THE MEANING OF EXISTENCE

I do know the suffering of people, and therefore have so much compassion for those who suffer, yet I also know that they need it very much. I know that they will not overcome the hurdles without going through that suffering. The pot can only be cleaned up by a thorough scraping with steel wool. It is needed. But, have the realization that although it is needed, it will clean the grease off the pot so that the next meal that you cook in this same pot will not have the smell or the taste of the previous meal. It’s so simple.
From the perspective of one who has walked the path, I who can see the suffering can only feel compassion. And yet at the same time I think, “It serves you damn well right.” And that thought is not because of any unkindness, but because of extreme kindness. When, having that compassion, the guru extends that love to a person, the inner force is so powerful that either the suffering of that person definitely lessens, or else that person starts to pay it by instalment plan, in small amounts, rather than cash on the spot. Those are the ways gurus work. And that is one of the reasons it is good to be associated with a guru.
Books can give you a lot of knowledge, but books could never impart a spiritual force to alleviate or help or guide you, to make your sufferings easier. That is the way to know the here and the now, the meaning of existence and the purpose of existence.
The existence can only have one purpose. Here again is something that I am going to tell you: The purpose of existence is to exist. That is the purpose. The purpose of existence is not to find God. He is already there. He has always been there in your life. And when you find the purpose of existence is to exist, and know the meaning of existence, you know God – because God is existence.
……… Gururaj Ananda Yogi: “From Darkness to Light”