What is the purpose of my life?

#1 06-09-2023, 06:54 AM

What is the purpose of my life?

[Satsanga on 02-09-2023 in the marriage function of the sister of Shri Hrushikesh. Important questions answered by Swami are given below.]

[Ms. Aarti asked:- I am not happy at my workplace and I am not liking what I do. I don’t know where I belong to and what I exactly want. What is the purpose of my life?]

Swami replied:- First, you must develop materialistic discipline. You must show interest in your job and do it well. If you do it well, it will be justified for your salary. This is inevitable. But, you need not concentrate too much on the materialistic work. In your leisure time, you should concentrate on God. Even in your job work, you can concentrate on God, since you have got some experience, the work will become mechanical.

Only in the initial stage, you have to concentrate on the work. While learning to ride a bicycle, for a week or so, you will concentrate on the riding. Later on, you will ride it mechanically without much concentration on it. This will enable you to concentrate on God even during the work. Then, you are considered as a devotee concentrating on God all the time. This is told in the Gita that when you attain perfection in your job, you can be associated with God even during the job work (Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam - Gita).

Unseeking Seeker · #2 08-09-2023, 05:35 AM

Presupposing belief in God (now, I’m not saying God is not) ~ belief being in thought, in conditioning, we are in bondage already, are we not? We know in definitiveness, when we ‘see’ without mirrors.

Likewise, about purpose of life, a reasonable purpose is quest for joy eternal, bliss that does not fade, which is not impacted by the external. Likewise, direct inquiry: ‘who am I?’ as queried by sage Ramana Maharishi.

Love. When we express unconditional love, there is no thought. Thought has roots in ego identity. This is easy to see. Whilst expressing love, heart expands, whilst thinking, it contracts.

Unless we become mindfully self-aware of all this, habit patterns bind and confine.

Just saying.

Starman · #3 09-09-2023, 04:02 AM

I have found that when I allow the quiet spiritual presence I feel coming from within me and surrounding me to guide my life, all reason leaves me and I get everything I need and much of what I want.

My purpose is fulfilled not by logic or reasoning but by surrender to that deeper presence which emanates from the depths of my being. Thinking too much about it can take me away from that connection.

It is my own inner light which fulfills my purpose in this life, guides me and protects me, and above all I must trust that. It has taken me from the depths of despair to the heights of fulfillment and unconditional love. This is my experience.

Miss Hepburn · #4 09-09-2023, 02:45 PM

No more quotes over 3 sentences, remember.
Just doin' my job.

Redchic12 · #5 09-09-2023, 04:23 PM

“Swami replied:- First, you must develop materialistic discipline. You must show interest in your job and do it well. If you do it well, it will be justified for your salary.”

Well I really see the funny side of this. I mean imagine telling a bloke who worked down the sewers everyday shovelling sh…..t. to “show some interest”!!!

Sorry folks but sometimes ya gotta laugh because what sounds good in an ashram or holy place doesn’t seem to equate to the real world.

BigJohn · #6 09-09-2023, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redchic12

Well I really see the funny side of this. I mean imagine telling a bloke who worked down the sewers everyday shovelling sh…..t. to “show some interest”!!!

LOL!

In Southeat Asia, I have seen prisoners from the "Big House", willfully volunteer to strip down to a "loin cloth" and then lowered down in to a manhole so as to remove the sewage blockage with their bare hands.

I never stayed around long enough to see what happens if they ever come out......

sky · #7 09-09-2023, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redchic12

Sorry folks but sometimes ya gotta laugh because what sounds good in an ashram or holy place doesn’t seem to equate to the real world.

Two different worlds come to mind

sky · #8 09-09-2023, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJohn

LOL! I never stayed around long enough to see what happens if they ever come out......

A very wise decision

Altair · #9 10-09-2023, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJohn

In Southeat Asia, I have seen prisoners from the "Big House", willfully volunteer to strip down to a "loin cloth" and then lowered down in to a manhole so as to remove the sewage blockage with their bare hands.

This reminds me of diving for gold in Bangladesh: https://youtu.be/NZdDeffKnJA?si=Aqdc_XKhl49fNQL8&t=1354

#10 11-09-2023, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

Presupposing belief in God (now, I’m not saying God is not) ~ belief being in thought, in conditioning, we are in bondage already, are we not? , habit patterns bind and confine.

Just saying.

In regards to the bondage of conditioning and habit I remember the wisdom of a baseball player…..he said….”do not let your routine become a superstition….”