Could someone please tell me the purpose of life?

[manitou]

Is it just to be happy?

[King Kabalabhati]

Is it just to be happy?

 

Is there a purpose? Why should there be?

[Apech]

You say just to be happy - as if this were an easy thing or a low ambition - I think finding true happiness is a very profound and sometimes difficult thing - an achievement in itself. I'm mean happiness and not just pleasure seeking by the way.

 

Some would suggest the point of life is to seek liberation but this to me presupposes that you feel the need to be released from prison somehow.

 

Others might say it is to do with gaining wisdom or power.

 

I would say the purest expression of the purpose of life is that it is an opportunity to explore the possibilities inherent in being. These are infinite I believe and are like a vast undiscovered country full of opportunity. To go there you have to drop the small minded view based on greed, jealousy and hate.

[island]

To transcend the lower realms and express our true selves, to be authentic beings.

[C T]

Perhaps the purpose of life is to do the things we can to make life purposeful, and for those things we cannot do or effect, to say feck it, just have to leave it for later....

 

Happiness is in the going and the doing, maybe.

 

And liberation... does it really presupposes the attitude of being trapped, or does it fundamentally presupposes that indeed we are already free, and the things and ideas we build around this concept are precisely the things that block us from seeing it? Maybe this is where the term blockhead comes from?

 

I dunno... just some thoughts.

[manitou]

I seem to have a social conscience that constantly reminds me that there are people starving in the world. It is not a boon to happiness. It's a constant whisper.

[island]

I seem to have a social conscience that constantly reminds me that there are people starving in the world. It is not a boon to happiness. It's a constant whisper.

 

Maybe your purpose has found you...?

[The Way Is Virtue]

.

Edited November 16, 2010 by The Way Is Virtue

[exorcist_1699]

Who is the "me " asking the question ?

Edited November 16, 2010 by exorcist_1699

[Junbao]

Purpose needs a mind to rationalize a reason. Life just is.

You can ponder it all day, and come up with a thousand reasons, one to fit every mood or justify any action, but in the end you are just playing tricks in your head. The tree still grows, the heart still beats, the universe still dances.

For me I just try (and I say try because the mind is tricky sometimes) to be honest and sincere in my interactions with people and things, and beyond that just live in harmony with life itself.

 

Big hugs!

[manitou]

You can ponder it all day, and come up with a thousand reasons, one to fit every mood or justify any action, but in the end you are just playing tricks in your head. Big hugs!

 

 

Yes,the mental masturbation can get overwhelming.

Big hugs back atcha, June Bug.

[Taiji Bum]

The purpose of life is to live. It is to grow, increase, flourish, die and then be reborn. (I hope that didnt come off as too cliche.)

[Aetherous]

The purpose of life is to live.

 

Oh, that's all I have to do here? This will be easier than I thought!

[Eric23]

"It has been said by a wit, with more truth than he knew, that this planet was actually some other planet's hell. It is in very fact the sphere in which karma is normally worked out."

 

Dion Fortune, The Mystical Qabalah

 

 

Food for thought.

[Sloppy Zhang]

To give me all of your money!

 

Because money just distracts you from the real good things in life!

[suninmyeyes]

I dont know anymore to be honest or more accuratley cant say it with words.

Edited November 16, 2010 by suninmyeyes

[strawdog65]

Ahhhhh... the question.

 

Personally I love that question!

 

It was the very impetus that started me down a

different path than all of my friends growing up.

I have vivid memories of lying in bed at night

when I was 17 - 18 years old pondering that age old

question.

 

Even with the flow of many years later, and much more

experience in life...that is a wonderful question!

 

I feel that life has whatever meaning we give to it.

The energy that we give to our lives influences it

everyday.

It will be easier for me to say what the meaning of life

is not, so how about that as a start?

 

It is not about any material/physical thing.

Like music...the pauses inbetween often make the

song memorable.

 

Life is not about a job, eventhough

there are many individuals who describe themselves

with what it is they do. If you have a job helping

people then it is the deeds you do that matter,

not the title of what you do.

