The ultimate goal/purpose of human life!

What is life goal?

We all know that we are humans and we are alive. And we keep setting different goals in our life. From early morning to late night, from childhood to old age whatever we do, we do it to achieve our goals. We do it for a reason. Everyone is busy to achieve his or her goals whether s/he is studying, working, doing any business, playing any sport, acting in films, engaged in politics or social service or doing any kind of research. And even the person who has given up everything and is engaged in meditation wants to achieve his/her goal . Therefore in that situation it is natural to ask the question: is this topic even important in our life? That is if we all are trying to achieve our goal then why is it necessary to even think about it? Everyone is working towards achieving his/her goals. Can we say that everything that we are doing is meant to achieve our life goal. We have set small goals like to study, buy a house, start a business, nourish our child, earn a lot of money, to become doctor or engineering and more . Are all these my life goals or my partial/temporary goals? To study can be a goal in early life but once we get a job or start earning money then studying can not be that kind of goal. Until our house is not built till then our goal can be to build a house but once it is done it can not remain our goal anymore. For the goal that we have set in our life, can we say that it is the ultimate goal of my life? We all set goals but we need to think if it is our ultimate life goal or not.

From here we will try to reach our own conclusion. I will be putting forward some thoughts and only you should decide if you agree or not. Here I am not going to tell the life goal or purpose which is written in a sacred book or told by any famous philosopher, our elders or by someone else.

What can you expect after reading this article?

You'll be able to decide whether the goal that you have is the ultimate goal of your life or is it just the partial goal. And most importantly you will get to know the true goal of all the human race!

Before we start our journey to find the ultimate goal of life, read these instructions!

Different religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam) and authors (Sadhguru, Sandeep Maheshwari) have professed different goal of human life. But I request you to keep that aside for a moment and try to reach your own conclusion (as you read this article) as to what is the goal of human life or what should be the goal of human life. You need to think using your own experience without getting influenced by someone else. And then compare the conclusion that you have arrived at (after reading this article) with different philosophers and books.

Before starting, keep these things in your mind:

Apply it to yourself
Apply it to others

Why? Because our title is: What is the goal of human life? Which means what is the goal of all humans? I know it sounds bizarre! Because every person has different knowledge, desires, interests still how can they all have the same goal? And we have seen in our lives that one thing interests someone while it does not interest others. For example: one person may think my goal is to serve my country while some may think s/he wants to become doctor, engineer and so on. If the goal is to earn money then too, the means to earn it will be different for different people. How they will use that money is again different for different people. Favourite food is also different for different people. So with so many differences is it even possible to discuss the goal of the entire human race. Also keep it in your mind that: is it possible your goal can be the goal of others too or will it be different? You can take any person from any age group, gender, atheist/theist, spiritualist, materialist, country, religion, vegetarian, non vegetarian and try to apply your thoughts on them too. By following this process we will try to conclude that is it possible for all people to have the same goal and if possible then what it is?

Is happiness the ultimate goal in life?

We have seen different people doing different things. Now think: Why are they doing those things and living in their own ways? Maybe to earn money as it is the most sought after thing of all time. We might think that money is the only goal of most people. But why has money become their goal? Now suppose, what if we give money to them and they can not buy anything from it! Will they still set money as their goal! Then, can money become the only goal? You must also be thinking that money can not be the only goal. Because money is only important to us because we can buy different things with money like clothes, food, car, house and other facilities.

Now suppose we have money and we have bought all the things but you can not use them. For example you have bought very delicious food but you can not eat it. You have bought the most expensive dress but you can not wear it. You have bought the best house but you can not live in it. Then will they be our goals? Keep thinking! In my understanding they will not be our goals.

Now suppose we have money and purchased everything and can use them too. Like we can eat the food or live in the house. But what if that food makes us ill or doesn't make us stronger or we remain scared at home. Then too, these will not become our goals.

Therefore no matter what the temporary goal is, the true goal which always remains is:

attainment of happiness and cessation of sorrow !

We sell one car and buy a new one but why? We sell old mobile phones and buy new one but why? We buy new clothes but why? Behind all these, the only true motive/goal is attainment of happiness and cessation of sorrow ! Think for yourself if it's convincing or not. The person who gives up everything (money, property, house) and goes to the forest and lives in a cottage, wears simple clothes, eats simple food, s/he too is doing all these things to attain the same goal which is attainment of happiness and cessation of sorrow although it looks like he is leaving all luxuries of life and happiness. Every person in this materialistic world who is engaged in earning a lot of money or in any activity, also has this same goal, all the time. Even you would agree with this.

Now we might have seen people serving or dying for the nation or parents sacrificing for their children. We might wonder what kind of happiness they are trying to achieve. But in these cases too the goal is the same although it might not be visible from outside or in the present. If a person is serving his/her country then probably he is doing it to make his/her country more democratic, peaceful, independent or in other words a happy place to live.

Also read: Happy Guru Purnima in Sanskrit

Now what's next?

Now we know what our goal is. But what kind or type of happiness do we want? What are the qualities that this happiness should have so that it can become the ultimate goal of all human race! Because if we do not look at the qualities of happiness then we will find that all of us are desiring different types of happiness and then how can it become the goal of all humans?

QUALITIES WHICH MUST BE PRESENT IN HAPPINESS SO THAT IT CAN BECOME GOAL OF ALL HUMANS

Till now you must have felt happiness in a lot of different things. Now take any one from them and try to apply the following qualities on it.

