What is your life's purpose?

The idea of “purpose” takes on several meanings. It is hardly considered without some material sense of the forms, values, culture, etc., with which we have identified. I spent a long time trying to figure out what is my purpose because so many teachings explains it in the context of what you do in a career, a field of study, or a task related to something, somewhere or someone. Not to mention an amount of money that we should accumulate!

And yet, when we have done some or all of these things we don’t usually feel fulfilled for long. Sure, our personalities and background, values, training, etc., prepare and require us to get some satisfaction from aspects of these things. But deep down, the success we thought we would have found is usually elusive. And in some ways, we have depended on the faith and hope in organized religion to meet the needs. To be sure, the principles like the ete
al wait for a heaven above earth keeps us in line as we accept whatever stories suit us and increase our suffering as we are held captive to our thoughts and emotions.

Many of the current teachers, gurus, masters, evangelists, and whatever name is selected are having a field day in being "experts" in helping people find their purpose. In my search, I have come across many schools of thoughts and methods of finding it. In one example, I was trying to follow the information of one “teacher” who is a “Dr.” something. This person had (perhaps still has) a philosophy that said he has two purposes – he is a teacher and a father. Nothing else matters!

He explained that he taught, as he was teaching me, and his other purpose was a commitment to his daughter. Now, he did not say what was his daughter’s age but she was living in another state, an adult, and his purpose was to be there for her at the first signs of serious problems. In fact I think he said that if she fell off her horse, he would be on the first fight.

But how could that be someone’s purpose? If she got married, would he then be in constant conflict with her husband in order to fulfill his purpose? The egoistic need to be clingy and controlling has taken him over and this was what he was “teaching”.

How do you know when you have identified your purpose? What will it feel like and what does it require you to do?