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One wonderful human characteristic is curiosity that begins in childhood and is expressed in the all-to-familiar: Why Mommy? Why Daddy? Why? As we mature our heart and mind continue to present ideas such as 'What should I be doing?' or 'How could I be leading a purposeful life?' Such questions point to the more fundamental issue 'What is the purpose of life?' or 'What is my purpose?' We believe that finding a sense of meaning will help us to feel safer.
Ever since we were young children we've been taught and conditioned into believing that we are separate individuals, and that each of us has a unique and individual purpose in life, and we should follow it even if we have no idea what that purpose may be. During formative years we learn from parents, friends, teachers, clergy, and others who are only too happy to tell us what to believe and how to live our lives. We tend to believe these authority figures assuming that they are knowledgeable. We accede to them our power in a manner akin to giving our power to a stage hypnotist. As these beliefs are repeated they become deeply internalized and direct our lives. For many of us, however, we find ourselves searching for more satisfactory answers that will provide greater happiness to our everyday lives. We might discover a modicum of satisfaction in achieving some  goals, or by following our bliss. However, this contentment usually fades and we find ourselves returning to a search for a more meaningful resolution to our discontent. We may wonder if finding our purpose might help.
In satsang, Mooji once asked someone, "Why does life have to be about something?" That is, does life need to have a purpose? Does your life need a purpose? Does love have a purpose? Perhaps love and life just are; needing no purpose. Can you allow life and love to simply unfold, moment by moment, without labeling anything as having purpose? Two questions you might ask yourself: Why do you believe you need a purpose? and How do you know that having a purpose is good?

It might be uselful to read what some sages or teachers have said about purpose.

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Quotes

 

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This body was given to you so that you could discover your true nature, the Origin of all, the one unborn Self. To inquire, relentlessly contemplate and strive until you are fully free from the slimy quicksand of the ego-ridden mind. For this single purpose you have appeared into manifestation: to solve yourself by dissolving the you which is the non-self, and thereafter to effortlessly celebrate your discovery as Peace, Love, Light and Joy. 

~ Mooji 

 

That this entire phenomenal show of the universe has no purpose indicates the obvious futility of seeking a goal in life. No sooner is a goal conceived than spontaneity is at once destroyed and the self conscious ego takes over in destructive competition against everything that comes, thus missing all that is worthwhile in life. It is, indeed, the "purposeful" life which entirely misses out on the purpose of life! The true purposeless vision misses nothing and enjoys everything without inhibition. 

~ Ramesh Balsekar 

 

We are not created for any grander purpose than the ants that are there or the flies that are hovering around us or the mosquitoes that are sucking our blood. 

~ U. G. Krishnamurti 

 

By letting go our fascination with the extraordinary and spectacular, we can allow ourselves to recognize the simple wonder that lies within the ordinary. For life is its own purpose and doesn't need a reason to be. That is its beauty. 

~ Tony Parsons 

 

Life is equally meaningless, as it is meaningful. The paradox is one we can never understand, and yet deep down we all know it. 

~ Unmani 

 

When seeking is there I have to conclude that the purpose of life hasn'tbeen achieved. If life brings about change that delivers unbroken peace of mind, what we find is that seeking (for purpose) stops.

~ Roger Castillo

 

You save the world by taking responsibility for your awakening and then where that awakening leads to, you follow. Maybe you will be a social activist, maybe you will be a hermit. That's not up to the thinking mind; the thinking mind is no longer the leader, it is the follower. The thinking mind is an exquisite follower, but first it has to surrender to follow. You have permission to be yourself. 

~ Gangaji 

 

We are here for the Holy to unfold through us. There is not a single one left out of that. Not a single one in whom the process of unfolding is not happening, just perfectly.

~ Jeannie Zandi

 

Satsang, like any moment in life, is rich with opportunities to unplug from the stories of mind. Satsang allows an opportunity to view from a wider lens and understanding can come from this. More so there is an energetic transmission that is available at satsang if one is susceptible to an energetic change at that time. Having the willingness to let go of opinions and beliefs and to be generally loose within body and mind allows maximum transmission. Leave all resistance outside of satsang and without expectation sometimes something else can happen. 

~ Jac O'Keeffe 

 

Many people who are going through the early stages of the awakening process are no longer certain of what their outer purpose is. What drives the world no longer drives them. Seeing the madness of our civilization so clearly, they feel somewhat alienated from the culture around them. Some feel that they inhabit a no mans land between two worlds. They are no longer run by the ego, yet the arising awareness has not yet become fully integrated into their lives. Inner and outer purpose have not merged. 

~ Eckhart Tolle 

 

When we're in our true being, the purpose of life is to feel that every moment is the purpose. 

~ Adyashanti 

 

If one raised one's eyes from this world of illusion and looked up, and asked God to tell one secret and the mystery of His creation, one would hear in answer that everything and every being is put in its own place, and each is busy carrying out that work which has to be done in the whole scheme of nature. Life is a symphony; and the action of every person in this symphony is the playing of his particular part in the music. "

~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

 

The purpose of many schools and methods throughout history has been to bring people back to their true nature. This impulse has inspired religions and spiritual movements all over the world. The Work, we see, is very old. It has existed as long as humanity. 

~ A.H. Almaas 

 

"I don't know" is a fine state to be in. You are still busy working on your body-mind attachments. I would like you to leave all that behind. There is no end to that pruning; pull it up at the root. How? By staying as Awareness only. Stay as the Highest. Honour the Truth in yourself. This body was given to you so that you could discover your true nature, the Origin of all, the one unborn Self. To inquire, relentlessly contemplate and strive until you are fully free from the slimy quicksand of the ego-ridden mind. For this single purpose you have appeared into manifestation: to solve yourself by dissolving the you which is the non-self, and thereafter to effortlessly celebrate your discovery as Peace, Love, Light and Joy. 

