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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: 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: 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 […]
Respect the woman, for she is the mother of the universe, and all the truth of divine creation lies in her. She is the basis of all that is good and beautiful, as she is also the germ of life and death. On her depends the whole existence […]
Excellence Reporter: Shifu Jerry, what is the meaning of life? Shifu Jerry Erickson: This is a question I believe we have all contemplated on many, many times throughout our lives. As for myself, I have studied and traveled extensively to find answers about life, spirituality, comparative religion, healing […]
“I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.” “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” “God made the world for the delight of human beings.” We […]
How often in tired, depressed moments we ask, what is the meaning of life? We only ask this question when we don’t feel there is any. When we are at peace, happy, connected, we forget to ask this question because we are busy doing what we were born […]
Excellence Reporter: Father Charles, what is the meaning of life? Fr. Charles Ogada: The tree lives by the unconditional giving of its very ESSENCE – which is its fruits. The life of the Sun has meaning only by the unconditional giving of its very essence. The River flows […]
Excellence Reporter: Jeff, what is the meaning of life? Jeffery Olsen: I died in 1997. That’s right, I died. I left my body as a result of a horrible automobile accident which crushed both my legs, causing the amputation of my left leg above the knee, along with […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. O’Driscoll, what is the meaning of life? Jeff O’Driscoll: In life, and particularly as an emergency physician, I’ve learned that every scrap of human experience has value. Every shred of every encounter with every soul teaches me something. Each interaction yields an opportunity to connect […]
One day, guests came to the Master. They were not his disciples, but had heard a lot about his wisdom. The Master’s disciples also gathered to listen to the conversation. When everyone was conveniently located in the garden after a delicious lunch, the guests began to ask the […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Antonov, what is the meaning of life? Vladimir Antonov: For me, this question is not one which is “idle” or has “no answer”, as is sometimes said. I’m 72 now. But I had already started thinking deeply on this subject when I was just in my […]
“I believe it is impossible to live a happy life if one nourishes resentment for some harm done to oneself, or guilt or repressed anger for an error of omission or commission we caused. On the other hand, we become incapable of resentment when we have understood that […]
Number One: A true Sage avoids name and fame like the plague. If a Sage has transcended the ego why would he or she need name or fame? If a Sage claims to be enlightened why would that being want to be known? To have a following, to write books, […]
Joyce and I love watching our two-year-old grandson, Owen, just as much as we love spending time with our first grandson, almost eight-year-old Skye. When they were new babies, their dependence was obvious. Because Owen is younger, I will use him as an example. He would not have […]
Excellence Reporter: Susan, what is the meaning of life? Susan Chernak McElroy: The meaning of life—is simply life itself. The trajectory of life is always toward more life. If you look deeply at this, you know it is true: in the interwoven tapestry of nature there is no […]
Excellence Reporter: Lisa, what is the meaning of life? Lisa Schrader: I think the meaning of life is to love it. Because it’s a miracle that we’re even here. One ancestor after another in our lineage some how found themselves saved in the massacre, alive after the epidemic, […]
Excellence Reporter: Devon, what is the meaning of life? Devon Loftus: As a 29-year-old homebody who currently lives on the road, I find inspiration in the grounding, in-between moments. The ones that often times are a result of genuine conversation, quiet hours, soft pink sunsets and laughter. Duality […]
“Are you a blacksmith?” The voice came from behind so suddenly that Vasily flinched. He hadn’t heard the workshop door open, nor anyone enter. “Did you try knocking?” he asked sharply, irritated with himself and the unexpected guest. “Knocking? Hmm… never thought to try,” the voice replied. […]
Excellence Reporter: Chad, what is the meaning of life? Chad Mercree: In the past few years my perceptions of the meaning of life have changed. I used to believe that the purpose of life was to ‘wake up’ spiritually, that we are all unfinished eggs and the experiences […]
Excellence Reporter: Trish, what is the meaning of life? Trish Broersma: The meaning of life lies in constantly creating oneself and honoring that same creative opportunity in everything around us. Claiming this opportunity follows from discovering the terrifying yet liberating, radical, decisional nature of being human. Nothing can stand […]
