Many people, in pursuit of their goal, forget why they decided on that goal. A goal is something that you want to acquire or achieve, but the objective behind pursuing that goal implies the purpose behind deciding on that goal. For example, one’s goal could be to earn a lot of money, own a big house, big car, have comfort, name, fame, status, recognition, etc., but the objective behind acquiring these things is to be happy and live peacefully. But does everyone who has a lot of money and owns a big house and all the comforts there in lead a happy life? And don’t people leading austere lives without any accoutrements of comfort live happily?
If there is clarity about the objective, then irrespective of how much one earns and how big a house one owns, one will try to remain happy because that’s his/her objective in life — to be happy. One might choose money, palatial houses, a wonderful career to be the medium of a happy life, but if these fail to realise the objective of happiness then they seem to be a waste. Once we know that they are only the media of happiness, not its embodiment, our peace of mind gets delinked from material goals.
Another example from daily life is when you have to travel from point A to point B in your city. Ideally, you may choose a mode of transport to reach your destination in the shortest time and in a comfortable way. But, you can’t let the mode of travel determine your destination. So, whether you take an auto rickshaw, or hire a taxi or drive a Mercedes, it doesn’t matter since the objective is to reach point B. Hence, more than the manner of achieving your goal, it’s the intention behind it that matters.
That should be crystal clear. We need to consciously ask ourselves — whether we are unknowingly assuming our path to be our objective. If so, then we ought to correct it and remind ourselves of the objective! In terms of spirituality, the true purpose of human life is to achieve a state of eternal happiness, i.e., “enlightenment”. And enlightenment can be achieved only in human form.
But we get so entangled in the material world that we do not even bother to find out about our actual objective. We should try and remain in a state of bliss, irrespective of the situations we face and the problems we encounter, without causing trouble to others around us. This will help us achieve our ultimate objective.
