Can a life have no purpose?

[tuckerwphotography]

@Adodd Check out this program that helps people discover their Soul Purpose. https://www.purposeguides.org

[Adodd]

7 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You are like a bird sitting on a branch crying to the other birds who are flying by you with straw in their beaks, "Can I has a nest? Where is my nest?"

But should I start building my nest before I know how I want my nest to be? Sure a lot of those nests around me look great and their creators are comfortable in them but they wouldn't fit me the same and I'm unsure how I want it built. Is it wise to start building without a plan and just hope for the best?

[Adodd]

@Gesundheit 

Thank you.?

You are right.

[Matt23]

Also, maybe it's time to shake things up a bit if you've been in a routine for a while.  Doesn't have to be drastic either.  Maybe some psychedelics, a vacation (that solo sounds nice).  Maybe trying experimenting and exploring new things and ways of doing things.

[Adodd]

@Matt23

14 minutes ago, Matt23 said:

Also, maybe it's time to shake things up a bit if you've been in a routine for a while.  Doesn't have to be drastic either.  Maybe some psychedelics, a vacation (that solo sounds nice).  Maybe trying experimenting and exploring new things and ways of doing things.

I agree within the last hour I have reached out to a piano instructor to start lessons as well as a yoga teacher in the area. Both are things I've been procrastinating with. 

[Selene]

@Adodd

I know exactly how you feel and was there myself for a long time… A few things have really helped since I started the work to find/become aligned with my life purpose are:

1. Understanding that you are both an ego and a higher self and that you will need to grow both aspects is essential.  You will need to find a balance between self actualization (for the ego) and seeking enlightenment (for the higher self) and can use both practices to reinforce and compliment each other.  It is wonderful that you have taken on learning practical aspects!  I found that focusing on emotional intelligence first was the best thing for me as fundamentally your quality of life is determined by your emotional state and a little bit of improvement in this domain can go a long way.  A few key things that helped with emotions are: first understanding that there is no specific way “should” feel.  In fact, you should feel exactly how you do feel at any given moment because your feelings are a direct reflection of your thoughts/beliefs about a certain situation wether you are conscious or unconscious of those thoughts/beliefs while you are having the emotion.  Sometimes when I would start to feel down, like sad or apathetic or bored or frustrated, I would start to get angry with myself and think there was something wrong with me or that I should be improving or that I “needed to fix myself” and this would just amplify the negative feelings.  What really helped is starting to trust myself that I should feel the way that I do feel and that there is a reason for why I feel that way, I just need to help to figure out the “why” so I can use awareness to improve the situation (See Leo’s “awareness alone is curative” video and also Teal Swan has a ton of videos about how to work with and process emotions.  I really like Teal’s work with emotions and find her to be a great counterbalance to Leo’s teachings.  Her process for learning how to be unconditionally present with an emotion is what has helped most.  Also her video about boredom).  With this shift in attitude, when I start feeling negative I can become aware of that and instead of reacting, I can use the negative feeling as a trigger to remind me to get curious and welcome the emotion thinking “oh, there must be something here to learn” and then I go practice Teal’s process and it has done wonders for me.  Also as fluffy as it seems, writing down 10 things I am grateful for each day forces me to focus on the good things in my life and it really helps.  And of course from the enlightenment perspective realizing that you are not your thoughts or your emotions

2. For the ego (aside from the emotional work): Leo’s life purpose course.  As much as you will be tempted to just focus on enlightenment exclusively, that is a life long journey and you will need a secondary strategy to boost your well being.  I can guarantee you that you do have passions, you just don’t know what they are or where to look.  Leo’s course is perfect for helping you discover that.  He has tons of exercises to help you find your values, strengths and gives a step-by-step process to walk you towards uncovering your purpose.  One of the things he said in the course that has helped me on days when I am struggling or doubting is to commit to finding your life purpose no matter how long it takes.  For now, make your life purpose to be to find your life purpose!  That is what I did and having that as a driving force has been what gets me excited to get going on the material and really delve deep into the exercises he gives.  It is worth the money, it will really help you to know who your ego is and what drives you and motivates you.  But you will have emotional struggles during the material.  This is why focusing on emotional work and enlightenment work at the same time really helps.

3. For the higher self:  Learn how to connect with being.  If you can really work on this skill it will be your comfort when you are struggling on your path to finding your purpose and you can return here to gain peace and creativity.  I connect with being through meditation, yoga and being in nature.  

 

Good luck and stick with it!!

[Mu_]

@Adodd

I made this video a while back which covers another angle on purpose and meaning that doesn't get a lot of talk in self help circles which for me helped a lot to let in while I was in a similar situation you sound to be in.

 

 

[Leo Gura]

8 hours ago, Adodd said:

I'm unsure how I want it built. Is it wise to start building without a plan and just hope for the best?

