“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 […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Whitney, what is the meaning of life? Leanne Whitney: When the living is in the moment to moment of the body, the fullness of the body and its presence is known. Here. Now. In a world where our musculature and nervous system interacts invisibly with […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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: Linda, what is the meaning of life? Linda Graham: It might be surprising that “the meaning of life” often deepens for people who have come through a tragedy – losing someone they love to illness or injury, losing their home in a natural disaster. But coping […]
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 […]
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 […]
“People say that we’re searching for the meaning of life. I don’t think that’s it at all. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and […]
Excellence Reporter: Karen, what is the meaning of life? Karen R. Koenig: Although this view makes people wildly uncomfortable and desperate to find meaning, I believe that there is no intrinsic meaning to life other than what we assign to it. To assume otherwise, that others know what […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Harrell, what is the meaning of life? Mary Harrell: What if we, as simple people, as responding individuals, came to understand that whispers of a vast universe of intelligent and loving beings needed us to join with them for the sake of soul? And what […]
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: 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, […]
I love being outside and physical activity to balance the counseling, workshops and writing, which I also love. I enjoy walking the dogs with Joyce, mowing the lawn, fixing things, gardening, doing anything to be outside. Some folks like to sit around when they are on vacation. Not […]
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, […]
Today is a good day. I move effortlessly between morning yoga, my computer work, feeding our rabbits some tasty raspberry leaves, reading about God and now writing this piece. I feel spacious and calm, and the sun is shining outside and inside. This weekend was not so good. […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Harvey, what is the meaning of life? Richard Harvey: Life itself is its own meaning. There can be no tricks, seeing round corners, or philosophical search for the true meaning of life. But neither can there be some hidden gain, some extraneous reason for believing that […]
The question that precedes the question of the meaning of life is “why is there life at all.” And that has no answer. And the next question is “what is life” and that has no answer as well. Except those answers that are constructed out of the emptiness […]
In my clinical experience I have found it critical to help people find the meaning of their experience within their perception of life to be critical. Victor Frankl was very perspective when he described that it was precisely this factor that predicted whether prisoners would die or live […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Goldberg, what is the meaning of life? Bruce Goldberg: My approach to the meaning of life reflects upon the perfection of the soul and to eliminate the need to reincarnate. By learning our karmic lessons we can transcend this physical dimension and merge with the […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Alexander, what is the meaning of life? Ronald Alexander: For me the meaning of life has three tributaries as forks in this great river of time in our lives ~ purpose, fate and destiny. The first fork in the river of time is purpose. This […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Zeine, what is the meaning of life? Foojan Zeine: Sages and philosophers have searched for millennia to uncover life’s meaning. Personally, I believe that the meaning of life is different for each person—and potentially that unique! When we’re born, our family teaches us about how […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Caplan, what is the meaning of life? Mariana Caplan: I don’t know the meaning of life, or even if there is one ultimate meaning. I only know that I endeavor to create deep meaning in my life, and that I admire those who strive for […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Rauscher, what is the meaning of life? Elizabeth A. Rauscher: We stand in awe and bliss at the beauty and majesty of the evolving spark of creation. So vast and gorgeous is our Universe. Our mind, in the search for truth and knowledge, stands at the […]
Excellence Reporter: Paul, what is the meaning of life? Paul Levy: What is the meaning of life? Is this a trick question? As the great physicist Niels Bohr said, “The meaning of life is this, that it has no meaning to say that life has no meaning.” This […]
Excellence Reporter: Irini, what is the meaning of life? Irini Rockwell: The profundity of life’s meaning comes about when we bring out our best to serve others. This happens through wisdom and love: only when we can truly love ourselves, can we be available to others offering them […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Mehl-Madrona, what is the meaning of life? Lewis Mehl-Madrona: I suspect that life has no intrinsic meaning and that we are free to make meaning as we wish. This seems to me to be the project of humanity – to take that which may be random […]
Each of us, in our search for happiness or fulfillment, seems to be, either consciously or unconsciously, involved in an ever-evolving odyssey of meaning. Life itself and the human experience are “of a piece,” like water and wetness, or fire and heat. It appears as well that, also […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Hanson, what is the meaning of life? Jesse Hanson: The meaning of life can be summed up in one simple word: connection. There is one specific memory that remains imprinted deeply into my brain and onto my heart. I was at the wonderful age of 19 […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Bassman, what is the meaning of life? Ron Bassman: Locked in the seclusion room of the mental hospital, secured in restraints with mind-numbing psychiatric drugs coursing through my body, my spirit found a safe hiding place where it could hibernate. Such was the major crisis that […]
