Embark on a journey that cuts to the chase for a “grand purpose.” Discover a perspective as raw and glorious as life itself. Relish the exhilaration of living unconstrained by set expectations, but with the freedom to simply thrive. Are you ready?

开启一场直击“生命目的”的旅程。发现如生命本身般质朴而灿烂的视角。品尝不受既定目标约束，而只是自由绽放地活着的喜悦。你准备好了吗？

Questioner: I want to ask you a question that has been haunting me for many years: What is the purpose of our life?

提问人：我想问您一个困扰我多年的问题：生命的目的是什么？

Sadhguru: You already have a child, and now you are asking what the purpose of life is? This reminds me of the following incident.

Sadhguru（萨古鲁）：你已经有了一个孩子，现在你在问生命的目的是什么？这让我想起下面这个故事。

The Bishop and the Yogi

主教和瑜伽士

There was a Greek Orthodox bishop from Constantinople, or present-day Istanbul. This branch of Christianity has their own distinct practices. Located between Asia and Europe, this was a place where mystical stories of magic, mysticism, and spiritual processes often came from India, and to some extent also from China. This bishop had a deep desire to visit India and meet a real mystic or Yogi.

曾经有一个来自君士坦丁堡，或如今的伊斯坦布尔的希腊东正教主教。基督教的这一分支有他们自己独特的练习。这个地处亚欧之间的地方，常常传来来自印度，甚至中国的有关魔法、神秘主义和灵性进程的神秘故事。这个主教非常渴望拜访印度，去见见真正的神秘家或瑜伽士。

When he was over sixty years of age, he finally got the opportunity to travel to India. He went to southern India, found the right kind of guide, and expressed his desire to meet a genuine, living mystic. The guide directed him to a particular mountain, telling him that if he climbed it, he would find a cave where a true Yogi resided. He assured the bishop that this Yogi was the man he was looking for and the cave was the place to visit.

在他六十多岁时，他终于有了去印度的机会。他到了南印度，找到合适的向导，表达了他想见真正的在世神秘家的渴望。那个向导指给他一座特殊的山，告诉他如果他爬上山，就会找到一个山洞，那里住着一位真正的瑜伽士。向导向主教保证这个瑜伽士就是他要找的人，这个山洞就是他要拜访的地方。

Our bishop ascended the mountain. Mountains have a way of revealing a person’s true nature. In the mountains, deception is not an option. Unlike the city, where you can move from building to building with ease, the mountain presents life in a starkly different manner. This man was clearly not meant for mountainous terrain. He struggled immensely, huffing and puffing, until he reached his destination.

我们的主教上了山。大山总有办法让人现出原形。在山里，欺骗是行不通的。不像城市，你可以轻松从一栋楼到另一栋楼，大山则以完全不同的方式展现生命。这个人显然不适应山地。他艰难行进，气喘吁吁，终于到了目的地。

If you were blissed out, would you care about the purpose?

如果你喜乐，你还会在乎目的吗？

In front of the cave sat a Yogi, completely immersed in bliss. When the bishop saw him, he remembered that one must prostrate before a Yogi. But he was not built for that; he had gathered too much body mass over time. He went down with great difficulty, scraping his knees, and then got up again. Hearing all this commotion, the Yogi opened his eyes and smiled.

山洞前坐着一位瑜伽士，全然沉浸在喜乐之中。主教见到他时，想起人们在瑜伽士面前必须要行匍匐礼。但他可做不了这个；这些年他长了太多体重。他非常艰难地趴下，擦伤了膝盖，然后站了起来。听到这一系列动静，瑜伽士睁开眼笑了。

The bishop seized the opportunity to ask, “Can I ask you a question?” The Yogi responded with a laugh, encouraging him to proceed. “What is life?” inquired the bishop. The Yogi, in a sense of rapture, described life as “the fragrance of jasmine upon a gentle spring breeze.” The bishop replied, “My teacher told me life is like a thorn. Once it gets into you, whatever you do or do not do, anything it hurts.” The Yogi laughed and replied, “Well, that is his life.”

