What is the goal of life and how can it be achieved? My whole life I have been telling you there is no goal! Life is its own goal. There is nothing outside life that you have to achieve. All achievement is the projection of the ego. The very idea of achievement is ambition. What you achieve does not matter — money, power, knowledge; these are not in any way going to give you life.
In fact, in achieving power, in achieving money, in achieving prestige, in achieving any other ambition, you are losing your life, you are sacrificing your life. You are involved in stupid things, and by the side life goes on slipping out of your hands. You will realize it only at the time of death, with a shock: “I have been trying to achieve the goal of life and I forgot life itself.” The goal is always in the future, and life is always here. The goal is always far away, and life is in this very moment. Trying to achieve it, you will miss it. You don’t need to try to achieve life: you are alive. Only dead people can have goals. Living people live. If you want goals to achieve, the grave is the right place for you. Just lie down in the grave…. Rest in death. I have heard: a husband — naturally, a henpecked husband, because I don’t know another kind…. Everybody understands it: you want to be a husband, soon you will be a henpecked husband — that is a natural growth. This henpecked husband died.
From Concentration to Silence: Understanding Dhan
The wife ordered a beautiful marble grave for him, and ordered that his name should be written in golden letters with the words: “Rest in peace.” But when the will of the husband was opened… he had given all his money, land, house — everything — to charitable institutions. Nothing for the wife! That was his revenge — because a husband can take revenge only when he is dead. His whole life the woman had tortured him; now was his time! Listening to the will, she rushed to the craftsman who was making the marble grave, and she said to him, “You have to add a few words more.” He said, “But this is enough!” She said, “No. It was enough before I came to know his will. Now write: Rest in Peace — till I come!” You have a little time to rest in the grave! There you can imagine all kinds of goals because you will not be losing anything; you are already dead. But while living be a little more kind to yourself. While living, live. And live intensely and totally! In India, in Ahmedabad, where I had the greatest number of sannyasins.
I used to go to there. In Ahmedabad I used to like only one place, and that was the place where Jayantibhai, who used to be my driver, would speed beyond the limit permitted. And I would say, “Why do you do it? I like this place!”
He would say, “That’s why I speed here: I don’t want you to remember Ahmedabad because of this thing!” And what was the thing? There was a board on the bridge saying: Livva little hot -- Sippa Gold Spot!' And certainly I have forgotten everything about Ahmedabad, but thisLivva little hot …’ I cannot forget. This is the very essence of my religion: Livva little hot! Forget about Gold Spot! There is no goal anywhere. Existence is not moving to some target. And it is good that it is not moving towards some goal, because if the goal is there, sooner or later it will be achieved. Then what?