What is the purpose of life? This question has echoed through the minds of countless seekers across time. In his teachings, Guru Shailesh brings clarity to this question with deep practicality and spiritual insight.
At its core, the ultimate purpose of life is to be happy. Not just momentarily, not superficially, but to experience a lasting state of joy. We often think happiness is a by-product of achievement, relationship, or escape. But when we are truly happy, the question itself - what is the purpose of life? - disappears. In a moment of genuine joy, you do not stop to analyze your existence. You simply live.
This, however, brings us to a subtle point. If happiness is the ultimate purpose, how do we reach it? One path is to dull the mind and temporarily mute its questioning. We tend to do this through distractions, consumption, or even substances. But the joy they bring is fleeting. The other path is to awaken the mind, to face it honestly and fully, and to move toward a joy that is complete, unwavering, and eternal.
True happiness - Ananda - is not the product of numbing the mind but of transcending it.
To support this path toward lasting joy, Guru Shailesh speaks of an immediate, more relatable purpose: the rhythm of creating, preserving, and letting go. This triad, expressed through the deities Brahma (creation), Vishnu (preservation), and Mahesh (destruction), is at the heart of all human experience. At any given moment, we are doing all three.
We may be creating a meal, a piece of art, or a new idea. We preserve our health, relationships, jobs, and homes through care and consistency. And we destroy, sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully, habits, thoughts, attachments, or actions that no longer serve us.
What distinguishes a spiritually aligned life is what we choose to create, preserve, or destroy. Are we creating peace or conflict? Are we preserving love or ego? Are we letting go of fear or are we holding on to outdated identities?
These choices reflect whether we are acting as a Sura - a being in tune with divine rhythm and nature - or as an Asura, misaligned and disconnected. A Sura lives with awareness and responsibility, caring for the earth, for others, and for the inner self. An Asura may act purely for short-term gain, indifferent to consequences.
Ultimately, to walk this path of purpose is to live as a conscious trinity within yourself. When you create mindfully, you become Brahma. When you nurture with intention, you become Vishnu. When you release fear and old patterns through courage and clarity, you invoke Mahesh.
And the fruit of this way of living? Not just a productive or moral life, but a joyful one. A life where your happiness is not dependent on the next success or escape, but is rooted in who you are becoming.