December 1999

Excerpt from The Science of Being and Art of Living

by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

The Purpose of Life
Expansion of happiness is the purpose of life, and evolution is the process by which it is fulfilled. Life begins in a natural way, it evolves, and happiness expands. The expansion of happiness carries with it the growth of intelligence, power, creativity and everything that may be said to be of significance in life. 

The purpose of creation is the expansion of happiness, and this purpose is fulfilled through the process of cosmic evolution. The significance and purpose of individual life is the same as that of cosmic life. The difference is one of scale.

Individual life is the fundamental unit of the life of the cosmos. If the purpose of individual life is served, automatically and simultaneously the purpose of cosmic life is served to the same degree.

If a man has fulfilled the purpose of his life he has done his best to help the cosmic purpose, for the evolution of the cosmos is basically served by the evolution of the individual life.

If a man is unhappy he has missed the very essence of life. If his intelligence, power, creativity, peace and happiness are not constantly developing, he has lost his direction. Life is not meant to be lived in dullness, idleness and suffering; these do not belong to the essential nature of life.

Life is dynamic, not static. It is energetic, progressing, evolving and developing through activity and multiplying itself.

Activity maintains the stream of evolution, and it is the nervous system of the individual which is the vehicle for this activity. In species lower than man the nervous system is not so fully evolved, so that activity leading to evolution is on a far smaller scale. As the nervous system evolves the rate of evolution increases.

Man’s nervous system, being complete, is the most highly evolved. There-fore his possibility of evolution is unlimited in this life.

When a child is born his means of expression are limited and his powers undeveloped; but as he grows up and engages in the field of activity there is no limit to the development of his powers, his strength, intelligence and creativity, nor to the degree of happiness which he can experience and radiate.

The purpose of this book is to reveal that since man’s nervous system is so developed he can, through right activity, make use of his unlimited potential. 

A man of limited mind, busy in the world, is unable to appreciate the purpose of life. His mind is occupied with small things, and he can only create in a limited way. The conscious mind of an ordinary man is so limited that he is not even able to enjoy life. Many aspects of his life cause him to suffer, but his suffering is due only to his not using his full potential.

By not using his full potential, man is unable to fulfill the purpose of his life. He suffers in many ways because he is not using the full conscious capacity of his mind or the great energy he carries within himself. He is not experiencing and expressing in his life the abundance of absolute bliss that he naturally possesses, the absolute field of creativity and power that lies within himself. He is like a millionaire who has forgotten his wealth and position and goes begging in the street.

All suffering is due to ignorance of a way to unfold the divine glory which is present within oneself.

Since one possesses the capacity for divine unfoldment, it is ignorance of the technique for experiencing the Being within oneself which is responsible for the misery in life. Without divine consciousness man lacks energy, intelligence and clarity of thought. He is tired, tense and anxious.

Human existence and intelligence have reached such a deplorable level that in the field of psychology—the great science of the mind—it is even suggested that tension is necessary for creative intelligence. How tragic it is to believe that tension is necessary to improve life!

It is said that poets and artists have created their most inspired work under tension. All such statements are due to ignorance and an inability to distinguish between tensions and pressure of time or circumstances. Pressure of time or circumstances can sometimes produce much finer work but only from minds that are free and relaxed, which do not become tense through this pressure. 

In our modern scientific age material comforts are certainly increasing, yet the individual life seems to grow more tense. This is only because individuals do not know the way to improve their ability and efficiency through contact with the greater energy and intelligence which every man has within himself. It is only necessary to contact consciously that field of inner life to benefit from it. 

Man today is blind to the purpose of life, unable to see that he is born to enjoy, create and live a life useful to himself and others. He plunges into whatever activity lies ahead, working hard to the best of his ability. This is commendable, but when activity increases a man often finds himself unable to cope with the resulting pressure and responsibility. Unless his efficiency increases proportionately, tension and strain develop.

As a man engages in greater activity he should be able to produce more energy and greater intelligence within him-self to deal with this increased activity. When he does not know how to do this he misses the entire purpose of life.

Life in freedom is intended for the human race. If a man is not able to live in freedom the very purpose of life is not fulfilled. Man is born to live a perfect life, encompassing the values of the transcendental Absolute—unlimited energy, intelligence, power, peace and bliss— together with the unlimited values of the world of multiplicity in relative existence.

Man’s life is meant to be a bridge between divine intelligence and the whole of creation. It exists to cultivate the divine power, intelligence, happiness and abundance, and to give this out to all creation. This is the high purpose of man’s life. Man is fortunate in being endowed with the capacity to reach this level through directly contacting the field of the Absolute, thereby enlarging the conscious capacity of his mind.

Every man is capable of spreading divine splendor throughout creation. He is able to project all the values of the Absolute into the world of relative existence for all creatures to enjoy, and to glorify the entire creation of God. Each man is capable of living a life of full values. If he fails to do this he brings shame on himself, and he abuses the glory of almighty God present within and around him.

Let every man on earth begin to reach the divine consciousness of the Absolute and, bringing it through all his activity into the world of variety, enjoy it himself and radiate it for all others to enjoy