The Purpose of Purposelessness (Part 4 of 4)

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Published on Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com)

The Purpose of Purposelessness (Part 4 of

4)
By Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D.
Created Apr 15 2010 - 9:55am

Happiness--and the Purposeless, Non-Achieving Mind

To the Indian guru, Osho : "[Life] is a cosmic play, a continuous beautiful game, a beautiful
hide-and-seek--not leading anywhere. Nowhere is the goal." And, since Osho regards the
world itself as essentially goal-less, he adds that "you need not be worried about individual
purposes, evolution, [or] progress." In fact, in his view: " . . . progress is the basic disease of
the modern age. What is the need?" . . .
What Osho is talking about here is how the "addiction" to advancement undermines (and
can even destroy) the sheer pleasure of be-ing, of mindful awareness and aliveness to all
the joys life has to offer--or can offer if you cultivate the right perspective toward it. Which is a
perspective able to value things independent of their pragmatic value.
As I've already discussed in an earlier post--sub-titled "Spontaneity and Happiness"--living
vibrantly in the now and without the hindrance of self-consciousness is ideally suited to
foster a greater sense of well-being. Csiksentmihalyi , who originated the concept of flow,
speaks of how space and time disappear when you're satisfyingly immersed in the present.
This is a state that, however unforced and uncontrived, is much more likely to create the
experience of happiness than any behavior (or set of behaviors) rigorously calculated to
"manufacture" it. And even though while "in flow" you may put tremendous energy into what
you're doing, what is central to this state has little to do with effort or intensity. Rather, your
actions in flow permit you to "play" at life--and with whatever degree of seriousness you
choose. To play in a manner that expresses that which is most vital in you. And in this
optimal state of consciousness, your "process" of creative absorption takes on its own reason
for being. In other words, "nowhere is the goal." Nor does it matter whether we're playing
seriously--or working playfully.
In philosophically vindicating the "aimless goal" of non-purposive play, Osho argues that the
non-achieving mind consonant with it "is possible only with the background of a cosmic
purposelessness." For "if the whole [of] existence is purposeless, then there is no need for
you to be purposeful. Then you can play, you can sing and dance, you can enjoy, you can
love and live, and there is no need to create a goal. Here and now, this very moment, the
ultimate is present."
When I talked about professional baseball in Part 3, I emphasized that it couldn't really be
seen as play because it couldn't be seen as pointless: it was clearly about competing, about
winning. Note how different are Osho's descriptions of play than anything that might actually

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characterize organized sports today:

"[Life] is not a business, it is a play. In India we have been calling it leela . . .

a cosmic play . . . as if God is playing. Energy overflowing, not for some purpose, just
enjoying itself, just a small child playing--for what purpose? Running after butterflies,
collecting colored stones on the beach, dancing under the sun, running under the trees,
collecting flowers--for what purpose?
". . . At the most, if the child could explain he would say, 'Because I feel good. Running, I
feel more alive. Collecting flowers, I enjoy, it is ecstatic.' But there is no purpose. The very
act in itself is beautiful, ecstatic. To be alive is enough, there is no need for any purpose.
". . . Ecstasy is not something you can achieve by some effort, ecstasy is a way of living.
Moment to moment you have to be ecstatic, simple things have to be enjoyed. And life gives
millions of opportunities to enjoy. You will miss them if you're purposive. . . . All around the
divine is happening, the ultimate is showering. But you will be able to see it only if you're
nonpurposive and playful."
So, taking Osho's lead, what if life has no intrinsic purpose?--that it just is? That it's a
phenomenon, or gift, or blessing, the actual meaning of which must be externally ascribed
(for it doesn't simply come with one)? Considering the possible truth of this premise, if your
life has a purpose it must be one that (consciously or not) you made up. And whatever it was
you decided upon, you must have assumed that your life would be best lived that way--that
for you to be happy your existence had to be meaningful, had to be purpose-driven.
But such an attribution of meaning is totally subjective. And frankly, it's doubtful that most of
the joys you experience are that intimately tied to any overriding sense of purpose. It's more
likely that your mental and emotional peaks occur when you've given yourself permission to
be childlike--when you're uninhibitedly enjoying yourself apart from all your meaningful
pursuits. And, in that sense at least, purposelessness in your life is just as valuable, just as
fundamental and life-affirming, as are all your more purposeful activities.
Besides, your very mortality belies the distinctions you may presently be making between
purposeful and purposeless behaviors. And if, ultimately, it's all purposeless, then how much
of your unique humanness might you be betraying in valuing solely that which you deem
purposeful?
And, again in the words of Osho, ". . . if there is no purpose in life itself there is no need to
create a purpose for your individual life. . . . Because of individual purposes you become
tense, something has to be achieved." So then the question becomes, can you be content
with purposelessness?--for only then can you "achieve" a non-achieving mind. To Osho, you
should "just try to understand the whole cosmic play and be a part in it." And expanding on
this notion, he adds:
"Don't be serious, because a play can never be serious. And if the play needs you to be
serious, be playfully serious, don't be really serious. . . . Then this very moment you can
move into the ultimate. The ultimate is not in the future, it is the present, hidden here and
now. So don't ask about purpose--there is none, and I say it is beautiful that there is none."
And, taking my cue from Osho, I'd add that if the present is perceived as a present, you're
much more likely to treat it as the precious gift it is."

