"Finding" Purpose

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Stephen Pellegrino
Arlington, VA
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Peter,
An ontological question: Do you have any suggestions of how to incorporate your ontologicalwork into "personal mission" work (or vice versa), exemplified by such books such "The Path - CreatingYour Mission Statement" by Jones and "Finding Your Purpose" by Braham? Do you feel it useful to have
and/or to know one's "personal mission?" It seems as if the anecdote of the Zen master responding to a similar question with "when I'm hungry, I eat and when I'm tired I sleep" goes against the quest of
discovering a person's "mission." Ontologically, will "knowing" "who/what" you really "are" result in understanding what you are "supposed" to do with your life? Vice versa, will developing a good "personal mission statement" likely get one closer to understanding who they really are?
Thank you very much,
Stephen

Stephen,
I'm not familiar with the books you mention. I'm sure, however, that the idea of a mission or mission
statement is one way of pointing to "creating purpose" and having objectives toward which to progress.
Getting clear on what one wants to be doing or to achieve is very useful for getting it. Purpose is what decides which actions are appropriate at any given time (i.e. What is the purpose for doing this? or What am I trying to accomplish? or How shall I go about accomplishing such and such).

Effective interaction is dependent on appropriate actions that relate to what's so. What's appropriate can
only be known by knowing the purpose or at least the objective for the interaction -- otherwise it wouldn't matter how the encounter turned out or what you did. One can be, and almost always is, motivated by hidden agendas which are acting out "incomplete" emotional self drives (trying to make life turn out sothat you feel whole and complete. By the way, it's not going to happen that way, but that's a long story I can only address at something like the ontological work of the month-long). In any case, creating clarity of purpose helps counter the tendency to be driven down old ruts.

Often missed is the fact that we don't "find" purpose. Purpose is only created. This bothers most people
for several reasons. Among these are: a sense of inauthenticity felt within themselves suggests that
anything they create will be bogus. From the place most people try to create, it often IS. Too often, instead of genuine creation, they substitute "pretend" or "make up" something, and call it being creative. Creation depends on not-you as much as it does on you. In other words, it can't be something simply fabricated by the self, it must be grounded in principles which lie outside the self, or I should say, independent of the self.

This is a another long story but a short form might be gleaned from a small example: The truth (of
anything) as itself cannot be a fabrication of one's self – in other words, we can't just make it up or have it be any way we want. If we did that, then what's true could be any way we say it is, and this has no power. Truth must be dependent on what is actually so or true. This is independent of my beliefs, opinions, knowledge, judgments, perceptions, desires, fears, and whatnot. It is itself.

Yet, my experience of the truth is the only way it will become conscious (at least for me), so I'm not
completely out of the loop. If I were to make my purpose in life to discover the truth (of life, self, a tree, or the corner store), we can see that at once my decision is created simply by an act of will (which only has power if it is an actual representation of my actions and future committed actions), and yet this act is dependent on something independent of anything I could make up (or at least should be). As such,
whatever is actually true will now direct my listening, contemplation, reading, speaking, searching,
questioning, experimentation, and so forth. I will be directed by some force over which I have no control. The control I have in the matter is the decision to do so, or not, and the degree of honesty and intelligence I apply to this pursuit. In this way my "mission" to discover the truth is directed by both me and not-me at the same time.

In regards to your other concerns: The "mission" of a Zen monk is enlightenment, but if his mission were to build a shopping mall, many activities would have to take place that would not take place in the pursuit of enlightenment. He might eat when hungry, but he also plows the field whether he's hungry at the moment or not.

Knowing who you are generally helps you create a purpose or mission statement, since it puts you in the middle of honesty, tends to free up so much mind crap, and opens your heart. Not being identified with all sorts of "false" characteristics and assumptions is very useful for creating the directions in which you want to proceed with life.

The ontological work of Cheng Hsin is applicable to far more than most people realize. I know it's not easy to grasp, especially from the books, but this is why I'm so excited about being able to do this work again at the month-long. Hope to see you there.
Peter

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