The Meaning of Life
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we give meaning to our lives (or not) by the things we do, learn, share, etc
life doesn't have a built in meaning. being alive is only special if you feel it is.
life doesn't have a built in meaning. being alive is only special if you feel it is.
Life is living. Life is being alive. Life is feeling the raindrops hit your face while you are smelling the fresh rain. I feel we are given an appointed time to do the things we will do. I know some people cut their time short. Life is a few puppies starting new, a set of parents watching their child take that first breath of life, and sometimes watching your parent or parents take their last breath of life. May I quote, just breathe?
Life is blood pulsing through the body. Life is the art of having everything healthy enough to work, and watching everything work in unison. Life is a doctor or nurse doing what they do. Life is an opportunity to see what you are made of.
What do I know?
Life is blood pulsing through the body. Life is the art of having everything healthy enough to work, and watching everything work in unison. Life is a doctor or nurse doing what they do. Life is an opportunity to see what you are made of.
What do I know?
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Intelligent life attempts to defy material entropy long enough to achieve mental (spiritual?) entropy. Ie. to reach a final, definite state of happiness and peace.
Shaqie
The Grandmaster in Disguise
first i need to answer these , what's life in its core ? why there's life to begin with ? what is the intelligence behind life ? and where do we find life ?
.. then i need to learn how life works in order to understand its meaningS (yes plural) , i think it has several meanings due to its variation and forms .
so , i don't really have specific clear meanings at this moment , but if i am to have one without a base knowledge , i'd say one meaning of life is to create (to produce) in order to make a remarkable progress in the overall operation of existence .
.. then i need to learn how life works in order to understand its meaningS (yes plural) , i think it has several meanings due to its variation and forms .
so , i don't really have specific clear meanings at this moment , but if i am to have one without a base knowledge , i'd say one meaning of life is to create (to produce) in order to make a remarkable progress in the overall operation of existence .
Two quotes that I enjoy on the subject-
“Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.
Being alive is the meaning.”
- Joseph Campbell
“Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren’t in fact
sad guardians of the meaning of life.”
- Vaclav Havel
Just something to ponder....
“Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.
Being alive is the meaning.”
- Joseph Campbell
“Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren’t in fact
sad guardians of the meaning of life.”
- Vaclav Havel
Just something to ponder....
The meaning of life is whatever we ascribe to it. That said, existential evaluations usually bear similar themes or destinations, such as happiness, peace, the upholding of particular values, personal growth, and resolution or release from tension, that ostensibly serve as projections of basic human needs and drives. Meaning, I suppose, is much like a distant mirage sighted by a band of ragged travelers: loved by all and touched by none. The key difference between the mirage and reality, of course, is that believing can assuage one's thirst.
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Not to dismiss what you said about meaning, but this quote of Vaclav Havel is taken out of context all over the internet. Here's the full passage of what Vaclav Havel wanted to say, just to make sure that his ideas are promoted correctly
"I have never been able to condemn suicides; instead, I tend to respect them, not only for the undoubted courage needed to commit suicide, but also because suicides place the value of life very high: they think that life is too precious a thing to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily, without meaning, without love, without hope. Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life."
And also this:
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less."
“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.”
"“Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred.”
But he wasn't really what you might call a "stuck-up on meaning" person. Here's some other quotes of him:
“The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance.”
“Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. ”
I think he clearly had a good balance. Good man !
Not to dismiss what you said about meaning, but this quote of Vaclav Havel is taken out of context all over the internet. Here's the full passage of what Vaclav Havel wanted to say, just to make sure that his ideas are promoted correctly
"I have never been able to condemn suicides; instead, I tend to respect them, not only for the undoubted courage needed to commit suicide, but also because suicides place the value of life very high: they think that life is too precious a thing to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily, without meaning, without love, without hope. Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life."
And also this:
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less."
“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.”
"“Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred.”
But he wasn't really what you might call a "stuck-up on meaning" person. Here's some other quotes of him:
“The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance.”
“Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. ”
I think he clearly had a good balance. Good man !
[video=youtube;vr_oh2t1OUM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr_oh2t1OUM[/video]
Observe the words/subtitles.
Being someone who attempted suicide in the past, I feel like I have a bit of insight into what he was saying....or perhaps I do not. But I do feel he hit the nail on the head with what he said. When I tried to kill myself I had a huge rush of despair...so much more than what I feel the average person who has never tried or accomplished it has felt. I always told myself that suicide was an impossibility for me; however, you can reach a point where the pain you feel supersedes the pain you know you will cause others...it supersedes your own personal morals...your ideas of what punishment may await you in terms of religious beliefs. I knew in my own heart, the moment before I lost consciousness, that God would not punish me for what I had done. I knew my heart was transparent to him.Not to dismiss what you said about meaning, but this quote of Vaclav Havel is taken out of context all over the internet. Here's the full passage of what Vaclav Havel wanted to say, just to make sure that his ideas are promoted correctly
"I have never been able to condemn suicides; instead, I tend to respect them, not only for the undoubted courage needed to commit suicide, but also because suicides place the value of life very high: they think that life is too precious a thing to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily, without meaning, without love, without hope. Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life."
And also this:
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less."
“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.”
"“Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred.”