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Next, Osho--connecting play to the divine--goes so far as to suggest the

"godliness" of play:
"[When someone asked Jesus] who will be able to enter into the kingdom of your God, [he]
said, 'Those who are like small children.' This is the secret. What is the meaning of being a
small child? The meaning is that the child is . . . always playful. If you can become playful,
you have become a child again, and only children can enter into the kingdom of God,
nobody else, because children can play without asking where it is leading [and without any
ulterior motive]. . . . [And] they [can be] very serious when they are playing . . . when they are
creating. They are enjoying. And they are not fools, they know that . . . everything is
make-believe. Why waste time in thinking in terms of business? Why not live more and more
playfully, non-seriously, ecstatically?"
So here we have expounded "the play of seriousness," as well as "the seriousness of play."
And such creative acts are, or feel, inherently meaningful--at the same time they're
recognized to be meaningless . . . joyfully meaningless.
Conclusion
If you spend almost all your time focused on one destination after another, then you'll
resist--or not fully avail yourself of--the many pleasurable "detours" that life, in its infinite
richness, may have to offer you. Anything that doesn't fit your preconceived notions of where
you need to go, and how you'll get there, will likely be dismissed as imprudent, extraneous,
or unwarranted. And yet how crucial to your overall well- being might it be to selectively--and
mindfully--immerse yourself in some of the intriguing diversions that vie for your "distracted
attention."
It's only when you choose, periodically, to de-focus from your subjectively chosen goals
and--childlike--follow these "disruptions," that you'll be able to live fully and richly. Are these
distractions purposeful?--in the sense of being practical, profitable, advantageous? Well,
no--at least not literally. But why should they need to be? Isn't it much better to embrace
these distractions for what they are? Opportunities to play, to laugh, to create, to feel
inspired, and to enjoy living for its own purposeless sake?

If you become aware of how dynamic, how restorative, how centering

so-called "purposeless" behavior can be--which on various levels I've been discussing in all
four parts of this extended post--hopefully you'll begin to schedule it into your daily life. Just
as it's essential to balance your work with play, and your activity with rest, it's just as critical
to counter whatever may have "conditioned" you to act purposefully with an equal, though
opposite, practice of "letting go." Abandoning for the moment both your long- and
short-terms goals and acting without utilitarian (or even idealistic) motives. Acting playfully
with delight, and with no purpose other than affirming the simple joy of be-ing.
For if in the end the best "made-up" purpose in life is to live happily, then regaining your
sense of wonder and curiosity, and re-discovering your inner child's passion for having fun,

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might just be a whole lot more satisfying than living to reach goal--after goal--after goal. . . .

Notes:
1. For anyone who missed earlier sections of this four-part post, here are links for parts 1, 2,
and 3.
2. I invite all readers interested in receiving automatic notification of my future posts to
subscribe to my feed (see orange radio signal icon, on upper-right hand corner of first page,
just below my image).
----I also invite readers to follow my psychological/philosophical musings on Twitter .

Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/41023

Links:
[1] http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Meditation/Advanced/life_is_purposeless.htm
[2] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/200904/the-wisdom-spontaneity-part-5
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi
[4] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201004/the-purpose-purposelessness-part-3-4
[5] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201004/the-purpose-purposelessness-part-1-4
[6] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201004/the-purpose-purposelessness-part-2-4
[7] http://twitter.com/drlee1
[8] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/teaser/2010/04/hill-walking2.jpg
[9] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self

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