The Purpose of Life

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Major Tom	14 Oct 2002
This is a question that has fascinated people for thousands of years. I just want to put to the test something I read in Illusions by Richard Bach: "Whatever I came up with fit his two fingers. People...(are here)... for fun or learning or both put together." Personally I think the purpose of life is fun and learning. Can anyone think of anything we can do that isn't one or the other or both? })

Liliana	14 Oct 2002
Nope everything pretty much fts in those 2 categories or a combinaton of the 2, actually I think everything is a combination of the two, some just lean toward more fun or toward more learning. Sex is fun, but its learning about your partner. School is education, but it can be fun Tarot is both But ine exception, HOUSEWORK, thats neither fun nor educational hehe :THP

faunabay	14 Oct 2002
What a great way to look at it!!! Even teachers have fun and/or learn from their students as well. Thanks Major Tom!! This is a great answer for people who ask "what am I here for?" :) This gets filed in my memory banks! Hopefully it'll stay there! :D

Major Tom	14 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Liliana HOUSEWORK, thats neither fun nor educational hehe Gosh! :eek: Imagine a High Priestess without a fun way to do the housework! Didn't the Romans have domestic gods? }) Quote: Originally posted by faunabay What a great way to look at it!!! This gets filed in my memory banks! Hopefully it'll stay there! :D Getting it to stay there is what I'm working on. :)

Woof	14 Oct 2002
I agree FUN and LEARNING! Eak out the fun where you can but we must learn. Liliana, housework has been very educational for me (stop laughing!) I use it to medidate, I clear my mind of everything else. It's an exercise in self discipline and ego control. (And when it's done well and quickly there's more time for fun & learning!) Woof

Umbrae	14 Oct 2002
I always found washing dishes and cooking as a pathway to complete nothingness. Sometimes the lessons can be very painful, especially when we are forced to learn about ourselves. Such lessons are not fun. :smoker:

AmounrA	14 Oct 2002
I wonder what the net gain is for all this fun and learning. If it is the purpose of life, what is the point? I'm not sure that life has a purpose or reason to exist. If it did not and never did exist who would have missed it? If this is the purpose of life, why create animals with claws and sharp teeth? , not much fun being eaten. I don't think fun is part of the purpose, although its always nice:-) I think learning is almost a side effect within matter. Instead of learning maybe its progression...evolution, this shows up every where, from animal to car design.

Sinta	15 Oct 2002
Fun and Learning huh? Then the purpose of my life must be my lover. With him I have the most fun and he teaches me lots of things... ..... well..tries to.. *glares at the thoughts of mathematical equations which float around in her head* ^_^ happy happy.

anjocoxo	15 Oct 2002
I totally agree with you guys (especially the housework part, i hate cleaning...) and that is why i'm getting more and more impatient with people that spend their lives complaining about every simple thing that doesn't go exactly the way they wanted (not realizing that sometimes it is better not to get what we wanted first place, right?) and keep complaining about everything when they just don't realize that life is suposed to be fun, and if you think positive, it will all turn out well... more or less ;)

fairyhedgehog	15 Oct 2002
Okay, as a materialist I don't believe that life has any intrinsic purpose: it just is. But I believe that we are able to choose to give life a purpose. And my choice would definitely go with 'learning and fun' :) Housework, for me, comes into neither category. It just is. And some of it I choose not to do, and some of it I'm stuck with, and I've yet to find a way of doing it that is other than painful drudgery. But that's life ;) PS I wonder if I can afford to pay a cleaner? Mmmmhhhmmm....

