What is our life’s purpose? What is its aim? Have you ever thought about it? We are born, so we have to live. But, all living beings live! Animals too live! What is the purpose of living? Have you decided a goal for your life? What should you live your whole life for? Shouldn't there be a purpose for living? Is it to acquire wealth, fame or prestige? Or is to compete with others in order to gain importance? What do you think? What is the purpose?

Should man not have a goal? What goal should that be? What would you call a successful or a worthwhile life? And how will you define success? Have you ever thought about all this?

Suppose there is a twenty-five horsepower engine. We put fuel in it. Then we let it run. It runs aimlessly and continuously while we just sit and watch it. Would people not question us as to why we are letting the engine run idle? There has to be a purpose. Similarly we need to have a purpose to this engine of our life and channel its energy in the right direction, so we can get our work done.

Like an engine, this ‘human engine’ of life has to have a direction or a path to follow. Then this life of ours will have a definite purpose. Otherwise, all living beings eat and sleep. Even the animals! By a purpose (path or direction), I mean which life-form (gati) do you want to go to? Do you want to be born as a celestial being (deva) and enjoy heavenly pleasures? Or do you want to be born as a human (manushya) and be like Gandhiji? Or would you like to attain the ultimate liberation? You have to have a purpose or a goal in life in order to achieve anything. Without a goal, how can anything be accomplished? What is your ultimate goal in life?

Ultimate Liberation (Moksha) should be the only goal. You do want to go to Moksha(permanent happiness) don’t you? For how much longer do you want to keep on wandering aimlessly? You have done only this for infinite lives. You have not left any place to wander! You have wandered aimlessly between different life forms: the animal kingdom, the celestial kingdom, the world of human beings.

Why did you have to suffer such endless wanderings? It is because you have not known your true identity; you have not known the answer to ‘Who Am I?’ you have not achieved self realization, enlightenment of your own soul; should you not know your real Self? Despite your extensive wanderings of countless lives, you do not know who you really are. Is making money your only pursuit in life? Should you not be making a little attempt toward Moksha(ultimate liberation)?

Suppose we lock up a monkey in a cage, what will that monkey try to do? Yes, the monkey does not like being caged. He wants to be free. He does not like the bondage of the cage. Likewise you are bound in so many ways. But you are not yet aware that you are in bondage. You will begin to understand liberation, when you become aware of the countless bondage's of life, and when you feel trapped in the "cage of life". Even a monkey does not like being caged, how can we humans like it? Do you get told off for coming home late? Do you like that? That is what bondage means, the fear you have of having to face the consequences of coming home late. Do you not have this fear? Aren't you afraid of being caught and punished when you have done something wrong? That is all dependency. All kind of dependency is bondage in itself. If you wanted to go outside but had a headache or your body was aching, then would you be able to go outside? You would have to stay indoors. Would you not have to endure the pain? Yes, but not only are you dependent on your own nature (your inherent characteristic traits) but also on others, even the family members at home.

For example, you have to wake up when your wife tells you to, even though you may not be feeling well and want to sleep in. You have to get up because the breakfast is ready. You have no choice! What else can you do? You were born into this group of mutually dependent people and therefore you have to adjust. It is only when you attainment absolute and total independence that you will be free of all dependency.

This life is full of all kinds of bondage. All day long we feel the dependency (parvashta). There is no freedom! Let me give you some examples. If you were forced to sit in this Satsang for two hours and not allowed to leave, and you feel hungry, what would you do? How intense is the bondage of hunger, of thirst, of sleep! Even the fear of being caught by the police is bondage. Bondage of the wife, of children - so many different types of bondage's! Even the necessity to get a haircut when your hair gets too long is bondage. Also the need to keep your nails clean and trimmed is bondage.
Do you now understand that you are bound? Are you experiencing that there is bondage in and from everything? Prior to this you had no awareness, so what could you do? Here people are in search of religion (dharma), and yet they are not aware they are in bondage.

The person who wishes to remain bound will not become free. The person who wants to be free cannot be bound. Does anyone have the desire to be free? For that you have to know the method for acquiring such desire for liberation. Otherwise merely talking about it will not get you anywhere. Are all the ascetics (sadhus, Acharyas etc.,), not striving for liberation? For so many lives they have done the same chanting, penance and renunciation, yet they have not acquired anything. Nothing can be achieved without knowing the exact method. Therefore the precise method is needed, is it not?