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What Is The Purpose Of Life (Episode Three, A Hindu and a Buddhist Walk Into a Marriage)

What Is The Purpose Of Life (Episode Three, A Hindu and a Buddhist Walk Into a Marriage)

Last updated on: March 26, 2017 at 5:09 pm by Ambaa Choate

What Is The Purpose Of Life (Episode Three, A Hindu and a Buddhist Walk Into a Marriage) 2017-03-26T17:09:09-04:00 Ambaa Choate

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Brad and I are back! This time we’re talking about what the purpose of life is. And attempting to be a little shorter so we’ve got a video that’s closer to eight minutes than nineteen!

Transcript

Ambaa: So what do you think the purpose of life is?

Brad: Oof

Ambaa: To start with an easy one [laugh]

Brad: Yeah, to start with an easy one. It’s kind-of a…a loaded question. I think it depends on your perspective, because last time we talked about ultimate reality and conventional reality. When we were talking about…Oh what were we talking about? The nature of reality.

Ambaa: Yeah, that’s the first episode.

Brad: Okay, in episode one [laughter] we talked about ultimate reality v.s. conventional reality and I think in ultimate reality there is absolutely no purpose whatsoever but conventionally I think there are lots of small purposes.

Ambaa: I guess I would also divide it up that way. To say [baby babbling] What is your opinion, Garrick? What is your opinion? Um, to say that in ultimate reality the goal is moksha, unity with the divine, and in conventional reality the goal is dharma, performing your duty the best that you can.

Brad: I actually think that the goal of oneness is a conventional goal because once you’ve achieved oneness there is no…achieving oneness anymore.

Ambaa: How does that make it conventional?

Brad: So, you can only aspire to oneness when you are not one. Once you are one there is no aspiration to oneness. You have already achieved the purpose and therefore the purpose is not present anymore.

Ambaa: So it can only be ultimate if it’s eternal, it’s always something you’re striving for and you can never get?

Brad: Um, yes? But that is only because I think of moksha, or enlightenment, as final. At least as final as we in our finite time can understand.

Ambaa: So does that mean you believe time is linear?

Brad: No. So we humans we operate on a time scale that is not compatible with the eternal.

Ambaa: Yes.

Brad: And so I think as far as we’re concerned, moksha is forever and enlightenment is forever. Because you are freed from the bounds of our present time.

Ambaa: That sounds pretty ultimate to me.

Brad: It is. But it’s a concern of non– Only non-enlightened people want to be enlightened. Enlightened people no longer desire or have to practice enlightenment.

Ambaa: They don’t desire anything!

Brad: Exactly.

[laughter]

Ambaa: So you’re using that to prove your point that there is no ultimate goal?

Brad: Yes, because–

Ambaa: Because once you achieve it, it’s not a goal anymore?

Brad: Exactly.

Ambaa: I’m feeling like there’s some circular-ness to this argument.

Brad: I like circles. So do Taoists.

[laughter]

Brad: But, I mean, I guess the thing is there are lots of small, I mean non-ultimate, duties that we have that I think are very important.

Ambaa: I don’t think that moksha is a small duty!

Brad: Well, no, it’s the ultimate goal of our whole existence as finite beings, but once we’re no longer finite beings it’s not a purpose anymore.

Ambaa: Okay, okay, I see what you’re saying. So once we’re existing in this ultimate plane, then that is not our goal and we have no goals because we are eternal and One.

Brad: Exactly.

Ambaa: Okay.

Brad: So, I mean, I think that practically we have a very important task of becoming enlightened and then we have the perhaps less important but still important tasks of having families and doing the right thing on a daily basis. But, you know, ultimately this is maya and there is no particular point to it. [baby crying] And that’s so hard to say when holding a baby. He wants to crawl off the bed.

Ambaa: I know. It’s true.

Brad: He wants to explore the unknown. [laughter]. So I don’t think that anything, whether finding enlightenment or loving your family and supporting them is unimportant. And I don’t think it’s made less important because it’s not ultimate and forever.

Ambaa: So I guess rather than saying–I mean, the purpose of life really is the purpose of us as human beings, in this embodiment, in this finite time. It’s about our purpose as beings who have a body and embodiment.

Brad: Yeah.

Ambaa: So, in that sense, the purpose of our human life, or human existence, is to realize Oneness and in the process of realizing Oneness is how you also practice the dharma of helping others and seeing God within them and all these other practices that kind-of help you along the way towards ultimately realizing that they are your Self.

Brad: Yes. I would agree with…all of that.

Ambaa: Okay. We got it. Shorter videos! [laughter] Shorter videos and putting the baby to bed! Can we agree with that?

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