What is the True Purpose of Life?

[The_Fisher_King]

Then wouldn't you have a purpose that is unattainable, thus meaningless?

Just because something is unattainable does not mean it is meaningless.

 

[BSM1]

Just because something is unattainable does not mean it is meaningless.

If your sole purpose in life was to obtain the unobtainable then what would you call it?

 

[The_Fisher_King]

If your sole purpose in life was to obtain the unobtainable then what would you call it?

I'm afraid I don't understand your question.

 

[BSM1]

I'm afraid I don't understand your question.

Could you maybe describe one of these spirits that have to liberated?

 

[Thief]

Do we truly take time to ponder about one of the most important questions about life: What is the true purpose of life?

Is most of humanity busy living, enjoying, seeking happiness, or are they actually introspecting and trying to find out the meaning of life? What is the true purpose of life? Why are we here? Who brought us here? What is the purpose of coming here? What should we do before we end this journey?

People go to a supermarket to buy stuff. It is very common. They may actually go to buy bread, but when they enter the supermarket, all the displayed new merchandise overwhelms them. They buy their chocolates, beer, wine and fruits. But at the end of the shopping trip, when they leave and reach home, alas! They have forgotten to buy bread. It happens! It happens very often because we get distracted.

How can we truly find the meaning of life if we don’t take time to ponder, contemplate, and introspect? Some people say that the purpose of life is to be happy – very easily answered – but is it so easy to be happy? People may have all the wealth and all the pleasures in the world, but they are still miserable and unhappy. Do they take time to think and find out what truly makes them happy? Do you think seeking happiness and finding the true purpose of life are two different goals? Or are they one? Is it that when we seek happiness and get happiness, we have achieved the true goal of life, or is it when we find out the true goal of life that we get all the happiness in the world, in fact, do we “become” happiness?

It is a very interesting thought to ponder on: What is the true purpose of life? It requires one to sit silently and think – not browse or read – just go deep within think… And the answers will surely come!

AiR

to become a unique spirit....
you can't really do anything else.

you are here to learn all that you can before your die

 

[Thief]

Thank goodness because those bushes tend to be burning.

and yet.... are not consumed

 

[psychoslice]

The purpose of life is all up to you, we all have our own purpose.

 

[The_Fisher_King]

Could you maybe describe one of these spirits that have to liberated?

A spark of the Divine Energy at the Root of all universes.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

inb4 what is life?

It was a magazine.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

The purpose of life is all up to you, we all have our own purpose.

My purpose is to drink beer.

 

[psychoslice]

My purpose is to drink beer.

Yes mine is also, I make my own beer and also my own spirits.

 

[arthra]

What is the true purpose of life?

There is a brief noon-day prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah that goes:

"I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.
I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

What is the true purpose of life? Why are we here? Who brought us here? What is the purpose of coming here? What should we do before we end this journey?

We can't know who/what created us, but we can pursue and ultimate value, Truth . And we worship that Truth/God by it's pursuit via knowledge, justice, love & beauty. For whatever that Truth is, there will ultimately be God.

We have an individual purpose and a social purpose which conflict with each other. To live well you try to find a balance that makes you happy.

They only conflict is if you want something evil, that being the desire to violate the rights of others to their life, liberty, property and self-defense. If you adhere to that, you're free to be as brilliant or as dumb as you want--on your own dime.

Trick question; there is no purpose to life, nor would we want it to be.

Why would you not want there to be? Because it would mean failure is possible?

depends

On what?

I never pondered nor really put interest in finding life's purpose. I have pondered for awhile one time, my purpose. I feel we are like animals. In a good way. They live "Zen" without looking for why.

Of all the animals, we are apparently the only ones with full self-awareness, and the capability for abstract reasoning. It is our nature to ask why, starting with the ultimate mystery of death.

1. Our purpose is to live within our beliefs.

What beliefs? And don't we come by them through abstract thought and reasoning?

2. The purpose is Zen. A blank slate. No animal asks Why he breeds. He just does.

But animals don't have the capacity to formulate beliefs. We know that because we don't see them worshiping idols, or as you point out, ask why he breeds.

My purpose of life is to rejoin with my family, ancestors, the spirits of the Earth, and my inner nature or Buddha nature.

A fanciful hope founded on baseless speculation. We can hope all we want, I do as well, but it's as ephemeral as the gossamer cobwebs in our cranial cavity.

1. The purpose of life is to live zen.

Foundationless hearsay. It makes more sense to say the purpose of life is to breathe.

Life isn't an Easter egg hunt for purpose and meaning. No deity has hidden "true purpose" somewhere in the bushes of life. The faster you realize that, the faster you can find fulfillment in a purpose of your choosing that suits your individual and collective natures.

