Article on Purpose 2003

(This is one of the oldest works of writing I still carry and cherish. Ideas evolve, understanding evolve over time, but there are some things that are unshaken. An uncompromising sense for truth, and a sense that something is terribly amiss. Please bear in mind I was only 16 when this article was written, sharing it here unedited, as is.)

One of the most intriguing questions till date, for which pennants are still looking for an answer, one of the most fundamental of questions; which would baffle everyone alive- the question whose answer is kept concealed from us through the ages, one which has kept my brain racking for a very long time now is: What is the purpose of our existence? Why are we, human beings here on Earth? It seems a very trivial question, but its answer might well determine our future.

We generally go about living our mundane lives, giving them prime importance. We go to school/college, meet friends and socialize with them, play sports, go to parties. But have we ever asked ourselves: Why are we doing what we are doing? For being in a position to appreciate this question let us analyze the activities of the average youth. For us, the prime focus is studies. Why studies- for scoring good marks (!). Why education- so that we may get a good job. We are constantly working towards something, a certain goal- generally money. Money supposedly gets us satisfaction, peace, happiness. But why do we crave for such happiness? I know me, along with every other human being on this Earth longs for eternal bliss, unending happiness, joy and satisfaction, but why? Our love for security and comfort keeps us from exploring further.

Let us consider the ideal situation for a mortal ordinary being: Long life; Lots of money- for getting whatever we want; Lots of good friends & a family; A lover, a child; A lot of good, pleasant experiences; Knowledge, experience; All physical comforts; Mental ease of thoughts & emotions.
Is this what you call happy and satisfied, or do you call this materialistic & bonded to earth for it’s earthly indulgences?

The question remains, why were humans sent to Earth, why are we here now? It might be we were sent here on some mission, maybe there is some grave danger, some problem that we humans have to solve. But the fact is- we do not know for sure what it actually is that we are supposed to do, now do we know whether what we are doing now is right or not. Nobody, present or passed, has decoded the mystery behind life. What is life? What is it that separates machines from us living beings- it is life!
Even an atheist will have to agree that there is some power, which is superior to us. For man, though must have created the most cutting-edge technology, or the most advanced robot, he has never been able to create life.

Thus, we must agree none of us knows the underlining truth behind life. This uncertainty is the base for all philosophy. We try to define and quantify everything around us, but most of the things in the universe have relativity and uncertainty attached to them

All the people around us we use for reference are after all humans as well, and they too are as ignorant as we are. The rules and laws which the society follows, currency- the concept of money itself; were all conjured by us, humans, who again did not know whether what they were doing was right! We live in a competitive, comparative world; where relativity forms a basis for all judgment. So, what I’m trying to get at here is, that if majority of the people are doing a particular thing, does not mean that it is right, since none of them really know what’s right. All of them can also be wrong! If a task hasn’t been performed in the past, there is no reason to believe it is not possible at all, as records might suggest; as those records and standards are set by- humans, yet again. Simply put, impossible means nothing; anything is possible. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small people who find it easier to live in a world they’ve been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact; it’s an option; not a declaration but a dare- to bend the limits.

So we return to the nagging question about life & realism. How did we arrive here, on Earth, and from where? How was life produced? What was before life, and more relevantly (as all of us are going to experience it sometime); what after life. What will it be like? Will there be space, time, matter even? Imagine there being no time, or time being stationary. Just the idea is mind-boggling.
Is the final outcome a consequence of our actions or not? Imagine if not, then life itself (and not death) is a leveler, since it won’t matter how you have lived your life for what lies ahead of it. Then life can be considered as the bonus stage of a video game, which is played by God; wherein life is the stage you, can act as you choose to. Or maybe our actions do determine our after-life, according to the theory of karma, or of heaven-hell.
Life might be a crossroad between different roads you can take and the road available to you may depend on the way you spend your life.

But for that, we must know what is expected from us in life. A gut feeling tells me if there was some thing that certainly should not have been done, it is what we are doing right now. We spend all our life interacting with people, or wishing for material Earthly things like a motorcycle, or finding true love etc. We have exploited our superior minds to the fullest, and treated animals with cruelty, with which we were supposed to share this earth, and not steal it away. We have used our natural resources so recklessly, that we have an acute shortage of almost everything- water, minerals, oil etc. We have polluted, littered and over-populated the Earth, and now we are planning to conquer Mars as well!
So, as we are almost certain humanity is going the wrong direction, by choosing a different path, we are more probable of being on the right path- the path we were supposed to be on.

After all, there must be some symmetry, some sign- to tell us whether what we are doing is right. Our assets- a sharp mind, an agile body; the resources around us, they must add up to something. We must decode the mystery of life. Before/after and now form two disjoint sets, and there is no way of interaction among them. The only ones who can tell us what we are supposed to do are those who have been through death; and no one alive has ever experienced it, so we remain clueless! Life is thus a race without checkpoints or signposts; we only know how well we have performed when we are through.

The power that sent us here & created life obviously didn’t mind, or probably even wanted us to have more of our kind, to increase out tribe. He made two species- male and female, which would be physically attracted to one another and would want to consciously increase their tribe by reproducing. And the act of reproduction was given so much of stress that He made it an act of pleasure and bliss, so that we, humans would fall for it and crave to have our urge satisfied.
But why increase our tribe? Why do we create more species of our own kind and multiply our own number, if we don’t know the very reason why we are here in the first place?

We learn, speak, read, and write language for communicating with each other. We get to know people better. We know how fellow humans are like. But have we ever asked them whether they know the purpose why we are here or what we are supposed to do here, No. Instead we talk to them about useless material things we humans create ourselves.

Due to this inherent uncertainty over so many issues, we humans subconsciously tend to feel insecure about our future. Many people fear the unknown, the unforeseen; and hence arises the concept of destiny, of luck and hope. We prefer to believe that our life is controlled by some supreme power, and put things down to fate. Why then, are we given a brain? Why can we think?- so that we could exercise our options and act as per will; and not be a slave of destiny.
So many times, we hope in despair, and wish for miracles. Why do these miracles occur, is there any symmetry pattern associated with it as well? Hope is the pillar on which humanity stands. But we must realize, hope and luck are very unreliable indulgences indeed, is it has such a great deal of uncertainty attached with it. The chance of winning a toss will always remain 50%. Why not eliminate the luck factor completely, by putting in that extra effort in every performance, so that failure is not an option; and success guaranteed!

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Such is the enormity of the maze we are trying to get out of, of the code we are trying to break. The more you dig deep, the more you realize the depth of this bottomless pit called life! Over the ages, we have turned a blind eye to these questions, but it’s high time we found the truth. The answers lie within each one of us, we only need to look inside ourselves to find absolutism. As a science student, I am of a firm belief that everything happens for a reason. Cause and effect. The world needs enlightenment, an awakening, and a revolution, so that someday, we might break free from the matrix of life.