A purpose is something related to the one that "has" it. If I have a purpose it means that I pursue something or that I am made in order to do something. So the purpose is either a self realization or the goal of a creator. By taking the analogy to the universe (if we assume that a purpose exists) there seem to be two alternatives:
- Someone (God) created the universe for a purpose.
- The universe has an instinctiveintrinsic realization of purpose, perhaps as an aggregation of the purposes of all living beings, or something like that.
I beleive - but it is just an instinct - that the way to find the purpose is by trying to make a reconciliation of both these views.