Does life have a purpose?

Is human existence random? Why are we born? Is there any purpose to human life?

Does all this happen by chance? No, nothing happens by chance. It all happens by design. There is a reason why we are born. Our birth, the circumstances of our birth are not incidental or a coincidence. They are controlled by the Law of Karma. However, once we are born, then life becomes a matter of choices and we are in command of our actions. Either we can drift through life and reach the end of our life journey, and die or we can discover the purpose of life.

What is the purpose of life? The purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life. Life is the journey between birth and death. We certainly have no control over our birth or our death. Can we choose the parents we are born to or can we decide how we can die? No, evidently we can't. But we are in charge of everything that happens in between. But we must introspect, contemplate; we must go on a quest to discover the purpose of life. If we don't discover the purpose of life, then we will keep coming back into this world again and again. We will have a new body, but as per Karma, we would experience the triple suffering that we all experience in this world – the pain of the body, misery of the mind and the agony of the ego.

Is there a way to escape from this constant cycle of death and rebirth? The Buddha, the Awakened One advocated Nirvana — his term for the realisation of the truth. Nirvana is liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth through the process of self-realisation. Different saints have given 'self-realisation' different names, but it means the same– it is our life's purpose. The purpose is to discover who we are and why we are here. It is to realise our true self — we are the Soul, the Atman, the Spirit, not the body and mind that we appear to be or that we think we are.

Most of us feel that we must just enjoy this journey of life. That we must have fun while we can. But as we have fun and make merry, we forget the existence of the one who created this universe. We fail to express our gratitude. When hard times come, and we feel helpless, then we are forced to think of the one we call 'God' and we turn to this Divine Power. But we don't realise that the Divine is within us.

If we contemplate, it will be rather easy to realise that everything that happens around us has some logic, some meaning and some purpose. Think about it. Can the universe unfold day after day without a reason? Is everything happening randomly? Are we all born to have fun and then leave one day —just like that? Shouldn't we be asking what the meaning of death is and what happens thereafter? Why are some children born blind and some born into good families and live withcomfort and happiness? Most of us are puzzled by what happens, till we face 'the End'.

Even when we come closer to breathing our last breath, we don't stop to think about death. Do we ever stop to ask, 'Before death, what am I supposed to achieve?' A few people, however, discover the purpose of life. Some go on a quest, a search, a Talaash and realise the truth. Self-realisation not only makes our life meaningful, but it also liberates us from all kinds of misery and suffering. We learn to communicate with the Divine, be in union with the Divine. Finally, we are liberated from the karmic cycle of death and rebirth.

We must all understand what life is. We must ask questions, investigate and realise the truth. A life coach, a Spiritual Master, can guide us forward on this journey called 'Life', and help us realise the purpose of life.