Melvis	15 Oct 2002
Another housework-hater here. I always figured it was a character-building thing -- doing something that you absolutely hate to do. And then -- hey! -- I learned something from it. I learned that I had the wherewithal to pay my niece to houseclean for me twice a month! :D I think it's all in how you look at it...I've always looked at life as one big learning experience, primarily because I think it's fun to learn new things! I'm lucky that my mother instilled a love of learning in me from an early age. And if you get a chance to read "Illusions" -- do it! It's an excellent book that gets you thinking about what it's like to be a messiah. And then, of course, there's all those valuable life lessons in it to be learned, too! Peace, Melvis :TSTRE

John	16 Oct 2002
The purpose of life is maximizing one's pleasure. Evolution has resulted, in mammals, the association of sexual reproduction with intense pleasure, therefore sex is an important part of all mammals' lives, including humans. Learning is desirable only if process thereof or eventual result thereof is pleasurable. Nobody wants to learn pointless, useless crap that won't bring pleasure at any point. Even self-sacrifice by heroes or saints is motivated by pleasure. These people suffer from the martyr complex and take pleasure in the happiness and welfare of others to an irrational degree. All in all, it's all about pleasure.

jmd	16 Oct 2002
Is it really the case that 'even self-sacrifice by heroes or saints is motivated by pleasure'? Without even going to the high rank which 'heroes and saints' may have, is it even the case that our own motivation is limited, ultimately, to that of pleasure? It seems to me that when one tries to find an answer within a framework which is itself limited to a physicalist framework, then either meaningless biological urges or, alternatively, motives which ultimately can be reduced to such, must be postulated. The question, however, is whether or not there is a purpose(s) to life. Maybe we cannot answer this question not because it is without meaning, but because as we face the wonders of the world with deep reverence and awe, we realise our own partial insights. Maybe there is far more to the world than only its physicality - and Life's meaning is yet to be ascertained.

MystiqueMoonlight	16 Oct 2002
My purpose in life is spiritual growth and patience in the mundane. By the way I don't mind cleaning my place....nothing is more comforting than the feel of a dusted, vaccuumed, washed floored, fresh sheets on the bed, clean dishes home....but I supposed that's the Cancerian in me

blue_fusion	16 Oct 2002
Quote: Originally posted by John The purpose of life is maximizing one's pleasure. Evolution has resulted, in mammals, the association of sexual reproduction with intense pleasure, therefore sex is an important part of all mammals' lives, including humans. Learning is desirable only if process thereof or eventual result thereof is pleasurable. Nobody wants to learn pointless, useless crap that won't bring pleasure at any point. Even self-sacrifice by heroes or saints is motivated by pleasure. These people suffer from the martyr complex and take pleasure in the happiness and welfare of others to an irrational degree. All in all, it's all about pleasure. hmm, you sound like aristotle, or aquinas... :)

New River	17 Oct 2002
Then i must be here to learn how to have fun! i sometimes find myself taking things so seriously i forget to have fun so i'm really not kidding when i say i need to learn how to have fun. and i have to reiterate, if you have not read this book, don't walk, run to your bookstore or library and check it out. are you still here people? go get it! :D love and blessings, New River

ssplam	27 Oct 2002
I wonder... have any of you read "Conversations With God" by Neale Donald Walsch. Firstly, if you haven't, it is a great and fast read (about 200 pages that I went through in about 4, nearly un-interrupted hours) Secondly you would have to decide if you believe the conversation took place or not... It made me cry so many times because the words felt as though they were written specifically for me. Anyway, I personally believe the conversation was real, but could never presume to make that decision for any one else. With that said... the book (God, Neal...) states our purpose in life is to remember that we are perfect beings. And that we achieve this by chosing to forget that bit of knowledge when we come to life on earth. For how you can truly appreciate what you have until you've lost it. Our purpose is to remember who we are and our higher purpose. This is an excerpt from the degree presented to new members of an organization belong to (the Grange). The ritual is based on a combination of life on the farm and many excerpts from the Bible, because it was drafted by two ministers, and members of the free-masonry. I delivered this charge many times as Chaplain and feel that it applies to the topic quite nicely. Hope you agree. "We live amid His works, surrounded by His productions. Dependant on His air, His light, His warmth to cause the seed we plant to jerminate and all our labors to yeild fruit. Our every sense if vitalized and gratified by his providence and our every want supplied by his bounty. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. For our labors are His labors, our rewards are the results of His workings, and our every pulsation and breath should therefore be in harmony with His works and His will. Even we ourselves are God's Husbandry." We are of the same "stuff" as God. Have a grand week ~Christina

The The Purpose of Life thread was originally posted on 14 Oct 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.