What is the meaning of life?

Question

Please don't say going to heaven, or get a life, get a haircut, etc. I want a serious answer. If you don't know, just say it, and then think some. Like I am... Thanks and I appreciate your thoughtful answers.

Answer 1

This one question "meaning of Life" is the most asked question on the Internet. Why?


Every Human Being wants to know and understand the Philosophy behind the meaning of Life! Why are we here... what is the purpose of our living on Mother Earth... what is the real meaning of Life? The queries are numerous... there has got to be a justification for our living. What is the basis of existence of Life on planet Earth?


Before we indulge into knowing "the meaning of Life" we need to understand Life itself. How do we differentiate between a mortal (living being) and an immobile material (having no Life within)? For this we need to start from the beginning of the Cosmos itself... The time of the big bang!

At the time of the big bang when God, the Almighty Creator which is but the size of half a thumb explodes itself... all Atmans (Souls) get scattered all over the cosmos and in doing this they lose their pristine purity and as a ball coated with honey gathers dust while rolling... these Atmans (Souls) also get impregnated with impurities. This is the fundamental cause of Life... if these Atmans (Souls) had remained pure all the time... the need for Life in whole of the cosmos would not have arisen.


These Atmans (Souls) in their cosmic journey now need a body so that they can purify themselves and come back to their original pristine form. These Atmans (Souls) do not have the power to purify themselves without the aid of any external body. They need a body to work out its Karma and in the process the dross within the Atman soul shall get removed.


Let me explain this further but before that I need to explain the definition of God.


At the time of pralaya as we call it in Hinduism (the time of complete dissolution of the cosmos)... the total cosmos which consists of many universes dissolves back into its original pristine form... this is the form we know as God, the Almighty Creator! The size of the whole cosmos at this moment of time is half the size of a thumb, which is nothing else, but the collection of all purified Atmans (Souls) in the cosmos.

For purifying themselves why do the Atmans (Souls) need a body? This feature can be explained further by the example of mining.


If I need to extract one KG of pure gold (say an individual purified Atman in its pristine pure form) from a lump of hundred KG of gold ore then I need to pass the lump of hundred KG of gold ore through the requisite mining process. It is absolutely clear that this one KG of pure gold can not on its own separate itself out from the hundred KG of gold ore without the help of an external medium... it needs requisite machinery to remove the 99 KG of dross within the ore.

Similarly, the unpurified Atman the soul within cannot on its own remove the dross within... it needs an external medium... a body in order to come back to its original pristine form. And in the process... this so-called impure Atman is required to manifest a body, which consists of a long chain of manifestations... a total of 8.4 Million manifestations and a Life cycle of 96.4 Million earthly years... a long journey indeed! More on meaning of life here- http://www.godrealized.org/what_is_the_meaning_of_life.html

Answer 2

Here are a few views that should stimulate your interest:
1) Perhaps the question "what is the meaning of life" is an inchoerent one. It is like asking "what color is saturday?" and makes no sense. However, everyone seems to ask it, so there must be something to it. This is called questioning the question.

2) God gives us meaning. However, if god is not real, then you are just deluding yourself, and you might as well do heroine if you want to do that.

3) There is no inherent meaning of life, and you can not make any meaning. This is Nihilism.

4) There is no inherent meaning of life and you have to choose your own. This is Existentialism. So instead of the meaning of life being like a jigg-saw puzzle you put together, it is more like a collage that you get to make. But then, what if your 'collage' that you choose is to exterminate all the jews? Some object to this saying that we would get more pleasure out of life if other people looked approvingly at our 'collage.' However, if that were the case, you now have some sort of requiste for what is a 'good' collage and a 'bad' collage, which brings us to...

5) Aristotelian Virtue ethics- This doesn't have to do with the meaning of life itself, but rather, what makes a person 'good' or virtuous, and then the meaning of life sort of flows from that. The idea goes back to aristotle, who tried to make a list of virtues based on the golden mean (e.g. that the virtue bravery was in between that of cowardice on one end and irrational risk taking on the other). And then some might say virtue is its own reward, or that the reward of virtue is life, and the reward of life is happiness. So the meaning of life would "to be a good person." And 'good' means on target, so you these virtues would then be an anthropological study of what exactly the 'human' target is.

