A sense of purpose

"We realise our purpose in life by doing our very best where we are right at this moment, by thinking about what we can do to improve the lives of those around us."

"Why was I born into this world?" is a question which everyone asks themselves at least once in their life. I believe that having a deep sense of purpose -- knowing the depths of one's being what one was born for, is a great source of happiness.

A successful entrepreneur once remarked that even among the world's wealthiest people, those who lack a real sense of purpose in life often spend their final years in lonely solitude. Sometimes, having amassed great wealth and realised all their worldly ambitions, he found that they were left with a sense of emptiness and meaninglessness.

On the other hand, to be filled each day with a rewarding sense of exhilaration and purpose, a sense of tasks accomplished and deep fulfilment -- people who feel this way are happy. Those who have this sense of satisfaction, even if they are extremely busy, are much happier than those who enjoy great ease and leisure but feel empty inside.

A clear sense of purpose gives birth to courage and wisdom. It enables you to look beyond the victory or defeat of the moment and see things in their true perspective. It can fill each instant of life with joy, even in the midst of trying circumstances.

Whatever their occupation -- mother, company employee, artist, fisherman or farmer, I believe that each person has their own path in life; a unique mission that only they can fulfil.

Discovering this purpose or mission is a life long task. It is not something that someone can tell you or that comes upon you all of a sudden. You, yourself, must find the reasons for living, the unique contribution that is yours and yours alone to make.

Buddhism uses the example of flowering fruit trees -- cherry, plum, pear, etc -- to illustrate how each person has a unique mission in life. A cherry tree fulfils its purpose by blooming and bearing fruit as cherry tree. It never tries to be anything other than itself. It never imitates the blossoms of other flowering tress or wastes time being jealous of them. Rather, it patiently bears the frosts and snows of winter, drawing energy from the earth itself, pushing it's roots deeper into the soil. Then, with the arrival of spring, in a burst it unleashes all the life force that it had been storing up, sending forth countless blossoms.

Everyone has some kind of gift. Being talented does not mean just being a good musician, writer or athlete. There are many kinds of talent. You may be a great conversationalist, or make friends easily, or be able to put others at ease. Or you may have a gift for telling jokes, selling things or living economically. You may be be punctual, patient, reliable, kind or optimistic. Or you may love taking on new challenges, be strongly committed to helping others, or have ability to bring them joy. Without doubt, you possess your special jewel, your own unique talent.

In the same way, each of us has a mission that only we can fulfil. That mission will not be found somewhere far away, in doing something special or extraordinary. Even those people who seem to have led great lives have really only done what they felt they had to do in order to truly be themselves.

We realise our purpose in life by doing our best where we are right at this moment, by thinking about what we can do to improve the lives of those right around us.

I often think of the life of Rosa Parks, an ordinary African American woman returning home after a hard day's work in the tailoring section of a department store by bus one evening in December 1955. Although the bus driver ordered her to give up her seat to a white passenger, as the discriminatory law as of the times required, she refused. Her single word, "No." -- the courage of this one ordinary woman -- changed history, and her ordinary day took on an eternal significance. Rosa Parks was arrested for her resistance and this set off an explosion of righteous anger among the African American population, largely because of the regard in which she was held -- she was respected in her community as a cheerful, warm and intelligent woman. A boycott of the bus service was organised, and within a year segregated busing had been declared illegal throughout the United States.

When I first met Rosa Parks I was struck by her warm personality. She was humble and yet I could see that she was a person of unbending conviction. Now in her eighties, Rosa Parks remains an untiring champion of civil rights, working especially to share hope and a vision of the future with the young people she loves so dearly. Through her sense of conviction, this solitary individual become a leader who transformed the world. One moment of bravery opened the path of her mission in life.

You cannot discover and realise your purpose in life with half-hearted efforts. To follow the dream in your heart and fulfil your mission requires true courage. Not the courage of battlefield heroes, but a courage much closer to home. Most of us, before being defeated by a problem, are first defeated by ourselves. A weak-spirited or cowardly person, before hesitating at the wall of an obstacle, will shrink before his own shadow, frightened by his own imagination, and will be ultimately undone by the coward in his own heart.

Courageous people are first masters of their own heart. I firmly believe that courage is the key that opens the door to happiness.

To create value and contribute to the world, what do you need? You need to develop and polish your character until it shines. The ultimate strengths in life are not a clever tongue or wealth; nor fame or power. The real 'weapon' or 'tool' for living a successful life is what left over when all empty artifice has been stripped away -- the quality of your character as an individual. And small, steady efforts to develop yourself are what will lead you to the greatest happiness in the end.

You will not find your mission by standing still. The way to find it is by challenging yourself in something -- I would almost say it does not matter what. Then by making consistent effort, the direction you should take will open up before you quite naturally, just as wide, new horizons open up before someone walking up a hill. Little by little you will come to understand your mission. That is why it is so important to have the courage to ask yourself what it is that you should really be doing now, at this very moment.

It is likewise, important to set your sights high. The greater the tasks you choose to take one -- one step at a time -- the more rewarding and joyful your life will be. If you decide to dedicate your life to a truly noble objective, such as the work of creating a peaceful world for future generations, then you will be able to savour a truly deep sense of satisfaction and happiness.

A person with a strong sense of mission is a source of light. For such a person, there is no darkness in the world. and just as a single lighthouse can guide many ships through dangerous waters, a single person shining with the light of genuine happiness can help friends and family -- their entire society -- find the smooth open waters of peace and fulfilment.

The above essay was written by Mr Daisaku Ikeda, President of the Soka Gakkai International.

What is happiness?

