What is the Meaning of Life?

[Kaspar]

I haven't posted on this site for almost a year but having a recent revelation I decided that here may be a nice place to seriously consider one of the most important questions of all time.

What is the meaning of life?

POSITIVE

Love: To spread happiness, make peoples lives better, enjoy yourself etc etc etc

Wisdom: Solving puzzles, bearing experience, understanding problems and dealing with frustration.

Creativity: This is the empowerment of the human being, to express their emotions, feelings and experiences through different mediums. Acting like God in the Genesis to summon ideas and things into existance.

NEGATIVE

Fear, Anger and Hate: Rejection and frustration fuel people to want to control things that lashed out on them. It can make people want power and in some case a domination over the society around them.

Greed: Materialism can be a strong force for people to continue with their lives, collecting things, owning things, measuring your wealth against other people.

Destruction: As dire as this may sound at a certain point the meaning of life may become destruction. Reason for suicide, murder and other forms of life taking. It is the opposite of creation and is the ultimate release of built up tension in peoples lives.

I've tried to build like a structure of thought to clearly analyse this question. If anyone has anything to comment on about their experiences of the meaning of their life and the relation to my summary please feel free to post.

Peace

[Vajradhara]

Namaste kaspar,

thank you for the interesting thread.

when we talk about the "meaning of life" are we talking about solely from the human perspective or are we being inclusive of the myriad life forms on this world?

if we are focused upon the human aspect i think that we run the risk of a very narrow understanding which is, as expected, human-centric.

from an overall point of view, let us say, the only consistent aspect of life is procreation.. so, i would offer that "the purpose of life is to make more life." even then, however, we run into the semantic difficulties of ascribing "purpose" to beings which do not seem to have any sort of intelligence or will to make purposeful decisions. e.g. bacteria do not seem to be seeking a "purpose" for their actions.

i wasn't able to vote in the poll since none of the selections really correspond with my understandings of life, per se, nor my view of human life in particular.

metta,

~v

[cavalier]

I have thought about it, but still reckon that go with the flow is the best way.

[Eudaimonist]

Originally Posted by Kaspar

What is the meaning of life?

First, let me state that I think that meaning implies plans and purposes, and these must be chosen in order to be plans and purposes. Therefore, the meaning of one's life is the result of personal choice.

However, I think it is reasonable to speak of naturally appropriate purposes -- those purposes that, when chosen, matter to us (i.e. meet our needs) in ways that do not rest on personal opinion, and instead have to do with what we are: unique human beings.

So, what is the naturally-appropriate-when-chosen meaning of life? IMO, it is eudaimonia, which is perhaps best translated into English as "personal flourishing". It is through actualizing our best potentials as human beings and as the unique and irreplacable individuals that we are that is "the meaning of life".

So, what does personal flourishing consist of? What sort of activities?

The proper mix varies from individual to individual, though I believe that love, wisdom, and creativity are all likely to be major themes in every life.

I will also add seemingly "materialistic" activities such as actualizing productive or creative talents. If you have a talent and a passion for being a banker, this may be part of your flourishing, and therefore your personal meaning of life, as strange as that might sound.

I'm not advocating greed here, since I'm not talking about possessiveness or making comparisons of one's wealth to that of others -- I'm talking about banking for the love of the mental and emotional challenge of banking, and the satisfaction of a job well done.

Extend this to any field of productiveness or creativity, such as becoming a artist and producing "material" works of art, such as paintings or sculpture.

It is up to you to discover what it is that nourishes the best in you and allows you to grow in a complete and harmonious way. That will be your personal meaning of life.


eudaimonia,

Mark

[wil]

I love the current answers to the poll. I would have chose the last one, but it said I hadn't thought about it...

I think it is like when your parents say you can't have any more toys till you learn to take care of the ones you've got.

We've been given a big blue ball, and a body, and friends to play with...and we'll keep coming back till we learn respect and take care of them all.

[InquisitiveInHalifax]

To love and be loved (I think it's also the wisest course).

-R

[Terrence]

This is the question of the ages. While I dont have a definate answer for to this question, I do believe I have some idea of who it is about. From my studies in the scripture, I see that life is about God revealing Himself in totality to all of His Creatures. Life is about God, even down to the most minute, most seemingly insignificat things. In Him, we eat, live, sleep, and exist. If we get our wills to line up with His, we will live to His Glory. Life is about God's Glory and God has a passion for His glory; thats why we exist. We exist to bring God Glory. Therefore, if we are fully satisfied in God, God will be most Glorified in us. God's glory is bound up in the enjoyment of His creation.

