THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

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As the shadows were awakening and a scent of the morning was carried

on the breeze, I saw an eagle descending from the mountain-tops. It

came down without a flutter of the wings into the valley, and there

disappeared among the shadows of the black mountains. At the end of

the day I saw it return again to its abode among the mountain peaks,

far away from the strife, the struggle and the jostle of the world.

So is a man who has seen the vision of Truth, who has, during his

strife in the world, established for himself the eternal goal. Though

he may wander among the transient things, and lose himself among the

shadows, yet all his life will be guided by that goal. As the eagle

soars to its abode, so will he soar beyond all sorrows, beyond all

fleeting pleasures and passing joys.

 

The establishment of that eternal goal is of primary importance for

one who desires to disentangle himself from all the complications of

life - not the goal of another, nor the vision of another, but the

goal that is born of his own experience, his own sorrow, suffering,

and understanding. Such a goal, when once it is established, will

throw light on the confusion of all thought, and thereby make clear

the purpose of life.

 

As a ship that is lost at sea without a compass, so the man without

the perception of the goal which is constant and eternal, is lost in

this world of confusion. As the captain of a ship establishes the

destination of his vessel and by the compass is able to guide his

course through stormy nights and dark waters, so the man who has

knowledge of his goal can guide his life by that compass of

understanding.

 

Because the individual does not know his purpose, he is in a state of

uncertainty and chaos. Because the individual has not solved his own

problem, the problem of the world has not been solved.

 

The individual problem is the world problem. If an individual is

unhappy, discontented, dissatisfied, then the world around him is in

sorrow, discontentment and ignorance. If the individual has not found

his goal, the world will not find its goal. You cannot separate the

individual from the world. The world and the individual are one. If

the individual problem can be solved by understanding, so can the

problem of the world be solved. Before you can give understanding to

others, you have first to understand for yourself. When you establish

the Truth in your heart and mind, there it will abide eternally.

 

One day in Benares I was going in a boat down the sacred Ganga,

watching the people on the river banks worshipping God in search of

happiness, in search of their goal and the way of its attainment. I

saw one man in deep meditation, forgetting everything around him,

holding but the one thought in his mind - to find and to attain the

goal. I saw another performing rites required by his system of yoga.

I saw another repeating chants, lost to the world and to himself.

They were all seeking what you are seeking, what everyone in the

world is seeking in moments of deep thought and of great desire. As

the boat is carried down the stream by the current, so is everyone

carried away by his desires, by his passions and longings, because

not one has found or established his purpose. Because the goal has

not been established, because the path that leads to that goal has

not been found, there is confusion and chaos, there is questioning

and doubt in the mind. As long as there is doubt in the mind there is

not peace, nor certainty and ecstasy of purpose.

This condition exists throughout the world, but everywhere there is a

heart beating and a mind capable of thought. Man everywhere is

unconsciously seeking a way to free himself from his narrowness, his

pettiness. The end of this search is freedom and eternal happiness.

He experiments along many paths, and every path leads to

complications. From life to life he wanders, from shrine to shrine,

from one creed to another - gathering experience, accepting,

rejecting, and again accepting - thus he goes forward towards that

goal which awaits him as it awaits all men.

 

In the process of the accumulation and rejection, he does not know

which way to turn for comfort, and when he seeks comfort through any

particular channel he is enmeshed and entangled. Because there are

many interpreters of the Truth, because there are many conflicting

paths, beliefs and religions, man is lost in their complexities. As a

butterfly that knows against the window pane, struggling to escape

into the fresh air and the open sky, so do men struggle when they

have not caught a glimpse of the goal - but it is not hard to

establish. It is because they are in darkness that the goal seems far

away.

 

As the potter moulds the clay to the delight of his imagination, so

can man mould his life through the desire of his heart. As the

earthen vessels are fashioned into beautiful or ugly forms, so life

can be made beautiful or ugly according to the purpose which you have

established for yourself.

 

I would help you to that goal which you are seeking, which you desire

to attain - the goal which awaits all the peoples of the world,

whatever their experiences, thoughts or feelings. Then you will be

able to guide yourself through the darkness of of the world as a man

guides himself of a dark night by the starts.

 

If you once establish such a goal - which is happiness and hence

freedom - life becomes simple. There is no longer confusion and time

and the complications of time disappear. It is because you have not

established your goal that the present is as the mountain when the

sun has set - the light fails and the darkness of the mountain

overshadows the valley. Time is only a binder of life and the moment

you are free you are beyond time.

 

Then you can guide yourself without depending upon any authority.

Then you will no longer have fear. Then for you there will be no

conflict of good and evil. When you have set life free you will find

happiness, which is the only goal, the only absolute Truth.

 

This is from

Early Speeches

The Purpose of Life (1928)

Krishnamurti