Purpose In Life
"Connect with your heart so you can be guided to your greater purpose in life"
Introduction
Defining Purpose Of Life
What is the purpose of life?
Is it to find a soul mate?
Is it to be successful in our jobs?
Is it to become a virtuous person?
Have you ever spent time questioning the purpose of life?
It's important to make efforts to explore the answers to the purpose of life because if one has no clue, then one will have no destination.
And a journey without a destination is like steering a boat without a compass: one can end up wandering around, easily swayed by the distractions around them. Without a destination, one can also end up following where others are sailing or rely on luck to end up in a good place.
Sometimes, doing nothing and letting luck decide our fate for us can work, but with time, one will gradually realize that to attain greater happiness in life, one must make efforts to find the paths that can truly bring one fulfilment because everyone will have different things they like..
In the Chapters For The Path Of Creator, we have learnt that the Universal Purpose for all unique minds is to develop greater happiness because that is what our hearts will always desire. And to develop greater happiness, one must address their unhappiness. This is the deeper purpose of the life journey.
In this article, we will explore the purpose of life not from the Universal Perspective but the Individual Perspective: to discover the things that we can do in life that is meaningful for us, so that we can live a meaningful life as we work towards the greater destination of happiness.
Purpose In Depth
You are the Creator of your life. You have the power to create the life you desire. But if you do not know what you desire, then you can end up creating a life that is heavily influenced by the decisions and opinions of others!
Thus, it's important to make an effort to discover what you truly desire. And this can be done by questioning what parts of our lives resonate well with us and what parts don't. For instance, one can explore one's religion, lifestyle, job, social circle, habit patterns, and so forth to get a better understanding of how much of their life is of their own creation.
The more one questions themselves, the more one will know themselves.
One can also question things that one would not think to question. For instance, one can question about their diets, their health goals, their desired physique, their talents, their future plans, their desired place of residence, their travel plans, and so forth.
Realize that the types of questions that will be most helpful will always be those that seem "troublesome" and "unnecessary" to ask. Through making efforts to discover the answers to these "annoying" questions, one will be able to know more about themselves because these parts will always be areas of The Self that they've always avoided knowing.
Thus the parts of The Self that is the most difficult to know will always be the area that is most worth exploring.
So, if one finds it "difficult" to find their passions in life, instead of giving up, one can make more efforts to explore it even more. And likewise, if one is always unopinionated about things, one can make more efforts to discover what they are really thinking and feeling inside. And if one cannot find a job they like, then make more efforts to keep searching! Or one can even start a business that resonates with their heart!
Self-Knowing can be a difficult journey because whenever one cannot arrive at an answer to their questions quickly, one can easily give up in the belief that one has reached a dead end. Realize that to Know the Self is to go beyond the threashold of what one already knows, so if one reaches a dead end, the thing to do is to find a way to break through.
The more one seeks to know more bout themselves, the more one will be able to uncover the parts of oneself that one never knew. Every bit of Self-Knowing that one develops will take them that much closer to knowing more about the things they like and dislike, and the things they find meaningful in life, helping them to uncover their deeper purposes in life.
The practice of meditation will help one to greatly accelerate their journey of Knowing what their purpose in life, what they are "meant" to do in this lifetime. And what is meaningful to The Self will always be things that resonate well with the heart rather than the mind. Meditation will help one to Still the Mind so that one can form closer relationships with one's heart, helping them to Know their deeper purposes in life.
The journey of Self-Knowing can seem like a lot of effort especially to one that has always lived without much exploring oneself. Indeed, Self-knowing is not something that is usually taught by our parents or by our teachers at schools. And Self-Knowing is not something that is completed within a day, it's a lifetime journey of going ever deeper into ourselves.
The more you know about yourself, the more you will be able to live a meaningful life: to know exactly how you want to live and dress rather than simply following fashion trends, to know exactly what you want to say instead of acting out of expectations, to know what is meaningful for you rather than following other people's definition of what success is.
So, spend some time to know that stranger within!
Importance
Importance Of Addressing Purpose
Why would we want to discover our deeper purposes in life?
When we do things that are meaningful to us, it can bring us joy and the motivation to become better at what we do. Realize that the things we find meaningful" in life can give us clues to what gifts we have brought into this life to share with the world because naturally, these will always be things that we are interested in and consequently become good at.
When one could find no meaning to life, one can end up living just to survive one day to the next, which can inspire the states of depression and pessimism to surface. One can end up unmotivated to get out of bed in the mornings or go towards challenging experiences.
When the mind lacks purpose, the mind can also wander because there's nothing to focus on. When one does not know what one truly desires, one can end up in unfulfilling and disappointing relationships and jobs.
The most important reason to discover our purpose is to discover ourselves. Because at the end of the day, that is the purpose of the life journey—to Know ourselves.
Path Of Creator
Purpose In Relation To The Path Of Creator
To live is to live a meaningful life.
The journey of life will be about exploring for its meaning. Maybe for some, the meaning of life is to be rich, and for others, to enjoy a simple life. Perhaps one can find meaning in knitting whilst others can find meaning in painting or creating music. Just how much the ideas of what is meaningful belongs to us and how much to others will be the confusions that one will face on their journey of Self-Discovery.
The practice of Meditation is the fastest way to clear the confusion. Taking a short retreat away from one's usual surroundings can also help one to rediscover themselves. This can mean taking a step back from one's religion, one's culture, one's traditions, one's family and friends, and so forth. When we are bombarded by the same ideas of expectations around us every day, it can be difficult to remove ourselves from these ideas.
Trying new experiences can also help one to broaden their mind to see life from different perspectives. Thus, if one has never tried a particular experience, one can try it to see if one actually likes it. Realize that the mind is always quick to judge. For instance, one may not like the idea of dancing, but it's only when one tries it that one can realize the truth. And often, to discover what one likes, one will need to really experience what one doesn't like.
Experiencing truth from life experiences rather than the imagination is how Self-Knowing can be truly refined.
The more one can allow their mind to be challenged the more one will be able to refine what they know about themselves. Thus, the most enlightening experiences will always be those that bring challenges to one's mind.
The journey of Knowing our purposes in life will also be a journey of addressing our fears. Realize that the more fears we have, the more disconnected we will be from discovering our true desires. Fears have the power to make what we love appear dark and undesirable.
See Catalyst Fear for more detail.
The journey of living a meaningful will thus be a journey of transforming one's fears because our fears will always be there to hold us back from pursuing what is meaningful to us. So, the journey of discovering one's purpose in life will inevitably take one to face their suffering states of mind.
At the end of the day, if you still can't find meaningful things to do in life, just make developing greater happiness the purpose of your life! Use this website to begin your journey!
The destination is towards knowing ourselves for who we are rather than who we should be.
Know and Transform The Self!
Reading articles helps with understanding, but to transform the mind, one realizes the truth from experience.
For such an enlightening journey, the Self-Transformation Course has everything you will ever need!
