Except in the narrowest sense, the question, “What is the meaning of life?” is ludicrous. That is unless you can clearly define “life.” Is life biological? Social, spiritual, political? Is it all of these? None of these? You see? When we finally define life for ourselves, does our […]
Imagine you are walking along a street in town, or along a path through field or forest far from the ways of women and men, and you catch a scent in the air; there is a fragrance which is unexpected but strong, sweet, and delicious, (it could be […]
We are born. We eat sweet potatoes. Then we die. ~Easter Island proverb What if we fully faced the fact we are going to die. That there is a physical end to this life we are living. And what if we embraced the profound uncertainty of not knowing […]
“And she lifted her head, looking out the window. The Sun shone directly into her eye with just a slight angle and she chose not to waver in the face of the strong light, but to let the suns rays penetrate her vision and give her Eyes for […]
Excellence Reporter: J.Jaye, what is the meaning of life? J. Jaye Gold: Questions of this nature can really only be explored, not answered. For this inquiry, let’s explore the purpose of an individual human life. It is fruitful to examine human life as a “process,” rather than a “product,” […]
Excellence Reporter: Dorothy, what is the meaning of life? Dorothy Rowe: Life is the spark of Divine essence within all things, the Source of creation, simultaneously manifest and unmanifest. This spark of life is self illuminating. As such it appears as the phenomenal forms of the world. We […]
What is the meaning of life? I silently laughed as I read the question. Where was Socrates when I needed him? But I don’t need Socrates to have an opinion, and, of course, Socrates, true to form, would expect me to answer the question myself. That’s the problem […]
Excellence Reporter: Pernilla, what is the meaning of life? Pernilla Lillarose: I would like to answer this question from 2 angles: What is the meaning of life to me? What is the meaning of life itself? The answer will depend on who this ‘me’ is and what life […]
This question was Present as far back as I remember… possibly lifetimes. After much searching and eliminating, not this, not that… The meaning revealed itself to be at the deepest core of all Being. The True meaning and whole point of life is not to be found on the […]
Excellence Reporter: Daniel, what is the meaning of life? Daniel Schmidt: Only the limited mind wants the meaning life. The ego structure wants to know, but what we really want at a deeper level is the full experience of being alive. The flowering of human consciousness is realized […]
Excellence Reporter: Gail, what is the meaning of life? Gail Brenner: This is a beautiful, fierce, and illuminating question, and here’s my story about it. For over 20 years, I lived in the painful process of struggling to discover the purpose of my life. The days seemed to […]
To say ‘I love you’ one must first know how to say the ‘I.’ Love is our response to our highest values, and can be nothing else. That love is reverence, and worship, and glory, and the upward glance. Not a bandage for dirty sores. But they […]
Excellence Reporter: Reb Brian, what is the meaning of life? Reb Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks: Let’s look at Deuteronomy, 11:26-28 רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה “See, I set before you today blessing and curse” This is the message to us in every moment: life is both blessing and […]
Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life? Meaning and purpose are among life’s biggest questions. The answers are not simple and require self-exploration. Meaning is what we give to our experiences. How we interpret and relate to life leads to the […]
Excellence Reporter: Mani, what is the meaning of life? Mani: When I hear this question, I feel a warmth in my heart, not my physical heart but the heart of my being, which I call my Soul. Each Soul is the repository of the essence of many lives and […]
Right at your heart! That’s where we start! Somebody recently sent me an early birthday present. It must have been very urgent for me to receive because it was four months early. It was the story of a man who raised goslings from the egg to flight. So, […]
Excellence Reporter: Rev. Peter, what is the meaning of life? Rev. Peter Panagore: Love is key. Love is the meaning of life. We keep the love we give away, and we keep the love given to us. Love is the treasure of Heaven. Give love freely. The flow […]
Excellence Reporter: Mukti Apollo, what is the meaning of life? Moksha Mukti Apollo: This question has become a cliche, and have been answered many times by many so called authorities and experts. So, I propose metaphysical yet scientific approach to answer this question, and I’ll answer in two […]
The evolution of our souls follows these steps upwards towards enlightenment (not necessarily in this exact order and some happen simultaneously). To be read from the bottom of the page upwards… The Absolute / the Nature of Reality is Good / Pure Being /Enlightenment ↑ Discovery of Nature […]
