Finding Purpose: The holy grail of modern life

In today's day and age, our life purpose is supposed to be something every individual must figure out. This purpose is imagined to be some significant contribution which the individual was born to create for the benefit of this world. We think that the most successful people, whether entrepreneurs, sportspersons, actors, or leaders, are living their purpose, and doing the work they were born to do.?There are tons of self-help books and gurus, claiming to help people figure their purpose out - like we're lost software products, created by a divine Programmer with the intention to solve a specific problem on the planet, but which was (very inconveniently) left to the product to figure out.

However, the world, and life, is too complex and driven by too many forces and influences, for an individual to figure out how to create an impact in it. It’s a mammoth proposition, to expect an individual to determine which work she was destined for. And often, the work we end up doing simply happens to us, through a set of coincidences we had no control over.?

From a larger perspective, this universe is infinitely large and timeless. Our existence is less than a speck of dust in comparison. What could possibly be a significant contribution for a human being in comparison to this Infinity?

I think the purpose of life is actually very simple, and it’s exactly the same for every human being. And that purpose is self knowledge. To know one’s own self better, and better, and better.

There is no end point to this purpose, because we’re living beings, and always evolving, always changing. And this purpose continues throughout life, and across lifetimes. Through our exertions in business, sport, art, religion, politics, through life’s ups and downs, through our relationships - at a fundamental level, everything is an exercise towards knowing one’s own self better.?

At our individual level, consciously keeping self knowledge as the ultimate and main purpose in life, puts everything else in its right place, and puts life on track. Money, career, relations, hobbies, sex, religion, or business - everything becomes nothing more, and nothing less, than a vehicle and enabler, towards one single purpose.

And by being seen as the enablers and vehicles, these things also get their own importance. One must take care of the body by exercising regularly, sleeping properly, and taking the right amount and type of food. One must take care of finances by managing money, earnings, and investments well. One must do one’s taxes, and all the responsibilities and tasks required to keep domestic life tidy and in order. One must entertain friends and relations, and give and take time, affection, and labour for them. One must follow the social norms of dressing, living, meeting, driving, follow the law, and so on.?

But there is no obsession with the body and its pleasures alone. There is no obsession with money and making more and more of it. One will not socialize all the time, or obsess with the minutiae of endless responsibilities of home or business. Because one knows that these things are ultimately just a servant to the main master, the goal of self knowledge.

Ignoring the purpose of self knowledge creates imbalances of all kinds. Bank balances become an obsession. Work, business, or social status becomes an obsession. Sex can become an obsession. Lovers can become an obsession. Social acceptance can become an obsession. Anything and everything can become a neurosis, and throw life out of balance. It makes life seem meaningless, heavy, even unbearable, a battlefield in which we are perpetual warriors.?

But consciously keeping self knowledge as our main life purpose lightens our grip on life. Work and careers can come and go. Partners can come and go. Relations can come and go. Finances can go up and down. Health can go up and down. Circumstances can change as they will. Nothing is too bothersome, because everything becomes grist for the mill of self knowledge.?

Society right now feels neurotic. We have an unhealthy obsession with money. We have an unhealthy obsession with technology and shiny gadgets. We have an unhealthy obsession with sex. We have an unhealthy obsession with politics and religion. We have an unhealthy disregard for the earth and our natural environment. And that’s all because for the majority of people, growing their self knowledge isn’t a conscious priority. It still does happen, but automatically, through life’s pleasant and unpleasant experiences.