The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most popular and well-read books of wisdom in the history of humankind. Known also as the Song of God, it is a conversation between the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna and his devotee Arjuna, on the verge of the Mahabharata war. The […]
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.“ “Walking is man’s best medicine.” “The greatest medicine of all is teaching people how not to need it.“ “A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought […]
Excellence Reporter: Bonny, what is the meaning of life? Bonny Meyer: The meaning of life is to love and what gives meaning to life is love. Love is the essence of our being. We are born lovers. If you don’t believe me, just look at the way a […]
Excellence Reporter: David, what is the meaning of life? David Richards: This seems like such an easy question to answer, in finding a meaning to life. It is the stuff quips are made of; “the meaning of life is to live a life of meaning.” But how? How to […]
Excellence Reporter: Philip, what is the meaning of life? Philip Goldberg: This is a multileveled question. Let’s start with the ultimate level: Is there meaning inherent in life as such? Or, asked another way: Does existence itself have meaning? To this, my answer must be “I don’t know. […]
“Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.“ “Give me liberty, or give me death.“ “When it can be said by any country in the world, my […]
There was once a Zen Buddhist monk sitting on the side of the road meditating. He apparently had been meditating for years and years, because his hair had grown down to the ground, and birds had made a nest in his hair. One day, intuitively he felt somebody […]
Bee Daoist: If you have the Dao in your heart you are the man of the Dao. We carry these clothes, these shoes, this hat… if we do not see the Dao in our heart, we are no Daoists at all. To carry the Dao in our hearts […]
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” “Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business.Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous.Be brave as your fathers before you.Have faith!Go forward!“ “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize […]
Excellence Reporter: Master Winn, what is the meaning of life? Michael Winn: From my Taoist view, “meaning” is a culturally or linguistically constructed CONCEPT. “Life” is the important part of the question. The underlying question is really “what does it mean to be fully alive?”. Life is the […]
If you don’t know why you are here. I encourage you to find out what your purpose is here. What is the meaning of your life? What will be different? Have you ever asked yourself that question? And most people go to their graves with their greatness still […]
Interested in getting a numerology report but aren’t sure how this ancient art works? Let’s take a closer look at the workings of numerology. Sometimes we need answers that the earthly world can not give us. There are plenty of ways to go about finding our paths, but […]
Spiritual practices offer us a lot of benefits, especially in this time of uncertainty. Encouraging spiritual health will, not only, promote stability in your daily life but it can also offer a sense of purpose often showing people the true meaning of life. When we dive deep into […]
“I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die.” “He who does not value life does not deserve it.” “Life without love, is no life at all.” “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. The height of a man’s […]
“Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.” “Without books, I would certainly die.“ “The art of life is the art of avoiding pain.” Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Nothing can stop the man […]
“The true work of artis but a shadow of the divine perfection.” “With few words I shall make thee understand my soul.” “To touch is to give life…” “Your gifts lie in the place where your values, passions and strengths meet. Discovering that place is the first step […]
“I believe in the supreme worth of the individualand in his right to life, libertyand the pursuit of happiness.” “God gave me my money.” “Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim. The road to happiness […]
“The madness of love is the greatest of heaven’s blessings.“ “The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself;to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.” “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always […]
“Men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn’t go into the mine looking for dirt—one goes in looking for the gold.“ “If you want to be happy, […]
“Normality is a paved road: it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.” “Seek only light and freedom and do not immerse yourself too deeply in the worldly mire.” “Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all… […]
“Life is hard but so very beautiful.” “Whatever you are, be a good one.” “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound […]
“Teach from life experiences, not from words…” “All my life I’ve been tormented by the thought of the purpose of this life. I asked myself the question: why do we need this life? The fact that a person works to achieve material wealth, to eat and drink, is […]
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine. Music is the […]
“Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvellous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. I only try to express the soul and the heart of man.“ “Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning. Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. How strange! […]
“I am in the world only for the purpose of composing. There is no such thing as happy music. My compositions spring from my sorrows. Those that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs. Those who are born of grief give greatest delight […]