Excellence Reporter: Gloriji, what is the meaning of life? Gloriji: I don’t know, but I can share from my experiences. In our relative experience of being in the world, our search for the meaning of life begins as we mature. We’re acutely aware of the pain and suffering in […]
Excellence Reporter: James, what is the meaning of life? James Waite: We often go looking for meaning in all the wrong places. Indeed, there are no right places, outside of our self, to find real meaning. Meantime, it seems most of us are launched by our cultures and […]
A 21st century scientific revolution is underway that will transform our understanding of our Universe at every level and crucially at the scale of our everyday lives. Even more important, by reconciling scientifically-based evidence with universal spiritual experience, it will revolutionize our understanding of the nature of reality itself. It’s revealing that […]
In answering a question like this I think that instead of answering with an opinion, it’s best to look together and try to come to know something that is undeniably true, for all of us. Otherwise, one person’s opinion is no more or less valid than another’s, and […]
Excellence Reporter: Tree, what is the meaning of life? Tree: The ultimate meaning of life is to discover who we are. To have an embodied experience of, “I Am That.” We are all searching for this either consciously or unconsciously or is it searching for us. To experience […]
Notice that the word “love” has no intrinsic meaning. Instead, someone chose to correlate the word “love” with kindness and compassion, two concepts that already existed. From that point forward, the word “love” could be used in a practical way as long as everyone agreed with this definition. […]
Excellence Reporter: Alice, what is the meaning of life? Alice Grist: I write a lot about the dirty and the divine, about how one is lost without the other. That holds true to this question, that question about the meaning of life that we find ourselves contemplating, usually […]
Excellence Reporter: Swami Khecarantha, what is the meaning, or the purpose of life? Swami Khecarantha: The purpose of life is to discover the ultimate truth, that God dwells within you as your Self. It is the direct experience that all of life is simply One Thing, beyond all […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Gustin, what is the meaning of life? Kate Gustin: To ask any question about meaning is to venture into narrative, language, story, mental constructs. The mind is absolutely fabulous at generating answers to such inquiries; it will pull from individual history, from culture, from personal […]
Excellence Reporter: Jan, what is the meaning of life? Jan Esmann: Asked that question I at once thought you could write a dissertation about it or nothing at all. Both replies would be equally meaningless, but allow me to summarize my experience contemplating that very question for 59 […]
From time to time, we happen upon people who own nothing, yet give everything they can. These special people possess the spiritual gift of giving. To others, this may seem like givers cannot possibly make a real living. On the contrary, those who give unselfishly create extremely meaningful […]
Excellence Reporter: Amoda, what is the meaning of life? Amoda Maa: There’s a precious pearl inside each of us. It’s so easy to ignore in the pursuit of more profitable acquisitions in life, such as finding the perfect partner or rising to the top of our profession or […]
Excellence Reporter: Vera, what is the meaning of life? Vera Helleman: This is a question that people ponder about when the primary necessities of life are fulfilled and an itching feeling says: ‘what now?’… ‘how do I make my life meaningful?’. There is an inner longing in each […]
Excellence Reporter: Michael, what is the meaning of life? Michael Speight: Of course if one is a fan of “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” the answer is “42” and we could just leave it there and just enjoy the fun of that. Life is an opportunity. According […]
Excellence Reporter: Hans, what is the meaning of life? Hans Wilhelm: I once found this poem on a Starbuck coffee cup that explains the meaning of our life perfectly: Life is a school for angels. Love is the teacher, so you do your homework without fear. Death is […]
Excellence Reporter: Michael, what is the meaning of life? Michael Roads: In the most simple terms possible, the meaning of life for humanity is the meaning of you. Truly, that’s it . . . in a nutshell. Of course, being a complicated species this statement is far too […]
Excellence Reporter: Rev. Bill, what is the meaning of life? Rev. Bill McDonald: I have given much thought and time to contemplate that very question ever since I was a child facing death in the hospital at eight years of age. I had “died” in my hospital bed all […]
Excellence Reporter: Mr. Harsanyi, what is the meaning of life? Gabor Harsanyi: To answer this question in the most loving way… without making anything right or wrong, I refer to a quote from my book “Functional Silence: De-mystifying Awakening for the Spiritually Exhausted”: “Bees love to fly from […]
