Meaning of Life- WARNING: Reading may kill you[:P]

[James S]

I'm sorry, I've gotta say it! I know it's been said before....

but....42

[panabelle]

Personally, I have to agree with 42. Why do I need to know the meaning of life beyond that? I'm happy with just trying to be the best I can.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Timeless, you've got it; We end up where we started from, but on a higher level. Chinese proverb: "Life is a journey. Death is returning home." Often in kung fu I find myself practicing the same things over and over, but each time I practice I try to improve and focus on higher level things. I'm doing the same things but I'm seeing it different ways.

As the man on the poles said to Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's series, "Everything you see or hear or experience in any way is specific to you. Therefore, everything in the Universe is specific to you."

Sometimes I wonder why I'm even in college. I have this desire/need to develop my spirit, and here I am in college. Yet, what would a church teach me that I haven't already figured out for myself? I don't mean to sound cocky or anything, but the reason I stopped going to church was because I felt it limited my ability to spiritually progress. Something inside me told me it just wasn't the right place for me, that I didn't need it anymore. Like I graduated or something. Where can one go to learn more?

[Epsilon]

I know what you mean Ender.  Though I never really went to church, my family isn't very religious at all.  But I can connect with you in that I question why I'm at college as well.  You learn everything you need to know about your career while you're on the job.  90% of the stuff you learn in college becomes practically useless afterwards.  The only reason you should finish college is because no one will hire you without a degree, even if your skills are better than anyone else they have. [xx(]

Sometimes I question why I'm where I am.  I would love to move to some remote location in the woods and live peacefully, atleast for a few years.  I feel like I cannot develop my spiritual side with so many people and distractions all around me.  And then I sit and think if that spiritual side of me is important or not.  Is it important enough to put my life on pause for a couple years?  What will people think if I told them that I'm leaving for a couple years so I can do that?  They're gonna think I'm nuts!  That I joined some cult and they'll never see me again, which is so far from the truth.  It's like I'm being pulled from both sides, but I feel I have an obligation to stay where I am.  What would the consequences be if I don't ever develop and/or mature that other side of me?  Will it be delaying my higher self's ultimate goal/journey?  I don't know!  I think part of the "meaning of life" is to learn, enjoy, and love, and that there is a higher-self that has it's own journey to go through, and that I'm just a part of that journey.  In the end I always seem to decide to stay where I am, and that maybe later in life I will be presented with the opportunity to go elsewhere.  (but what if I don't?  lol, too much to think and worry about...) []

"Ep"

[Anonymous]

All I know is, I have to be me. Nobody else can be me for me. If I needed to go and develop the more spiritual side of myself in the woods, I wouldn't hesitate. I would probably only tell a couple people what I was really doing, and the rest I would tell that I was going on a vacation or something. That way they wouldn't think I was nuts. I already consider myself insane anyway, by most peoples' standards. Or at least a freak. And I'm proud of it. Not being popular in high school has really paid off. Now I don't care what people think of me so I can do whatever I want anyway. Plus, they expect me to do something weird. for me, it's normal. I take advantage of this. hehehe. Muahhahahahahahahaha! hmm, not an evil enough laugh. Oh well, the world will be mine soon enough [:p], as soon as I get enough henchmen.

[panabelle]

Hehe, not if I conquer it first! []

No one answered my question. Why do we NEED to know the meaning of life? (Not life, the universe, and everything. Maybe just life and the universe. Maybe then it would be 28? (Two thirds of 42...HAHA![]))

[Anonymous]

Well, I think it's important to know the meaning of life because there is a message that I believe we are all supposed to come to understand as we live our lives. We start by asking questions such as, "why are we here? What is the purpose or the point of living our lives? Why do most of us fear death and try to survive? These questions can be answered by understanding the meaning of life. One thing remains the same throughout one's life: Change. That, I believe, is the key to the whole puzzle. With constant change, there must be one thing that remains the same- one's ability to deal with it perfectly. I think that's what we're trying to achieve here on the earth, to learn how to deal with different situations and remain intact through them, to immunize ourselves to change, but only in such a way that we are still compassionate, loving beings. This is why Jesus was the greatest human that ever lived. He was able to deal with change in such a way that when he found his spiritual path, he could not be shaken from it (then again he was also the son of God so he likely knew his spiritual path while still in Mary's womb). But nevertheless, even as he encountered things that would shatter ordinary men, he was never shaken. He was able to endure all the situations life threw at him, even his own crucifixion. It is our job to achieve a level of understanding that will prevent us from being shaken from our beliefs. There will come a time when we learn to be immuned to change, and our beliefs will become unshakable to it. Life will throw us soft blows and hard blows. From those blows, we must learn what our weaknesses are and fix them.

The meaning of life cannot be conveyed by mere words. That's why we're here. This is God's message to us, and only by living life can we- all of us- come to understand it.

[Anonymous]

God's message is spoken to us in the language of life itself.

[panabelle]

Umm...I feel stupid asking this question, but...I haven't really found a religion I entirely agree with yet. You talk about Jesus and I just sorta sit there and go, "Uh ok right whatever." No offense, but it doesn't really MEAN anything to me. (Don't get me wrong, I believe in God. Definitely. I think. I'm entering a phase where I'm trying to figure this out.)