Personally I tend towards a mixture of 4 and 5. I think that we choose our own meaning within the confines of human nature. So there isn't exactly a 'bulls-eye' we are trying to hit, just a hoop to pass through. For example, out of these carrer choices, which is unlike the other four: 1) A doctor, 2) A social worker 3) An engineer 4) A carpenter 5) A tree. Humans are caring, social, inventing, building beings, but we do not have the capacity to plant our feet in the soil and have them serve as roots.

Some might argue that there is no such thing as human nature (nihilists and existentialist) but I'm sure I've taken up plenty of your time. Good luck.

Answer 3

Thinking scientifically: survive, reproduce, give your children the best chance as possible. Almost every species, except maybe those living rock thingamajigs, has those simple instincts. Deep within the beginning of life is the reason we began to pass on our genes. However, while participating in the global competition which is survival, it is largely possible to do whatever you like. While anything you experience may be simply a chemical reaction of endorphins in your brain, who cares? Wanting these endorphins is all right for a lot of people, however, it may be a little shallow for some.

Answer 4

Through all the ages, philosophers have tried to answer this question. It can be very deep.

However, to me life is a game. A game consists of freedoms, barriers and purposes.

The common denominator of all living things is survival. Survival is understood to be the basic single thrust of life through time and space, energy and matter. Survival is subdivided into eight dynamics. There could be said to be eight urges (drives, impulses) in life. They are motives or motivations.

-1 - urge toward existence as one's self
-2 - urge toward existence as a sexual activity (sex, family, children)
-3 - urge toward existence in groups of individuals
-4 - urge toward existence as mankind
-5 - urge toward existence of the animal kingdom
-6 - urge toward existence as the physical universe
-7 - urge toward existence as or of spirits
-8 - urge toward existence as infinity or the Supreme God

Living is having and following a basic purpose.

Since you asked, life can be further defined as:

a static, which yet has the power of controlling, animating, mobilizing, organizing and destroying matter, energy and space, and possibly even time

or

that which is posing and solving problems.

I wonder if you were really interested in what was the source of life. The personality, the beingness, the awareness of awareness unit which has all potentialities but no mass, no wave-length and no location. The creator of things, the energy-space production unit. The creator of considerations and postulates. That's a different question. That's you!

You can find out more in Scientology.

Answer 5

the best answer is summed up by the first answerer.

you must find your own purpose in this life, otherwise what youre trying to do is find a uniformed all inclusive answer that would fit for everyone.

thats not the same as saying i want my life to be about learning to live in harmony with everyone else.
It is possible to find your own meaning and attempt to live in as much harmony as possible.

but if your looking for more than the first answerers response, then your trying to control or influence others meanings of their lives by making this as easy as a recipe or formula for others to follow.

Answer 6

According to Douglas Adams, the answer is 42.

According to Conan the Barbarian, "to crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, to hear the lamentation of the women."

According to Greg K, to laugh at people who expect a serious answer to the what the meaning of life? Lemme clue you in, of the places your likely to find it, I doubt it'll be yahoo.

Answer 7

According to Aristotle, every thing has a purpose or end. A knife, for example, has the purpose of cutting things. A good knife is good at cutting things, and therefore knives should be sharp. Similarly, people have a purpose. People should do things that help them fulfill that purpose or end: things that are for their good.

Answer 8

The meaning of life is what makes you enjoy it to the full. Look for it in your mind and soul, find it for yourself, strive to materialize it and be happy in the process. God has sent us here for us to fulfill our own dreams and be happy. That is the meaning of our lives.

Answer 9

Our purpose in life is to worship and Praise for God
our father. The bible is awesome book, it tells you about what your purpose in life should be.
Good Luck.

Answer 10

The meaning of life is to discover your own meaning of life.