What is the meaning of life?

Answer 1

"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question:

Survival and temporal success

* ...to accumulate wealth and increase social status
* ...to advance natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
* ...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future human
* ...to compete or co-operate with others
* ...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
* ...to die having succeeded in your purpose
* ...to gain and exercise power
* ...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
* ...to live
* ...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction or asexual reproduction
* ...to protect one's family
* ...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny
* ...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
* ...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
* ...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension)

Wisdom and knowledge

* ...to be without question, or to keep asking questions
* ...to expand one's perception of the world
* ...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
* ...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
* ...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
* ...to try to discover and understand the meaning of life
* ...to understand creation

Ethical

* ...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
* ...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
* ...to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land
* ...to become like God, or God-like
* ...to be rewarded for your deeds
* ...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. God)
* ...to express compassion
* ...to follow the "Golden Rule"
* ...to give and receive love
* ...to live in a way that you don't harm yourself and don't harm your environment
* ...to work for justice and freedom

Religious and spiritual

* ...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
* ...to die and become a martyr
* ...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with our natural environment (see utopia)
* ...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
* ...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
* ...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
* ...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
* ...to serve others, or do good deeds
* ...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment and atonement
* ...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
* ...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God
* ...to disprove the existence of a or all all gods

Other

* ...to achieve self-actualisation
* ...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
* ...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
* ...to live, and enjoy the passage of time
* ...to have fun
* ...to participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
* ...to make the conformists' lives miserable (see non-conformism)
* ...to participate in the chain of events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end (either freely chosen or determined, this is a subject widely debated amongst philosophers)
* ...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
* ...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced (see Buddhism)
* ...to seek and find beauty
* ...as there is no intrinsic meaning to life, to each individual, the "meaning of life" is whatever he/she decides it is. In that sense, every point above is potentially valid.
* ...an answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?" is that it is just simply being able to ask the question, "What is the meaning of life?" (see Sri Sri Ravi Shankar below)
* ...a combination of any of the above.

No purpose, and therefore...

* ...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
* ...just a series of events
* ...just nature taking its course
* ...the wheel of time keeps on turning
* ...the cycle of life
* ...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
* ...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever (see nihilism)
* ...who cares?

Answer 2

I'm not so sure about meaning, but it would be good if the world was affected in some way, by our being. We want to grow learn, teach our children the right things, the things we learned and believe are right. Watch our kids mature into intelligent, contributing citizens then watching thier kids grow and learn.
Maybe, inventing somthing that would change the world. Writing a poem that would read by everyone or writing a book, winning the Nobel Peace Prize and having your life story in students history book.
I am sure I could go on about the personal meaning of life.
The meaning of life is to leave life in the best possible condition contributing philisopically, physically and emotionally so the next generation can do the same for people that will relieve them .......

Answer 3

Life oh life... so complicated but so full of interesting things. I've learned something these past few months about trust and struggle.

#1. Don't trust 100% of what ur friends told u what to do... they might think that some matter is so easy and can-be-done in little times. But, they never realized it until they give up on it and left u all alone to be blame *sigh*

#2. Don't stop to do something u feel is right 'till u are finished. Life is still moving around u, isn't it? Can't blame anyone for the pain u've got, it's just ur own choices, ur own life... u must struggle and feel the pain if u want to stay alive.

sorry for the bad english..

Answer 4

Ok, I love the funny answers. So I have to add the serious one. Solomon was the wisest, richest man that ever lived. He had everything, did everything and at the end of his life he said, "here's one final thing I want to say. Have respect for God and obey his commandments. That's what everyone should do. God will judge everything people do. That includes everything they try to hide. He'll judge everything, whether it's good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Answer 5

The meaning of life is to acquire self-actualization. It's also about enjoying your life and not thinking about things that can cause you worry.
I've been looking for the answer for a long time. Now I've found it. if you want to discuss, just email me.

Answer 6

No life without strife
No strife without wife
Therfore it is that
No life without wife

Well, jest aside, life gets a special meaning from the capability to produce another life and a real meaning when such another life proves to be worthy of life.

Answer 7

As we know life was a complex subject to understand. It was a Destiny with millions of puzzle. Each single of puzzle is a quest. A quest full of uncounted questions. Start with the question of Who I am? Find the answers by your own. Go to next question find the answers again. When u keep on going then you'll find what is all about.

Answer 8

42

Answer 9

Love

Answer 10

Is there really an answer to this question? I think Life is what it is, and hopefully we can learn something from the people around us & teach them a lil something as well.

Answer 11

I would say that there is no inherent meaning of life. We exist for no particular reason. It is up to us to give purpose and meaning to our lives.