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia What makes a compassionate city/community? Kate White: A compassionate city is one where everyone feels they have a place, are included, welcome, important, valued and seen. I believe a compassionate city or community is one where anyone of any age is able to be safe, […]
Excellence Reporter: Daniel, what is the meaning of life? Daniel Moler: Growing soul. But, what is soul and how do we grow it? We often think of the soul as an individual thing, a part of our personal identity. However, in the shamanic arts there is another interpretation. Soul is […]
Excellence Reporter: Hans, what is the meaning of life? Hans Laurentius: In my view life has no meaning in an absolute sense. This however does not mean that your life cannot be more or less meaningful. To be is a challenge, and to be in a fully grown […]
Since I was a young child I asked myself this question ‘What is the meaning of it all?’ Why am I here?’ What the hell is going on here? I was surrounded by facades and people pretending to know a lot of apparently very important stuff. There were […]
“Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or not, we always seek Beauty. In fact, we might say that we don’t even seek God – that we actually, secretly, seek Beauty, because it is the most perceptible, experientially available communion with God.” Every joy – however fleeting, however intense – one […]
The “art of being in the world,” the art which deals with the present—ourselves. It is in us that God meets with Nature, and yesterday parts from tomorrow. The Present is the moving Infinity, the legitimate sphere of the Relative. Relativity seeks Adjustment; Adjustment is Art. The art […]
A shaman with the insight of a god came from Chi to settle in Cheng; his name was Chi Hsien. He knew whether a man would live or die, survive or perish, be lucky or unlucky, die young or live out his span. He would predict the date […]
Seatbelts have become the most important features in a car as far as safety is concerned. But it so happens that most drivers and passengers ignore their importance, perhaps just because it’s a short trip, including other excuses. However, it is advisable that as long as you are […]
“Wabi-Sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and, humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional.” “Things wabi-sabi are usually small and compact, quiet and inward-oriented. They beckon: get close, touch, relate. They inspire a reduction of the psychic […]
“I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life.” There must be only three supreme values which govern a person’s life: Reason, Purpose, and Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge–Purpose, as his choice of the happiness […]
December 21, 2018 is our 50th wedding anniversary. We got married during a snow storm in Buffalo, New York at 7pm in the evening. The church was filled with candlelight and poinsettias. My uncle played the organ, my sister-in-law sang and the minister learned Hebrew prayers for our combined Jewish […]
“Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater […]
Excellence Reporter: Jacqueline, what is the meaning of life? Jacqueline Straub: I’m a fighter. I fight for reforms within the catholic church and for years I have been committed to structural change. Since my youth I have wanted to become a priest in the catholic church. That is […]
In 1924, Nikola Tesla was asked why he never married? His answer was this: “I had always thought of woman as possessing those delicate qualities of mind and soul that made her in her respects far superior to man. I had put her on a lofty pedestal, figuratively […]
The path of a thousand miles begins with a single step. ~Lao Tse There was a master. He was called Master Heavenly Heart. He was called so because His spiritual heart was connected with the Infinite Tao and opened for the worthy — the gate to the Abode […]
“The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.” If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty. The deepest experience of […]
Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of […]
“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.” “The only way of full knowledge lies in the act of love; this act transcends thought, it transcends words. It is the daring plunge into the experience of union. Love means to commit […]
Excellence Reporter: Dima, what is the meaning of life? Dima Nashawi: Life is a journey of appreciation of oneself and their connection with nature and the world. In this journey, the meaning of life to me is being explored and hence translated into artistic visuals. A platform for […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Steward, what is the meaning of life? Helen Steward: I believe the meaning of life is work. But before you object to my miserable, stunted vision of life, let me first explain what I mean by ‘work’. I don’t mean in speaking of work merely […]
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently; they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is […]
