8. Life has Purpose
What is the meaning of the word Life?
It has many meanings to many people. To the Eastern mystics, life has a goal. They tell us that we are all born to achieve a goal. Any number of Masters from Buddha to Krishna, from Mahavir to Nagarjuna, Sankara to Kabir, and Tulasidas have all emphasized that life has some goal.
The Western philosophers always contradict this. According to them life has no goal. These philosophers are masters who have analyzed the intellect. They have studied logic, and said, 'life has no goal.'
Naturally there is enough confusion in the minds of people today. We want to know for sure if life has a goal or not. Once a disciple asked THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, 'Master, does life really have a goal? Which is the truth?'
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM said, "Life has no goal. Life is filled only with purpose."
Be clear! Goal and purpose are not the same. They each serve different things. Goal is the process, a journey to reach some place or to get something. When we are focused on the goal, life is a road. When we are trying to reach something, we are focused on the goal. So, our life itself becomes the road, the path that is a goal in itself.
When life is filled with purpose, we travel through life to reach something. When our life holds the promise of purpose, our entire life becomes a means to fulfill the purpose. Unlike with a goal, when our life is filled with purpose our life does not need to find and fill anything from outside of us. We can only enrich and contribute to the world around us when we lead a purpose filled life.
If we are only focused on the goal, we spend our life on a road, traveling towards it. By turning our focus inwards, we discover the purpose of our life. When we live in the purpose of life, we will travel through life, celebrating life. We will not ignore any aspect of life. We will not judge any aspect of life. We will celebrate everything that makes our life.
Only by self- inquiry, traveling inwards can we discover the purpose of life. What is life? Life is an eternal celebration! That is what life is.