Have you ever wondered what your purpose is in this world? Why do you work for? Do you follow inertia, or do you seek to find your purpose and happiness?
I’m sure you’ve ever asked yourself these questions or questions that were similar. The bookstores are full of self-help books and best sellers on this topic. Concepts such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, therapy… are a recurrent subject in our conversations. It demonstrates that there is an audience that seeks to find itself and its meaning.
When I was walking through the mountain of Hallasan (Jeju), I met Do Beop or The path of truth, a Buddhist monk. My curiosity and desire to flee from tourists led me to follow a way that ended in 3 houses which were attached to a Buddhist monastery. Its doors were open, and I could see that inside there was only one room with the bamboo floor. There seemed to be no one there, but I discovered they were not uninhabited.
Once I contemplated the beauty of the place, I started to follow my way when, suddenly, a Buddhist monk appeared and asked if I wanted a tea. And there I was, sitting at the door of one of those three houses having a drink with Do Beop.
He told me that he lived alone for three months, and he would be there for five more years to practise meditation and study Buddhism in depth. He wanted to find his mission in this world through meditation. And then, he asked me the million-dollar question; Do you know what your purpose is?
Well, I still don’t know, I told him. Do Beop replied that there are many ways to discover our purpose. It can be found through meditation, but it’s not the only way. Also, he explained that meditation could be done anywhere. And that for him to travel, being with people and friends is even meditating.
Our conversation continued with tea, and some dried persimmons, which were terrific. I have not found them again. That day was like a dream—a monk who comes out of nowhere and asks me if I knew my purpose in life. As I continued my travels, I tried to find these delicious persimmons, but I could not find them. Was a dream? Hallucinations? Hahaha!
What is life? A frenzy.
What is life? An illusion,
a shadow, a fiction,
and the highest good is small:
That all life is a dream
And dreams are dreams.
(Monologue of Segismundo, Calderón de la Barca)