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” “The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Szokolszky, what is the meaning of life? Agnes Szokolszky: Why do I live, and what for? In our daily routines we rarely stop to think about these questions. Most of the time life is something we do, and not something we reflect upon. Being in […]
“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not […]
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Life, as I see it, is not a location, but a journey. Even the man who most feels himself “settled” is not settled—he is probably sagging back. Everything is in flux, and was […]
“The pure mind is itself Brahman; it therefore follows that Brahman is not other than the mind of the sage.” Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world. Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking […]
If someone smells a flower and says he does not understand, … what does it all mean? Then one has to make it more abstruse by saying: the scent is the shape which the universal joy takes in the flower. Let your life lightly dance on the edges […]
“The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.” A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He […]
Excellence Reporter: Randy, what is the meaning of life? Randy Taran: We are perched on a planet, spinning in the galaxy amidst unimaginable vastness, and at the same time we are also the center of our very own universe. When we are in our head, we feel the […]
Life is after all a form of affirmation. However insistently the blind may deny the existence of the sun, they cannot annihilate it. Life as it is lived suffices. It is only when the disquieting intellect steps in and tries to murder it that we stop to […]
In the course of several decades giving public lectures on language, mind, and human nature, I have been asked some mighty strange questions. Which is the best language? Are clams and oysters conscious? When will I be able to upload my mind to the Internet? Is obesity a […]
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy – by one, or more, or all of these – and be free. This is the whole of […]
When it comes to spiritualism and mediums, the art of fortune telling and so on, there is often a lot of preconceptions people have. Take scrying, for example. The art of scrying – the act of gaining insight or revelation by becoming in touch with your unconscious mind […]
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we […]
For the Nepalese shamanic initiate, the calling to the path (deuta-aunu) can happen in one of four ways. The first method is the calling of blood, that is the ancestral call that comes from one’s place in a shamanic family. In this case, an initiate may be […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Tavris, what is the meaning of life? Carol Tavris: The meaning of life is that we humans can ask what the meaning of life is, and get the charming assortment of witty, smart, entertaining, silly, creative, and provocative answers assembled here. Evolution has given us […]
We are but visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful with our lives. If you contribute to other people’s happiness, you will find the true goal, […]
I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles: an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle… You must make an intentional contact between these two worlds; then you can crystallize data for the Third World, the World of the Soul. […]
The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to himself; indeed, we should be fully born when we die — although it is the tragic fate of most individuals to die before they are born. There is no meaning to life except […]
When asked to sum up the meaning of life in three words or less, Gandhi responded cheerfully, “That’s easy: Renounce and enjoy.” The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. Truth is one, paths are many. The meaning of life is […]
Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult –once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no […]
There are many factors that determine whether you are leading a meaningful life. One factor is freedom of choice. According to the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, our free choices are not just choices about what to do, but also freedom of the mind. Even if you are imprisoned, […]
“However mean your life is, meet and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. […]
To redeem life from insignificance, culture and refinement all alone are not enough. Ideal aspirations are not enough, when uncombined with pluck and will. There must be some sort of fusion, some chemical combination among these principles, for a life objectively and thoroughly significant to result. Ideal visions […]
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” It’s pretty obvious I think that when we talk about […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Baddeley, what is the meaning of life? Alan Baddeley: “I don’t think that life has a meaning, though I’m very glad to be enjoying it while it lasts.” *** ~Alan Baddeley is Professor of Psychology at the University of York, UK. He works on human […]
