"Meaning of Life"

[MysticSang'ha]

Not just an appreciation thread for Monty Python, but for fun and to get things started:

[youtube]eBqe5xvYnNc[/youtube]
The Meaning of Life: Growth and Learning - YouTube

Is there a meaning of Life? Or is life inherently without meaning and humans attribute meaning themselves? Is Life more about Being, or Doing, or Searching? Or is it something else?

Is your definition universal? Should it be? Or is meaning individualistic?

And finally, for those who have seen the rest of Monty Python's film "The Meaning of Life", was there anything you might have drawn from it? It progresses in a chronological order from birth to death, satirically pulling from common social customs and familial/political/institutional conversations to provide a list of possible "meanings" of Life that we have all likely either heard or contemplated.

My personal favorite from the film? The fish.

 

[Revoltingest]

No universal meaning as I see it.
The Galaxy Song is my favorite.
[youtube]buqtdpuZxvk[/youtube]
Galaxy Song - YouTube

 

[Quintessence]

All things have their intrinsic purpose or function (aka, meaning) within the Weave. Of course humans tend to overcomplicate the issue by supposing reality is (or should be) something other than what it is. Living and existing is meaningful in of itself.

 

[Jainarayan]

Is Life more about Being, or Doing, or Searching? Or is it something else?

Is your definition universal? Should it be? Or is meaning individualistic?

^ These. I think it's subjective and individualistic. The meaning of my life is different than yours or hers or his. Yet I think the universal goal of or task in life is to find its individual meaning. I think I found mine, though I often chafe at it. In Sanskrit it's called svadharma, my(self's) duty or my(self's) way/path (sva actually means 'self' but now I'm being pedantic :sorry1.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

The meaning of life is to figure out there is no meaning of life.

 

[Caladan]

Is there a meaning of Life? Or is life inherently without meaning and humans attribute meaning themselves? Is Life more about Being, or Doing, or Searching? Or is it something else?

I think there's several layers of meaning. For example individual meaning, partnership and romantic meaning, family meaning, friends and extended family meaning, national meaning, regional meaning, etc.
We have both individual and collective preferences and attribution of meanings, and we compare and contrast individual meanings between each other, with our collective, and our collective with other parties.
Perhaps life has no 'meaning' other than duplication, but the human animal, a cultural creature finds meaning in everything around him, as the natural world effects him since the moment of birth.
Even as a non religious person, when I go to the desert in Israel, I'm in a different state of mind. The wild life I encounter has meaning, the mountains have meaning, it's a moment that all my personal, cultural, and political contradictions are distilled into a stream of harmonious logic and emotions.

And finally, for those who have seen the rest of Monty Python's film "The Meaning of Life", was there anything you might have drawn from it?

Oh yes.
It goes like this:

There are Jews in the world.
There are Buddhists.
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I've never been one of them.

I'm a Roman Catholic,
And have been since before I was born,
And the one thing they say about Catholics is:
They'll take you as soon as you're warm.

You don't have to be a six-footer.
You don't have to have a great brain.
You don't have to have any clothes on. You're
A Catholic the moment Dad came

 

[Alceste]

I'm going to crib an answer I gave in another thread (more or less):

Because they are finite, our lives are incredibly precious. We should spend them wisely, cultivate our fulfillment tirelessly, and take great care not to detract from the fulfillment of others.

If I feel satisfied with the life I have lived at the moment of my death, it will have been a successful project. So far so good. I could die tomorrow without regrets. Hopefully I won't accumulate any on the way to my grave.

I'd love it if this were a universal guiding philosophy, but it seems there are many differing opinions on the subject.

Edit: It's been a long time since I saw the Meaning of Life, but I think the sex education class was my favorite sketch.

 

[Penumbra]

I haven't seen this movie.

Individuals and cultures have been defining and re-defining different perspectives on meaning for thousands of years.