We first have to know who we are before we can know what we desire and are capable of--and that is indeed and Easter egg hunt of sorts.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Perhaps the Biblical purpose of life can be found in Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Or maybe this, also from Ecclesiastes: " Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion." 5
:18 KJV

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Of all the animals, we are apparently the only ones with full self-awareness, and the capability for abstract reasoning. It is our nature to ask why, starting with the ultimate mystery of death.

I dont separate animals from myself. We both have life. We both live. We both do whatever we need to take care of ourselves. Animals have total awareness. Take a mother protecting her young. Its such a pure awareness that I dont know if humans can get to; though, we some of us do.

What beliefs? And don't we come by them through abstract thought and reasoning?

We arent born with them. Beliefs are not our not part of our nature just as they are not to an animal. We adopt them or had been taught so we can make sense out our life ans its purpose. We still exist without our beliefs.

But animals don't have the capacity to formulate beliefs. We know that because we don't see them worshiping idols, or as you point out, ask why he breeds.

I dont see that as negative. Beautiful actually.

Foundationless hearsay. It makes more sense to say the purpose of life is to breathe.

Exactly. Perfect Zen.

--I forgot to quote the hope one--

I dont see how your comment about hope connects to my purpose in life.

 

[BSM1]

A spark of the Divine Energy at the Root of all universes.

Well seeing how you put it that way...


[QUOTE="ThePainefulTruth, post: 4751735, member: 4161



Why would you not want there to be? Because it would mean failure is possible?



F[/QUOTE]


Everyone running around saying this must be my purpose, or that must be my purpose are doomed to fail. The only time someone can tell you their "purpose" is after the fact. For instance, one cannot say my purpose in life was to save a child who had fallen down a well until the child has been rescued. No one can get up in the morning and truthfully say my purpose is this or that. I believe that if you do not waste time on determining why you are here you can spend more time simply living. If there is no purpose, there can be no failure.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Everyone running around saying this must be my purpose, or that must be my purpose are doomed to fail. The only time someone can tell you their "purpose" is after the fact. For instance, one cannot say my purpose in life was to save a child who had fallen down a well until the child has been rescued. No one can get up in the morning and truthfully say my purpose is this or that. I believe that if you do not waste time on determining why you are here you can spend more time simply living. If there is no purpose, there can be no failure.

"Simply living" is such a nebulous, aimless phrase. As I said, worship Truth/God by it's pursuit via knowledge, justice, love & beauty--which is not nebulous, aimless or a waste of time. And if you do that maybe you do get to save a child in the process. Prophesy is bogus. It would negate our free will.

 

[Brian Schuh]

Read Ecclesiastes. The purpose and meaning of life is in that small book. Much of Ecclesiastes is about everything that is NOT what life is about. So much so, that you might miss the point.

Eat, drink, be merry. Enjoy your work God gave you to do. Love the spouse of your youth. It is always good to see the sunshine. Always keep your clothes clean. Tread softly when at the house of your God and keep your words few. And even more. Read the book.

Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book explaining that the whole meaning of life is in 12 short chapters of Ecclesiastes.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

I dont separate animals from myself. We both have life. We both live. We both do whatever we need to take care of ourselves. Animals have total awareness. Take a mother protecting her young. Its such a pure awareness that I dont know if humans can get to; though, we some of us do.

Animals, with a couple of unlikely exceptions, don't have full self-awareness. They aren't aware of the inevitability or universality of death. And most likely, they are able to imagine themselves in another one's place. These are absolute prerequisites for the ability to be moral. Animals, and even young children, not having these abilities, are innocent.

We arent born with them. Beliefs are not our not part of our nature just as they are not to an animal. We adopt them or had been taught so we can make sense out our life ans its purpose. We still exist without our beliefs.

Yes, but death is the compulsion that drives us to make sense of it all. But all too often we go for the easy emotional cop-out.

I dont see that as negative. Beautiful actually.

I didn't say it wasn't, it's just that I'd prefer to have moral free will, the prerequisite for a soul.

Exactly. Perfect Zen.

Perfectly pointless/meaningless.

I dont see how your comment about hope connects to my purpose in life.

I hope for something beyond just living and dying with nothing more. You may say, make the most of what you've got, and I agree. If you deny that hope, you also deny any hope for a person who is tortured endlessly all their life. I know, life ain't fair, but that's beyond the pale--and it happens. I don't claim that it's reasonable, only that it's not unreasonable.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Read Ecclesiastes. The purpose and meaning of life is in that small book. Much of Ecclesiastes is about everything that is NOT what life is about. So much so, that you might miss the point.

Eat, drink, be merry. Enjoy your work God gave you to do. Love the spouse of your youth. It is always good to see the sunshine. Always keep your clothes clean. Tread softly when at the house of your God and keep your words few. And even more. Read the book.

Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book explaining that the whole meaning of life is in 12 short chapters of Ecclesiastes.

A time to live and a time to die. What meaning is there in that?