“The purpose of life is to find your purpose and to give your whole heart and soul to it.” –Gautama Buddha
What does it mean to know your purpose?
We all long to know our sacred reason for being here. In recent years, purpose has become something that people are willing to pay someone thousands of dollars to help them find, but like the fellow who lost his keys a few miles back and looks for them under the street lamp down the road because the light is brighter, it is unlikely that anyone will find their purpose that way. Your purpose has been with you all along, and it is an expression of your loveseed, that essential kernel of infinite goodness at the center of your being.
I invite you to consider that the plan that the Universe/God/Spirit, has for you is far more vast than your local, fear-based ego could ever imagine. It may not have anything to do with a solid retirement plan, and yet, the failure to fulfill that “higher” plan could leave you with a deep sense of unease.
To know your purpose means that you feel a call from deep within your being to bring something of value forth into the world.
This quote from the Gospel of Thomas, Verse 70, expresses a deep, all-pervasive truth for most human beings: “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
Benefit #1: To know your purpose gives you a connection to something far greater than your ego that then guides the direction of your life.
Why it’s sometimes difficult to know your purpose
You are never far from your true self, and thus never far from bringing forth what is within you, but sometimes it’s so close you could trip over it, or minimize its impact.
Many indigenous societies believe that we all possess original medicine―a kind of personal power that is ours and ours alone. It is true that no two people possess the exact combination of strengths, talents, and challenges. This means that if we compare ourselves to others, we are disowning our original medicine. If our medicine is the gift we bring to the world, then not believing in ourselves and our unique medicine affects everyone.
This priceless and incomparable original medicine is often not valued in a world where we are taught to compare and compete. In fact, it may not even be recognized. In her book Transformational Speaking, Gail Larsen says, “We are often unaware of our medicine or devalue it because our inherent gifts come naturally to us. What is natural is effortless, so it can seem ‘ordinary.’ We can also obscure our medicine by pursuing directions that are not aligned with who we really are and who we are here to be.”
I recently went on a bird walk with a man whose ability to hear and discern bird calls was like magic. I asked him how he developed such a skill, and he said he was in training for it as a young boy. His older brother was a concert musician, and used to play classical music records and ask his younger brother if he could hear and differentiate the different instruments in the pieces he played. This man has worked as an ornithologist his entire adult life with such joy and enthusiasm.
When you commit to finding and living your original medicine, you are on the path of knowing your purpose. You must throw away the yardsticks from “the authorities” or aspects of the culture that keep you tethered to old molds that have nothing to do with you or what the world needs now. There is enormous freedom when you refuse to measure yourself against others, and there is joy and pleasure in seeing the spark of original medicine in everyone and everything. That is living your purpose!
Benefit # 2: You begin to feel the inner freedom of your true nature as you express what comes naturally to you.
Knowing and living your purpose is good for the world
There is a point located in the center of your chest, or what I call the Sacred Heart, that is inextricably connected to your personal heart and to your life’s calling—that which you are here to manifest as only you can. There truly is a heartache when we hear that call and refuse to heed it, and we block the spiritual energy that would be released if we did.
When you do connect to this spiritual energy, you connect to yet another heart, a bigger intelligence—the Global Heart—and begin to feel the pain of the world. The call is the call to find your way of flowing infinite love toward the world—toward all of life. You become intimate with all things—with life itself. You become sovereign, and a mighty force of good, in your own way.
The American poet and theologian Frederick Buechner says, “Where our deep gladness and the world’s hunger meet, we hear a further call.” When you heed that call, you are fulfilling your purpose.
If you look at the Venn diagram below, there is a place where the world’s need, your joy, and your gift all come together in the sweet spot of your purpose. Coming to know and embrace that sweet spot is the journey of a lifetime.
Benefit #3: Knowing and living your purpose helps others in need.
Living your purpose is much more than making money
Being able to “make a living” with your purpose is possible, though not necessary. To bring the gift and the joy to what is needed in the world, and make a living from what you receive, is a blessing beyond all blessings and is far from the norm in our present culture. Though it can certainly be done within a traditional structure, many people become entrepreneurs and artists to realize this. At the center is an aliveness that contributes to a new and vibrant culture of prosperity.
Though you may make money fulfilling your purpose, it is in living your purpose that a holy channel is opened up for all kinds of prosperity to enter, including money if that is what is desired. To seek money alone will take you off the course of your purpose.
Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings that has no single-word translation in western language. It points to our essential nature, and the word closest in meaning in English is purpose, which has a typically western spin on its meaning as something outside of you that you must find and make money doing.
In Hinduism, dharma signifies the behaviors that are considered to be in alignment with the order of the Universe—a kind of right way of living. In Buddhism, dharma means cosmic law and order, and also applies to the teachings of the Buddha, which were based on cosmic law and order.
I say that dharma is what we teach by our actions as we live our purpose. When you are living your dharma, you essentially live according to the highest law, which is love. You are fulfilling the highest expression of yourself. You are fully who you are, expressing your essence, your loveseed. You could say that your dharma has the same relationship to you as sweetness does to sugar. They are inseparable.
Benefit #4: Knowing and living your purpose opens a portal to countless forms of prosperity.
The gifts needed to live your purpose emerge from healing your wounds
Healing and dharma are intimately related, and there is a connection between our purpose and our wounding. The archetype of the wounded healer is a term created by Carl Jung that says the therapist is compelled to treat patients because the therapist himself or herself is “wounded.” It is believed that the idea has Greek mythological origins, as the pattern or archetype of the wounded healer can be seen over and over again throughout the history of humanity and is still relevant today.
In Steven Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life, he says, “Dharma calls us not to just any old battlefield, but to the battlefield where we will suffer most fruitfully. Where our suffering will be most useful to ourselves, our work, and to the world.” It is beautiful; the treasure hunt for the gift at the center of your wound. It gives your life an elevated sense of meaning and purpose, particularly the difficult parts.
I have a dear friend whose mother died of breast cancer who has devoted his life to researching a cure for cancer. Another friend was raised in a bleak and abusive environment, and is one of the most compassionate and wise therapists I know. This connection between our wounds and our gifts is well-known, and the gifts can only be brought forth if the person does the work of healing their own wounds.
As we have seen, in living your purpose you find the “sweet spot” where what you have been given, your fate, meets free will, which is what you do with it. To do this you must exercise your sovereign free will, which means you take full responsibility for every facet of your life. You must transform victim consciousness in order to fully own the power it takes to live your purpose.
Blessing #5: Knowing and living your purpose is a process of deep healing.
To know your purpose you must know yourself
In the epic journey of our lives, each of us carries a unique frequency on the heart wavelength. It’s a privilege to be given the task of announcing that to the world, whether you are a mother, a teacher, a doctor, or an artist. There is room for hesitation, for we are all afraid, but you must stay the course. It is the greatest of all heartaches if you don’t.
There is only one of you and your presence changes the world. In fact, everything changed to accommodate the presence of you. The most potent contribution you can make is to be YOU—to fulfill your dharma. You are what you do with your uniqueness, and no one else can do that. You will know how to act when you know who you are.
May my suffering be transformed into the gifts that are needed in the world today.
