Do you have purpose in life?

I ask that question a lot. And every time, it’s an instant conversation-killer. Much to my regret. Even the most talkative raconteur balks and stops. Many start thinking if they actually have one (I can tell from their expression) and many others stare back at me ("Has he lost it altogether?")

I ask that question because I am a seeker. I seek meaning in life. I ask myself that question. And I want to know if there are others who are on the same page with me. But I am yet to come across someone, anyone, in my circuit of urban professionals, who has instantly responded with a clear: "Yes, I know my purpose in life."

Is it necessary to have a purpose in life? Is 'purpose' one concrete goal? Or is it a dynamic process? Does it apply only to people who believe in god? What about people who lead honest, compassionate lives, but are not sure if there is a god? Or those whose work makes a difference to other lives but do not believe in god at all? Where does that leave the agnostic or the atheist? Surely, they have a right to a 'purpose' in life, too?

In both Christianity and Islam, life’s purpose is worship of god and acceptance of god’s will. Eastern spiritual thinking, in contrast, focuses on 'you': you can seek any purpose you want and on your own terms. The purpose of life is self-transformation: be the best that you can be.

The Tao says, flow with life, accept yourself, discover who you are. To the Buddha, purpose of life is happiness, through mindful thought and action. "All that we are is the result of what we have thought…If one speaks or acts with pure thought, happiness follows one, like a shadow that never leaves."

The Vedas are the most flexible, with a range of non-judgmental roads to finding one’s purpose: pleasure, success, fame, wealth, power, duty, virtue, renunciation, liberation. But beauty and delight are transient; worldly success is never satisfied; duty can become mechanical. So touch your inner core by practicing self-discipline — like an athlete training for a greater goal — till you attain bliss: freedom from life’s limitations.

Meantime, I am seeking. I couldn’t have been born just to eat, sleep, breathe, talk, work, watch movies or football on the telly. There must be something that I am meant to do. However humble and modest it may be, there must be a 'key' for me alone, to open a door that’s just meant for me.  

Or am I seeking too hard? Is it enough to be like a flower that blooms, without a care who looks at it or doesn’t, and withers away simply, naturally, one day — because it can’t do otherwise?

What do you think? Have you found your purpose?

I look forward to hearing about your journey, if you have.