundamental elements, and unless we examine them very carefully, we tend to miss one or confuse one with the other. The first element is action, and the second is outcome. When it comes to action, we need a locus that gives us direction. For example, the locus of Duryodhna was greed and all his actions were guided by that. Similarly, Bhishma's locus was his vow. The locus of Karna was to prove that he was better than Arjuna. The locus of the actions of Ravan was his lust. On the other hand, the locus of the Pandavas' action was their right and their willingness to contribute to society. Even while being in the forest, their actions were guided by welfare. Kunti sent Bhima as food for Bakasura to save the Brahman family that had sheltered them. The locus is very important in life, and we can't leave it to destiny. The moment our locus is greed, lust, accumulation, ambition, name, fame, achievement, or power, we are doomed. Every action will strengthen the ego. If the locus of our actions is love, freedom, and exploration, every action will liberate us.
Coming to the second element being outcome. Now the outcome is a sum total of our efforts and circumstances. A person on the spiritual journey will naturally be a little concerned about the outcomes. The more focused we are on action, the less concerned we will be about the outcome. Here comes the concept of living in the present moment or accepting one's destiny. Any intelligent person will understand that the outcome is the result of a complex interaction of many factors, and that's why we should not bother about it. Moreover, the more we focus on the outcome, and the less we focus on the task at hand, the more our chances of failure. But that does not mean that our destiny is left to the fates. It was only when Arjuna chose Krishna that he could listen to the Bhagwat Geeta from Krishna. That choice of locus can not be left to destiny. The more moments of living with awareness, the greater our conviction that we can not set the locus of our actions around that limited ego. We tend to naturally explore, live with freedom, create new possibilities, love the people around us, and like to collaborate and cooperate to create new possibilities. The purpose of life is understood naturally, not as a "mental concept" projected by the ego. Ved Vyasa does not need rocket science to understand that his purpose of life is to write the Mahabharata, and Arjuna does not need rocket science either to understand that his purpose of life is to fight the battle of the Mahabharata. Living with awareness and the right locus is the key.
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