Excellence Reporter: Aberjhani, what is the meaning of life? Aberjhani: Years of meditating on that huge question have led me to believe we ourselves are the meaning of life in the sense that we are born with an innate ability to endow it, Life, with meaning. This […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. McGinn, what is the meaning of life? Colin McGinn: I prefer to say that life is meaningful rather than that it has a meaning. It has a grammar, but no semantic interpretation. There is coherent form, but there is nothing outside human life that confers […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Deecke, what is the meaning of life? Lüder Deecke: Life is our supreme good. We do not want to lose it. Therefore, we do cling so much to life, because we (mostly) enjoy life. Death is not our best friend. This throws us to the […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Carruthers, what is the meaning of life? Peter Carruthers: The meaning of life is whatever makes the question of the meaning of life go away. I was greatly troubled by the issue as a teenager and young adult. I read Japanese haiku, studied Zen Buddhism, […]
Savannah, Georgia, USA Excellence Reporter: Aberjhani, what makes a compassionate city, or community? Aberjhani: Leaders and followers who recognize they are all participants in a partnership designed to ensure to the best of their ability the well-being of individuals, families, and humanity as a whole make a compassionate […]
Excellence Reporter: Acharya, what is the meaning of life? Acharya Shunya: The meaning of life for me is the search for life. To not merely lead the life mechanically — we are born, we grow up, we are given goals by society to meet, be it earning wealth, […]
Excellence Reporter: Cara, what is the meaning of life? Cara Lopez Lee: Describing the meaning of life feels like trying to describe an orgasm. It can’t mean much to someone else until they’ve experienced it themselves, at which point they’ll likely lose interest in reading someone else’s account […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Halkias, what is the meaning of life? Georgios T. Halkias: The search for meaning gives meaning to life. It is not about finding “The Meaning,” but realising and cherishing each moment of conscious living, being here for oneself and others, and bringing to bear a […]
*** ~MiraMichelle founded the Sacred Female Rising Institute in 2008 and believes that Female Solidarity and values hold significant keys to the healing of our planet. Mira is the daughter of an English/Irish mother and an African/Native American father who was raised in distinctly different cultures and this […]
Excellence Reporter: Mira, what is the meaning of life? MiraMichelle: Life has a particular resonance that is universal for us all. We meet this resonance daily and experience what is there to be experienced. Sometimes we rejoice in that what is and sometimes we despair. Whichever way the pendulum […]
Excellence Reporter: Sonia, what is the meaning of life? Sonia Roberts: Legacy is fundamental to what it is to be human. Legacy, not meaning money and property, but rather something you can leave behind to the people who come after to enrich their lives, the community and society […]
Excellence Reporter: Betsy, what is the meaning of life? Betsy Damon: If life is a miracle, then the meaning of life is to be in the miracle: Alive, awake and aware. If you see someone who needs a helping hand, help them. If you have an extra piece […]
Excellence Reporter: Marybeth, what is the meaning of life? Marybeth Holleman: I am five years old, and I am sitting in the solid branches of my dogwood tree, the one that blooms pink flowers every spring. Up here, the breeze tickling my bare arms, the sunlight warming the […]
Excellence Reporter: Mr. Merculieff, what is the meaning of life? Ilarion Merculieff: In my language, Unangan (Aleut), we greet each other every day with “aang waan”, hello my other self, so, aang waan. In contemplating the meaning of life, I thought of our elderly and isolation. I was […]
Monterrey, Mexico Excellence Reporter: Mérida, what makes a compassionate city, or community? Mérida McCarthy: To me, a compassionate city is a caring city, where solidarity is the basis of all action. Where everyone in a city is looked after, taken care for, not only by the government, but […]
Excellence Reporter: Professor Agyeman, what is the meaning of life? Julian Agyeman: To me, the meaning of life is the imperative to embark on a journey toward planetary flourishing. We must do this in a sustainable manner, ensuring a better quality of life for all, now, and into […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Beckwith, what is the meaning of life? Dr. Rahman Beckwith: I suppose that there could be as many different meanings of life as there are people. I believe that each of us is the Divine uncovering itself through various experiences. For me, life is about […]