The only way to know what kind of nest you need is to start building one.

You will build many nests before your build the right one.

Fail sooner, fail faster. Each failure teaches you what kind of nest you don't want.

[Preety_India]

You keep having different life purposes. Then maybe you can find what's best tailored to your goals and needs.

It's like a crystallization process. You keep going from a large rock that keeps losing debris as it moves through space, you keep shaking off those debris and slowly slowly crystallize and narrow down to a core where there are no more debris but pure ore or metal. 

Like a crystallizing or purification process. 

Your ideas finally crystallize to a point where you feel the highest Resonance with your goals. 

 

[Selene]

@Mu_

Those were great videos and I have definitely fallen into the traps of which you speak.  I think it is difficult but extremely valuable to get to the point where you truly experience first hand that there is no mysterious meaning/purpose “out there” or even “inside you” that you can find to fill the emptiness you feel.  I know the peace you speak of once you accept that and see that it is ok, and learn to take joy from being and stop seeking meaning/purpose as a remedy to end your suffering.  And I think you are so right that this is key because without it you will be chasing meaning and purpose forever for a mistaken reason and your suffering will continue.

But beyond that, once you have found this well of stillness and peace within you and are no longer seeking meaning/purpose as an end to suffering, you can start to seek it with a different reason in mind.  You can become aware of the difference between consciously creating meaning vs. unconsciously looking for it somewhere.  For me the emotion of meaning is created by focused attention on a subject/project I am curious about.  You can consciously choose to pursue that feeling and uncover what subjects/projects will stir it in you.  And the life purpose course is a great way to start uncovering that I found

[Mu_]

2 hours ago, Selene said:

@Mu_

Those were great videos and I have definitely fallen into the traps of which you speak.  I think it is difficult but extremely valuable to get to the point where you truly experience first hand that there is no mysterious meaning/purpose “out there” or even “inside you” that you can find to fill the emptiness you feel.  I know the peace you speak of once you accept that and see that it is ok, and learn to take joy from being and stop seeking meaning/purpose as a remedy to end your suffering.  And I think you are so right that this is key because without it you will be chasing meaning and purpose forever for a mistaken reason and your suffering will continue.

But beyond that, once you have found this well of stillness and peace within you and are no longer seeking meaning/purpose as an end to suffering, you can start to seek it with a different reason in mind.  You can become aware of the difference between consciously creating meaning vs. unconsciously looking for it somewhere.  For me the emotion of meaning is created by focused attention on a subject/project I am curious about.  You can consciously choose to pursue that feeling and uncover what subjects/projects will stir it in you.  And the life purpose course is a great way to start uncovering that I found

Said it better than I ever could.

[tuckerwphotography]

2 hours ago, Selene said:

@Mu_

Those were great videos and I have definitely fallen into the traps of which you speak.  I think it is difficult but extremely valuable to get to the point where you truly experience first hand that there is no mysterious meaning/purpose “out there” or even “inside you” that you can find to fill the emptiness you feel.  I know the peace you speak of once you accept that and see that it is ok, and learn to take joy from being and stop seeking meaning/purpose as a remedy to end your suffering.  And I think you are so right that this is key because without it you will be chasing meaning and purpose forever for a mistaken reason and your suffering will continue.

But beyond that, once you have found this well of stillness and peace within you and are no longer seeking meaning/purpose as an end to suffering, you can start to seek it with a different reason in mind.  You can become aware of the difference between consciously creating meaning vs. unconsciously looking for it somewhere.  For me the emotion of meaning is created by focused attention on a subject/project I am curious about.  You can consciously choose to pursue that feeling and uncover what subjects/projects will stir it in you.  And the life purpose course is a great way to start uncovering that I found

@Selene I'd caution the assumption that purpose/meaning has no mystical correlation whatsoever and is simply a mental exercise in creating some random story and choosing to believe it. Have you heard people refer to Soul? It's essentially another realm of mystical possibilities in which we encounter our deepest calling, the place where "our deepest gladness and the world's hunger meets." Many many spiritual teachers refer to Soul, but it often gets lost in all the nondual ascending discussions. 

I'd highly recommend listening to this Adyashanti podcast interview on the topic. Also, Bill Plotkin's Soulcraft book is a great place to start. Lastly, this writeup about the three worlds - Upperworld (spirit), Middleworld (ego development), Underworld (soul) - is a fantastic read. A lot of overlap with Wilbur's "Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up" model. 

Hope this helps. Best of luck on your journey! 

[Selene]

10 hours ago, tuckerwphotography said:

@Selene I'd caution the assumption that purpose/meaning has no mystical correlation whatsoever and is simply a mental exercise in creating some random story and choosing to believe it.

