Meaning of Life

[MindFreak]

Mankind seems more interested in physical knowledge. Knowledge of everything that is temporary.

[Lente]

The meaning of life is to live.

[MindFreak]

Then what does it mean to live?

[Lente]

Then what does it mean to live?

To experience.

[peaceful warrior]

The meaning of life is to be happy. It is what everyone works towards in life.

[mazdaaf]

But if you were totally 100% happy then wouldn't it get boring? What would you do next? We need a spectra of different emotions and moods to have a reason to go on and try new things. If it were possible to find a way to be happy all the time then we would stop doing other things in fear that we would lose that happiness.

I think the meaning (if there is one) is to get over our fears and explore all there is to experiance. That includes helping others experiance it too

[TishAnna]

According to many sources that I have read, the purpose of life is the evolution and perfection of the soul.  We must balance or pay back our Karmic debts that we have created and accumulated by committing wrong doing against others.  We balance our Karma by experiencing the same emotions or similar emotions that we caused others to feel.  We need to get rid of our fears, worries, and negative characteristics (greed, selfishness, control, materialism, etc.).  We learn this through experiencing life and by being placed in situations that will best help us achieve whatever virtues we want to work on.  Once our soul has reached the state of peace, harmony, unconditional love, etc. without committing wrong doing against others, it will no longer have a need to incarnate into the physical realm.

[MindFreak]

You cant have happiness without its opposite. so it is impossible to be happy all the time. Happiness is a state of mind, it doesnt exist on its own and it isnt brought on by external things, but rather our reaction to them or our own personal prefrences regarding those external phenomena.

Rather than try and "work karma out" we should try to break free from the bonds of karma, which comes with enlightenment, awakening, nirvana, bodhi, and so on.

[dirty_blonde]

enlightenment is a funny thing you see,

as i take it, its breaking the hold that all egos have on a person, thus enabling them to simply be free to exist. No suffering, but no pleasure...just utter serenity.

but any agenda is a product of an ego, even the ones essential to survival. All a "need" is, is an essential something required for a desired result. (Surely you don't need to eat if you don't intend on living.) Yet, any desire or agenda is a product of an ego, and thus, any voluntary action would be a product of an ego, or perhaps many egos. A truly enlightened person would cease act voluntarily. Though they would hunger and thirst, they wouldn't drink or eat because such actions are reactions in an attempt to pursue and agenda i.e. living.  So what does true enlightenment get you? dead.  But you could care less because the hardest ego to get over is the desire to exist, or perhaps the desire to desire.

[ChineseRoom]

Biologically, our purpose in live is to pass on our genes to the next generation. Beyond that, I dont know. From my experience so far, the meaning of life is what you assign to it, but who knows. There may be some kind of spiritual meaning in life, but I've seen no evidence of this thus far.

[Ensoñador]

Opinion on level 1:

We need a meaning for life because we cant acept truely that we are going to die. We invent all sorts of theories to make feel our egos safe. There is no meaning but the one each construct to give ourselfs direction, order and purpose in an inherently nonsense and accidental universe.

[MichaelK]

Well it is enlightenment I think, cleaning ourselves of anything "bad", which is all that's not light that we have in our energy field.
If we look at human energy field theory it becomes sort of "easier" to answer this question. Then, it looks like the purpose of our lives is to clear our field or aura which also means to live through experiences set for us in this and future lives in order to achieve full self realisation and final enlightenment which would eventually set us free from karma and reincarnation.

[andonitxo]

I'd say: to experience restriction, to understand the value of patience, to learn to take care of everything around and to admit the wholeness of the universe.

[kizzyboy328]

i think there is no certain meaning to life.

the only meaning to life there is, is one that you make yourself.

Some people may think the meaning of life is to be the wealthiest person in the world, yet some may think that the meaning of life is to be the best, without using money.

I personally think everybody has their own meaning, not just mankind has 1 meaning but billions.

[EqualThoughts]

u guys i hate to tell you this.... but your going to die
we are all going to die.... you see we have all somehow been infected with this lethal affliction called life, and whats worse...we could die any day. as to why we've been infected, no one knows, because a side effect of the disease is temporary and possibly permanent memory loss of everything that happened prior to infection.
   
