Prioritisation

[preventingdiabetes]

For a young person, what should be prioritised more? Life Purpose or Enlightenment?

 

Humans need purpose, so wouldn’t Life Purpose be the number 1 priority? Then enlightenment can be pursued when our Life Purpose is handled? 

 

In the course Leo says that Enlightenment is more important than Life Purpose. How is this so? 

[JosephKnecht]

11 hours ago, preventingdiabetes said:

In the course Leo says that Enlightenment is more important than Life Purpose. How is this so? 

You have had many lives. The purpose of all lives is to eventually get to enlightenment. 

If you can't get enlightened in your current life, you can create another life purpose for yourself.

In the end, it doesn't matter. There is only one destination, but you chose the path on how to get there.

 

[preventingdiabetes]

@JosephKnecht

Would I need to have a Life Purpose before becoming enlightened? 

[JosephKnecht]

13 minutes ago, preventingdiabetes said:

Would I need to have a Life Purpose before becoming enlightened? 

Yes. You have to create a purpose for your life. Otherwise, you will just meander aimlessly. 

[TripleFly]

Personally I would never be able to pursue any life purpose, or care about success at all.

I think we are living in an age where nihilism is everywhere. And it's spreading.

Without the knowledge and love that is inside my heart. Without God. I am nothing. And none of this is worth it.

In fact I do what I do, work, study, exercise, I feel and I think, voluntarily, I even allow for suffering. To glimpse brahman 

Edited October 2, 2020 by TripleFly

[preventingdiabetes]

11 hours ago, JosephKnecht said:

Yes. You have to create a purpose for your life. Otherwise, you will just meander aimlessly. 

So should I work on my Life Purpose for the next decade or so (while still meditating), and then once I’m 25-30 I pursue enlightenment as I’ve exhausted my desire for Stage Orange wants (materialism, success, financial stability, etc)? 
 

Or could I just let go of the Stage Orange desires like materialism? I know that it won’t truly make me happy, but my ego still wants it, maybe because it doesn’t know from direct experience (“Oh, I see that this doesn’t really make me happy”) but rather a belief? 

[JosephKnecht]

7 hours ago, preventingdiabetes said:

So should I work on my Life Purpose for the next decade or so (while still meditating), and then once I’m 25-30 I pursue enlightenment as I’ve exhausted my desire for Stage Orange wants (materialism, success, financial stability, etc)? 
 

Or could I just let go of the Stage Orange desires like materialism? I know that it won’t truly make me happy, but my ego still wants it, maybe because it doesn’t know from direct experience (“Oh, I see that this doesn’t really make me happy”) but rather a belief? 

Yes. You should create a life purpose for your life. You can't make quantum jumps on the spiral so you have to take your time with your progression. 

Determine what are your passions and skills, decide where you would want to be 5-10 years from now, and work on that goal.

In the meantime, do your meditations and try to grow your spirit as much as you can.

Enjoy the journey to the destination and don't just seek the destination.  

[preventingdiabetes]

@JosephKnecht

Thanks for your help!

Just out of curiosity. How do monks become monks? Aren't they skipping stages? Do they simply just let go of their desires rather than exhausting them? 

[JosephKnecht]

On 10/3/2020 at 5:57 PM, preventingdiabetes said:

How do monks become monks? Aren't they skipping stages? Do they simply just let go of their desires rather than exhausting them?

I guess they make their Life Purpose to become monks. So their life purpose becomes to seek that which could not be found. 

You can't skip stages, but you can increase your pace and go through a stage faster than otherwise. 

Sometimes the easiest way to let go of desires is to exhaust your desire.

Once you have beheld everything that you desire in this world, maybe you too can go to the mountains and become a Monk. 

[preventingdiabetes]

1 hour ago, JosephKnecht said:

I guess they make their Life Purpose to become monks. So their life purpose becomes to seek that which could not be found. 

I hope that's truly what's meaningful to them. I can't see it in myself personally.

1 hour ago, JosephKnecht said:

Sometimes the easiest way to let go of desires is to exhaust your desire.

Wouldn't it also be the only way to deeply let go? My opinion is that just letting go of the desire isn't fully authentic and can cause one to be in an ideological stance, like a monkey in a buddha's clothing. 

Exhausting the desire would be direct experience. Just learning about how and why the desire transpires would be similar to that of a belief, which is lower-consciousness, isn't it? 

 

Methods other than exhausting the desire could raise the question of what if?

E.g. "What if I got that car I always wanted and then actually realised through direct experience that it won't fulfil me?" 

"I got this car that I always wanted, all the success I ever wanted, and I am not fulfilled. Now I that I know this I can work towards integrating what I think will fulfil me which is helping the community" (Stage Orange to Green) 

Over a dogmatic type attitude like

"Cars and success won't fulfil me, I've been told that it won't fulfil me. So I should be working on helping the community" 

 

Thoughts? 

[JosephKnecht]

On 10/4/2020 at 8:41 PM, preventingdiabetes said:

My opinion is that just letting go of the desire isn't fully authentic and can cause one to be in an ideological stance, like a monkey in a buddha's clothing. 

You can't let go of desires if within you there is still a desire not to let go. 

In other words, you can't desire not to desire because that itself is a desire.  

You desire that which you lack, since if you had the thing that you lack, you wouldn't desire it. 

To let go of desires is to realize that you don't lack anything. 

To let go of desires is to realize your perfection in the present.

Your perfection is the present(gift)  that you give to yourself without desiring it. 

[preventingdiabetes]

@JosephKnecht Thank you.