April 5, 2013

27 of 65

The Purpose of Life

I don’t want to keep you in suspense.  There is no reason to wait until Day 65; we can pause right now for a brief moment to discuss the purpose of life on the Earth.  Understand that my intent is not to impose a particular belief, but to describe an experience.

Ten or twelve years ago, I participated in a class or workshop that met each weekend for several weeks.  It was called “The Ultimate Game” and was facilitated by a gentleman named John McKenna who lives in the mountains near Conifer, Colorado.  John is many things – a teacher, a martial arts master, a commodities investor, but I think mostly a musician.  He had recently completed an album called No Ordinary Days, which is a wonderfully melodic allegory depicting the journey that eventually leads one back to see his home with a new vision and to henceforth “walk the world in wonder.”  It is available only at John’s website, www.purplemusic.com.  It seemed he wanted to impart the wisdom he had gained from writing and recording those songs in a more prosaic fashion, so he created The Ultimate Game.

Each week, John would give us a homework assignment to prepare for the discussion and exercises coming the following week.  One assignment was to answer the question: What is the purpose of life on Earth?  I thought about that for a few minutes and quickly came up with my answer.  I was curious to learn what others would say.

The following weekend we convened and John began by asking one woman how she had answered.  She said, “The purpose of life is to love.”

John replied, “That may be your purpose, but it is not the purpose.

The next person said, “The purpose is to be of service to others.”

Again, “That may be your purpose, but it is not the purpose.”

Others suggested that the purpose is to learn or to know God.  No group member suggested a purpose of accumulating wealth and experiencing pleasure.  Such answers would not be expected from a person who would participate in the introspection that was The Ultimate Game.

When it was my turn, I said, “The purpose of life on Earth is to live on the Earth.”

To each response, John said, “That may be your purpose, but it is not the purpose.”

Finally it was John’s turn to give us the answer.  He said, “The purpose of life on Earth is to heal.”  He explained that each soul that comes into our plane of existence has some flaw or injury that must be mended.  For some, the healing must come through love; for others, through service; for others, through learning or interacting with the Creator.  There are even those who might find healing through the pursuit of wealth and pleasure.  Thus, many different individual purposes exist to further the ultimate purpose of healing.

I said, “John, that may be your purpose, but ……”

I explained that my statement of the purpose of life on Earth being to live on the Earth was more than a tautology.  Living things take in energy; they get rid of waste; they move, they grow and they evolve in response to environmental stimuli.  Those are the characteristics of life which occur constantly and on the multiple levels of our existence.

Animals must take in food and water to live, and plants require sunlight and nutrients.  Less obviously, there is a form of cosmic or spiritual energy that is a part of living things – a spark of “life” that upon receipt somehow changes an inert compilation of molecules into a vibrant life form, be it an amoeba or a human.

The chemical interactions necessary to accept that spark and sustain a living state produce waste that must be removed from the organism.  Excretory processes occur from the cellular to the systemic level.  Similarly, one’s spiritual or emotional life often contains thoughts, beliefs and attachments that must be left behind.

Plants grow, puppies grow, people grow.  Carnivores move from place to place to seek food, others move to avoid becoming prey.  Plants follow the sun across the sky to maximize the energy they receive for photosynthesis.  Physical characteristics of entire species change over generations to better survive a changing environment.  The ideas and perceptions of humans are constantly changing and evolving as they are tested day by day.

These elements of life are played out in our three-dimensional physical world.  There may be other dimensions and spiritual or etheric worlds, but if so they are beyond the reach of the senses we are given – or have evolved – to exist in this world.  We know there is something beyond our senses – at least that dogs can hear or bats can see that we humans cannot.  I suppose that frequencies beyond the perception of any form of life might cease to be physical or within a physical dimension.

However, while we are Earthly beings, we must react to and in accord with the physicality of this particular world, perpetuating the characteristics that define living.  “Therefore,” I said, “the purpose of life on Earth is to live on the Earth.”

John asked me how one goes about doing that – which must be addressed if the statement is not merely tautological.  The first thing that popped into my mind was:

You need to ”Row, row, row your boat” [proactively cause your vessel, be it your body or your mind, to do something; to take steps toward a recognition, understanding or accomplishment of a particular purpose];

. . . “gently” [not fighting the world, but in accord with it];

. . . “down the stream” [recognizing that there is a natural flow which we must abide if we are to succeed in whatever our life’s purpose may be];

. . . “merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily [accepting and enjoying our time and our journey through the physical dimension; and happily knowing that our own purpose is apparent and not hidden ];

. . . “life is but a dream.” [but aware that this physical life is an illusion]).

Being a musician, John had the group sing that ditty as a round.  I had not fully answered the question, but it was time for us to move – merrily –  to another topic.