Existential questions. How can I find relief.?

Question

For the last several years I've been tormented by Existential questions, meaning of life, why are we here, why do we care, why do we eat, why do we love. I spend alot of time pondering these things and it induces alot of anxiety for me because I cannot find answers. Does anyone know a good book on the subject, not something that will provide answers because I don't believe there are any but just something that might bring comfort to my mind. Thank you.

P.S. I don't believe in god so don't bother refering me to a bible :)

Answer 1

You should watch the movie, "I Heart Huckabees". It will help you answer some of those questions in an enjoyable way.

Otherwise, check the works of Jean Paul Satre, Frederich Nietsche, Descartes, to name a few.

Answer 2

Existentialism, when taken too seriously, it can be more than a nausea; it can be a migrain. But there's a good thing about existentialism too. You can do whatever you want. For example when you feel that you have an obligation to, say, go to the school your parents chose against your will, if you took it, you made the choice, but if you think carefully, you can make all other choices: there are more possibilities open to you. It's just that you do not yet know about it. It's a matter of realization...

Granted: you do not believe in God. So I won't bring up theistic stuff. My straightforward suggestion is Buddhism. Buddhism is not about God, Angel or anything. It doesn't have anything to do with divine or it doesn't even have divine scriptures.

For example, if you go up to a monk and asks a serious question, "my girlfriend broke my heart. what should I do?" Maybe he would say, "just shut up and clean your room." Then when you do go up to a monk asking a rather trivial question, "hey, where's my beer?" He may reply to you with a rather deep question like, "what's the menaing of life?" The point is this: you'll FIND the meaning in everyday life. Loosely speaking, taking one particular instance and trying to find meaning in it is a futile move. You'll find it as a whole. In fact, buddhism is a very wholistic one. (i cannot be certain if buddhism should be regarded as a religion in western sense)

If you want to be very serious: you can try Taoism too. Tao te ching... You can find it on amazon.com as well. Tao te ching is a script, but it is not a divine scripture.

If you are also open for many other ways, and first want to shop around, I can recommend a perfect book for you. It's entitled World's Religion by Houston Smith.

Good Luck

PS: If you read Sartre's No Exist, can you not at least agree that charactors there have certain essences? Existence preceeds essence; so there's no meaning in life? Make your own essence; make yourself happy. If you say you're feeling down because of what you read in existentialism, sartre would say that you're feeling down because you CHOSE to be that way. In existentialism, the beauty is that you can also choose to be happy.

Answer 3

hello.
exisistentialistic questions usually happen in the early to mid twenties.
if you are younger, you should be enheartened to learn that you are ahead of the game. if you are older, it is ok, that is the point of a midlife crisis!!!
these are my answers to the same questions. you do not have to agree with them.
1. Meaning of life.
first think of this Earth as superior to us as humans. It and It's life have and will be in existence much longer than you or I. Think about the meaning of every species. Darwinism. To succeed no matter what. Survival of the fittest.
So. you may or may not believe in God, but believe this. if there is a God, he likes success, and he wants to see you (perhaps a collective YOU) succeed. So ask some questions to successful people. They will USUALLY give you good answers.
2. Why are we here.
I do believe in God, but I also fully believe in Evolution, meaning that we have adapted for enough time to have called it evolution (the law of the fourth dimension being that ALL MATTER WILL BE IN A STATE OF CONSTANT CHANGE). So we are here indeed because god made a seed (the original, infintesimally small, pre-big bang universe) and then planted it. So yes, we are of random chance. (if you study statistics you will know the difference between randomness and chaos.)
3. we care because we want to see our species flourish, not fail. This is the first stage of love.
4. eating is the nature of our existence. protiens and carbohydrate chemicals are broken down and built into more complex structures. (learn about organic Chemistry.)
5. Why do we love?
this is the mystery.
We love because.........
this one has me lost.
read some of my earlier posts for my own Q's about this one.
It is in a way a curse. I have never felt so deeply hurt.
but a blessing all the same. Could you imagine an earthly existence without love? It would suck. No kisses. no gifts. no thank you's.
Why?
In all truth, this is why I believe in God.
Because there exists Love.
Books? read Anne Lammott
or Annie Dillard. The Dalai Lama has a good new one, The Universe in a Single Atom.
and good luck.
spoonman.

Answer 4

I think the condition is officially called: "Existential Angst" ; )

I've found that embracing Determinism makes a lot of the pain go away...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism

If you accept that you don't really have freewill and that you are but a cog in the machinery of the universe, then you don't have to worry about much. Que Serra, Serra! Whatever will be, will be.

It is quite rational and liberating and doesn't require a belief in any god or religion. Only takes a few seconds to comprehend- and leaves a lifetime to enjoy!

Also, check out the book "The Dice Man". Lots of fun. I second the "I Heart Huckabees" recommendation.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Some things exist whether you believe in them or not , and you only want to know the answers because you are searching for purpose. You are searching for deeper meaning because you are a spiritual being. You are a spiritual being because you were created as one. Stop denying it and relax. YOU DON"T HAVE THE ANSWERS.....but the bible might shed some light....you know you are curious.....after all it is at the for front of your mind in order for you to state you are not to be asked to read it.Ask yourself why you feel so strongly about not reading the bible, that might shed some light on why you don't believe in God , etc. etc. etc.

Answer 6

Dilbert.

He shows us how very complicated we make our lives is and suffer the consequence for our penchant for it.

Since you dont expect answer - and most likely there is none - you wont get any.

It is like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there.

I enjoy abstraction but I have learned long ago not to make it my life. After all, there is more to us than being brain..

Maybe you dont need sparks of understanding on these existentialist questions, but answer why you are so obessessed with them.

Answer 7

Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse

Answer 8

i know what you are going through, i was there about three years ago but i managed to climb out of that whole. metaphorically speaking!
what you need to do is address two things: self/ego, and the collective aspect of existence i.e. other people.

for these issues i would recommend Buddhists texts, but please remember to approach these from a philosophical point of view.
1. the diamond that cuts through illusion-thich nhat hanh
2.ethics for the new millennium-dalai lama
3.zen mind, beginner's mind-shunryu suzuki

remember philosophically the Buddhists are the only ones who even come close to what you are asking. take advantage of their writings. they've been asking these questions for thousands of years.

Answer 9

Go to the source.

Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Jaspers, Heidegger

if you read interpretations and petty meanderings, novels and half-*** metaphors, you won't have a clear way of navigating your own convictions.

Answer 10

hey my situation was exactly of like u .. but i came in contact with one book of rajneesh .... names as osho..which was titled as from bondage to freedom.. that book changed my whole life.. now i m not feeling these anxieties so if u can find any of the books of osho ... this depends upon u ... this whole is the existential books