What do you think this quote means? What do you think the purpose of life is?
In this episode, I talk about the quote, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy” by the Dalai Lama.
Get all podcast episodes and subscribe here: bit.ly/benbalden
The age old question about the purpose of life, sometimes called the golden question, is often pondered about by many people. What is the purpose of life? Many people might disagree on what that may be. Here is one take on what the purpose of life is:
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”~Dalai Lama
He’s not alone in asserting that the purpose of life is happiness. As I’ve outlined in my book, almost all the time, no matter what someone set their goals for in life, it can always be traced back to the desire to be happy. The scriptures tell us, “Men are that they may have joy.”1. Meaning that humans exist for the purpose of obtaining joy. You can do an experiment with this. Ask someone what they want in life, and they’ll tell you some goal that’s on the top of their mind. Then you ask them why they want that. They may tell you some superfluous reason. You dig further asking them why they want that thing, result, or situation, and if you dig far enough, you will always get the same answer: “to be happy.” That raises very big and deep philosophical questions.
People want happiness. Well, what is happiness? Happiness is an emotion. It’s a state of mind.
So, how do we get it? Most people agree that happiness can be momentarily obtained by thinking about a happy thought in the moment. And in general happiness comes naturally when your life or your situation matches what you desire in your heart or if you are making progress toward it. Tony Robbins said,
“People ask me all the time, ‘What does it take to be happy?’ And I always tell them it’s really simple. One word: progress. Progress equals happiness.”~Tony Robbins
It’s making progress. Jim Rohn said,
“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”~Jim Rohn
So, the happiness equation looks something like this for sustained happiness: when your current life situation is equal to your desired life situation the natural result is happiness.
This idea was captured by J.K. Rowling. In her fictional book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, when talking about the Mirror of Erised, Albus Dumledore said, “The happiest man on earth would look into the mirror and see only himself, exactly as he is.”
What a wonderful reflection on happiness.
This view of happiness falls in line with the international institutions dedicated to measuring happiness. According to the World Happiness Report, “happiness is satisfaction with the way one’s life is going.” Happiness, therefore, by definition, is a state of being, but happiness is also just an emotion or a feeling.
However, not everyone would agree with the Dalai Lama’s statement that the purpose of our lives is to be happy. Many psychologists take a more survivalist approach. Viktor E. Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning suggest that meaning can be found in suffering. He says,
“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”~Viktor E. Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning
A currently popular psychologist, Jordan Peterson, suggests that “happiness is a pointless goal.”2. He suggests that you must pursue proper meaning in life rather than happiness. He says,
“The purpose of life, as far as I can tell… is to find a mode of being that’s so meaningful that the fact that life is suffering is no longer relevant.”~Jordan B. Peterson, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief
He also says,
“It’s all very well to think the meaning of life is happiness, but what happens when you’re unhappy? Happiness is a great side effect. When it comes, accept it gratefully. But it’s fleeting and unpredictable. It’s not something to aim at – because it’s not an aim. And if happiness is the purpose of life, what happens when you’re unhappy? Then you’re a failure. And perhaps a suicidal failure. Happiness is like cotton candy. It’s just not going to do the job.”~Jordan Peterson3
While I do agree with Dr. Peterson that happiness can sometimes be fleeting and difficult to maintain, I disagree that it is not a worthwhile purpose or goal to aim at. In fact, I think it misses the point to say that meaning should be the purpose of life. Because, “why do you want that?” Any digging into this question will inevitably turn up that the purpose of having meaning in life is ultimately to feel happy about life. Dr. Peterson’s warnings stemming from, “what do you do if you are not happy? what then?” and even his suggestion that attaching happiness as your purpose and meaning in life may lead an unhappy person to suicidal thoughts is baseless and could easily be applied to making meaning the purpose of life. “What do you do if you have no meaning?” I’m sure he would say, then go get some. Just as one could say, go get some happiness. It’s not impossible. He gives no useful reason for not pursuing happiness as the ultimate goal in life.
And yet all the wisdom from many happy people throughout the ages suggests that, as the Dalai Lama suggests, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
Tell me. What do you think of this quote? What do you feel is the purpose of life? Is it happiness? And what does happiness mean to you?
- The Dalai Lama says, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
- Happiness comes from progression
- You can design happiness
- Happiness is a feeling
- Happiness is accepting the life you have
- Perhaps the purpose of life is to find meaning
- Meaning in life leads to happiness
Books Mentioned in This Post
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
- Maps of Meaning by Jordan B. Peterson
Footnotes and References
- 2 Ne 2:25
- See the article Jordan Peterson: ‘The pursuit of happiness is a pointless goal’ by Tim Lott from The Guardian (link here)
- See the article Jordan Peterson: ‘The pursuit of happiness is a pointless goal’ by Tim Lott from The Guardian (link here)
View Contents
Anyone can comment