“The unexamined life is not worth living.“ “Know thyself.“ “We cannot live better than in seeking to become better. The really important thing is not to live, but to live well. And to live well meant, along with more enjoyable things in life, to live according to your […]
Om Namaste! We are taught by the ancient Vedic wisdom that life is too great a mystery, too big a secret, no matter how we would like to live in it. The human who does not think about life, about its meaning, about his place in it, he […]
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.“ “Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. And happiness depends […]
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground. The joy in life is his who has the heart to demand it. There can be no […]
“There are no words, it’s only music there…” *** ~Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian Baroque musical composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, and Roman Catholic priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic, he is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence […]
“When love has fused and mingled two beings in a sacred and angelic unity, the secret of life has been discovered so far as they are concerned; they are no longer anything more than the two boundaries of the same destiny; they are no longer anything but the […]
“The supreme harmony of the cosmos is selected in the harmony of the spirit.“ “Life is only a long and bitter suicide, and faith alone can transform this suicide into a sacrifice. In life one must decide whether to conjugate the verb to have or the verb […]
“The animal knows everything, but cannot say it. Man can say a lot, but knows nothing.” “Joy and happiness are the children of love, but love itself, as the moving force, is patience and compassion. Love is the root of life. But she does not come just […]
“We are all littered with trash, and yet underneath that the twinkle of the True Self flickers.” “First of all seek the Kingdom of God and its truth. If you work for the body, you must work for the soul too. Your heart needs to be cultivated […]
“Days, years, centuries pass as a shadow and we all approach our end. The life of man is a book, and every day of his life is one page of the book. Every book has an end, and human life has an end too. On the pages of […]
Excellence Reporter: Master Wu, what is the meaning of life? Master Wu: I came into this world bringing nothing with me, not even any clothes. When I depart, I will not be able to bring anything back with me. For more than 40 years I have been meditating […]
“Art has always been a weapon in the struggle of man against matter, threatening to swallow his spirit…” “Man is interesting to me for his willingness to serve something higher than oneself, and even for his inability to perceive the ordinary and the philistine moral life. I’m […]
I was asked by Excellence Reporter to answer the question: “what is the meaning of life?” I tormented myself all evening and night, remembering how I have lived and what I had in my life, and what I saw as meaningful in this life. With great surprise I […]
*** ~AUGUST TURAK is a highly successful entrepreneur, award-winning author, speaker, and contributor for Forbes and the BBC. He is the founder of the educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF). As a frequent guest, Turak has been living and working alongside the monks of Mepkin Abbey […]
Excellence Reporter: Ping, what is the meaning of life? Ping Fang: This has been the question pondering in my heart since childhood. What is the purpose of being human? Is there any meaning to it? I was born in the time of the Cultural Revolution in China – […]
To wisely live your life, you don’t need to know much. Just remember two main rules for the beginning: • You better starve, than eat whatever; • And better be alone, than with whoever. Scholars really have nothing to teach you. But from the soft touch of the […]
Excellence Reporter: Zeenat, what is the meaning of life? Zeenat Potia: I see open, receptive palms. Both receiving and offering the gifts of our collective human existence. For me, this may look like hearing my daughter’s laughter, feeling the warm monsoon rains on my face, allowing myself to […]
The paradox is — we want happiness but we get suffering, and that’s the curse of our desire for (instant) happiness. Modern times are the epoch of the search for happiness and that’s perfectly fine, but when it is not based on meaning, our search very soon becomes […]
On Feb. 13, 1987, I was shown, in a vision, what the purpose of life is and the lesson has never left me. It happened while I was driving my car on my way to work in the city of Vancouver, Canada. I was at the time registered […]
Excellence Reporter: Narayan, what is the meaning of life? Narayan Helen Liebenson: A friend once had an awakening experience and went to a master to ask whether this experience meant he was now enlightened. The master asked my friend: “do you have complete confidence in the indestructible nature […]
Excellence Reporter: Rinpoche, what is meaning of life? Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche: The meaning of life is the present moment. If we are able to be in the present moment, we gain great happiness. Most people think too much about the future and the past to get happiness and […]
“Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power.” “Life means to be living. Problems will always be there. When they arise navigate through them with yoga — don’t take a break. Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, […]
Excellence Reporter: Igor, what is the meaning of life? Igor Kufayev: Speaking ultimately, Life, as an expression of Being, is beyond any meaning we can ascribe to it. That does not mean that Life is meaningless, but rather that it has as many meanings as there are levels of […]
“The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity.” “Every flower created by God is beautiful. That the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness […]
Excellence Reporter: Barbara, what is the meaning of life? Barbara Harris Whitfield: I had a near-death experience many years ago in 1975. The highlight was what is called “The Life Review.” There I saw a cloud with thousands of bubbles and in each bubble was an event from […]
