A Parable of a Purpose

I've always tried to sleuth out what my purpose in life might be. This is a story that came to me at the beginning of the year and helped me understand "purpose" to be something that exists in nearly every moment - something dynamic, not static. While I wish I could say this knowledge has influenced my every interaction since then, it did certainly change my metric of success and functions as the grounding philosophy of my plans for the future.

A Man, the Sprouts, and the Rock

Over the course of a life, there was one who was seeking, and he once happened upon a body of water in a mountain valley.  The body of water was bordered on all sides by a rocky berm.  On an outer edge of the berm lay a small indent in the earth, within which several sprouts had taken root, but were sickened due to thirst.  Because the seeker sought goodness, his heart was filled with compassion for the dying sprouts and he committed himself to their healing. 

 

Though he tried cupping water in his hands to quench the sprouts’ thirsts, the seeker’s efforts were futile, as the water simply ran through his fingers.  After much thought, the seeker at last exerted what seemed the whole of his energy and lifted up a great rock that sat atop the berm between the water and the sprouts.  At the very moment the seeker’s strength was sapped, he heaved the rock into the water, and with a magnificent splash, the rock pushed wave after wave over the berm and into the dry cove with the sprouts.  Even as he collapsed from the immense strain, the sprouts began to liven and grow, shading the seeker, who had fallen beneath them, from the heat of the day and the predators of the night. 

 

Later, when the man awoke, he was delighted to discover that the sprouts had matured into trees that bared much fruit.  The seeker took and ate fruit from the trees, replenishing his body from the costs of his sacrificial deed, and he knew that he had done what was right.  He then drank deeply from the pool of his own doing, in communion with the trees, and he knew that this was good.

 

In his satiation, the man pondered in his heart the whole of the experience, and his mind’s eyes were opened to the good of which he had been a part.  He then realized, with his newly found insight, that it was his commitment to the good of his part which brought about that which he sought.  And with this understanding, the man went on his way, so that the trees might benefit all else, and so that he may live the goodness that he came to know.

 

Now hear this interpretation: The seeker is the self, and the man is you.  The mountain is the hardships of life, and the valley is the pleasantness of life.  The body of water is a life’s potential, the rocky berm is life’s limitations, and the indent is inequality of life.  The sprouts are all others, and their thirsts are the needs of others.  The man’s hands are intentions, and his spilling is failure.  His strength is the willingness to pursue good, and his effort is the pursuit itself.  The rock is action, and the waves are the effects of action.  His collapse is the cost of giving, the heat of the day is the pain of truth, the predators of the night are those who pursue wrong, and the night itself is ignorance. The eating of the fruit is the blessing of karma, and the communion with the trees is the blessing of friendship.  The awareness of his part in the whole is true clarity, and that which he gained is a purpose, truly understood.