What gives you purpose in life?

The Dalai Lama says the purpose of life is to be happy – and he offers us a pathway on how to find it.  

“From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion…The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.” Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

But how do we ensure the choices we make in order to achieve this do not negatively impact those around us? We are all on a journey of progress, not perfection, perhaps we have to acknowledge our own hypocrisy and make intentions to do better.

“It is also true that we all have an innate self-centeredness that inhibits our love for others. So, since we desire the true happiness that is brought about by only a calm mind, and since such peace of mind is brought about by only a compassionate attitude, how can we develop this?” Dalai Lama

Reflect on things that bring you more peace in life. Try and weave these practices into your life, maybe have an accountability buddy, maybe join a retreat, ask for support in areas you might be struggling with. We all experience suffering. Buddhist philosophy gives attention to the ‘Eight Worldly Concerns’ that lead to suffering – the four pairs of desire and aversion are: 

✨Pleasure and Pain

✨Good or Bad reputation

✨Praise and blame

✨Gain and Loss

You are not alone in these forms of suffering driven by desire and aversion. Taking wisdom from the master; happiness and contentment is enhanced by turning our attention to love and compassion for others.

We recommend listening to Rob Cobbold’s podcast ‘Conscious Evolution’ which goes deeper into three ways with can life with greater meaning and purpose - Cooperation, Creativity, and Spirituality. We co-lead a retreat with Rob to help people find their purpose. Check out this small clip of an interview we did with Rob prior to our retreat. 

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