What is the purpose of life?

Ans : It is given only to the rare blessed few to be given the opportunity of talking about God, of listening to spiritual discourses and to enjoy the satsang of sages like Gurudev. Blessed is the tongue that utters the Lord's Name, the ear that hears the Lord's glory, and the eye that beholds the lord's vibhutis.

Life is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end-God-realisation. Life is wasted if it is not utilized for God-realisation. Man fulfils his purpose only if he thinks rightly, if he uses his discriminative faculty to the best advantage, and applies himself to sadhana for the realisation of the eternal reality. Even though this body is considered a great hindrance in many respects, it is the vehicle with the help of which the jiva is able to soar into the realms of Infinity. Even the gods aspire to take a human birth, for they can attain Self-realisation only through a human birth. Why should we at all aspire for God-realisation? Because this world in which we are born is full of misery, every object here is fleeting. We cannot get eternal satisfaction and bliss in any object here. God-realisation alone can confer on us the freedom from all miseries and the attainment of the supreme bliss.

Having attained this human birth, therefore, it should be our constant endeavour every moment of our life to attain this through intense sadhana. We should be ever burning with the desire to get ourselves released from this bondage of samsara. In order to sustain life, we may have to engage ourselves in vyavahara (mundane dealings); but we should not think that vyavahara is all. We should realise that our main purpose here is to do sadhana for Self-realisation and that vyavahara is only incidental. We should constantly discriminate between the eternal, permanent reality, and the ephemeral phenomena. We should shun sensual pleasures. God is our all-God is our father and mother.

This is the path to Self-realisation. God descends only into a pure heart. We should strive by every means in our power to purify our heart. First purify thought. Purify your speech. Purify your sight. Purify your actions. Purify your motives. Think only sublime thoughts. Let no evil or vulgar or untruthful words escape your lips. Do good. Serve all with great devotion. Do not be egotistic. Thank the person who gives you a chance to serve the Lord through him. Have a regular programme of sadhana. Evolve. Purify the heart. Attain Him in this very birth.