"You will never find happiness if you don't challenge your weaknesses and change yourself from within"

What is the purpose of life? It is to become happy.Whatever country or society people live in, they all have the same deep desire: to become happy.

Yet, there are few ideals as difficult to grasp as that of happiness. In our daily life we constantly experience happiness and unhappiness, but we are still quite ignorant as to what happiness really is.

A young friend of mine once spent a long time trying to work out what happiness was, particularly happiness for women. When she first though about happiness, she saw it as a matter of becoming financially secure or getting married. (The view in Japanese society then was that happiness for a woman was only to be found in marriage.) But looking at friends who were married, she realised that marriage did not necessarily guarantee happiness. She saw couples who had been passionately in love suffering from discord soon after their wedding. She saw women who had married men with money or status but who fought constantly with their husbands.

Gradually, she realised that the secret of happiness lay in building a strong inner self that no trail or hardship could ruin. She saw that happiness for anyone -- man or woman -- does not come simply form having a formal education, from wealth or from marriage. It begins with having the strength to confront and conquer one's own weakness. Only then does it become possible to lead a truly happy life and enjoy a successful marriage.

She finally told me, "Now I can say with confidence that happiness doesn't exist in the pas or in the future. It only exist within our state of life right now, here in the present, as we face the challenges of daily life."

I agree entirely. You yourself know best whether you are feeling joy or struggling with suffering. These things are not known to other people. Even a man who has great wealth, social recognition and many awards may still be shadowed by indescribable suffering deep in his heart. On the other hand, an old elderly woman who is not fortunately financially, leading a simple life alone, may feel the sun of joy and happiness rising in her heart each day.

Happiness is not a life without problems, but rather the strength to overcome the problems that come our way. There is no such things as a problem-free life; difficulties are unavoidable. But how we experience and react to our problems depends on us.

Buddhism teaches that we are each responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness. Our vitality -- the amount of energy or 'lifeforce' we have -- is in fact the single most important factor in determining whether or not we are happy.

True happiness is to be found within, in the state of our hearts. It does not exist on the far side of some distant mountains. It is within you, yourself. However much you try, you can never run away from yourself. And if you are weak, suffering will follow you wherever you go. You will never find happiness if you do not challenge your weaknesses and change yourself from within. Happiness is to be found in the dynamism and energy of your own life as you struggle to overcome one obstacle after another. This is why I believe that a person who is active and free from fear is truly happy.

The challenges we face in life can be compared to a tall mountain, rising before a mountain climber. For someone who has not trained properly, whose muscles and reflexes are weak and slow, every inch of the climb will be filled with terror and pain. The exact same climb, however, will be a thrilling journey for someone who is prepared, whose arms and legs have been strengthened by constant training. With each step forward and up, beautiful new views will come into sight.

My teacher used to talk about two kinds of happiness -- 'relative' and 'absolute' happiness. Relative happiness is happiness that depends on things outside ourselves: friends and family, surrounding, the size of our home or family income. This is what we feel when a desire is fulfilled, or something we have longed for is obtained. While the happiness such things bring us is certainly real, the fact is that none of this lasts forever. Things change. People change. This kind of happiness shatters easily when external conditions alter.

Relative happiness is also based on comparison with others. We may feel this kind of happiness at having a newer or bigger home than the neighbours. But that feelings turns to misery the moment they start making new additions to theirs!

Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by trials, and where just being alive is a source of great joy. This persists no matter what we might be lacking, or what might happen around us. A deep sense of joy is something which can only exist in the innermost reaches of our life, and which cannot be destroyed by any external forces. It is eternal and inexhaustible.

This kind of satisfaction is to be found in consistent and repeated effort, so that we can say, "Today, again, I did my very best. Today, again, I have no regrets. Today, again, I won." This accumulated result of such efforts is a life of great victory.

What we should compare is not ourselves against others. We should compare who we are today against who we are yesterday, who we are today against who we will be tomorrow. While this may seem simple and obvious, true happiness is found in a life of constant advancement. And, the same worries that could have made us miserable can actually be a source of growth when we approach them with courage and wisdom.

One friend whose dramatic life proved this was Natalia Satz, who founded the first children's theatre in Moscow. In the 1930s, she and her husband were marked by Soviet Union;s secret police. Even though they were guilty of no crime, her husband was arrested and executed and she was sent to a prison camp in the frozen depths of Siberia. After she recovered from the initial shock, she started looking at her situation, not with despair, but for opportunity.

She realised that many of her fellow prisoners had special skills and talents. she began organising a 'university', encouraging the prisoners to share their knowledge. "You. You are a scientist. Teach us about science. You are a artist. Talk to us about art." In this way, the boredom and terror of the prison camp were transformed into the joy of learning and teaching. Eventually, she even made use of her own unique talents to organise a theatre group.

She survived the five-year prison sentence, and dedicated the rest of her long life to creating children's theatre. When we met for the first time in Moscow in 1981, she was already in her 80s. She was as radiant and buoyant as a young girl. Her smile was the smile of someone who has triumphed over the hardships of life. Hers is the kind of spirit I had in mind when I wrote the following poem on 'Happiness'

A person with a vast heart is happy.
Such a person lives each day with a broad and embracing spirit.
A person with a strong will is happy.
Such a person can confidently enjoy life, never defeated by suffering.
A person with a profound spirit is happy.
Such a person can savour life's depths while creating meaning and value that will last for eternity.
A person with a pure mind is happy.
Such a person is always surrounded by refreshing breezes of joy.


The above essay was written by Mr Daisaku Ikeda. President of the Soka Gakkai International.