Excellence Reporter: Mr. Sherwood, what is the meaning of life? Keith Sherwood: It’s a common belief that life in all its forms emerged from an inanimate, four – dimensional universe composed of matter, energy and time space. But to the adept everything that exists emerged from life itself. This […]
Experience is experiencing itself… in, as and through us… in, as, and through everything. It has no body because it is the collective fabric of all bodies. It is no face because it sees through everything; and faces all things. Experience has no agenda because it embodies every […]
Excellence Reporter: Drs. Hulnick, what is the meaning of life? Ron and Mary Hulnick: When we think about this question, the first thing that comes forward is the question, “To which reality are you referring?” If you’re asking from the perspective of physical world reality, your answer would depend […]
Excellence Reporter: Karen, what is the meaning of life? Karen Page: I have been doing this work since I was a child, and throughout childhood, my one constant question, about pretty much everything was always “Why?”…and though I still ask “Why?” about many things, the Meaning of Life […]
Excellence Reporter: Kim, what is the meaning of life? Kim Hermanson: Years ago I sat on a stool in the Art barn at Esalen Institute painting a paper mache mask. I’d originally signed up for some sort of contemplative workshop, but found it too cerebral and ended up […]
I love it when my clients bring questions to counselling about the meaning of life. These existential questions often arise during out most challenging times. This line of questioning can be dismantling and disorientating, and arrive with a whole other set of questions like “what’s wrong with me and […]
When I was 29 years old I got on a bus and travelled to Land’s End, in Cornwall, England, to end my life. I stood on a cliff, buffeted by the wind of winter’s end, and looked down into the broiling water far below, imagining my body breaking […]
Miracles happen all the time. You probably know someone who has had a miracle happen to them, or maybe a miracle has happened to you. I know a woman whose cancer tumor disappeared overnight after she and several others stayed up all night praying. The doctors said there was no medical explanation […]
*** ~Dr. Swamini Svatmavidyananda Saraswati has taught at several universities nationally, including UC Berkeley. She is widely recognized as a scholar of Advaita Vedanta, and is a disciple of Pujya Sri Swami Dayanandaji Saraswati, an internationally Acharya of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, interfaith leader, and scholastic author of […]
What a wonder it is just to be alive, more remarkable still to be aware of this and to wonder what might be the meaning of life? As endless reflections of consciousness becoming conscious of itself there are as many meanings as there are makers of meaning. Perceived […]
Excellence Reporter: Suzanne, what is the meaning of life? Suzanne Scurlock-Durana: Many years ago Joseph Campbell inspired me with this enlightening quote: “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is […]
Excellence Reporter: Dear Dorothy, what is the meaning of life?Dorothy Walters: I think the “meaning” of life is well beyond our understanding. However, the purpose of life is to find ways to return to our divine origin. Yeats said, “Man can embody truth, but never know it.” I agree with Yeats. […]
Excellence Reporter: OM, what is the meaning of life? OM C. Parkin: “To know who you really are.“ Know your SELF. Once and for ever. Many years ago my master gave me this answer. It is the final answer to this question. Who receives this answer by a […]
Excellence Reporter: Ana, what is the meaning of life? Ana Holub: The meaning of life, for me, is a journey deep into the heart of our soul. This world is just like the Holodeck in Star Trek – it seems real, but it’s only a passing illusion of […]
Think of a child throwing himself on the floor, wailing in unabashed fury, pounding his hands and feet in revolt because you said ‘no’ to the candy before dinner. While his generous range of high-pitched demands may be annoying, our children are models of untainted behavior. What I’m […]
Most people don’t stop to ask what the meaning of life is. The simple act of asking is an opening to knowing greater meaning, provided that we look within for answers. I used to think that only the peaks of life were meaningful—the milestones, the breakthroughs, the major […]
Excellence Reporter: Karlene, what is the meaning of life? Karlene Stange: Ancient Taoists believed the purpose of life is spiritual growth through alchemy. Alchemical transformation can only occur within a cauldron of opposites. The physical body is that cauldron where yin and yang, spirit and matter unite. Here, […]
As a ray of light shined through a prism diffracts into a spectrum of color, the Eternal Light, when shined through the body, diffracts into the spectrum of the five senses and world perception. The purpose of life is to abide as the Eternal Light which, when shined […]
Excellence Reporter: Joanne, what is the meaning of life? Joanne Fedler: It’s to wake up. It’s to awake from the idea that we are separate from other people. It’s to remember that though we seem to be here as ourselves, we are not here for ourselves. We are […]
