hi there i have been going through some soul finding and am a bit down and it got me thinking what is the meaning of life and why do we exist i am really wondering is this all there is
2007-04-27 04:17:30 · 11 answers · asked by under the thumb by the missus 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You are actually asking two different questions:
1. What is the purpose of life?
2. What is the meaning of life?
By way of example -- if I hold up an empty water balloon and ask you what it's purpose is, the most basic answer is 'water transportation via aerial mode.' That's all the purpose is -- it is a reason for existing. If it is sitting on a shelf in a store, it has that purpose, if it's in my hand filled and ready to go, it has that purpose.
Meaning, however, is something that is ascribed to an object. I fill such a balloon with water so that I can tag my mother during the next family reunion summer-fun party. That is now its meaning -- joy and playfulness. It did not have that meaning on the store shelf. There, at the store, its meaning was profit -- the owner of the store hoped someone would buy it and thus the owner would make profit off it.
So to go back to your questions -- what is the purpose of life? It has none. To have a purpose means that an intelligent being must have created it. Purpose is an intended direction, a best-suited direction, and life has no creator nor an intended direction. Life is inherantly purposeless.
What is the meaning of life? Because we are self-aware, even in acknowledging the purposelessness of life, we can ascribe a meaning to it. For many people, this meaning is little more than that they hope to live day by day. Some people make religion their meaning, others knowledge, others intentionally make hate or cruelty their meaning -- no one said all meaning has to be good. It just gives us a reason to wake up in the morning and defy our purposelessness.
2007-04-27 04:20:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might want to read The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Are We Here For by Rick Warren. It's a great book and it basically helps you discover what God's purpose for you is.
2007-04-27 04:33:05 · answer #2 · answered by stakekawa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life – it has a meaning and loving purpose - you just have to find your purpose and live it.
I believe every person is here for a definite purpose. Each person is special and valuable; that refers to me, you, your family, friends, in fact everybody! There is a loving plan for each of our lives here on earth and there is no such thing as coincidence. I don't believe that anything in life happens by chance and that every aspect of our lives points to something deeper.
You need to decide now to live for God rather than for yourself. You spend your life on Earth preparing yourself (as best you can) for death. I don't see death as a scary, negative experience, but birth into a bliss filled eternal life with God. I believe that this is something you have to consciously choose or not during your life on earth.
The meaning of life is for us to discover that we are true children of an infinitely loving God, to find out what our responsibilities are to our Creator, and to fulfill those responsibilities. Each of us is called to affirm, accept and develop the talents God has given us. -
2007-04-27 21:26:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The purpose of life is to go through the test, then see how you performed, and then according to your deeds/merits to go to your final destination, i.e. paradise or hell. This life is a pre-stage of the afterlife. How you are here, so will you be in the next world. God in The Holy Quran tells us so.
Peace.
2007-04-27 04:55:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Our purpose and where we find meaning....
To love God and other people.
It is what we were made for.. as evident in our music, books, movies, etc. Everything good or bad can be considered as based on love, or the lack of it.
2007-04-27 04:26:01 · answer #5 · answered by Bill Mac 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thank God for pain & suffering, this is what makes most of us seek Gods Grace. The meaning of life is unconditional love. the purpose of life is to awaken to your unity with God in unconditional love within your heart. your duty is to express that love. As the colors of the rainbow are contained within sunlight,so to are we all contained within the light of Gods unconditional love.
2007-04-27 04:31:50 · answer #6 · answered by Weldon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
u sound like u dont have or know your purpose...if u dont have a purpose in this life u will become as a living dead.
so u need to seek your purpose on being alive and then u will understand your being.
2007-04-27 04:24:53 · answer #7 · answered by girly 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
life is like a ocean where water is affection and love without which it couldnot be called an ocean. ocean features a series of organisms i.e people whom we come across in life.
2007-04-27 04:31:01 · answer #8 · answered by jaipurdiamond d 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
" We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)
2007-04-27 04:27:00 · answer #9 · answered by KC 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We exist to master spelling.
2007-04-27 04:21:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