主教抓住机会提问：“我能问您一个问题吗？”瑜伽士大笑着回应，示意他继续。“什么是生命？”，主教问到。瑜伽士带着极致的喜悦，将生命比作“随着一阵轻柔的春风而来的茉莉的芬芳。”主教回答说：“我的老师告诉我生命就像一根刺。一旦它进入你，无论你做什么或不做什么，都会疼。”瑜伽士笑着回答：“那是他的生命。”

Of Misguided Aspirations and Accumulations

关于被误导的抱负和积累

If there was a purpose and you found and fulfilled it, what would you do afterwards? People keep setting nonsensical goals. Some believe one thing is the goal, while others think it is something else. Everyone has their own misguided mission. Life becomes chaotic for everyone because each individual is on their own mission. When I speak at conferences, such as COP, people often ask me, “Sadhguru, what is your message?” My response is, “I don’t have any message.” This is the issue: all eight billion people have their own misguided messages.

如果存在一个目的，你找到它并达成了，之后你要做什么呢？人们不断地设定毫无意义的目标。有的人相信某件事是目标，而有的人则认为是其他事。每个人都有自己被误导的使命。每个人的生活都变得混乱，因为每个个体都有他们自己的使命。我在论坛上讲话的时候，比如联合国气候变化大会（COP），人们经常问我：“萨古鲁，您的讯息是什么？”我的回答是：“我没有任何讯息。”这就是问题所在：所有80亿人都有他们自己被误导的讯息。

Just listen to life; life has a message. If everyone listened to that message, there would be no conflict. But if I have one message and you have another, and someone else has yet another message, conflicts arise. Do our differing beliefs and thoughts not create a lot of conflict? Why are you making things up in your mind? Thinking means you are concocting something in your head. Instead, you need to experience life.

只是倾听生命；生命有它的讯息。如果每个人都倾听那个讯息，就不会有冲突。但如果我有一个讯息，你有另一个讯息，而其他人又有别的讯息，冲突就发生了。我们不同的信仰和想法难道还没制造大量的冲突吗？你们为什么在头脑中编造东西？思考意味着你在头脑里捏造事物。相反，你需要体验生命。

Because you are still a hunter and gatherer, which means a lack of civilization, you want to accumulate things. In earlier times, people used to roam the forest to gather food. Today, they go to the mall to gather things or to school and college to gather knowledge. In that sense, people are still hunters and gatherers, believing that by acquiring more, they will become better, which is a misconception.

因为你仍是一个狩猎者和收集者，这意味着文明的缺失，你想要积累东西。在早期，人们在森林游荡，获取食物。如今，他们去商场收集东西，或去学校和大学收集知识。从这个意义上讲，人们仍是狩猎者和收集者，认为通过获取更多，他们就会变得更好，而这是一种误解。

Rediscovering the Elemental Joy of Being

重新发现存在的根本喜悦

What is the purpose of life? If I say the purpose of life is to hang upside down from the ceiling, will you do it? It is ridiculous. If I told you a story that you can believe, suddenly that would become the purpose of your life. If someone else who does not believe in it comes, naturally there will be conflict. This is happening all over the world. People have different ways of thinking and different beliefs, which lead to endless conflicts. This is not only in terms of wars but also in individual interactions.

什么是生命的目的？如果我说生命的目的是倒挂在屋顶，你会这样做吗？这很荒谬。如果我讲了一个让你信以为真的故事，突然间那就成了你生命的目的。如果不相信它的人来了，自然就会产生冲突。这在全世界都在发生。人们的思考方式不同，信仰不同，导致了无休止的冲突。这不只是从战争的角度来看，个体间的互动也是如此。

There are conflicts on all levels. Within families, there are more wars than between countries like India and Pakistan. Between brothers, between husband and wife, between parents and children, there are conflicts; the only thing is they are not nuclear-powered. Otherwise, if they had a button, they would have pressed it many times over. That is the only safety.

