My most practical outlook on the meaning and purpose of human life is to help humanity in any which way I could and find a path to salvation. By salvation, I mean freedom from the perpetual cycle of birth and death and permanent freedom from pain, suffering and misery.
With this outlook in mind, while I was looking for answers on how did life come into being, what is my purpose in this, what is karma, the reason behind suffering, how to stop the cycle of birth and death and solutions to my misery and suffering, I came across Akram Vignan, a spiritual path. Through this path, my view on the meaning and purpose of human life became quite firmly believable.
The Akram Vignan movement was founded by Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, lovingly known as Dadashri.
Param Pujya Dadashri has explained that the main purpose of human life is:
to be awakened (attain Self-Realization) and
to be instrumental in serving others.
Upon hearing this, and thereafter, listening to many satsangs (spiritual discourses in a question-and-answer format) in person and online, many of my questions began to get answered.
Serving Others
As far as serving others is concerned, Param Pujya Dadashri says, use your mind, body and speech in serving others. But in doing so, you should not expect something in return; your intention should be to lessen other people’s misery.
“Service to others should be sincere and done from the heart; only then it is fruitful.” A simple example of this is, do trees eat their own fruit? No!
This teaches us that we human beings should not only use our mind, body and speech for ourselves but also to serve others. When you do this, Nature in turn will reward you, both in life and your spiritual development.
At the least, one must not to hurt any living being to the slightest extent through one’s mind, speech, and body. Param Pujya Dadashri has defined humanity as: When someone hurts you or troubles you, you do not like it; hence, you should also not hurt anyone. This is the highest principle of humanity. Dadashri suggests that if people learn about humanity, then their human life will be fruitful.
Attain Self-RealizationAkram Vignan is a simple, straightforward and practical path that works in line with our everyday life and helps with our spiritual development. This science makes us experience a sense of freedom from unhappiness in this very life. It empowers us to remain unaffected amidst any situation, thus experiencing freedom from suffering.
In Akram Vignan, the fundamental change starts internally when our ignorance of the Self is completely removed through the grace of the Gnani (Enlightened being), in just two hours, through a scientific process of Self-Realisation, called Gnan-Vidhi. There is nothing to be renounced here; rather it is based on the right understanding and a firm conviction of one’s true Self, after which one is able to maintain equanimity in all situations in life.
Thus, when we attain Self-Realization, the ultimate purpose of our human life is served. If you would like to know more about Akram path, then do visit: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/path-to-happiness/akram-vignan/
Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.