Why are we?

[Tragition]

Does Buddhism teach what the purpose of our existence is?

If I understand correctly, we are in a cycle of birth and death in samsara until we reach nibbana. But why? What is our purpose in being?

[plwk]

One opinion here: What is the purpose of life?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Some questions have no direct answer. The root cause is ignorance and the proximate cause is craving. The Simile of the Poisoned Arrow is helpful here.

"It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.

[Goofaholix]

Does Buddhism teach what the purpose of our existence is?

If I understand correctly, we are in a cycle of birth and death in samsara until we reach nibbana. But why? What is our purpose in being?

I don't think so.

Better to assume that life has no purpose, the search for a purpose is just a product of craving and creates suffering, acceptance that life is it's own purpose frees you to make the most of life.

[Kenshou]

Why?

Damned if I know.

But what I do know, is that I'm subject to stress, dissatisfaction, and suffering. And if I could end that, I wouldn't really care one way or the other about those abstract questions. And apparently, there is a way to end it. So, guess I'll do that.

[Viscid]

I think that it's because it's possible for us to. We can be, therefore we are.

Whatever's possible exists. My tentative position.

[Individual]

Some questions have no direct answer.

[bodom]

We were born to do battle with the defilement's and to strengthen our mindfulness and discernment. - Upasaka Kee Nanayon

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Does Buddhism teach what the purpose of our existence is?

Who says there has to be one? Or is it simply that we want there to be some purpose?

Metta,
Retro.

[Vepacitta]

Ah, the eternal question ... porquoi? (sounds better in French don't it?)

I've been asking that question since I was 4 years old and I have no bloody clue. But when I find out who's responsible ...!

From snowy Mt. Meru,

V.

[alan]

life wants to live. We evolved.

[appicchato]

We were born to do battle with the defilement's and to strengthen our mindfulness and discernment. - Upasaka Kee Nanayon

She's a pistol all right...

[appicchato]

We evolved.

Mmm...evolving?...

[alan]

Unlikely. We'll kill ourselves, or the planet, before any significant new evolution happens.

[budo]

Why do we need a reason for being? Why does their have to be meaning?

Is their meaning in a piece of dirt? a ball of dust? no it's just a clump of matter. Why would their be a purpose to life? Who says their has to be? The purpose of your life is just as much as purposeful as a clump of mud's life.

If you ask, why is their life then? Well, one could ask, why is their no-life then? You can ask "Why" at everything, but sometimes the answer is "there just is."

[appicchato]

Unlikely. We'll kill ourselves, or the planet, before any significant new evolution happens.

Maybe, maybe not...the term significant is a relative one...your idea of significance, and what constitutes it, or by what measure, right, or wrong, does not necessarily conform to everyone's, nor anyone's...

One example (both physical and mental) might be that in a (paltry) span of sixty five years we went from being bound to the ground to walking on the moon...significant?...

Be well...

[rowyourboat]

The purpose of life is to find happiness. The only lasting happiness is nibbana.

[alan]

Hi Appicchato,
Let's not make the common mistake of confusing technological improvement with spiritual advancements.
We're just as greedy, hateful and ignorant as we were 100 years ago. But now we can blow up the world. And unless there is a concerted global effort to prevent it, climate change will do us in eventually.
I'd like to think humans are up to the task, but nothing out there is very convincing.

[Goofaholix]

The purpose of life is to find happiness. The only lasting happiness is nibbana.

That's a bit redundant isn't it, if weren't alive we wouldn't need happiness. It's a bit like saying the purpose of having a car is to find the gas station.

[Sherab]

My view:
Life = samsara (cycling through one existence after another)
samsara = unsatisfactoriness/suffering
If so, what meaning has life? None.
Therefore the purpose of life is to generate renunciation, the commitment to free oneself from samsara.
If you feel that committing just to free yourself from samsara is not enough, you may want to extend your commitment to your family and friends or as wide as you like.