What is the meaning of life?

[jupiviv]

"What is life?"

Whatever you define it to be.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

"What is life?"

Whatever you define it to be.

It doesn't work that way, really. If a definition is made without connection, without power, one is left with some irrelevancy which will only last a few seconds in your own mind.

Try it and see how true this is!

[mensa-maniac]

Before asking what the meaning of life is, ask yourself what "life" is.

What is life?
I have no idea.

Mensa says: Glostik, what do you THINK life is for?

It is for LIVING! Life is for living and for the living!

Therefore the meaning of life is to Live, not merely exist!

[mensa-maniac]

Mensa says: Well, why not value yourself until then anyway, and worry about that when it happens, you're believing that Science knows exactly when this will happen and they don't.

I don't know why I should value myself.

Mensa says: You should value yourself because you're UNIQUE--one-of-a-kind!
You should value yourself because you can THINK!
You should value yourself that you WON the Race up canal and came in Number 1.
You should value yourself because you Question life.
You should value yourself because You're Meant to Be!
You should value yourself for at least 1 reason of your own
You should value yourself like you're your own best friend
You should value yourself just because you're valuable

[Glostik91]

"What is life?"

Whatever you define it to be.

How am I supposed to know what the correct definition is.

[Glostik91]

Mensa says: Glostik, what do you THINK life is for?

It is for LIVING! Life is for living and for the living!

Therefore the meaning of life is to Live, not merely exist!

Obviously life is for living, but how am I supposed to live my life.

[Glostik91]

Mensa says: You should value yourself because you're UNIQUE--one-of-a-kind!
You should value yourself because you can THINK!
You should value yourself that you WON the Race up canal and came in Number 1.
You should value yourself because you Question life.
You should value yourself because You're Meant to Be!
You should value yourself for at least 1 reason of your own
You should value yourself like you're your own best friend
You should value yourself just because you're valuable

How am I supposed to know that any of these reasons are legitimate?

[mensa-maniac]

Mensa says: Glostik, what do you THINK life is for?

It is for LIVING! Life is for living and for the living!

Therefore the meaning of life is to Live, not merely exist!

Obviously life is for living, but how am I supposed to live my life.

Mensa says: That's a different question!

[Dennis Mahar]

Glos,

What exactly does it mean to be free from suffering?

Identification as a separate 'me' looks to be the problem.
A sense of 'me' as like a toaster plugged into a power supply.
A sense of 'me' that has it that it dies, that it's on Death Row, has been sentenced to Life.
That fills that life with sound and fury in order to get something. That holds 'others' and 'It' to account for it's shortcomings.

Imagine you and a friend go to the top of a 20 story building and walk to the edge. A 'me' will feel fear. It will move away from the friend sufficiently so the friend can't push it off. It will realise that it could self destuct by throwing itself off. It will realise that an earthquake could topple the building and itself could be destroyed.
In the anxiety it also realises it has a small amount of freedom in that it can step back from the edge and get down off the building.
So we have a 'me', subject to circumstances, with a modicum of freedom that shows up as some choices.
That's Life for a 'me'.

One can choose to 'fall' in love and marry a girl and spend the rest of their life working on the girl's shopping list. Is that freedom?

One can 'fall' into religion and be bound up in a tight set of rules and begin to notice sinners everywhere. Can berate sinners about their insane thinking, their violations of laws of reciprocity etc.. Is that freedom?

One can 'fall' into self improvement agendas and rush about with some uplifting concepts to cheer people up and have an orgy of 'me, me, me..look how powerful I am'. Is that freedom?

One can 'fall' into politics and fight for the cause. Is that freedom?

One can 'fall' into booze and drugs. Is that freedom?

One can get a sense of being there on the edge as an opportunity opens up in Life and with wisdom see that what is involved is a 'falling into something' that is likely to entrap in suffering. That what is given up is freedom.
All these things that are fallen for are appearances. Things that rise and fall.


Surely the wise choice is to focus on that which is unchanging, that which is ever the same, that in which the rising and falling of the appearances appear.

That would be exactly what it means to be free of suffering.

[jupiviv]

"What is life?"

Whatever you define it to be.

It doesn't work that way, really. If a definition is made without connection, without power, one is left with some irrelevancy which will only last a few seconds in your own mind.

Try it and see how true this is!