~ Mooji 

 

Learning how to love is the goal and the purpose of spiritual life, not learning how to develop psychic powers, not learning how to bow, chant, do yoga, or even meditate, but learning to love. Love is the truth. Love is the light.

~ Lama Surya Das

 

Never forget the purpose of why you're here. It is true in the absolute reality there is no purpose. The universe has no purpose for existing. You have no purpose for existing, in the absolute reality. But as long as you live you are a body or a mind, then your purpose is to become no purpose. You spend your energy becoming nothing. But do not believe you're nothing, when you haven't become nothing yet.

~ Robert Adams 

 

The question "what is my purpose" comes when we're feeling incomplete, let's say, when you're feeling like something is missing. Then the question is "what's my purpose in life, what should I be doing?" So we ask ourselves questions of what to do, looking to satisfy the question "what is my purpose, what can I achieve?"

~ Roger Castillo

 

The dream we are living has absolutely no purpose other than our awakening. 

~ Tony Parsons 

 

The purpose of life is to return to the source. The source is mysterious, glorious, peaceful, joy, which is God in everybody's heart. This is realization. We do not gain it. It is always there in the heart. Only the obstructions, vasanas, have to be removed to reveal it. 

~ Ramana Maharshi 

 

The purpose of a song is the singing. The purpose of a dance is the dancing. The purpose of life is the living. 

~ Chuck Hillig 

 

Life is Its own purpose. There is nothing That needs to be done and There is no one to do it. 

~ Wu Hsin 

 

I believe the purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being we desire contentment. 

~ Dalai Lama 

 

The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of, and familiar with, our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness. 

~ Sri Nisargadatta

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Where there's an ego there is purpose. And when there is no sense of "I" there is no purpose. Life is purposeless. There's only beauty in living in the eternal. If you believe you are the individual "I" you are isolated from your surroundings, and this isolation brings feelings of insecurity, fear and anxiety. Then you look for goals. You worry and anticipate. Life doesn't need a reason to be. That is its beauty.
~ Jean Klein

One comes into existence for a purpose. That purpose will be accomplished whether one considers oneself the actor or not.
~ Ramana Maharshi

Love is the motivation behind every yearning. In all of life, Love is seeking to discover itself. We come into this world, and we experience a profound forgetfulness; we are asleep. Everything that happens from then on is the process of waking up to the fact that Love brought us here, that we are loved by a Beneficent Unseen Reality, and that the core of our being is Love. The whole purpose and meaning of creation is to discover the secret of Love.
~ Kabir Helminski

To consider that the world has no meaning or purpose is merely to say that the world is not centered on humanity. Without his ideals and motivations, an individual is frightened of being a nothing in the nothingness of a purposeless world. In actuality, man's ideals of "purpose" as the basis of life and nature are nothing but his own conditioned concepts. Nature cannot be seen in terms of human thought, logic or language. What appears cruel and unjust in nature seems so only when the matter is considered from the viewpoint of a separated and estranged individual human. But the rest of nature is totally unconcerned because the rest of nature is not human-hearted.
~ Ramesh S. Balsekar

We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

One cannot say that there is no such thing as purpose and motivation, and that it is therefore fine to live a haphazard and meaningless life. That attitude would abrogate one's human nature, for as long as one still lives in the cognitive sphere one's life requires purpose and meaning. Purpose, motive, and meaning are necessary for human beings . . . before they are recognized for what they (truly) are. Only when we have integrated the nonconceptual can we say we do not need meaning, purpose, or motive.
~ A. H. Almaas

It was our Creator who led us through the stages of evolution, from the animal state to the human. His purpose was to make us intelligent and aware, so that we might know Him.
~ Rumi

Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. No one is good and no one is bad. There is just that mysterious power working within, motivating you, leading you, directing you. But where are you going? There's no place to go, so there is absolutely nothing to do, there's no place to go. This does not mean that you will sit around doing nothing, accomplishing nothing. You will always do something, yet you are not the doer.
~ Robert Adams

I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew. The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure Soul. Love has befriended me so completely it has turned to ash and freed me of every concept and image my mind has ever known.
~ Hafez

Your sole purpose in life is to attain God-realization. All else is useless and worthless.
~ Sivananda

You are walking on the earth as in a dream. Our world is a dream within a dream; you must realize that to find God is the only goal, the only purpose, for which you are here. For Him alone you exist. Him you must find.
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. This is why we may also call it Presence. The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose is to bring that power into this world.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.
~ Nisargadatta

The thinking mind seeks purpose, but in truth there is no purpose to any of it. There is no purpose to your life, no purpose to creation. The mind searches for purpose, seeking to find meaning. Perhaps it will find one or two purposeful ambitions during your life. However, sooner or later, these purposes will not arrive at deep meaning and a thirst will arise for a new motivation, a new purpose. The idea of purpose is your mind searching where there is no answer of that ilk. But what there is, is usefulness. Usefulness can serve as the higher purpose if your mind seeks reasons for living and taking action. To be of use to yourself, others and to the planet is the only reason, at this point.
~ Jac O'Keeffe

Whether we are aware of it or not, the real purpose of life is to realize the divinity within.
~ Amma

Non-duality tells us that the separate me is an imaginary non-existing entity. When we see the falsity of a separate me, then the “doer” ends. When the doer ends, how can there be an action with a purpose?  Who is there even to ask for a change of whatever that is? What goal or purpose can arise then?
As long as a separate “me” exists, free will (and choice) has a role.  With the realization of Oneness, it is all whatever that happens.
~ A.H. Almaas

 

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