Why are we here?

We all think about this question and there are many answers to this question out there. Based on my reading I realize so far that we came here based on our own intent but perhaps forgot why we came here and engage in life as if it was real...

Lets say we started playing mario the video game. We know we want to play to have fun... but at some point between collecting coins and getting to next level, we forget why we started playing. We may get so engaged and attached to the game that we feel bound by it and unable to break free of it. We are so conditioned by people around us to keep going in the game that even if sometimes we feel that we should find another way, we come back to the same life. Every one tells us how important is collecting coins and going to the next level.

I used to think there is final level in the game that once I go beyond it, I can be free... but realized that is not true. Its never ending circular game, as described by samsara. At any point in the game, once we realize that the truth we can be free.

Once we remember that original intent of start playing the game was to have fun, we no longer are attached to it, or bothered by what happens in it. We can still choose to play it but this time very differently. On the other hand some people can choose to stop playing the game at all (like the sages). This is a very simple analogy but the path to freedom and the truth itself is not just a video game.