Why life on Earth? This is a natural question that arises on pondering the purpose of life; especially when reflecting on life's struggles and tragedies. If God is Almighty and is the Creator of all that is, why create suffering in the first place? A mystic ponders on these questions as the basis for trying to figure God's Plan or Design. The ultimate answer to these questions that mystics have mused on is more of a process than a law. This process is the spiritual evolution of the soul.
There is a special mantra that I learned from my guru about understanding Creation. The mantra is "It is as it is". There is another saying from my guru's guru, the great sage of Lanka, Siva Yogaswami, he said "we know not". Simple words that bring down into essence that in this world we live equally with facts we can understand and that which cannot be figured. They point to the fact that the world that is governed by both absolute certainties and absolute uncertainties.
We live life on Earth with aspirations of enjoying Paradise; with aspirations of enjoyment, not suffering; with aspirations of peace, not antagonism; with aspirations of love, not hate. These utopian aspirations are what life on Earth seems to proffer; but such is life on Earth that day must follow night, excitement is followed by mundaneness, joy is interspersed by sadness, peace is disrupted by confusion. The preciousness of life on Earth lies in these shifting foundations. For it is these occasional experiences of instability that eventually give us the gumption to question the purpose, even the need, of our existence.
The goal of these primal questions is however not so much to find out the reason for the tumult of life on Earth, rather to discover ways to rise above it. That is, to discover a way to reach the aspirations of Paradise that is hardwired into our psyche. That such an ideal state of existence is even possible has been the testimony of countless accomplished mystics of ages past and of contemporary times. The message of the Buddha, of Ramana Maharishi, of Lao Tzu, of Emmerson, of my guru is essentially the same; that Paradise is attainable by uncovering ones spirituality and experiencing the intimate states of spiritual enlightenment.
Contrary to the general understanding of mysticism that mystics are people who disassociate themselves from general populace, mysticism actually encourages involvement in the world and experiencing life on Earth as one chooses. It does not put any constraints to the a persons freedom as to how they choose to live their life, in fact mysticism cherishes any and all experience that the world offers. Established mystical schools such as the evolutes of ashtanga yoga and Buddhism encourage their followers to pursue their worldly dreams, though preferring them to pursue their goals through path of noble values and righteousness as The Way, because it is known that experiences of life gradually nurtures the urge to uncover spiritual reality for oneself, thus achieving transcendence over the roller-coaster ride of life on Earth.
According to the philosophy of Eastern mystical schools our soul is on Earth on an extended spiritual journey. This spiritual journey is spurred on by the unsettling experiences of duality on Earth. Just like how challenges spur development and growth, whereas ease of living cultivates complacency, life on Earth challenges the soul to seek greater heights of spirituality because its unstableness breeds the desire for the equilibrium of Paradise. This desire for equilibrium ultimately leads the seeker to the glorious experiences of spiritual enlightenment.
Thus the great purpose of life on Earth according to the conclusion of mystics is to bring an individual to this very point of questioning–Why life on Earth? Herein lies the preciousness of life on Earth.
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