    LOL   

-Thoughts

[Sharpe]

I like that first thought of that guy that said to live.
It's true, we live to stay alive, but that's only the instinctive side, if we are talking about the actual meaning of life, it's very easy to tell. Humans have to live up to the values, then they can be "happy".
Happiness IS the meaning of life. We search for happiness subconsciously, why do you wanna live in the first place? Why would you live when you cant feel alive? Why do the gangsters in the ghetto's wanna be gangsters? Cuz that's their value, if you keep seeing that being a gangster is cool. You'll be happy if you are one. That's their value, that's their culture. When you grow up , you start to build an image to how you can be happy. When you achive this image, you're happy.

[Awakened_Mind]

To me, the meaning of life is being yourself. Nothing more. I think I simply live, not live for.

"Happiness is a synonym of well-being." - Bruce Lee.

-AM

[Mattimo]

I do agree with the tenet that the purpose of life is what people are able to ultimately realize.  My purpose is to be content.  I say this because I believe society en masse is toxic.  From the moment we are born, we are indoctrinated with materialistic ideals and are bombarded by excessive sexual content courtesy of the corporate world and media.  As a result, the conceptual understanding of love, happiness, success, spirituality, etc has been co-opted.  Governments and (some) religions, lest we forgot, are equally as responsible for contributing to this "mess" and have been responsible for much of the violence and deception that exists in the world today.  This negative atmosphere can contribute greatly to the mental states of all people, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not.  I feel, therefore, to be able to find oneself and to know oneself and to be content with oneself amidst this chaos is paramount to life.  In retrospect, in viewing my life thus far, I realize I took myself too seriously - and for what?  In the end, I got angry, I was self-conscious to the extreme, etc. 

But is their TRULY meaning to it all?  I believe ultimately the answer is no, there is no meaning, their is only "is-ness."  I observed above, someone referring to the universe and life as an accident.  How can that be so, I ask, if that IS the reality?   

[Sharpe]

To me, the meaning of life is being yourself. Nothing more. I think I simply live, not live for.

"Happiness is a synonym of well-being." - Bruce Lee.

-AM

Am, you should try something, do you know that when you were just a little kid, you started asking old guys funny questions like: WHYYYYYYYY lol. After every answer you continue asking WHYYYYYY, well i tried this many times, and eventually, THE answer i get with every "why are you doing this" question is: To be Happy. I can't find another eventual answer, the questions just stop there, you can't ask: why do you want to be happy? Because the answer to that is another question: Why wouldn't you want to be happy?
So AM, why do you want to be yourself? Answer (just a guess) = Because that makes me feel better/Happy/good?

[Awakened_Mind]

Sharpe,

Why would I want to be anyone else but myself?
How can I be someone else if I can never truly escape myself?
What is the benefits in being someone else?
Where can I find solace in being another person?

To say "the meaning of life is to be happy" is too general, because the question then follows "How does one attain happiness?" My answer to this question "to be yourself." IMO, Hitler attained his meaning of life and he was not happy.

-AM

[Sharpe]

No, listen, i'm not asking about a how question, just the why question, don't bring up anything else then why, so no what, who, where, how.
You want to be yourself, that's wonderfull. Do know that you already are yourself, and if this is what you want as the meaning of life, you should already be happy. Though let me add: When you've tasted happiness, you know that it isn't enough, happiness can always be more, unlike other feelings. And it isn't an instant feeling like ecstasy it's a long term feeling, you can lose it any moment, you can gain it any moment. Because of my culture here in Holland and the people around me, the only way to achieve happiness is by having a beatifull and smart wife, that's #1, and having a above-average job #2, having a nice car and a nice house #3. I can't fully say that I really want this but, it's not my decision to make, this is the way happiness is printed on my head, I can't change it because this has been tought to me since i was a little baby. When I achieve this, my brain is going to signal the presym... something, which is gonna release the neurotransmitters: Serotonin and norepinephrine in to my neuroreceivers, that will make me feel like I took an overdosis XTC. Actually, I don't care, if this is the way to achieve happiness, i'm willing to go for it. I don't even have the choise to say if I want it or don't want it, cuz i have been tought to want it. Like I said before, we are just another piece of biological dump and we really have no meaning, just a road given to us suggesting we should release serotonin and norepinephrine in our brains, because that's the best feeling you can have. If you want to get out of this scene and go for a road yourself doing new-agy things like: channeling, talking to ghosts and doing telepathy, go right ahead, just let me suggest you that these things are all in your brain, the brain makes anything real, the only thing you need is to believe it. But my opinion is to choose the way that everyone does, just with "knowing" better then them, gives you an advantage, study neuroscience and psychology, then you'll know everything, and you wouldn't be blind and believe everything you see, just a suggestion...
Ask yourself this question: Do I want to live

