Episode 03: The Purpose of Life Is To Know God
Who are you?
I am a seeker of the spiritual path and a writer.
How do you define purpose?
I have never tried to define purpose. As a Muslim, I believe that everyone is here is to know God. I believe that all religions exist so that we can know God. It’s not about identity, community, ideology, or philosophy. It’s not about any of these things. It’s about knowing God. We do this through prayer, remembrance, and stripping away unnecessary things. The goal is to have a sense of intimacy with God, “ehsan” which is to worship God as if He sees you.
We aren’t here to change the world because the world is passing. If you have a sacred life, you will change things but it isn’t as if you will change the world. You may change one small thing that may help change the heart of one person. We are not here to change the world, we are here to know why we are here.
“The whole universe can not contain me, but the heart of the believer can contain me.'“ Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
Michael “Haroon” Sugich at a book signing for his first book, “Signs on the Horizon”
How did you discover your purpose?
My life has never been defined by purpose. It’s been defined by need. I have always felt needy. Needs change. When I was an actor, I needed to be successful. I needed to have a break. When I had a spiritual crisis, I needed to find a resolution. I needed to find a way to pray to God and I needed to find a way to open up my heart. My cousin turned me onto Sufi literature and the idea of dhikr, which is the rhythmic repetition of the name of God or his attributes appealed to me.
How does the ego play a role?
There is nothing good in the ego. The ego is the enemy. All of your enemies relate back to the ego. The ego is the barrier to understanding the reality. It’s the inverse of the western sense of values. If you have a reversal in life, a man of the spiritual path will be grateful for that because it kills the ego. If someone insults him, he won’t fight back. According to the spiritual path, everything lies in it’s opposites. If you want knowledge, you have to be content with ignorance. If you want knowledge, you have to admit you have no knowledge.
Who helped you in discovering your purpose?
People think that I need to have a teacher. Everything is from God. God is closer to us than our jugular vein. God is present all the time. We are commanded to ask Him for things. People have this idea that its like a spiritual supermarket that there are these people out there who they can pick and choose. This is very problematic because there are people who aren’t real, who are pretending to be something that they aren’t. You sense a spiritual person by their humility, fine behavior, spiritual courtesy, and kindness. The spiritual path is about helping other people. Just try to help people along the away.