Sorry if I accidentally offended anyone. Which I probably did. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Panabelle-

I don't see how your message could offend anyone. You are just asking a question. It's always good to say that though if you're not sure[]. As for religion, i don't go to church. They have their head too buried in that Good Book of theirs. I think churches are an ok starting point, but after awhile, you start being able to figure things out for yourself. There was a good couple of years in my life where, even though I believed in God and Jesus and everyone, I would just do my own thing. I didn't go to church, I didn't worry so much about others, I just kind of worried about myself and figuring out who I was. That can be a rough road to take sometimes, and it's not for everyone. Some stay on this road and continue down it for the rest of their lives. In order to know the wholeness of God, you must know the emptiness of God's absence. God is never really absent from your life. But you decide how close to him or far away from him you are. I noticed after awhile that a lot of the things that were important to me were important because I had a materialistic mentality. I cared too much about how others saw me and I wasn't being myself. I was into things (items). I was trying to be what others around me told me to be. After a time I realized that this was not the way to go through life, and I decided to experience life differently. By changing some of my beliefs, I was able to change myself.

When someone tells you to loosen up and enjoy life, look at them and see how they are living. Ask yourself if you want to end up like that person. You'll know the people I'm talking about. They are the people who become jobless bums who spend what little money they have on alcohol and strip clubs. It's good to loosen up and enjoy life, as long as you don't forget to work hard and don't forget what's important.

Anything else I can clear up, let me know.

[jilola]

Throwing in the proverbial you know what....

Life has no meaning but it doeas have a purpose.
There is no meaning because one life is essentially insignificant when contrasted with the totality of existence, call it God, call it the One, Buddha, whatever, Mu? One lifetime doesn't necessarily mean anything.
But life has a purpose. It is to go through a certain set of circumstances as best we can to accumulate the experiences and lessons learned.
Something that is in itself complete cannot understand individuality which is why we are able to incarnate as individuals.

2cents & L&L
jouni

[Anonymous]

Jilola, but I can't help but disagree with you on this one, but you bring up a very good point. I was not talking about one life, however, I was talking about however many lives one needs to live until they find the way out of the loop of reincarnation. Life is but a very small, but important part of the Creator(s)'s Great Plan. This plan was created for us. Individuality is important to life, and vise versa. What is life? It is, partly, the opportunity to travel on one of the two paths- good or evil. Free will is what gives us this opportunity. The meaning of life is closely connected with free will. We must learn to wield free will as we would a dangerous tool such as a sharp knife. Misuse of it will cause you or someone else suffering. We must carefully use it to achieve our purpose and be responsible with it. That is what we must learn while we are here. Free will is a privilege, but is also a responsibility. Whether our path be good or evil, we must decide correctly what our paths will be. You learn about both, and you go from there. To choose evil is to never be able to spiritually advance. It is a cage without bars, a prison without walls. The path of good leads to ultimate freedom. But only if it is a path of ultimate good. I think that is why so many of us come back here, to achieve that path of ultimate good. It's not easy, but hey, you get what you pay for. Life means what happens to you after you die. You can alter the meaning as you go. You either give up, or you try until you do it right. But live each life as if it were your only one. Good luck to all on all your journeys in all your lives.

Jilola, your input is much appreciated.

Panabelle, the Great Question is, "What is 6 times 9?"

[jilola]

Ender: Actually, if I read your reply correctly, you and I seem to agree.

quote:There is no meaning because one life is essentially insignificant when contrasted with the totality of existence, call it God, call it the One, Buddha, whatever, Mu? One lifetime doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Notice I mention one life and later repeat by saying that one lifetime doesn't in itself mean anything.
Where we seem to diverge is the relation between life and the Great Plan, specifically I don't think there is a Great Plan that is separate from us. We are it.
But I think that doesn't matter as long as we live each life to the best of our abilities and gather the lessons.
Being true to oneself and thus to the universe/God/Buddha is what counts. Everything else is just different stepes to the same rhythm.

2cents & L&L
jouni

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I think of us as making up the body of God (who is the Universe and everything in it)- We could be sub-sub-sub-atomic particles within his body, such as quarks or even mazons. The Universe is huge. Notice how our interplanetary system is a lot like the structure of an atom- and there is so much space between atoms. Then we also have galaxies, which could be considered molecules, and galaxy clusters, which could be considered cells. And we also have so much more stuff that hasn't been discovered yet.

I can see that we agree. I misunderstood what you were saying about life. I definitely agree with you. One life in itself does not have meaning. The Great Plan I was talking about includes us (like you said, we ARE it). I probably could have made that more clear. We are definitely on the same side of this discussion.

[panabelle]

quote:Originally posted by EnderWiggin

Panabelle, the Great Question is, "What is 6 times 9?"

Oh, is that from the next book? I've only read up to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

quote:Originally posted by EnderWiggin

But live each life as if it were your only one.

Ah hah! All the info I need right there. Thanx! []

[Anonymous]

I think the meaning of life is the achievement of spiritual development towards the pre-intended side of the cosmic forces that your higher self determined would most benefit the greater good and also the level of understanding that you achieve or seek to achieve in your lifetime(s).
Free will was given to you so that you could show the Great Being(s) (i.e. God, gods, goddesses, etc.) what you are really made of, in other words, how effectively you can use it to achieve your goals. Your goals determine where you end up when you die and your karma is attonement for all the mistakes you make. I've been told one can reduce their karma by the good deeds they do for others.

Contrary to what I have just posted, the meaning of life is probably not able to be understood by us humans. The meaning of life is the message that God intended it to convey. It's different for everyone. Your perspective/disposition/perception determines your cause and your path. As you travel the path, your perception may change, and so, your path also may change. the goal (this word is going to sound weird later on in this sentence) is to make sure you aren't walking around in circles, and to find the path that is as straight a line from you to your goal as possible.

I will elaborate on this post later, when I have more time.