What is the meaning and purpose of life?

Question

Why do some people seem to have terrible luck? What is the purpose of luck in life and any hidden meanings?

Answer 1

The philosophical question "What is the meaning and purpose of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.

These questions are separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.
Popular beliefs
"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. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...No point. Since having a point is a condition of living human consciousness. Animals do not need a point to live or exist. It is more of an affliction of consciousness that there are such things as points, a negative side to evolutionary development for lack of better words.

Wisdom and knowledge
...to master and know everything
...to be without questions, 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 understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life

Ethical
...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds

Religious and spiritual
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...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 discover who you are
...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

Philosophical
...to give life meaning
...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 know the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualisation
...all possible meanings have some validity
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
...to die
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever
...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory )
...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"

Other
...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 participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)

Answer 2

This formidable Universe was created by God Almighty to
make man His deputy in this world. In order to prove your worth you have to perform well in ALL circumstances. If you have plenty of resources and you perform well and when you have little resources you still do the same. It means that you are consistent and your good behviour is not dependent on your good fortune. Such men are rewarded with eternal life and paradise.

Allah mostly sends difficulties and problems to His friends and gives lot of money and resources to His enemies. Look at Jews. They have trmondous deposits of
Gold, diamonds, pearls, rubys, emeralds, irridium and platinum. Holy Quran says that:

"If not for the fear that everyone will become an infidel,
the Merciful Lord would have made the doors, the steps
and walls of infidels of silver and gold, because they
have no share in the hereinafter."

Holy prophet Muhammad has said: "Even if the value of
entire world was that of a wing of a mosquito, in the eyes
of God, He would not have given a mouthful of water to
the infidel who refuses Him.

So this life is a trial for believers and a paradise for infidels.
So face problems like a man, as great prophets did, if you
want their company in the hereinafter.

Javed Kaleem

Answer 3

Maybe it all boils down to how in tune they are with their intuition.

Sure, sometimes intuition (or the Holy Spirit... our inate guide to divinity) doesn't automatically lead us to an easy life... intuition/spiritual guidance can lead us to greater personal growth (which may involve big challenges).

I think luck doesn't really come into it. There is purpose behind everything that happens... whether it be divine guidance for personal spiritual growth, or whether it be the sad results of unwise choices that we or someone else made.

The purpose of life is to grow.... both physically and spiritually, as individuals, and also as a collective. We're all the family of God, learning to be individuals, adults and an integrated whole.

Answer 4

there is no luck or no hidden meaning. The purpose of life is to reproduce, pass on your genes and keep life alive. all of it. the rest is just filler.

Answer 5

The universe is interdependent on itself.

Define bad luck. Being poor? Possessions don't bring happiness.

Maybe the purpose of life is understanding life, itself. Compassionate and peace.

As you can probably guess, most would fail such a test.

Answer 6

No luck just bad things happen to us to make us stronger ,empathize with those going thru same things. no luck just blessing.
when you give away a piece of your heart to someone you love, the very next day the one you love gives it away..and never to return that piece ever again.
Love hurts, it's true, but it's also endless. So don't give up :-)

Have you shared your love with that someone special?

Answer 7

My daughter surprised me when I corrected her by saying " its not luck honey, its a blessing". To which she replied, " but dad, does it not say that all good things come from God?" Wisdom can even be found in a babes words. I would say luck is another word for good things in life. Therefore, I acknowledge God for the good things and receive even more than before.

Answer 8

too man days have i spent thinking about this
too man days i have had everthing but yet nothing
enjoy ife
be the best you can be
live
laugh
love
take risks
make no regrets
spread the joy
put others before yourself
be remebered
make life sweeter for those who come after you
dont think about it too much
accept it for what it is
when we all evolve into aiens we will trule understand

Answer 9

I don't believe thereis a meaning or purpose in life. I think that we are supposed to make our own paths, and live our own lives that are not already made up by some god.

Answer 10

We are here to seek knowledge and try to leave something positive behind.

I feel I failed miserably. I know how to survive, however. One step at a time, and I am still standing.

Answer 11

"To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God each day".