I would also caution that assumption :).  When I say conscious creation of meaning/purpose it most definitely involves a mystical component and is far from a mental exercise.  It involves learning how to quiet your mind so you can be guided by your higher self to become aware of what your deepest calling is.   It involves opening your self to feel deep emotions and follow their trail to lead you to what your particular purpose is.  Like you said, it is listening to and searching for the place where “our deepest gladness and the world’s hunger meet.”  And undergoing that process is choosing to consciously create meaning/purpose from the place of your higher self :).

[tuckerwphotography]

@Selene  Love it! Beautifully said.

Wasn't meaning to imply that you specifically weren't aware of this, but I do see a lot of posts on this forum that reduce our Soul Purpose simply to Life Purpose which to me are two different things. As you say, one is a Higher Self led and the other is often a mental exercise of constructing purpose. Both are better than nothing! (Note: I have not taken Leo's LP course, so I cannot speak specifically to that. I'm sure it's great!) In general, I'd say Life Purpose feels more stage Orange driven and Soul Purpose is more Green reintroducing aspects of Purple and hints of Turquoise. Certainly the mystical Soul Purpose stuff wouldn't sit well with most Orange and Blue folks, so Life Purpose becomes a useful and beneficial tool to constructing more meaningful purpose without the whole vision quest, fasting, dream work, imaginal realm stuff. Although stage Blue folks should know that Jesus was one of the OG vision questers spending 40 days and 40 nights in the desert!

Edited October 20, 2020 by tuckerwphotography

[from chaos into self]

23 hours ago, Adodd said:

 Is it wise to start building without a plan and just hope for the best?

Yes, it’s called exploration.

[Adodd]

1 hour ago, from chaos into self said:

Yes, it’s called exploration.

16 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

The only way to know what kind of nest you need is to start building one.

You will build many nests before your build the right one.

Fail sooner, fail faster. Each failure teaches you what kind of nest you don't want.

Damn. Thanks guys.  Its wild how easy it is for me to give that same advice to others yet I wasnt able to come up with it for myself. 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Adodd

[Adodd]

@Selene Thank you for the detailed reply?Very helpful.

[Origins]

The purpose of our brains for example is to invent narratives for the rest of our bodies to follow (purpose is of course different to ability - we can invent whole imaginary landscapes who's purpose is no greater than to serve our entertainment). This includes the adage "life purpose", its a total and utter fiction. Complete rubbish. But. Taking in ideas like this helps us conceptualise the 21st century where we don't have to run away from lions anymore, so it has a lot of utility when perceived in the right way. You'll have to learn to master your mind, it's the only path forward.

A good purpose could probably be defined as something that reflects a good understanding between oneself and the world that they inhabit.

This is the subject of introspecting on the patterns of ones consciousness and ones life. 

Often, peoples inner patterns have nothing to do with constructing utility in ones life and the patterns that do are often still just a kind of conditioning the person isn't highly aware about which makes it difficult for them to make adaptations when its wise to do so.

Unfortunately, we have a pandemic and its not COVID-19, its on peoples ability to introspect on the contents of consciousness, decondition themselves from the patterns of conditioning that have been injected into them and map an increasingly more coherent narrative between themselves and the outer world.

This is the greatest problem of the 21st century, it's not climate change, extinction, AI or the next pandemic, its simply on our ability to discern and develop patterns that improve our relationship between our inner to perceivable world. 

I describe in a comment just previous about a technique that I've undertaken which is increasingly releasing me from the conditioned patterns of my brain. Be observant of the pattern though between (edit) de-conditioning oneself and having a few further existential bumps to get over as you transmute prior false realities you took to be true but can clearly see are false. Something like that in depth would take 12 months of training though. I won't say anything more about it though because that'll just be preachy, in short it would cure Jordan Peterson, and its a good option for him being someone who'd obviously be perhaps now too cautious around experimental drugs.

Okay I'll be off again. Good to stop by the forum haha wasn't gone for long but stopped by for the purpose of making that previous comment. Peace out.

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Origins

[Origins]

Oh and just briefly - A picture tells a thousand words (albeit not the best picture quality for upload oh well haha point still made).
Amazing creatures I never even knew existed located on the dandelion weed. 

Regarding the technique, you become just so much more open to life around you analogous to what Leo says about the power of observation. This is the same but in the form of focusing in on raw patterns (so as non-linguistic as possible in the beginning stages because then you're not really seeing patterns per say but just playing with linguistic symbols so it'll be much harder to de-condition the brain).

We all live on tiny islands, not even the smartest of the smartest realise just how tiny that island they live on really is. No body sees the world. We are these tiny creatures on this dandelion, sitting on top of one another trying to convince each other of what ideology is better than what, etc, starting wars on this dandelion when all we will ever know is this dandelion and the rest of the world will pass us right by.