“The kingdom of heaven is not a place but a state of mind.” “Every walk to the woods is a religious rite, every bath in the stream is a saving ordinance. Communion service is at all hours, and the bread and wine are from the heart and […]
“No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty.” “Beauty beyond thought everywhere, beneath, above, made and being made forever.” “The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance […]
“The more you know, the less you need.” “The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It’s so easy to make it complex. What’s important is leading an examined life. Mastery… is to work toward simplicity; replace complex technology with knowledge, hard work, and […]
Excellence Reporter: Ven. Tenzin Dasel, what is the meaning of life? Tenzin Dasel: That is up to each of us personally to discover and create. From the very beginning of life, we begin to form associations that quickly become meaningful. We are, each of us, the creators of giving […]
“Today the most civilized countries of the world spend a maximum of their income on war and a minimum on education. The twenty-first century will reverse this order. It will be more glorious to fight against ignorance than to die on the field of battle. The discovery of […]
“The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it’s a different kind of life.” “Dare to be naive Dare to think Dare to go with the truth And dare to really love completely.” “The purpose of our lives is to add value to the […]
Excellence Reporter: T Proctor, what is the meaning of life? T Proctor: The meaning of life is nothing. And from that nothing comes everything. There are still songs to sing, dances to dance and hearts to be touched. There are stars to be born and constellations to be […]
Excellence Reporter: Taco, what is the meaning of life? Taco van der Mark: This is the question which has been on my mind since my childhood. What is the purpose of Life, what am I doing here on this earth? In my teens I remember one of those […]
“You have everything needed for the extravagant journey that is your life. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Therefore, one may say without being presumptuous that the experience of experiences is being alive. In a world where death is the hunter, my friend, there is no time […]
“Tear your heart away from everything else; then seek God and you will surely find Him.” “It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves.” “It is love alone that gives worth to all things. The important thing is not to think […]
For life makes no mistakes and always gives man that which man first gives himself. “The drama of life is a psychological one which we bring to pass by our attitudes rather than by our acts. There is no escape from our present predicament except by a […]
“Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” “The true meaning of existence is disclosed in moments of living in the presence of God.” “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. …get up in the morning and look at the world […]
“We focus too much on things and not enough on the intangibles that make this worthwhile; too much on success and not enough on character, without which success is meaningless. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every […]
“And with truth comes beauty and with this beauty a freedom before God.” “To be really Bible-Believing Christians we need to practice, simultaneously, at each step of the way, two biblical principles. One principle is that of the purity of the visible church. Scripture commands that we […]
S: Why is it that certain Jnanis have nothing to do with money, while others, like Ramesh Balsekar and Jean Klein have large organizations? What is the reason other Jnanis have nothing to do with money, workshops, publishing books, selling tapes and have no organization to support them? […]
You are — your life, and nothing else. “Life has no meaning, the moment you lose the illusion of being eternal. Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose. […]
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must […]
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between…” “We live in this world in order always to learn industriously and to enlighten each other by means of discussion and to strive vigorously to promote the progress of science and the fine arts. As death, […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Kozak, what is the meaning of life? Arnie Kozak: The pursuit for life’s meaning is often a refuge against its utter meaninglessness. Any certainty about life’s meaning, direction, and purpose, ranges from comforting illusion to outright delusion. God is a refuge. Soul is a refuge. […]
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. The acceptance of oneself is the essence of the whole moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook on life. The most […]
Dad?” “What?” A small bird rises from a tree in front of us. “What should I be when I grow up?” The bird disappears over a far ridge. I don’t know what to say. “Honest,” I finally say. “One of the most moral acts is to […]
Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things… as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value. “Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not […]
“Do we in our time have an answer to the question of what we really mean by the word ‘being’? Not at all. So it is fitting that we should raise anew the question of the meaning of Being. But are we nowadays even perplexed at our inability […]
Excellence Reporter: Master Ian, what is the meaning of life? Ian Cameron: The meaning of life will be different for everyone. No matter how close we are to family, friends or colleagues, you cannot rely on others to give our lives meaning. It is important to realise that […]
“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others. Only then have we ourselves become true human beings. I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be […]
