What is the ultimate goal of life?

Many of us wonder why we are born. Why have we been given this human birth? What is the reason behind our existence? Are we born, just to die? Are we born to make a difference in this world? Are we born to enjoy life, fulfill duties and obligations? No. The purpose of human life is to find out – Who am I?

The realisation of our true self is called self-realisation. It is about finding out who we truly are. It is realising that we are not the body that we appear to be, not the mind that we think we are, but the Soul, the Atman, the Spirit. While this realisation is of significant importance, there is something beyond this that we must realise. Self-realisation is, in fact, only a part of the ultimate goal of life. The ultimate goal of life is God-realisation. We need to realise God to be liberated from all misery and suffering on earth, from the Karmic cycle of death and rebirth. God-realisation leads to unification with the Divine.

Therefore, first, we must strive for Self-realisation. To attain Self-realisation, we must go on a spiritual quest. We must Ask, Investigate and then Realise the Truth. What must be understood is that the Truth cannot be known. It has to be 'realised'. There are 3 steps that will take us to the realisation of the truth. They are: Sravana, which means reading and listening, it is assimilating knowledge; Manana , the second step, is intellectually discriminating the knowledge that is acquired in Sravana . After Sravana and Manana , comes the stage of Nididhyasana , the stage where a seeker is able to realise the Divine Truth, that we are not the body or the mind, we are the Divine Soul. What is imperative for a seeker is to live the life of a Yogi, to be ever-connected to God, in union with God, by practising Dhyana Yoga (silence), Bhakti Yoga (devotion), Karma Yoga (action) and Gyana Yoga (knowledge and education). As we move forward on our spiritual path, we also need the guidance of a Guru, a spiritual master who himself has realised the Truth. Without a Guru, it may be very difficult for us to attain our goal. It is said that once a seeker is ready, the Guru appears.

Despite going on a quest, being guided by a Guru, educating ourselves, we may still not be able to realise our true self. What can stop us from Self-realisation? It is ME, the Mind and the Ego. The ego is a major hurdle on the journey of self-discovery. Along with the mind, it is the root cause of all our ignorance. The mind, like a monkey, it jumps from thought to thought. We must let go of the ego and at the same time, tame the monkey mind, by making it silent, making it still. We must observe it. We must activate our intellect; the intellect must always rule the mind. It is the intellect that will help us discriminate between the Truth and the myth.

Once we realise the Truth of who we are — the Divine Soul, then the next step is God-realisation, the realisation that God is in everyone, in everything. God is present in all beings, living and non-living; in nature, in inanimate objects. Everything and everyone is a manifestation of God. With God-realisation, we begin to experience God all around us, all the time. We realise the Truth of the ancient chant Satyam Shivam Sundaram – the Truth is God is beautiful and everything is beautiful because of God. We live in the state of Satchitananda — Consciousness of the Truth is Bliss. When alive, we live in a state of Divine Bliss and Peace, as a Jivanmukta , free from all suffering and misery. At death, we attain Moksha, Liberation, Nirvana , Salvation — our ultimate goal, freedom from the continuous cycle of death and rebirth, as we become one with God.

(The writer is Spiritual leader and Founder of AiR Institute of Realization and AiR Center of Enlightenment)