Years ago as a child at the circus, I watched as a man kept one, then two, then three, four and five spinning plates aloft on sticks. As fascinated as I was by the spinning of the spinning plates, I was mesmerized by the calm of the man […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Cornwall, what is the meaning of life? Michael Cornwall: The meaning of life is found in experiencing the emotion of love. That’s why we’re here. To feel love for ourselves. To feel love for others. To feel love for life itself, feel love for beauty […]
Excellence Reporter: Drs. Mindell, what is the meaning of life? Drs. Mindell: What we know for sure, is that each person must find her, his or their own meaning of life in their big dreams. So therefore, “Trust in your Dreaming Process”, as it appears individually to each […]
As for as I can recall, the question, “What is the meaning of life?” has never been a philosophical pastime but has, rather, been an essential issue for survival and mental health. Even as a teenager, I intuitively struggled to find a reason for living that would sustain […]
This is season of memorials for me. Part of having lived this long is noting that there has seemed to be clear-stretches where people in my life stayed put here, and then times when there were multiple exits to the Other Side. Such is how it is […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Naranjo, what it the meaning of life? Claudio Naranjo: Questions about of meaning of life are prompted by its loss, which derives from the loss of oneself; or, as it is sometime said, by the loss of our “soul”. Finding the meaning of life has little […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Rediger, what is the meaning of life? Jeffrey Rediger: The meaning of life is, I believe, to do what it takes to turn darkness into light. We are living during a very exciting time. Stepping back and looking at where we are as a human […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Richo, what is the meaning of life? David Richo: The meaning of life for me is in this affirmation I recite each morning: I say Yes to everything that happens to me today as an opportunity to give and receive love without reserve. I am […]
The meaning of life is to develop your heart and see everything in life as a spiritual lesson. To achieve emotional freedom, you cannot be in the victim role and must see everything (good, bad, or in-between) as prompts to help you grow. By grow, I mean, you […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Baring, what is the meaning of life? Anne Baring: The Meaning of Life for me is about Discovery: the discovery of the New Story of who we are and why we have been incarnated on this beautiful and precious planet. It is about the discovery […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Movsessian, what is the meaning of life? Shushann Movsessian: The meaning of life is that what endures is real. Since our body is in a continuous state of change it isn’t real. What endures is our soul essence – like shimmering, burning embers, who we are, […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Goldsmith, what is the meaning of life? Neal Goldsmith: Freud said the meaning of life is to love and to work. I think that’s not a bad statement of my view: We must express, emanate ourselves in a productive generatively and we must connect with and […]
The meaning of life is to perfect our souls by acknowledging our creator and imitating His wisdom. For the perfection of the image lies in its closest approximation to the form impressed on it. ~Rick Strassman MD performed the first new human studies with psychedelic drugs in the […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Engel, what is the meaning of life? Beverly Engel: I believe that the overall meaning of life is to advance and elevate humanity. I believe we are put on this earth to learn to become kinder, more compassionate, and more loving toward one another. Although we […]
Excellence Reporter: Lama Palden, what is the meaning of life? Lama Palden Drolma: “The Meaning of Life is to grow into, awaken into who we truly are — the union of wisdom and love that flowers uniquely in each being.” *** ~Lama Palden Drolma is the founder and spiritual […]
What is the meaning of life? In my work as a hospice medical director I have spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the meaning of life. On many occasions I have sat at the bedside of a dying patient and contemplated that very question: “What […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Epstein, what is the meaning of life? Mark Epstein: “Life is a gift. When there is good enough environmental support, meaning can be found.” *** ~Mark Epstein MD, author and psychotherapist, integrating both Buddha’s and Sigmund Freud’s approaches to trauma, who writes about their interplay.markepsteinmd.com Copyright […]
The meaning of life is different for everyone. But I think a common thread is to find the meaning in one’s life that makes sense, usually through action or purpose. By finding your purpose — what you were put on this Earth to do — you will find […]
Excellence Reporter: Olivia, what is the meaning of life? Olivia Mellan: “The meaning of life for me is in cultivating as many loving connections as possible, and helping others transform their lives toward empowerment and deep fulfillment.” *** ~Olivia Mellan, therapist, consultant, speaker, money coach and author.www.MoneyHarmony.com Copyright […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Gottesman, what is the meaning of life? Irving Gottesman: “I am 85 and have not yet figured it out. Maybe when I hit 100 you can ask again.” *** ~Irving Gottesman, professor of psychology at University of Minnesota, known internationally for his work in the […]
Be kind to everything and everyone, including oneself, all the time, with no exceptions. Revere all of life in all its expressions, no matter what, even if one does not understand it. Presume no actual reliable knowledge of anything at all. Ask God to reveal its meaning. Intend […]
