This is something you often hear introspective people talk about, finding their purpose. People are either searching for, or have found in something, a sense of purpose. Knowing one’s purpose provides a reason to strive to become something greater in the pursuit of the fulfillment of that purpose. Some people find their purpose attached to other people, such as family or community, or to a cause, such as religion or social justice, while others can’t quite seem to define it. They feel called to it, they can’t shake the feeling like something is missing, but have yet to find anything that really satisfies that call.
This alone stands as one of the greatest ironies in history. Modern technology can tell anyone almost anything about everything. Information about virtually every topic imaginable is immediately available. Yet the arguably most intimately connected quality about a person, is the most foreign to so many.
Ancient societies from all around the world did not have the wonderful technology we have today, so they sought answers elsewhere. They looked to astrology, alchemy, esotetic study and hermetics to find these answers. Their logic was that if the answer did not lie in the tangible, it must lie beyond it. Otherwise how could so many people, spread across many lands and many periods of time, all have such strong inclinations towards it. These understandings grew, giving rise to the ancient schools devoted to this exact endeavour.
The understanding was that one who seeks to know their purpose, must know themself.
They must Know Thyself
Today modern technology has given us capabilities that even recently were considered fantasy. The result is that humanity has devoted so much of its attention towards the tangible. We look outside of ourselves, rather than inward. We seek purpose in the world, without understanding who is the person this purpose is for.
Looking inward is hard to do. It requires courage to take an honest look at the things we don’t want to accept, compassion to show kindness towards what must be healed, and strength to continue when it becomes difficult and inconvenient to do so.
Therefore looking inward requires an individual to not relent at that which lies within their convenience, but to grow beyond it. In that growth, they find themselves able to align more of themselves with their purpose. This is often when you see people wanting to share what they have discovered with others. The essence of that growth is the understanding of themselves. When one walks the path of understanding themselves, inevitably they better understand others, and by extension the world around them.
Finding purpose is not something one discovers in an instant or all at once. It happens a little at a time, each step specifically leading to the next. Purpose is something we grow into. It grows proportionately and in alignment with the steps we take. We can never outgrow it as our potential is infinite. An analogy would be to put an adult sized t-shirt onto a baby and watching the baby grow into an adult whose body fills up the shirt. Here is where the importance of a path emerges. A path of progression consisting of steps that gradually deepens understanding. In that deeper understanding do we see the potential for our purpose to manifest on a grander scale. We can do bigger things, reach more people, affect greater change, and realize greater potential.
And it all begins with the seeking to Know Thyself
Purpose lies at the intersection of understanding one’s self and understanding the world around them. When inner meets outer. The event horizon connecting what is below with what is above.