[Awakened_Mind]

the only way to achieve happiness is by having a beatifull and smart wife, that's #1, and having a above-average job #2, having a nice car and a nice house #3. I can't fully say that I really want this but, it's not my decision to make, this is the way happiness is printed on my head, I can't change it because this has been tought to me since i was a little baby.

I disagree.

study neuroscience and psychology, then you'll know everything, and you wouldn't be blind and believe everything you see, just a suggestion...
Ask yourself this question: Do I want to live

I'm studying Psychology at University and I took an elective in neuroscience. So since you have such a vast amount of knowledge in the areas, tell me exactly what part of either proves that this is all in our head.

-AM

[Sharpe]

I never said i had a vast ammount of knowledge in these areas, heck, i never said i even studied them, just suggesting it. And since im 17 don't expect me to have university knowledge about these things.
And I just saw a few video's about neuroscience... and... wow, the brain is SUCH a fantastic object, it's like nature's masterpiece. I understand that the frontal lobe of humans are a bit bigger then animals like chimpansee's, this part stops us from doing things that are against our culture (inhibits things). I don't know why you disagree with my idea of "happiness is achieved by reaching the things that are most of value in the culture you grew up in". Though, if you are really studying psychology, please correct me on how to achieve happiness. This is just the way i analyzed it.
And again about the "I'm studying Psychology at University and I took an elective in neuroscience. So since you have such a vast amount of knowledge in the areas, tell me exactly what part of either proves that this is all in our head."
Don't get me wrong or anything, but it sounds like you really want to test me here, since you have read psychology, you know you do this because u want to be the "superior" (the dominance thing), am I right or wrong, just correct me if I'm wrong. Anyways, there's no specific part that shows you this is all in our heads, but I did seem to realize that I started THINKING more after I read one of those NLP books (the joseph o'connor one). Maybe you can do this too by reading philosophy books, i dunno.
I just know that when you get into the whole psychology or philosophy subject, it takes over your life and you think way more different then you did before you read them. Changes your life. 

[Awakened_Mind]

Sharpe,

You can have a wife, house/car, money everything materialistic and still not be happy. So saying these are imperative to happiness is completely void. Psychology is individual, social and cross-cultural. Saying that "happiness is achieved by reaching the things that are most of value in the culture you grew up in" is also wrong, it's the same as saying with 100% certainty that some people in some cultures will never be happy conforming to their societies culture.

study neuroscience and psychology, then you'll know everything, and you wouldn't be blind and believe everything you see, just a suggestion...

That is not honest. You are implying that you have knowledge in the area.

This is in no way about me trying to be more superior. This to me, is everyone's right to hear the truth because that is my right as well. IMO, what you are saying is no where near it.

-AM

[Sharpe]

"That is not honest. You are implying that you have knowledge in the area."
I never said anything about me studying about it, but if i have to be honest, these are the subjects that just opened my eyes about life and the simplicity of our thoughts.
And about the superiority part, are you sure that you want to just hear the truth, or is that a cover up for you actually WANT to be superior? Because to be honest, i DO want to be a superior in this part and i'm not gonna cover it up. Because you can have a wife, house/car, loadsa money and not be happy, but why wouldn't you be happy? You have everything which would make an average person in your culture happy. I think it's quite rare if you're not happy if you have all the materialistic things. Money doesn't make you happy, but it sure as hell helps a lot, don't you agree?