There is no definition which is without "connection", by definition. So that goes with what I said. If someone defines life to be a unicorn, then he will have to demonstrate the connection between life and a unicorn, and if he fails to do so then his definition is invalid.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

If someone defines life to be a unicorn, then he will have to demonstrate the connection between life and a unicorn, and if he fails to do so then his definition is invalid.

Demonstrate to whom? According to which rules? Failing in whose eyes? Suddenly you're introducing many connections which go way beyond "whatever" one initially defined for life.

What one can see here is that definitions are exactly like all other things. Causality makes and breaks them, the origins stem back in a complex web of origins, reflections, models, traditions and rule-sets. Leaving one not free to define but wisdom might provide responsiveness to the right concepts in the right context. It's never whatever.

[cousinbasil]

Didn't Monty Python determine that the meaning of life had something to do with not enough people wearing hats? Why are we rehashing it? The question is... old hat. Thank you.

[jupiviv]

If someone defines life to be a unicorn, then he will have to demonstrate the connection between life and a unicorn, and if he fails to do so then his definition is invalid.

Demonstrate to whom? According to which rules? Failing in whose eyes? Suddenly you're introducing many connections which go way beyond "whatever" one initially defined for life.

All those things are connected to the "whatever" that you define life to be. But yes, there can be only one valid definition of life, but you can't force anyone to accept this. All you can do is urge people to think for themselves, hoping they might come to the right conclusion.

[mensa-maniac]

If someone defines life to be a unicorn, then he will have to demonstrate the connection between life and a unicorn, and if he fails to do so then his definition is invalid.

Demonstrate to whom? According to which rules? Failing in whose eyes? Suddenly you're introducing many connections which go way beyond "whatever" one initially defined for life.

All those things are connected to the "whatever" that you define life to be. But yes, there can be only one valid definition of life, but you can't force anyone to accept this. All you can do is urge people to think for themselves, hoping they might come to the right conclusion.

Mensa says: "What is the meaning of life" Well, since you say there can be only one valid definition of life, and knowing with certainty the definition of the meaning of life is that Life is the meaning!

What=Life
Why=sperm and egg connected creating life
Where= the place male and female bodies connected creating life
When= a time on the calendar
How=Sexual intercourse

Which is WHY you're MEANT to BE! (Glostik91) You are life, that is the meaning!

If there is really only one definition of the meaning of life, that means that everyone is wrong accept for one person.

Life means living, living means me and everyone and every living thing. YOU choose HOW, Where, When, Why and What to live!

[Diebert van Rhijn]

But yes, there can be only one valid definition of life, but you can't force anyone to accept this. All you can do is urge people to think for themselves, hoping they might come to the right conclusion.

Utter nonsense, all definitons are firmly part of the relative and will have necessaraly ten thousands of forms and shapes. But it's not totally random either, there's for everyone a right way to go about it and a wrong way, that is: heading towards truth or backing away from it. One is unifying and clarifying, the other is dividing and confusing.

[jupiviv]

all definitons are firmly part of the relative and will have necessaraly ten thousands of forms and shapes.

Form, shape and definition all really mean the same thing. What you are saying here is - "all definitions have a form and shape and also ten thousands of other forms and shapes."

there's for everyone a right way to go about it and a wrong way, that is: heading towards truth or backing away from it. One is unifying and clarifying, the other is dividing and confusing.

This isn't true in light of what you said earlier.

[mensa-maniac]

The meaning of life is different for everyone, it has to be otherwise we'd all be exactly the same. And the meaning of life can't be just for living as I stated earlier because we do that anyway, it's to obvious an answer.

The meaning of life is to value yours! Love it and value others lives too, as this will influence others to value theirs too, it's called spreading and encouraging love around. Life is divine love speading around the globe continuously. Love is alive, it's not dead, so in essense, we live to love, we love to live!

The meaning of life for me is love, and through love there is no me me me, it's about we, all of us.


Donna Thompson
Foresta Gump
PS. I've decided to sign my name to every post from now on, because I have faith in my words.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

What you are saying here is - "all definitions have a form and shape and also ten thousands of other forms and shapes."

It should be obvious that life has more than one "valid definition", as life comes to us in many shapes and forms, beyond any count. Even if someone would define "all" as life, it's still one of the many ways to use the word.

there's for everyone a right way to go about it and a wrong way, that is: heading towards truth or backing away from it. One is unifying and clarifying, the other is dividing and confusing.

