Welcome to another episode of the Secular Buddhism podcast.

This is episode number 203.

I'm your host, Noah Rochetta.

Today I'm talking about purpose, purposelessness, and the Buddhist teaching of aimlessness,

one of the three doors of liberation. This topic has been on my mind lately as my son, Ryko, who is now

16 years old, has started thinking about college, what he wants to be when he grows up. That's a

milestone that many parents can relate to watching our children begin to confront these big

life questions about purpose, meaning, what career. As always, keep in mind, you don't need to

use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist.

You can use what you learn to simply be a better whatever you already are.

Also, Buddhist teachings and concepts challenge us to think differently about life.

They invite us to question the stories that we've come to believe about ourselves and about

reality. And this teaching of aimlessness does a good job of this for me. Most of us grew up

being asked from time to time that question. What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a

question that seems innocent enough, but embedded in the question is the assumption

that we need to be something specific, that we need to have a clear sense of purpose, a direction,

a goal, and as adults, we often continue this line of questioning with ourselves and

with others. You've probably heard or been asked, like, what's your five-year plan or where do you

see yourself in 10 years? Or the bigger existential questions, what is your purpose in life?

And these questions aren't inherently bad.

There's nothing wrong with them. They can be useful. They can help clarify our values, our priorities,

but they can also end up creating this underlying anxiety that, well, dang, if I don't have a clear answer, maybe I'm lost or maybe

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