People run through the majority of their lives on auto-pilot, only cognizant of their surroundings to the level that is required for survival. Imperceptible intellect to that of an animal.

If you have ever driven your car and completely forgotten how you arrived at your destination, that sudden realisation is terrifying; and not easily forgotten. I think that level of self-awareness when you realise you have forgotten your trip, is much the same as the higher level of consciousness that the Gurdjieff lectures are about.

It is that level of thinking which ...click here to read more

-LW
Australia

I believe life has meaning, and it's condensed in the following verse:
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NKJV) "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all."

The purpose of life on ...click here to read more

-NP
Knoxville, TN

Looking at it from a scientific point of view , we are nothing more than elements bonding with elements to create tissue...skin..etc (you get it). Looking at it from a mental point of view...you ask "What am I living for?"

The meaning of life has no definite answer ...click here to read more

-CS
St. Louis, MO

I don't think life--in and of itself---has any meaning whatsoever. I think we have to give meaning to our own lives. I am not one who believes in God, Pre-Destination or anything like that. I think the problem is when it comes to the question of "What is The Meaning of Life" seems to imply that there is all one encompassing meaning for everyone.

Over the centuries, mankind has tried all kinds of ways to try to find "the answer" and many feel they have found it, either though politics, religion, philosophy etc but all you really have there are many many interesting ideas and theories but NONE of them have EVER found "The Answer" or "The Meaning". The question no one seems to want to address is whether or not there IS "Meaning" or if there even IS "an answer"... click here to read more

-JG
New York, NY

Picture this: A traveller in the mountains finds a rock formation in the shape of a cross. What does this mean? If our traveler is a Christian, he might read all kinds of religious meaning into the discovery and kneel down to pray. A scientist might touch the stone and recognise it as limestone, and how continual rain corroded the rock in such a way so to form the cross. A child might see the rock as a climbing frame and swing from its horizontal bars.

In this example we can readily see there is objective fact in the form of the rock, and subjective experience - religious, scientific and child-like... click here to read more

-AW
Leicester, England

I suppose any philosophical answer will start in that rather predictable way of looking at the question itself - is this the same sort of question as "what is the meaning of "red"?" for example? If not, then why not?

The problem seems to be that we are not talking about a clearly defined thing. So perhaps some clarification is needed here, and most will probably end up taking the interpretation something like Plato's question "How should one live?" (assuming there are broadly two ways of looking at things that ask "what is the meaning?" - "where did it come from?" and "what is it's purpose?" I believe the latter more worth looking at in this context - contrary to the multiculturalists and identity politicians who believe we are defined by our background rathe rthan where we want to go...) click here to read more

-SM
London, England

I think my idea of life is loosely based on those two. From Sartre, I take the concept of responsibility, which he summerizes as No excuses. You are responsible for what you do, what you say and what you are. You cannot give any excuses and run away from the responsibility. Camus talks more about meaning of life. According to him, if you try to find it, you will come up with the answer that it does not mean anything. Life is absurd, there are no reasons why things happen in one way and not the other. He gives an example of a man talking in a phone booth. From outside, the man apperas ridiculous making all those gestures because you cannot hear him. Life is a bit like that. If you get involved, everything is fine. But the moment you pause and ask, what does it all amount to? you end up with the answer that it does not amount to anything...click here to read more

-RK
Pune, India

No meaning. click here to read more

-SN
Seoul, South Korea

I think that humans are born existential in nature (in pursuit of some meaning). However, along our course (which is largely believed to be pre-determined), the thought of questioning our existence is lost. Why should we question anything when we are so wise in the ways of the world? We can build skyscrapers, develop the latest gizmos, send man into space, and destroy entire nations with the press of a button. Yet we, the wise, cannot cure imperialism, suffering, disease, poverty, hunger, over population, and racism, which are all at the heart of the human condition. We become so absorbed by how we should live, that we forget to live altogether. And we conveniently forget to ask that which is most fundamental to our existence, “What is the meaning of life?"

In our adolescence... click here to read more

-NS
Switzerland

The concept of life, as far as I am concerned, is an ideology to forfeit. Life is as subjective as art or a flower or literature, and therefore there is no objective reason on what direction or why we exist. Of course, there are prepackaged answers located at ecclesiastic centers which would indicate that a "god" of some kind was behind a great scheme which is left unseen until an appropriate "judgment day" will occur resulting in the ending of all life and sifting out rewards and punishments based on terms of piousness.

In my own life I have encountered numerous explanations on exactly what shared "meaning" of life is and I have come to the conclusion that these explanations are the workings of an evil deity known as the demiurge, which is an unholy being which sees its basis on what exists, or what makes its existence on both the spiritual and materialistic world. The demiurge was the son of the goddess "Sophia" (which is Greek for 'wisdom')... click here to read more

-DA
Ontario, Canada

 

 

People like to relate religion to a meaning of life so I could venture there for a moment. I've always considered myself a drifter in this field. I was baptized Catholic but considered myself rejected (mainly by choice) at a young age when I was informed by my Sunday school teacher that all non-Catholics would spend eternity in Hell. My best friend at the time happened to be Jewish, and I instinctively understood the power organized religion can have, and that this power can be used for good or bad.

I now affiliate my beliefs with more Eastern traditions in spirituality. I believe in reincarnation, karma and compassion. I have mixed beliefs, though. I am the prime example of how nobody is entirely capable of shedding everything they were raised around...click here to read more

-CW

 

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