This isn't true in light of what you said earlier.

You mean how it's also caused and we respond as we are? Being not free doesn't change one thing about right and wrong. Choices are still being made based on what is perceived as right and wrong. Looking at it delusional (assuming free will) or not in this case doesn't change basic responsiveness.

[Dennis Mahar]

Donna,

The meaning of life for me is love, and through love there is no me me me, it's about we, all of us.

Good understanding Donna. One expressing as many. Unity.
Dunno if it's the meaning of life but rather a possibility of Life having a meaning.
A possibility to live a Life from.
Now go and convince all the split me's of your recognition.
Good Luck.

[Glostik91]

Obviously life is for living, but how am I supposed to live my life.

Mensa says: That's a different question!

In its wording it is different. In its meaning it is not. When I ask what the meaning of life is, I do not want a tautological answer, I want a meaningful answer.

[Glostik91]

Surely the wise choice is to focus on that which is unchanging, that which is ever the same, that in which the rising and falling of the appearances appear.

That would be exactly what it means to be free of suffering.

How do you come to know this?

[Glostik91]

Which is WHY you're MEANT to BE! (Glostik91) You are life, that is the meaning!

If there is really only one definition of the meaning of life, that means that everyone is wrong accept for one person.

Life means living, living means me and everyone and every living thing. YOU choose HOW, Where, When, Why and What to live!

How can I choose if all my choices have been preordained before I was even born?

[Glostik91]

The meaning of life is different for everyone, it has to be otherwise we'd all be exactly the same. And the meaning of life can't be just for living as I stated earlier because we do that anyway, it's to obvious an answer.

The meaning of life is to value yours! Love it and value others lives too, as this will influence others to value theirs too, it's called spreading and encouraging love around. Life is divine love speading around the globe continuously. Love is alive, it's not dead, so in essense, we live to love, we love to live!

The meaning of life for me is love, and through love there is no me me me, it's about we, all of us.


Donna Thompson
Foresta Gump
PS. I've decided to sign my name to every post from now on, because I have faith in my words.

How do you know that your meaning is the right one for you?

[Glostik91]

Donna,

The meaning of life for me is love, and through love there is no me me me, it's about we, all of us.

Good understanding Donna. One expressing as many. Unity.
Dunno if it's the meaning of life but rather a possibility of Life having a meaning.
A possibility to live a Life from.
Now go and convince all the split me's of your recognition.
Good Luck.

I am confused by your post. First you condone her words, and then you do not.

[Dennis Mahar]

Glos,

I am confused by your post. First you condone her words, and then you do not.

Human Being is a form of being that questions being. Not only the being of things that gives rise to science and technology but questions the nature of being itself.
Causality has configured Donna in such a way for her to cognite by her inquiry that 'it's about we, all of us.'
Or as Buddha says it:
He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

Or as the third Zen Patriarch said:
"One in all, All in one, If only this is realized, No more worry about not being perfect!" - the Third Patriarch of Zen

So, where Donna is at I guess is feeling unconditional love for herself and all beings.

This provides a meaning that makes sense of Life for a human being.

A curious thing can happen now.
If a human holds a 'meaning' as a fixed idea, as a concrete platform to stand on...
the human starts shouting from that stance, preaching from that stance, criticising all others as violating that stance..
If the meaning is unconditional love then the meaning is soon lost in the standing in the stand.
Also the human can be affected by the onset of moods throughout the days and weeks and not be authentically feeling unconditional love, and in the noticing of that, lose sight of the meaning and find themselves behaving unkindly which leads to a guilt trip.
Having a meaning as a fixed idea is problematic.

If we have a meaning like unconditional love as a possibility for ourself and others the experience is entirely different.
Instead of preaching and condemning others, we find ourselves engaging with others in conversations as a form of inquiry into the question of being.
In that way others can become enrolled in our meaning possibility of their own accord simply because at that point they can grok it too.
Also having unconditional love as a possibility takes into account the fluctuating moods we experience. When we notice we're off track we can readjust and recognise our meaning again.

Now all that reveals the most important thing there is.
Freedom as a possibility.
To have the lightest possible grip on any meaning whatsoever has us free to be responsive under all circumstances, engaging authentically, being right there in the moment, having it open as an inquiry.
Going at it, locked up in a fixed idea delivers suffering.