Baraka_Guru

I think it dreadfully cliche when people think of purpose in life as though we are all born in the rather inconvenient situation of having lost our individualized instruction manuals when we were taken "out of the box."

And so the purpose is really "out there" and we all just need to find it despite being at the disadvantage of not being able to look up the instructions. This means that trial and error and discovery and adventure and asking questions are all part and parcel to seeking out this elusive purpose. But maybe....just maybe....we might stumble upon our missing instruction manual in a miraculous moment of serendipity. And, finally, we will see the light!

It's all rather tragic, of course, because one's purpose can only be found within---there is no manual to be found. There is only discipline, introspection, observation, awareness, and understanding.

These are not easy things, however, which is why we're susceptible to falling into the trap of believing purpose is "out there" and that things would be much easier if only we had those instructions, which never existed in the first place.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot