Does life have a meaning???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Ramses	17 Apr 2002
Hey folks... How are you?...Hope you´re all fine!!! As I said, in another thread, I´m posting about the meaning of life... Well...does life have a meaning?...I mean...Why do we think?...Why do we love, hate, suffer, etc...? I wanna try to talk about the deep meaning of life... OK...it´s gonna be difficult to express what I REALLY want to say, but I´ll try... Rocks, liquids, obejects in general exist, but they do not think, do not feel, do not HAVE TO evolve, either materialy or spiritualy...and they are just fine...they just exist, and are ok with that, and they are unaware of their existance...They do not love, and do not hate... Now, living beings...well, and most specialy human beings...OK...We love, but also hate...We build, but also destroy...We live, but then we die... What´s that for??? Are we an accident of nature, made this way?... Or, are we God´s toy?...He made us imperfect, so that he could have some fun, watching us going on with our lives, striving to achieve what WE call perfection...Is that it ? Wouldn´t we be better off if we were rocks, or trees, or clouds?...Not having to worry, or figure out why we are here, and what for ?! I don´t know if you can get exactly what I´m trying to say...I´m not complaining about life...I like living, I like searching for my spirituality...but sometimes, I think it depends on my mood, I think of this...Why we became what we are, and what for??? Would you like to give your opinion about this subject???

Liliana	17 Apr 2002
The meaning of life is learning, experiencing. God created it all, but he couldnt experience it, not the way we experience it. We are each Gods way of discovering the potentials of his own creation. Everyone of us sees and experiences things in a slightly different way, all ofour views together create abody of thought that God cherishes.

purplelady	17 Apr 2002
Ramses, I think us humans, equipped with an EGO, believe We are the only ones who love, hate , or Evolve. However, I believe that other life forms and even things WE believe are inanimate objects like rocks , may Evolve! We don't see it or understand that they are "evolving" also. Because we are SO convinced that humans are SO superior and "evolved"! I think that other species of animals, plants , and even rocks and dirt and water evolve. WE just don't see or comprehend that they do. Granted , perhaps a tree or a rock or a fish doesn't bother to spend it's time worrying! And maybe it doesn't hate either. Perhaps these other things don't contemplate Why they are here either. However, I still think that it "evolves" (meaning it grows and changes and in it's own way reaches for change , growth , betterment.) I believe that everything on this earth is "alive", even though to OUR eyes and senses we may believe it is just dead material. I believe that a rock actually has an existence , even though we don't comprehend it , not that it "just exists".

truthsayer	17 Apr 2002
yes, life has meaning but it's up to every individual to assign a meaning to his/her life. a good book to read about giving life meaning is by viktor frankl,"man's search for meaning". i read it first around 22 years ago and still refer back to it occasionally when i doubt the meaning of my existence. frankl was a prisoner in a jewish concentration camp. he was a psychiatrist so he tended to observe how ppl including himself reacted to the severe circumstances. he found ppl that lost meaning inevitably died. ppl who had meaning lived. he created a fantasy of reuniting w/ his wife and children that sustained him throughout his ordeal. however, when he was finally released he found out that his family died a few years earlier. if he had known the truth he would have given up. so no matter how bad things get, i remember dr. frankl and i dig deep for meaning like he did to keep going. his circumstances were far worse than anything i may experience and yet he survived. no one can give my life meaning but me.

amyel	17 Apr 2002
Similar to what Truthsayer said, I think we have to sometimes find our own meaning in life. And the literary reference I would make would A.B. Facey's "A Fortunate Life". This is a simple autobiography of man in Australia who was orphaned, abused, suffered WW1, lost two sons in WW2 and still maintained that life was beautiful. He wasn't rich. He suffered as so many of us have, but he found meaning in living.

Tarotbear 2	18 Apr 2002
"Life is a pain in the ass, so pull down your pants and enjoy it" Zorba the Greek "Ladies and gentlemen- Take my advice: Pull down your pants and slide on the ice!" nonsense children's rhyme

Talisman	19 Apr 2002
"Oh, come with old Khayydm, and leave the Wise To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; The Flower that once has blown for ever dies." --Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, of Naishapur Talisman

moondust	19 Apr 2002
"Seek and ye shall find" I think the meaning of life is out there but we are each meant to find our own way to it, in the process we develop our souls, and become who we are meant to be. Have a wonderful journey moondust

Malachite	19 Apr 2002
SHOULD life have a meaning?

Kiama	19 Apr 2002
Malachite: I would much rather delude myself with the belief that there is meaning, than know the truth that there isn't meaning. That is if there isn't.... Kiama

truthsayer	19 Apr 2002
maybe whether or not life has meaning isn't the real question. could we live and survive what life hands us if we couldn't delude ourself w/ some kind of meaning for our suffering? personally, if i knew my life was meaningless it would be difficult for me to cope. i don't think i'm alone in that respect. being able to give meaning to things i have endured give me the strength and hope to continue. how long can the human spirit survive without hope?

moondust	19 Apr 2002
I would have the same problem if I didn't believe there was some meaning and purpose for us being here. And there are times when I feel lost and life seems harsh and wonder if there truly is a purpose, a meaning a god, but it is the clinging to the belief that there is something more to life that brings me out of the "wilderness" or the "wasteland" or the depression, and clinging to that belief I pull myself out and then I feel happier and belief in a purpose and a stronger belief in purpose forms within me and I feel I have become stronger within. I will admit that it IS necessary for me like many others to have faith in the universe, in God, in the great spirit, whatever name you want to apply to it and there IS some purpose for our existence. Blessings moondust

tassetasse	30 Apr 2002
Personally, i don't know and I don't think I wanna know what the meaning of life is. If there isn't, ok with me! I say take something you really find is really important in your life, and /make/ it your meaning. If you think it's important to be understanding and forgiving of others, then i guess you could make it your meaning -- and by "meaning" i mean something your really strive for in life.

Sam	09 May 2002
the meaning of life is simple; you gotta live it too the fullest and die at the least.

Cillygirl14	10 May 2002
I think we make our own meaning in life... and that everything has meaning just in being. Isn't that meaning enough? When I think about everything in life... the stars, people I have known, things I have experienced... I think there's just -too much- for it not to have meaning! Look at a rock. You can't go asking a rock what it's purpose is! Isn't it being a rock beautiful enough? Cel (Who used to collect rocks when she was a child, and is really quite strange)

Rain	23 May 2002
Of coarse life has a meaning, do you think God, being so just and loving could create us for nothing? Just to watch us suffer until our dieing day? No, no, no...sorry to say, but thats not the way it works. God created all of us (spirits) simple and ignorant. As time goes on, we have lived many differant lives on this earth, another earth, who knows, we might have lived on the sun before. Either way, we evolve, according to what we do. The Lord has blessed us with our free will so that we may choose our way of life, and the consequences that we may have to pay for in the after life due to our choices. My mother told me one time that she had a premonition of a past life. She is married to my step father who walks on crutches, due to his polio. Her dream/vision was that she was in the colonial days and she was also married to my step father then. Anyway she was cheating on him with another man, and my stepfather caught them in the act of it. He pulled out a gun and shot both of the mans' legs. She interpreted this vision as the reason my stepfather had polio. Do you ever wonder why certain people are born with mental dis-eases, and disfigurement? Why do they have a stronger burden to carry than that of the next man? Or why are some people's lives filled with joy and material wealth? You reap what you sow...and life is God's way of letting us know that. If we as spirits would do what God wants us to do, life, and the evolution process would be SO MUCH EASIER ON US!!! Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Take the words of Jesus and start applying them, it is only then that WE as HUMANS will ever fully understand God's puposes. Don't let people fill you head with that "your going to Hell" talk...because it doesn't exist

Ravenswing	24 May 2002
life means no more or less than our belief in it. now purpose..... that's a WHOLE different thing-- maybe LVX steve

Mermaid	25 May 2002
Personally, I don't think that people are born with disease or have other painful things happen to them as some punishment for what they did in a past life. I think that we all come to earth each time with something specific to learn - and people with hard things to bear are just learning that particular lesson this time. I figure that if we were all so perfect that there was nothing else we needed to learn, then we wouldn't have been born in the first place. I guess I view earth as kind of a huge kindergarten... when we're really awesome at being good people on earth, maybe we'll graduate and go to high school :D Just my two cents! Love

phirefly	28 May 2002
personally, i think the meaning of life is simply living it. now, there are other complications. we each have morals and goals that dictate how we live and why we live the way we do... but the real joy and beauty of life, and its truest and simplest meaning, is simply to live. yay life :}

The Does life have a meaning??? thread was originally posted on 17 Apr 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.