The purpose of life, in this view, is to grow beyond living only for yourself and to understand why anything exists at all. No one can simply hand it to you, because you only see it by changing how you live.
So what is the purpose of life, concretely?
It’s a change, not a belief. You start out running on one question: what’s in it for me? The aim is to grow into someone who can give and connect, and to understand why reality works the way it does. In this view, that’s what it means to become fully human. It isn’t a single moment, either. It’s a state you grow into step by step, and the meaning gets clearer along the way.
Why do I only start asking “what is this for?” at some point?
Because ordinary rewards stop being enough. Comfort, security, and success can fill a life for years. Then, for some people, a further demand shows up, and the old answers feel thin. Nobody can fully say why it hits one person and not the next. Some people stay happily busy with family and work, and that’s not a failure. If the question feels like despair rather than curiosity, though, or if nothing seems worth doing, talk to a doctor or therapist. That’s a different problem from a search for meaning.
Why doesn’t anyone just tell me the answer?
Because self-interest reads everything as “what do I get?” From inside that view, a purpose beyond it looks invisible, or like a pretty story. An explanation can point toward it, but it can’t make you see it. Seeing it takes a change in you. That change takes effort: reaching toward giving and connection, running into the limits of your own strength, and asking for help. In other words, you take part in finding the answer. You don’t just receive it.
What does reaching it look like in everyday life?
Not a trance, and not a reward after death. You keep working, paying bills, and raising your kids. What shifts is how you relate to people. You become more connected and more able to give, and that changes how you see everything else. It doesn’t happen alone, either, because the change takes place between people. That’s why this path always involves others. And it doesn’t arrive all at once. Each stage makes the meaning a little clearer.
Does a life without any of this have no purpose?
Not in the sense that your life is worthless. Raising children, loving people, and doing honest work are meaningful. The view described here draws its line somewhere else. It separates living mainly for your own benefit from living to benefit others, and it says that line has to do with intention, not with success or education. It also holds that without an answer to what life is for, people tend to feel something missing. Whether to look for that answer is up to you.
FAQ
Is this idea part of a specific tradition?
Yes. Kabbalah says the purpose of creation is for people to become similar to the Creator, taking on a quality of giving and love. It holds that the Creator becomes perceptible through that similarity, not just through believing or knowing something. If that framework interests you, you can read more about it beyond this post.
Why does the teaching involve working in groups?
Kabbalah holds that the change happens in the connection between people. Students work in small groups to practice unity. They notice how hard it is to produce that unity alone, and that realization becomes the starting point for asking for help.
Is this meant for after death?
No. The teaching presents it as something attained during this life, in stages. A person keeps living and working in this world while it develops.
What’s a first step if this resonates?
Write down the moments when “what’s this for?” comes up. Then do one small thing for someone else with no return expected, and notice what that’s like.
If you’d like the original teaching behind this, you can explore more here.