Excellence Reporter: Sandy, what is the meaning of life? Sandy Wiggins: What is the meaning of life? I don’t know that any of us can honestly answer the question. It may actually be a meaningless question. Yet we human beings are hardwired to make meaning. Why? Perhaps the […]
Excellence Reporter: Graham, what is the meaning of life? Graham Nicholls: I have often felt it is not the meaning, but the many meanings in life that I believe are at the core of this question. But it seems to me that when we consider the meaning of […]
Excellence Reporter: Sarah, what is the meaning of life? Sarah Varcas: The meaning of life is a mystery to me and I hope it stays that way! Perhaps this mystery is the deepest meaning? Life is an unanswered question, a suspended chord; to be lived, not solved; experienced, […]
‘It is Love that moves the Sun and Stars,’ wrote Dante – perhaps Europe’s most famous poet – at the end of his long journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Looking back at my life’s journey I too would say that ‘Love’ is the meaning of life and […]
Excellence Reporter: Stephanie, what is the meaning of life? Stephanie Marohn: The meaning of life is soul growth and opening our hearts—to the self, to other people, to beings of all kinds, to all of nature, and to the divine. Through all these forms of connection, we grow […]
Excellence Reporter: Rob, what is the meaning of life? Rob Schwartz: The meaning of life is to express the love we truly are – the love that is our eternal nature – here on the physical plane. In short, it is to bring the love of Home to […]
What is the meaning of life for me feels more like a question asking what is the “purpose” of life? Purpose gives us meaning and when we ask “what is the purpose of life?” we gain insights we can use to experience life more fully. Defining life’s purpose can be […]
Excellence Reporter: Daaji, what is the meaning of life? Kamlesh D. Patel: There can be as many answers to this question as there are people, as we all have different individual goals and aspirations. But if we take a broad overview, we can easily see that life on […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Liberman, what is the meaning of life? Jacob Israel Liberman: I’m not sure if life has a meaning. However, it appears to have a purpose – to discover who we are. Are we the body we see in the mirror? Are we the voice in […]
Life is a beautiful reflection, of my choices and actions Karma, the law of cause and effect serves to determine what happens next Experiencing life is such an adventure, With all divine creation interacting together Praying to keep the world happy and calm Any living beings must suffer […]
Excellence Reporter: Patricia, what is the meaning of life? Patricia Cori: The meaning of life? How possibly can one compress into so few words the greatest mystery of existence … the most significant, and yet – the most elusive of our passing here. I am reminded of a […]
Excellence Reporter: Sarah, what is the meaning of life? Sarah Love McCoy: The meaning of life is what we say it is. That’s the funny part. We humans have the amazing power to give meaning to anything and everything. Our minds dictate our reality from the inside out. […]
Excellence Reporter: Sherry, what is the meaning of life? Sherry Maysonave: I discovered that the real me, my soul, existed separate from my body, when I was a mere five years of age. Although young, I integrated the importance of staying connected to my soul, my spirit. Throughout the decades, […]
Excellence Reporter: Sri Krishna Kumar, what is the meaning of life? P. R. Krishna Kumar: Life has no meaning unless and until we give a meaning to life. It is sad to find most of our fellow beings departing without having given any meaning with their own life. Vedas say that it […]
Excellence Reporter: Dhyana, what is the meaning of life? Dhyana Stanley: That question is another way to ask why in the world are we here? This is one of those questions which can’t really be answered ‘in the head’ but can with the heart. And everyone who answers this […]
Excellence Reporter: Miti, what is the meaning of life? Miti Desai: Life is Breath…Life is an Opportunity…Life is a Journey – to love, to explore, to engage, to pierce deep into ones own Self. Though, LIFE is also Independent Of; and sometimes, life in itself holds no meaning […]
Excellence Reporter: Adriana, what is the meaning of life? Adriana Attento: The meaning of life is to discover who you are. Beneath thoughts, ideas, feelings, images, sensations; beneath the personality or ego; beneath the fluctuating circumstances of life; beneath the ceaseless change of life is Consciousness. “The world […]
Oh, yes, the age-old question that haunts us on a daily basis. What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? Do I have a purpose, and if so, what is that purpose? We have all pondered this question and continue to search for the answer far […]
The purpose for the human experience is to learn, on an experiential level, about all facets of love so that we can come to the realization that we ARE love. This requires contrast. For example, we can understand the difference between hot and cold, conceptually, but to truly […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Albert, what is the meaning of life? Stephen Albert: What an interesting phrase. My book, ‘7 Billion Truths’, speaks about how each person has their own life truths based on their many life experiences. Depending upon the family you were brought up in, the culture that […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Désilets: what is the meaning of life? Saida Désilets: Life is a mystery. A grand, delicious, at times horrifying, and often surprising, mystery. What meaning can we give this mystery? For me, life is less about figuring it all out and more about falling in love […]
