Purpose of life

Around a year back, I drafted a Google form and circulated it to some of my friends. One of the questions in the form was "What is your understanding of human life?". Around half of the participants answered that it's about doing something meaningful. However, there was another question "What concerns you in life" and around 37% of the participants answered that life seems to have no purpose. Isn't it a bit contradictory? 

Life seems to have no purpose and yet we feel that human life is about doing something meaningful. When most of us feel that life is about doing something meaningful, there may be two reasons for not being able to make our lives meaningful:

1. We have not understood the meaning of a meaningful life; or 
2.  We have not made sufficient efforts to live a meaningful life.

Let us look into these two aspects a bit deeper. What is a meaningful life? All of us have different ideas about meaningfulness. Some of us feel that a meaningful life is a life full of comfort. Some feel it is a life full of healthy relations. Some find meaningfulness in a family having strong bonds. Some feel that getting the kids educated well is the meaning of life. Some feel that being famous makes our life meaningful. Some feel that through the accumulation of knowledge, life becomes meaningful.

Mostly, we assign the meaning of life in terms of certain outcomes. There are a few problems with this approach. To understand the problems, we first need to discuss the process.

Any outcome such as wealth, relationships, status, knowledge, etc depends upon two factors: action and circumstances. For example, many of us prepare for competitive exams and work hard. Some get selected while others fail. The outcome of success or failure depends upon our efforts and the circumstances. If we set the purpose of life in terms of certain outcomes, it suffers from 3 fallacies. Firstly, the outcome is just a moment while the process is quite long. If we set the meaning of life in terms of outcome, we indirectly mean that the process is meaningless. If we say that life is meaningful, if we succeed in the competitive exam, it means that the entire phase of preparation is meaningless. That would logically mean that most parts of our lives will become meaningless automatically.

Secondly, the outcome depends upon circumstances also. The desired outcome may never come despite the efforts put in by us. If we do not achieve the desired outcome in spite of our efforts, does that mean that life is meaningless? If somebody does not succeed in the exam, does life become meaningless? Thirdly, the moment we achieve the desired outcome, we set another target. So even if we achieve the desired outcome, the moments of meaningful life are bound to be very less. I have practically experienced this phenomenon. Those who define the meaning of life in terms of success in the Civil Services Exam soon set different outcomes in terms of positions and power. The Success in Civil Services exam no longer has any meaning.

The moment we link the purpose of life to an outcome, we lose our free will. All the outcomes are dependent upon our actions and the circumstances. The moment we run after the outcomes, we lose focus on our actions and we start playing in the hands of circumstances. This is a basic principle of attention. We can pay attention only to one object at a time. The more we keep focus on outcomes, the more we lose focus on our actions. That automatically reduces our chances of getting the outcome.

Therefore, logically, linking the purpose of life to the outcome does not seem to be a good choice. But, how will we be motivated in life, if we stop linking the purpose of life to the outcomes? Will life not be dull and boring? This is the next question that comes to mind. Let's take the example of an actor. If the actor links the meaning of life to the success of his movie or fan following, his attention will be diverted to the circumstances. He will focus his energy on the circumstances, more than his work. In some cases, this may be rewarding and he may be able to achieve the desired outcome. However, that can not be the case always. In this process, he is bound to lose focus on acting and is bound to give poor performances. That happens with many students while preparing for competitive exams. They focus too much on the outcome that they develop a lot of stress and anxiety and are not able to work hard and stay focussed on the preparation.

Alternatively, if we define our purpose in life in terms of process, life is meaningful all the time. There is a difference between the outcome and the goal. We set the goal or aim in terms of action in our hands. The goal or aim should not be in terms of outcome. We set the goal in terms of preparing for the competitive exam with full honesty and hard work. The actor may set his goal of performing his role to the best of his capacity. This gives us complete free will and freedom to perform. This freedom makes life meaningful and desired outcomes are just the by-product of the process.

Shifting the meaning of life from the outcome to the process has a great effect. It brings the focus and attention to the action at hand. Attention wanders generally between the past and the future because it has divided all the experiences into desired and undesired, It wants to have more and more of the desired experiences and less of the undesired experiences. The moment we turn our focus away from the outcomes and focus on the action, the fixation with the desired outcomes reduces. Attention comes back to the present moment. As our focus comes back to the present moment, we experience it in its fullness. Whatever the task at hand, we are completely into it. While in the kitchen, cooking the food, we are completely in the process. While attending a meeting, our attention is not wavering and we stay fully focused on the proceedings. While going to the mountains, we are not carrying any burden in our minds and fully attending to the mountains and valleys. With such a focus, happens the magic. We start flowing with the experiences. the sense of time seems to be lost. We feel fulfilled and satisfied. Thus, satisfaction, fulfillment, and purposefulness are natural outcomes of the focus on process. The more we run after them, the farther they appear, and the more we focus on the process, the nearer the purpose of life.