Excellence Reporter: Shaila, what is the meaning of life? Shaila Catherine: Many years ago a friend said to me, ‘It matters what I do today because I am trading a day of my life for it.’ This became a daily inquiry that helped me overcome a lifelong tendency: […]
“If anyone were to ask me what I want out of life I would say: the opportunity for doing something useful, for in no other way, I am convinced, can true happiness be attained. To leave the world richer—that is the ultimate success.” “The purpose of life […]
“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful to do so. He studies it because he takes pleasure in it, and he takes pleasure in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful it would not be worth knowing, and life would not be […]
Excellence Reporter: Sarah, what is the meaning of life? Sarah Taylor: What is the meaning of life? We could go at this from all sorts of angles, most of which won’t really matter unless they resonate and help you move through the world with presence, heart, and the […]
“My question was the simplest of questions, lying in the soul of every man from the foolish child to the wisest elder: it was a question without an answer to which one cannot live, as I had found by experience. It was: “What will come of what I […]
“As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life… Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense […]
“We are in such a haste to be doing, to be writing, to be gathering gear, to make our voices audible a moment in the derisive silence of eternity, that we forget that one thing, of which these are but parts – namely to live!” (“Walking Tours”, in The […]
“Beyond work and love, I would add two other ingredients that give meaning to life. First, to fulfill whatever talents we are born with. However blessed we are by fate with different abilities and strengths, we should try to develop them to the fullest, rather than allow them […]
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” (Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934) “The secret of […]
“About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Habito, what is the meaning of life? Maria Reis Habito: The meaning of life – that is a very big question, not easy to answer. From my point of view today I would say: the meaning of life is living it. Fine, but how? Simply […]
Excellence Reporter: Ven. Courtin, what is the meaning of life? Robina Courtin: There’s a saying in Buddhism that a bird needs two wings: wisdom and compassion. Compassion is the point, but, as the Dalai Lama says, compassion is not enough; we need wisdom. What’s wisdom? That’s the work […]
Excellence Reporter: Henry, what is the meaning of life? Henry Shukman: I’m not too sure about the meaning of life so I’ll start with the purpose. “What is the purpose of life?” a student once asked a master. The master replied: “Play.” The student was disappointed. “I’ve come […]
Excellence Reporter: Gillian, what is the meaning of life? Gillian Reid: When I as much as think of the meaning of life, my heart pounds in response. For me, the sole purpose of the meaning of life resides in being true to the ultimate language of our heart. […]
Excellence Reporter: Dirk, what is the meaning of life? Dirk Oellibrandt: We humans often first look for the meaning of life in order to become aware of what life really is. This will lead us first to self-consciousness. We need meaning if we miss direct experience. As soon […]
Excellence Reporter: Ben, what is the meaning of life? Ben Connelly: I do not know the meaning of life. I have chosen to give my life meaning by making a commitment to healing and liberation from suffering for all. Not knowing the meaning of life is helpful to […]
Before we can ponder the meaning of life, we must first recognize that life is not outside of us, or something happening to us. We are life. The life we live and the life we are, are not two separate existences. When we obstruct this union, we look […]
“Basically, when you get to my age, you’ll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. I know many people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and they get […]
Excellence Reporter: Bhante G, what is the meaning of life? Bhante Gunaratana: In my view the meaning of life is understanding life as it actually is and liberate oneself from repetition of birth and death. One must understand that between birth and death there are moments of pleasure. […]
Excellence Reporter: Rinpoche, what is the meaning of life? Or the purpose of life if you will? Khensur Rinpoche: Most all of us fall into the trap of believing, at one point or another, that amassing wealth, fame, power, friendships, and even happiness itself is the purpose of […]
Excellence Reporter: Mark, what is the meaning of life? Mark Van Buren: This question has produced billions of answers over the many years of human existence, which makes one think, could there be an inherent ONE meaning everyone can align with? I’ll be honest, I’m not going to […]
Excellence Reporter: Annette, what is the meaning of life? Annette Kaiser: The meaning of life is to become a conscious human being, that loves, what is. At the core this is a way of living, understanding the essence of human existence: “Love says, I am all, Wisdom says, […]
Excellence Reporter: Leonard, what is the meaning of life? Leonard Jacobson: There are many levels to my answering this question. At the most superficial level, I would say there is no meaning to life. We are born. We live our life and remain unconscious for most of it. […]
Nobody needs to ask the question: “what is my purpose?” It will always be found in service. If you can just, for one day, put your attention on making life better for someone else. If you can focus on thinking like that, that’s how God thinks. It’s an […]
Excellence Reporter: Mary, what is the meaning of life? Mary Reed: It would be easy to answer this question by saying that the only meaning of life is that which we give it. But as a mystic, the question feels a little like asking, “Does your mother know […]
