Purposeless Purpose

Our way of life in American culture is purposeful and goal oriented. If there is no purpose in something, we judge it useless. This is not limited to American culture. In modern life worldwide today, a purposeless things is considered meaningless.

Yet there is another side of life...purposelessness. Both concepts are true. Being purposeful is well suited for our materialistic society. In order to accomplish the things we must have purposes.

Yet the purposeless way is also a beautiful way. A flower blooms, a bird sings, children play. A biologist might claim that the flower blooms to attract insects which then spread the pollen. But, the flower itself cannot help but bloom as it does. Really, it has no intention.

Life itself is purposeless; water flows effortlessly. It cannot help but flow. That is the way it is. Effortless effort, purposeless purpose. This is the real way of life.

Although nothing can be accomplished without effort the Buddhist way is effortless effort. We have so many problems in life. Why? Because things do not go as we expect. We have so many wishes, demands, hopes but they are not fulfilled. We wish to have a peaceful life but we do not. We wish not to get angry, but we do.

Buddha experienced the same problems that face us. Human nature has not changed much in 2,500 years. Guatama Buddha tried to solve his problems and he did. He discovered through his experiences that attachment is the cause of human trouble. We have so many unnecessary thoughts and desires. We become attached to them. Attachments based on ignorance. All things are in constant change, but we become attached to them. We want them to stay static.

Where does attachment come from? Attachment is life itself. Yet there is another side. Life is not attachment, it just is. We are the ones who become attached, create attachment. We are the ones who become attached, who create attachment. We should learn the purposeless way of life. Purposeless doing. A person may say that is nonsense. True. Nonsense is important in life.

Too much intelligence, too much efficiency creates trouble. So, we must learn non-intelligence, which is a super intelligence. True life is purposeless. To realize this truth of life is Buddhism. In one sense, that is purpose, in another sense, it is purposeless.

Life is always like that. It is inclusive. If we analyze it, it becomes two. But, reality is always one: here and now; time and space. This very point is all inclusive. Only when we analyze do we have different directions. True reality is purposeless in one.