The Purpose of Life

tooled · Jan 18, 2012

Perhaps A good read for people in this chat room would be,
"Bitten By The Black The Snake"
Six oral Sutra's handed down by Ashtavakra, a sage who lived hundreds of years before Mohammad, Christ or Buddha.
It speaks directly to the complex fallacy of this erroneous dualistic existence we perceive as reality today. But what is the most amazing part of it all... 4000 years ago humans had a much deeper and more profound understanding of our place in this complex unified conscious field, this energy matrix we like to label "Consciousness"
Feel free to ask more... Afloatinsaus@yahoo.com

themnax · Jan 18, 2012

life doesn't need a purpose. but while we're here, we might as well try and learn something.

InfiniteOscillations · Feb 5, 2012

UNTill said:

So I've been going through this forum and a trend I have noticed is how many people can hold such intelligent thoughts and views, but at the same time look past the very obvious.

The problem with existentialism is that we're thinking too hard about problems that really aren't as difficult as we make them out to be. I mean think about...

Q: Why are we alive?
A: To live!

Its as simple as that. My thought is me: that is why I cannot stop thinking. I exist because I cannot keep from thinking.

And the good news? There is no right or wrong way to think; however, every war we've ever fought has been because we disagree with the way another person thinks. You're alive because you NEED to learn how to think.

But what purpose does it serve to think?

Just by living you are making the Universe around you possible. If you weren't here to perceive it, then it wouldn't exist.

Think about it like this...
Imagine that the blood cells in our body were conscious like we are, and they suffered from the same existential anxiety that we all do. Imagine what would happen to this body if our all of our blood cells said to themselves, "There is no purpose in living, there is no greater meaning, there is no afterlife, and there is no God; whats the point?" However, what the blood cell is not aware of is that we could not live without it and that infact he IS apart of a greater purpose/reality. But how does this help the blood cell? He thinks his life serves no purpose and that he is just a small part of a much larger reality that he is unable to comprehend so he should just give up.

Now apply that same metaphor to our situation here on Earth. Imagine that we are nothing more that blood cells, and the earth is the vien in which we live, the sun is the heart which gives us life, the Universe is the entire body that we are all apart of, and God is the brain. And while the blood cell maybe aware of the fact that there is a brain and he may even be aware of the fact that the brain controls the body, he is unaware of how the brain works, or the thoughts that it can think; and is also unaware that while the brain controls the body, it cannot control the blood cell on an individual level. It can only guide it on the path it needs to go in order to not only keep the body alive, but himself alive as well.

The answers to all of lifes questions are around you and they are disguised in everyday appearances. All you have to do is look at the obvious and see if it applies to your life.

Now if that metaphor didn't work for you, heres another example.
Imagine that you are a fish and God's mind is the Ocean. You cannot deny that without it, you wouldn't be alive. The Ocean came before you, gave you life, but it didn't necessarily give you a purpose. As a fish, you are free to swim in whichever direction you choose and you are free to swiw with whatever school of other fish you choose. However, if the ocean were not full with fish, it would have no reason to exist. We need the Ocean just as much as the Ocean needs us. Its a mutual relationship, however sometimes we're like the fish who just are intelligent enough to understand it.

Never take your conscious for granted. Its the reason you're alive.
Click to expand...

I agree with your answer for the meaning is simply live. I think some people mean when they ask this question that they see that there must be something we were meant to do in this lfie. Such as sleep/eat/play.. things like this not the whole picture but there must be one main thing IN life that we must do. For instance to live, does that mean it's okay and were meant to do anything in life and it be why we existed? For instance I, myself can think that I was meant to kill. So I understand you side and what I perceive to be the other side of the wall. I myself think that the meaning is to love and be loved. Like I said I also agree with your answer to just live. But to me it must branch off further than that. Thanks for bringing this topic up! It is a big one ;D

SinisterBotanist · Feb 5, 2012

I've done a heavy amount of existential thinking this year. The OP is fantastic. I love pondering consciousness. When there is no life left on earth, consciousness will arise elsewhere. There really isn't anything out of place. The perfect time for me to be born is the time I'm born. etc.

But at the same time, all this metaphysical thinking I end up asking myself, "What does this do for me anyway?" This is the way things have always been, and I'm going to keep on living the exact same way I have. But I still know that it's all a part of this grand happening going on. This is the trouble I have with what I like to call ultimate concerns.

FlyingFly · May 19, 2012

From biological point of view, we live to recreate, we are useless if we don't.

However, we have this over-powered brain, which makes things only harder.

ozzyadmirer · Aug 23, 2012

Okiefreak said:

You seem to be saying we should realize we have a purpose, because we might be a vital part of some larger thing and just not know it. But then again, we might not, or might not care to accept that as meaningful. So back to the existential dilemma!
Click to expand...

Absolutely fantastic. Existentialism isn't debating that we should or should not live; that we have or do not have purpose; but that everything is a possibility and the individual, in a sense, makes his own truth. That is, until the moment of consciousness, when all that really happens is that he disconnects from himself and connects to the world. Often it is the consciousness that'll cause the anxiety and bring up questions such as, "What is the purpose of life?"

Log in or Sign up

The Purpose of Life

tooled Guest

themnax Senior Member

InfiniteOscillations Member

SinisterBotanist Member

FlyingFly Dickens

ozzyadmirer Guest

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

The Purpose of Life

tooled Guest

themnax Senior Member

InfiniteOscillations Member

SinisterBotanist Member

FlyingFly Dickens

ozzyadmirer Guest

Share This Page

Useful Searches