Purpose

Mr. Upadhyaya says that God or the Universe has a purpose for you, but that purpose is simply to be here since, at this time, the Universe wouldn’t be complete without you. That makes more sense to me than what I understand the Christian notion of purpose to be, as in “God has a plan for you,” which strikes me as way too granular; I can’t imagine that any Supreme Being would really get so into the details that it could possibly care one way or another what you did with your life.

He implied that the proper response to understanding this purpose is to recognize that you are part of the All and feel blissful as a result. I get that, too, but then it sure seems odd that everyone is bustling about so frantically trying to make something of themselves or demonstrate to others that they are a little bit better than them.

One overriding impression I have of India so far is of a society whose members are deeply concerned with status. There’s a strict hierarchy, amply demonstrated on the roads, where the bicycles ring their bells at walkers, scooters beep at cyclists, autorickshaws toot at scooters, cars honk at autorickshaws, and busses blast their horns at everyone, each level of transportation bowing to the one higher than it and pulling over.

I’m reading Thoreau, who has this to say about all this striving for position and wealth, “Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensible, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” I think he’s probably right about that, which only means that most of us aren’t really interested in elevation, except insofar as it allows us to sit a little higher than our fellow humans.

I certainly want nice things, same as everyone, but maybe my conception of what’s nice is a little different than the majority. I don’t need a fancier car, for instance, but I’d never turn down a nicer bike.