We always want the best feeling of happiness: Do you desire for more happiness even when you are feeling some level of happiness? Take for example, we are eating delicious food. Don't we always desire for some more delicious food or won't we accept some more delicious food if an option is available. It does not matter what kind of happiness we are experiencing, we always desire a higher level of happiness, that is, we always want the best feeling of happiness. Now why do we always desire for more? Because our purpose of satisfaction or satiety is not fulfilled by the present happiness. If that is ultimate/best happiness then why would we desire for more? It does not matter what type of happiness we have achieved till now, the desire for more has always remained there for which we always keep trying. All materialism is going on with this focus. And spiritualism is also going on with the same focus. A spiritual person too is not satisfied with any happiness till now and s/he too desires for a higher level of happiness. Basic instincts are all the same. S/He wants to get more happiness than s/he has got. The path can be material or spiritual. Therefore the type of happiness that we want is of the highest position.( if you know any exception feel free to share in the comment section.)
We always want that the level of happiness remains the same although we have experienced that the level of happiness gradually decreases. Take for example sweets. We know that the level of happiness/taste that we feel with the first bite gradually decreases with the second...fourth….eighth… bite. Do we want this? Of Course not. We want it to remain the same throughout. We always want that level of happiness to always remain high.
We always want a feeling of happiness to remain for a longer period of time. Does anyone have the desire that the happiness s/he has should remain for a small period of time. Of course not. We always desire that our happiness remains for a long period of time.
We always want happiness without any obstruction. Whenever we are happy we always try to make sure that it remains unobstructed. For example if we are watching TV then we do not want that someone takes the remote or the electricity is switched off.
We always want that the happiness that we want does not make us ill. For example: we have eaten delicious food but what if it makes us feel bloated or causes stomach ache, diarrhoea or high BP. We would never want that, right?
We always want that the happiness that we desire is available at all the time, 24✕7, whole life. For example: whenever we want food it should remain available. In the materialist world, whenever we want we can watch movies which was not possible earlier. Which means that in the materialistic world those types of resources are being sought after so that the happiness that we want remains available to us all the time!
We always want that the happiness that we desire is available at all places. For example mobile phones. We can talk with anyone from anywhere. We always want that the network remains available at all the places. We want the internet to be available at every place.

So you must also have experienced that these qualities must be present in our happiness. Every person desires this kind of happiness and it does not matter what s/he is doing. So among the different joys that we have experienced, which one has all the above qualities? Do we or anyone else have found any joy till now that has all the above said qualities? The person that we think is more happy than us can be a billionaire, actor, sportsman, businessman, politician, artist, writer, poet, scientist, farmer, yogi, seeker or maybe someone else. But even then, do you really think that you will get happiness with all the above qualities once you achieve that state or position. Especially the materialistic world’s joys, for which we are striving for. Does it have this kind of happiness? Is it possible that if we give all the materialistic means to one single person, then he will get the happiness which will have all the qualities and is desired by all humans!

Also read: Swami Vivekananda quotes free download

Be patient, there's more!

If you also think that there is no one in this world who has that kind of happiness, then another thing that will also come in your mind is that “ it can not be expected that there is no such happiness (which everyone is trying to achieve ) in the world or it can not be found ! Because there has to be something for which everyone is striving for. It is very likely that we will conclude that if everyone is striving for this happiness then it must be present somewhere or in something. Because we have all been on the same side and every man is engaged only to get this kind of happiness. From early morning to late night and from birth to death we are only striving to achieve this kind of happiness. And materialism is also nothing but trying different things again and again to achieve this kind of happiness from the material world .

Conclusion?

So, can we now come to the conclusion that every human being equally wants the same happiness (goal)? Now you must think, have you made this type of goal in your life? Now as we know the type of happiness that we want and also that we can not get it from the things that we are trying to achieve, then should we move towards that or not? It's a matter of thought for us.

Is it okay to not have a goal in life?

If we ask someone about his goal in life then he will be caught in thoughts and we will get to know that most of the people don't even have a life goal (excluding partial goals) just like the animals who also do not have any purpose or goal in life. So if our life is like these animals who are also experiencing ordinary happiness which we can too. But if we do not know the goal of life then can we say that it is the life of a human. Who do we call a human? Human is someone who can think and make a plan to achieve his/her goal in life. We only think to make plans, which will help us to achieve our life goal.

True goal vs Partial/Temporary goals

We all have a lot of partial goals in life but the main goal will always be one! Like, suppose we want to go to the USA or Canada than our one goal could be to reach the airport but it would be a partial/assisting goal. Now the aeroplane which will take us to the USA could be our another goal but that too will be called a partial goal. But what if we board on the wrong aeroplane. Then the amount of energy that we spend will be the same but that will not take us to our main goal. Which means that all the goals which are helpful in achieving the main goal are acceptable but if our temporary goals are not helpful in achieving our main goal then it's again a matter of thought for us.

Religion and Goal of life

All the actions which are required to achieve this type of happiness are called religion. So if you ever want to know if something is in accordance with or against the religion then just think “if that thing is going to help you to achieve this type of happiness or not”.

The one who takes us to our main goal will be called religion or Dharma or Obligation
Trending scholar

Humble note to the reader

I request you not to agree with all the things that you have read here or with any sacred book. Take your own decision ( after reading the article ). If you agree then only you should accept it and then see for yourself what type of goals different philosophers and sacred books have told you. Who talks about the goal which is truly ours. Who talks about achieving this type of happiness?

If you have any queries feel free to drop in the comment section.

Thank you, I appreciate your patience while reading my post.

Trending Scholar

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