People can define personal meaning for their life if they want to, but I certainly don't think there is any universal meaning. We're the only creatures we know of that can contemplate what our meaning is, while other creatures just do things. While I think it's good to live a contemplative life, I do think there is some value in seeing that every other creature is just out there being itself.

 

[Alex_G]

Is there a meaning of Life? Or is life inherently without meaning and humans attribute meaning themselves? Is Life more about Being, or Doing, or Searching? Or is it something else?

Is your definition universal? Should it be? Or is meaning individualistic?

And finally, for those who have seen the rest of Monty Python's film "The Meaning of Life", was there anything you might have drawn from it? It progresses in a chronological order from birth to death, satirically pulling from common social customs and familial/political/institutional conversations to provide a list of possible "meanings" of Life that we have all likely either heard or contemplated.

I think the meaning of life is simply to ask the question. It is one of those self-driving cycles, to have the phrase or concept 'meaning' gives drive to the contemplative efforts that ultimately define that very meaning in your life.
In an even more nauseatingly corny way, its about the journey rather than the destination, but to suggest that some potential destination might be out there is the very idea that motivates you to have the journey in the first place.

I think meaning, at least in a loose sense, is therefore defined by each individual through their dynamic relationship with their on-going existence, and may change in nature over the course of a lifetime as perspectives alter and reflections mature.

 

[Me Myself]

Which meaning is not of life?

Life has all the meanings. I've heard of no meaning outside of it, at least.

 

[Straw Dog]

Is there a meaning of Life? Or is life inherently without meaning and humans attribute meaning themselves? Is Life more about Being, or Doing, or Searching? Or is it something else?

Is your definition universal? Should it be? Or is meaning individualistic?

I think meaning is contextual and arises naturally between people and their environments. For instance, a relationship with a lover becomes meaningful through the interactions of the two parties involved. The meaning doesn't exist outside or without both sides interacting to create it. We don't say, "I have decided after extensive philosophical contemplation that I shall henceforth choose for this relationship to have meaning!" It arises on its own accord.

Another source of meaning would be investing in something that one perceives to be greater than the self. This could manifest as anything from a social cause to a monastic lifestyle. One last source I can think of is pursuing goals. By setting them and then enjoying the journey towards their realization, we may create meaning in motion.

 

[Ouroboros]

Life can be mean sometimes.

 

[dust1n]

Language is the meaning of life... at least, we would have a hard time conveying what the use of it.

 

[Straw Dog]

Language is the meaning of life... at least, we would have a hard time conveying what the use of it.

Who the what the...?

Yeah, language is essential for discerning meaning, in human affairs at least. I'd like to think that my relationship with my dog somehow has meaning in his mind beyond base attachments, but I can never know that without being able to prance a day in his paws. Perhaps I'll have a Freaky Friday type situation with him one day. So far three-thousand opened fortune cookies and no such luck, though. Damn you Disney!

 

[Ouroboros]

The meaning of life is to find a meaning to live.

 

[TheKnight]

Is there a meaning of Life? Or is life inherently without meaning and humans attribute meaning themselves? Is Life more about Being, or Doing, or Searching? Or is it something else?

Is your definition universal? Should it be? Or is meaning individualistic?

And finally, for those who have seen the rest of Monty Python's film "The Meaning of Life", was there anything you might have drawn from it? It progresses in a chronological order from birth to death, satirically pulling from common social customs and familial/political/institutional conversations to provide a list of possible "meanings" of Life that we have all likely either heard or contemplated.

My personal favorite from the film? The fish.

In my opinion life has no meaning outside that with which each individual imbues it.

 

[sandandfoam]

I belive the meaning of my life is that it offers me the opportunity to become.

 

[chinu]

The meaning of life is to search the meaning of life, And.. the very intresting thing is that those who went in search, they never returned back.

 

[chinu]

I belive the meaning of my life is that it offers me the opportunity to become.

to become... one after the other, isn't it ?

 

[chinu]

In my opinion life has no meaning outside that with which each individual imbues it.

So.. one should not search it ?