Excellence Reporter: Rev. Kowalski, what is the meaning of life? Gary Kowalski: Whether you believe it or not, your life began 13.7 billions years ago when, inexplicably, things started. From the beginning, your birth (and that of countless of others creatures) was written into the world-lines of a […]
You have many dreams. You have countless aspirations. You want to live a life worth writing about. A beautiful story that captivates and endures. Sometimes you feel that big success is the only thing worth writing about. That you have to go out and achieve big things and […]
Life is a blessing with rich soil to grow every possible contribution we can make with our time and resources, for a good life for people close to us, in our ecosystems, and most of all, that people 500 years from now, have far better lives. LOVE Life […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Bekoff, what is the meaning of life? Marc Bekoff: For me it all boils down to do all I can to make the world a more peaceful and compassionate place for all animals, nonhuman and human, than the moment I emerged from my loving mother’s body. I […]
The meaning of life rests with each of us, in each of our lives to carve out. We can take a nihilist stance that says our bodies/souls are the result of a cosmic throw of the dice, a random conflagration of proliferating atoms warmed mysteriously by the ancient […]
Excellence Reporter: Jenny, what is the meaning of life? Jenny Smedley: Life seems tough doesn’t it? One of the reasons for this is that before we were born we had a master plan, a definite goal in this lifetime, and we were equipped to focus on it and […]
Excellence Reporter: Altazar, what is the meaning of life? Altazar Rossiter: Whenever I hear this question I think of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. In his books he asked the meaning of life, the universe and everything. The answer was revealed as 42, and […]
Excellence Reporter: Fr. Seán, what is the meaning of life? Fr. Seán ÓLaoire: Life is a dream that the ego is having; the ego is a dream that the soul is having; the soul is a dream that Spirit is having; and Spirit is a dream that Source […]
Excellence Reporter: Pamala, what is the meaning of life? Pamala Oslie: I’m aware that there will be as many answers to that question as there are souls on this planet because each of us has a different perspective and a different experience of life and “reality”. Therefore, my […]
Excellence Reporter: Mindahi, what is the meaning of life? Mindahi Bastida Muñoz: Life on Earth is possible due to the presence of the four sacred elements: fire, water, air and earth. All beings are the reflection of those elements; we, as humans, are too the reflection of those […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Frankel, what is the meaning of life? Estelle Frankel: The Hebrew word for meaning, mashmaut, comes from the root sh-m-a, which means to listen. This word (which itself is pregnant with meaning) suggests that meaning arises through listening. The meaning of our lives is not a static, […]
Once in a coffee shop, I overheard a middle-aged woman telling her friend, in a hurt voice, “I feel so judged by him.” Therein lies the history of humanity’s suffering. So long as we identify with this ego “self,” this “I” we take ourselves to be, suffering—in the […]
As a scientist who has spent most of his life in the aerospace industry, studying at NASA and working in space agencies around the world, I understand the value of science in our lives. Science has extended our lifespan, brought benefits to our health, opened the skies for […]
Excellence Reporter: Andy, what is the meaning of life? Andy Smallman: I think the MEANING of life is self-evident when we are able to surrender ego, or to realize on a core level that we are part of something bigger than our individual selves. But that makes it […]
I discovered the meaning of life at the moment of my spiritual awakening, late one night, Jan 4th1998. I was working my night shift. As an architect, a family man and a community activist my life had two shifts. One for the day to interact with my clients […]
Excellence Reporter: Pema, what is the meaning of life? Pema Namdol Thaye: I learnt the meaning of life from my precious spiritual teachers: my Amala (mother) and my uncle Lama Gonpo Tenzing Rinpoche. They devoted their entire lives to benefiting others. This is something they lived, and breathed, […]
When the bright lights of London City went out, I was in my late 20s struggling with an addiction, and a chronic eating disorder, and having to admit I was no longer sweet 16. It became apparent that the lure of big cities, 5-star restaurants, a fat wallet, […]
Excellence Reporter: Megan, what is the meaning of life? Megan Hollingsworth: The question itself implies a mind that seeks and even requires meaning. And one who has lost a sense of meaning for it’s own life. For each is a meaning and, thus, life’s meaning in total. The […]