[aburaees]

I personally think the question is flawed. Like asking "what does the colour red taste like?"

I think the question should be "what is the purpose of life?"

[Terrence]

Thats pretty insiteful. I like that!

[Caimanson]

Originally Posted by InquisitiveInHalifax

To love and be loved (I think it's also the wisest course).

-R

That's the only true answer imo.
How do I get there?

[Kaspar]

Originally Posted by Vajradhara

Namaste kaspar,

thank you for the interesting thread.

when we talk about the "meaning of life" are we talking about solely from the human perspective or are we being inclusive of the myriad life forms on this world?

if we are focused upon the human aspect i think that we run the risk of a very narrow understanding which is, as expected, human-centric.

from an overall point of view, let us say, the only consistent aspect of life is procreation.. so, i would offer that "the purpose of life is to make more life." even then, however, we run into the semantic difficulties of ascribing "purpose" to beings which do not seem to have any sort of intelligence or will to make purposeful decisions. e.g. bacteria do not seem to be seeking a "purpose" for their actions.

i wasn't able to vote in the poll since none of the selections really correspond with my understandings of life, per se, nor my view of human life in particular.

metta,

~v

Thanks for all the posts so far, Vajradhara, cavalier, Eudaimonist, wil, InquisitiveInHalifax (great name), Terrence & aburaees. I apologise to all for my poll. Its quite badly written and narrow minded. I sort of rushed it.
Id like to have a look at what the difference is between the meaning of life and the purpose of life.

meaning (plural meanings)

1. a. The symbolic value of something. b. The significance of a thing, as "the meaning of life"
2. The definition or connotation of a word.

purpose (plural purposes)

1. An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
2. A result that is desired; an intention.
3. The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
4. The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
5. The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.

This is interesting because I think I was asking more what the purpose is (see definition) as opposed to the meaning (significance). In a way though i think that as aburaees said meaning of life does't really make sense. Meaning, is more like the meaning of a word, a complex implied lingustic thing. Life as such doesn't neccessarily need to have a meaning to it. It is something already.

Anyway, -perhaps slightly sidetracked- I heavily agree with what Eudaimonist said that

It is up to you to discover what it is that nourishes the best in you and allows you to grow in a complete and harmonious way. That will be your personal meaning of life.

I disagree with Vajradhara's quote that the meaning of life is simply to reproduce. Actually that may be where I went wrong because that may be the meaning (function) to reproduce but the purpose is to do and achieve something more sophisticated.

My fundamental question is assuming survival is secured. What should we do with our lives? What do people have as purposes and reasons to engage in this struggle for existence?

I apologise if my post is not clear because I believe Clarity is the most important thing in life. Lol unfortunately being soo young, my minds not very well trained.

Keep posting your thoughts.

[Vajradhara]

Namaste kaspar,

thank you for the post.

without a more narrow field of discussion, the only commonality that i can find amongst the myriad life forms on this world is their common drive to reproduce.. the biological imperative, if you will.

if we narrow the discussion to humans and the meanings or purpose of human life, we end up with a very different answer.. one which does not seem to be able to encompass other forms of life, e.g. the bacteria.

i would not asribe love nor wisdom to the insects that live in my backyard yet alive they most certainly are.

what is the common aspect of life amongst all beings that you see?

speaking from a strictly human animal point of view.. i would tend to agree with Mark.. what gives purpose to ones life is ones personal choices and the meanings which they derive from them and their consequences. in an idealized way, i could say that it would be the flourishing of Wisdom and Bliss which lead to Liberation.. but that is a fairly religious sort of answer.

in a very real sense.. the question is somewhat irrelevant and inconsequential to the actual day to day life of beings, they continue on as they have.. habit energy is very difficult to rechannel into other activities. regardless if i have a reason or purpose, the earth revolves and the sun shines.

metta,

~v

[Postmaster]

The meaning of life for everyone is to simply do as they desire.. Most people desire good things and for others!

[samabudhi]

Originally Posted by Postmaster

The meaning of life for everyone is to simply do as they desire.. Most people desire good things and for others!

Desires are endless, and not everyone goes about their desires the same way. This only leads to suffering.

[Prober]

Originally Posted by samabudhi

Desires are endless, and not everyone goes about their desires the same way. This only leads to suffering.

I agree - The purpose of life is to end all suffering.