But he wasn't really what you might call a "stuck-up on meaning" person. Here's some other quotes of him:
“The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance.”
“Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. ”
I think he clearly had a good balance. Good man !
How does it relate to the meaning of life? I had no great revelation as I was dying, nor did I once I woke in the hospital...but I did learn true strength. Not only does it go against everything in your mind to kill yourself, your morals, your hopes and dreams, your love for those close to you, but it is a destruction of one’s own ego above all else. You have to conquer that part of yourself that says you are special, that you are not the same as everyone else walking this earth.
To me, now, the meaning of life is to know that if I have the incredible amount of strength and willpower to kill myself, then I have the strength and willpower to exist.
[video=youtube;LPHBODDvCM0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPHBODDvCM0[/video]
I shattered grief and depression
And admired the dark and small miniature garden
I creep on tiptoe and start to walk while fumbling around
I pick up a handful of life and head toward this town
The world spins and spins; this place is reality
It spins so fast as to make me nauseous
I looked at the tracks that I made while walking
And murmured "I only came this far?"
Cold temperature; even the starting point is too far away
I turned back and ran away and is alive somehow
You don't even have hope, you who betrayed lightness
You who hate the truth need to die
The world flows; Where is this place?
It's so far away as to make me nauseous
I'm dirty and stupid
So I cling to the feet of people
The shadow of self is transparent to others
I killed others and crawled to this place
Destroyed world - No, there was nothing to begin with
To my fantasy, good bye
The world changed; This place is reality
It's spins so fast as to make me nauseous
I don't want to live in a place like this
But I also don't want to die
Please forgive me
In terms of religious beliefs, I don't believe that there is punishment for suicide either. I mean, I think it depends. If ones kills someone and then he gets almost caught, but he escapes by suicide, I think that's not very...i don't know...correct is maybe the word. But there are other causes, which I don't have the power to judge over them and honestly neither i do have the authority, the right to do so.
I never judged the ones who commited or attempted suicide, and I don't agree with the christians leaders who teach that it's a sin. I can't say like you that I attempted suicide, but I though seriously at doing it for a period of 3 months, at only 18 years. I had a "meaningless" sort of depression for about 5 months. So I could see what you are saying, maybe just a part of it. Here's what also Vaclav Havel said about meaning:
“The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought.”
Maybe true strenght means that you defeated one big major fear, beside defeating your ego?
This is very true, the fight with our own specialness.
Beautifully said. After all, I think it gave you a sense of freedom, this whole experience. And(i like to think) a freedom from fear, beside a freedom from your ego specialness. Maybe freedom from false strenght (the sense of specialness, the ego) that leads to true strenght ,which is knowing your own limits...maybe?
Great post. Thanks for sharing: )
[MENTION=9401]LucyJr[/MENTION]
I had to throw away meaning in order to live. I learned to value absurdity and chaos - breaking the system is what allowed me to be free.
It was true that I more energetically sought meaning for a while, but I'm the type of person who never stops. It seems some people who must have meaning just stop looking after a while and accept where they landed as their version meaning, but I could not do this, I simply found infinite regression. I would always reach a point where I'd ask "well what is the meaning of this now?"
I had to take on a more Zen aesthetic. There are more visceral and transcendent things that go beyond meaning or purpose. Some times things that are 'empty' are the most beautiful and worthwhile.
Like why did I build this huge space pagoda, block by block over several days? I don't know, doesn't mean anything and it doesn't have to as far as I'm concerned, and it's still not finished, but I have something to work on. Why? Why do people climb mountains?
And to give an idea of it, each block would be 1 meter, and the pagoda is nearly 300 meters high. If it were real, it would be a 90 story building. The island is three football fields across.
I had to throw away meaning in order to live. I learned to value absurdity and chaos - breaking the system is what allowed me to be free.
It was true that I more energetically sought meaning for a while, but I'm the type of person who never stops. It seems some people who must have meaning just stop looking after a while and accept where they landed as their version meaning, but I could not do this, I simply found infinite regression. I would always reach a point where I'd ask "well what is the meaning of this now?"
I had to take on a more Zen aesthetic. There are more visceral and transcendent things that go beyond meaning or purpose. Some times things that are 'empty' are the most beautiful and worthwhile.
Like why did I build this huge space pagoda, block by block over several days? I don't know, doesn't mean anything and it doesn't have to as far as I'm concerned, and it's still not finished, but I have something to work on. Why? Why do people climb mountains?
And to give an idea of it, each block would be 1 meter, and the pagoda is nearly 300 meters high. If it were real, it would be a 90 story building. The island is three football fields across.
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I think we are here to have a life experience
I think as Alan Watts said ''the universe is experiencing itself through us''
Someone also said (perhaps Watts): ''we are in the universe and the universe is in us''
We are consciousness. Consciousness does not die. It just reforms and carries on. It plays a constant game of hide and seek with itself.
You are it, i am it, you are me and i am you
So what kind of experience do we want to have?
I think as Alan Watts said ''the universe is experiencing itself through us''
Someone also said (perhaps Watts): ''we are in the universe and the universe is in us''
We are consciousness. Consciousness does not die. It just reforms and carries on. It plays a constant game of hide and seek with itself.
You are it, i am it, you are me and i am you
So what kind of experience do we want to have?