Purpose.

Purpose

Time is crucial. Once a day is gone, it's not going to come back, and sadly, I have to admit that I didn’t make the most of the time given to me so far. I have wasted my time. Not just me, I would say most of us have no idea what we are doing. Just following norms, doing our jobs, and one day our hair will turn white, our skin will shrink, only to realize that everything is coming to an end.

Is it not important to make the best of whatever we have right now?

This universe is magnificent, and life and time here are borrowed. One day we have to give up this body and life back to the source. Life that is given to us is precious. Our body is precious. The universe has invested a lot of effort and resources to provide us with this body. Made of five elements, dependent on the entire solar system: sun, moon, and the five planets. The union of spirit with matter is what breathes life into us, empowering us to live and experience.

Our ancestors said that our fates are tied to planets and their position during the time of our birth. If that is true, then can you imagine the level of complexity involved just for us to breathe? The sun rises for you, the moon sets for you. Planets are perfectly aligned and distanced, just so perfect that they can nurture and maintain an interdependent ecosystem, with a perfect temperature and perfect balance. Just for you to live.

The point I would like to make here is that what we have right now is very precious.

To breathe a soul into our body is a heavy investment made by the creator; it is our duty to make the best of it.

But sadly, despite our intelligence and our ability to create a government in which everything is taken care of, in which we give a purpose and direction to people, we still feel lost.

I see people not happy with their huge earnings.

I see intelligent people frustrated with their current jobs, looking for a way out.

I see people passing time on series and movies just because there is nothing better to do.

I see people bound and tied to jobs, responsibilities, social norms, and whatnot.

Why are we so lost? Don’t we have free will? Don’t we have that “inner spark”?

Every life has a purpose. In Japan, they say “ikigai,” and life is about finding your “ikigai” and living with it. But how do we know what our purpose is?

Let’s get a bit philosophical here. I guess it would be easy to understand this from a religious point of view, but since it is a sensitive and debated topic, I would rather not go there.

Everyone is born in a different environment, in different conditions. Every life is different; some are born poor, some rich. Some struggle to fulfill their hunger, some are fed with a silver spoon. However different conditions we may be trapped in, all of our hearts still beat the same. Our conditions might be different, but our needs are the same. Despite our different environments and conditions, everyone has the same set of emotions, the same feelings.

Everybody is walking toward one goal.

Call it peace, enlightenment, freedom—anything you like, you can term it.

Just think of it as a very good, ideal, and perfect state that people want to be in.

Now, these external conditions might act as blockers or hurdles for us to be in this state.

Now here comes the interesting philosophical part.

We are born into this universe, and we have the essence of it. This essence is what philosophers call spirit or atman, which is responsible for creating life, and is already full of knowledge. Let us assume that there exists something which we cannot see or comprehend through our senses, but it’s there. This is not God, but let’s call this state a super-conscious state, which is hidden within us. Super-consciousness is a place full of answers to all of your problems related to your temporary external conditions.

In this universe, there exists a power that can uplift us from all possible conditions and sufferings because this power transcends everything and is above all of the possible things that we can think of (GOD?).

The purpose of life is to know our temporary external conditions and our inner self so well that we become aware of what our “X-factor” is, which will uplift us above every possible problem and condition. This “X-factor” is something that infuses energy into our soul.

We alone can know what it is for ourselves. And we alone can witness its magic.

This “X-factor” of ours is something that empowers our spirit to express its potential—something that can connect our spirit and bring us close to what they call the “super-conscious state.”

This “X-factor” could be anything.

For philosophers and researchers, it is the quest for knowledge.

For athletes, it might be sports.

For creative people, it might be art.

For someone knowledgeable, it might be teaching.

Like it or not, our temporary problems and external conditions are made for us to grow by finding a way out. Our ancestors called this earth “Karma-Bhoomi,” a ground to perform actions, and based on our actions, we get our next birth with a fate written by our actions.

(Reincarnation might not be true, but if we believe, we are obliged to follow the rules, which might allow us to live in harmony.)

So I guess the “ikigai” or the purpose of life is to know about yourself, your potential, your X-factor, and live your life to the fullest. Work on yourself and also uplift others to reach that perfect state of harmony. Together, we can create a better tomorrow for ourselves and for others.