冲突存在于各个层面。家庭中的冲突比像印度和巴基斯坦这样的国家间的冲突还多。兄弟之间、夫妻之间、亲子之间，都有冲突；只是他们没有核武器罢了。否则，如果他们有一个按钮，都不知道按了多少次。这是唯一的安全之处。

When you were five or six years old, just being alive was enough. But now, somewhere it is slowly becoming burdensome, so you are asking what the purpose is. The next question is whether to be or not to be. This is simply because you have not made the necessary investment into becoming blissful by your own nature. If you were blissed out, would you care about the purpose? There is no purpose to life. You are just a small pop-up on this planet. You pop up and you pop out.

你五六岁的时候，活着就够了。但现在，一路上慢慢变得沉重，所以你会问生命的目的是什么。下一个问题就是，生存或是死亡。而这只是因为，你没有为变得自然喜乐做必要的投入。如果你喜乐，你还会在乎目的吗？生命没有目的。你只是这个星球上小小的昙花一现。你出现又消失。

The Electrifying Nature of Uncurbed Life

不受限生命之令人振奋的本质

Countless people have popped up and popped out here before you and I came. They are all topsoil now. You and I will also become topsoil, and other people will be walking over it. They will not spare a thought for you or me. A thousand years later, ten thousand years later, do you think someone will think of you or me? We will just be topsoil. Maybe that is the eco-friendliest thing most human beings do: becoming good manure.

在你我到来之前，无数人出现，又消失。他们现在全都是表层土壤了。你和我也都会变成表层土壤，而其他人将从上面走过。他们丝毫不会想起你我。一千年以后，一万年以后，你觉得会有人想起你我吗？我们就只是表层土壤。可能这是大多数人做的最有益环境的事：成为好的肥料。

If you do not delve deep enough into the purpose of life, you will always wonder why you are alive. Then you may invent things and declare them as a “God-given purpose.” People who think they have a God-given purpose have done the most terrible things. Whenever someone claims, “God spoke to me,” then you can almost certainly brace yourself for something terrible to happen. You think of the purpose of life only because you do not delve deep enough into the process of life. If you put your hand deep enough into it, you will not need a purpose; it is electrifying.

如果你没有足够深入地探究生命的目的，你就总会想知道你为什么活着。然后你可能制造些东西，并声称它们就是“天赋使命。”那些自以为拥有天赋使命的人干了最可怕的事。不论何时有人声称“上帝对我说”，那你几乎可以准备好会有一些可怕的事情发生了。你思考生命的目的，只是因为你没有足够深入地探究生命的过程。如果你投入得足够深，你不会需要什么目的；它就是令人振奋的。

You think of the purpose of life only because you do not delve deep enough into the process of life.

你思考生命的目的，只是因为你没有足够深入地探究生命的过程。

You experience joy, blissfulness, love, and ecstasy in your life, but only for short periods of time; they are not sustainable. At a moment when you are really blissed out, do you care about the purpose of life? Only when life becomes burdensome do you ask what the purpose of this life is. You can create a purpose; you can create a meaning of life in your mind. This meaning is a problem only in the human psychological space. No other creature is thinking about meaning; no tree, no cloud, and the planet is not contemplating meaning; they are all happy just to be throbbing with life.

你在生命中体验喜悦、幸福、爱和狂喜，但这些稍纵即逝；它们并不持久。你狂喜的那一刻，你还会在乎生命的目的吗？只有生活变得沉重时，你才会问生命的目的是什么。你可以制造一个目的；你可以在头脑中创造生命的意义。这个意义只是人类心理空间中的一个问题。没有其他生物在思考意义，树、云，以及地球都不会盘算意义；它们都只是随着生命律动就好了。

If you were throbbing with life, you would not concern yourself with searching for a meaning. Since you have become a controlled life, you are asking what the meaning of this is. There is no meaning; life is a purpose unto itself.

如果你在随着生命律动，你不会关心找寻一个意义。因为你成了一个受制的生命，你才在问它的意义是什么。并没有意义；生命本身就是目的。