 

Life is most definitely not about purposefully

causing any being pain or suffering.

 

 

Some things I believe life is about:

 

Feeling and spreading genuine Love and caring

of others, be they animal or human or plant.

 

Respecting all forms of life, and appreciating

the beautiful gift that we have all around us

everyday.

 

I believe it was Ghandi that was quoted with saying

 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"

 

This to me is extremely motivating...You mean I don't have

to wait for someone else to do what I think is right? I

can go and do this myself?

You betcha'!

 

The meaning of life is to BE your highest and most complete

self, all the while being a positive contributing influence

on all of those around you on a daily basis.

 

Love+Peace+Compassion+YOU=fulfillment

[manitou]

I dont know anymore to be honest or more accuratley cant say it with words.

 

 

Adeptly and honestly put.

[thelerner]

I think

it doesn't matter

what we think.

 

 

Only your answer

a real one

felt with conviction

matters.

 

 

 

Michael

 

 

 

P.S. IMO (which doesn't matter) it doesn't need to be grandiose. The best things in life are free and simple. Illegal fattening and inconvenient stuff can also be quite good.

[manitou]

!

 

The meaning of life is to BE your highest and most complete

self, all the while being a positive contributing influence

on all of those around you on a daily basis.

 

 

 

Dog - what a beautiful answer you provided. Thank you so much. On my best days I too ride those words. Maybe tomorrow....

[strawdog65]

Manitou,

 

Better days are always ahead.

 

Hang in there the best you can.

 

 

The mountain is most intimidating,

When seen from the valley below,

With every step up,

You slowly conquer your foe.

 

 

Peace

Edited November 17, 2010 by strawdog65

[NeiChuan]

I'd imagine fufill your potential, whatever you see that is.

[SFJane]

Could someone please tell me the purpose of life?

That is a very good and profound question! It's one I asked myself constantly since I was very little. I really needed an answer to that question and so I turned to meditation. I would like to echo what others have asked.

 

First, what King K asked you:

"Is there a purpose? Why should there be?"

 

Second, what exorcist_1699 asked you:

"Who is the "me" asking the question?"

 

So who is generating the voice in your head that whispers constantly: "there are people starving in the world." And why?

 

If you can find out who is asking and why you are asking and why it matters to you then you may (or may not) find the answer to King K's question, "Why should there be?"

 

Is happiness better than or preferable to any other state of mind and heart? Why or why not? Who says? If you get right down to it, there is all kinds of suffering to fixate on. Economical suffering right here in this country. Right in the great city I live in. Talk a walk to mission street or through the Tenderloin and smell the bums that reek of urine and booze. They sleep on the sidewalk.

 

How come there isn't an inner voice whispering "There are poor people living outside in the United States. Tonight you are going to sleep in a bed on warm sheets under a fluffy comforter and there are people sleeping on a cold, concrete sidewalk." Why the focus on starvation and not on housing, jobs, or comprehensive medical care?

 

Life is not and never has been an egalitarian or balanced equation. Since the beginning of time for us humans there have been the haves and the have nots. Some people had better caves, better nearby sources of water, better hunting and gathering opportunities than others. It's always been that way. Who says it should be any other way? Why worry about it if you can not immediately and directly effect the situation? Who is doing this worrying?

 

When I was in my twenties I tended to be more worried about my life than other peoples' lives. I went without a lot of things other people have, including happiness. I used to ask, "Is life just supposed to be about suffering?" It didn't occur to me that I could be one of the happy people until much later. I don't have a pat answer for you or a quick soundbite in answer to your primary question. But I can say that the answer is waiting for you to find it and integrate it. When that happens, you will know internally and existentially (so-to-speak), the answer to your inquiry. I hope that helps Manitou!

Edited November 16, 2010 by SFJane

[ShaktiMama]

It is the purpose you give it.

s

[RobB]

Yes, yes, yes all that is fine. But I believe that we may be missing the obvious here: vis.

 

Q: What is the purpose of life?

 

A: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

 

I think that covers it.

 

Cheers

 

Rob