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 […]
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: 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 […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Grey, what is the meaning of life? Dr. John Grey: An answer to “What’s the meaning of life?” showed up unexpectedly, long ago, when I was suddenly gripped by overpowering sensations that I was dying. A voice in my head screamed, “But I don’t want […]
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 […]
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 […]
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: 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: 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: Niyc, what is the meaning of life? Niyc Pidgeon: The meaning of life is to find healing and happiness and help others do the same. We come to this earth to learn, and as we learn each lesson, we are able to let go, release, and […]
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 […]
One might think by now someone would have come up with an answer—Meaning of Life? The very supposition that there is meaning is a question unto itself: What constitutes meaning? Where does it originate? Is it developed or simply exogenesis and we tap into it? Such philosophical conundrums drive […]
The words we use and questions we ask ourselves often shape our lives in ways that can be insightful or hurtful. What is the meaning of life is an example of the latter. This well-meaning question allows philosophers to speculate without evidence, religious people to maintain that unsubstantiated beliefs […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Vost, what is the meaning of life? Kevin Vost: I think we are likely to find life most meaningful when we develop and perfect the kinds of powers and abilities we all share as human beings, like the fundamental intellectual powers to grasp concepts 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: 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, […]
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: 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 […]
Excellence Reporter: Master Oberon, what is the meaning of life? Oberon Zell: Cherish diversity! Find fascination in the strange and unusual. Live passionately. Explore everything, especially things forbidden, with boundless curiosity. Read voraciously. Grow a garden. Establish and maintain altars in your home. Celebrate the ever-turning Wheel of […]
Excellence Reporter: Tiffany, what is the meaning of life? Tiffany Lazic: Trying to find a simple answer to what is the meaning of life is akin to trying to find the loose end of a snarled jumble of wool. There are so many possible threads to follow that […]
There is an adage in the spiritual world declaring that life has a perfectly unfolding divine plan, and that one’s happiness is dependent upon knowing this, and somehow tapping into that flow. On the other side of this equation is the recognition that life is chaotic, random, and […]
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 […]
Excellence Reporter: Ms. Karpinski, what is the meaning of life? Gloria D. Karpinski: As an intuitive counselor and spiritual teacher for several decades, I can testify the number one question behind all other questions for most people is the quest for meaning. What is the mission? Why am […]
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 […]
The meaning of life is to live directly from our soul. To fill our heart and days with laughter from birth through when we are old. We all have so many gifts to offer discovered by tapping into our inner being. When we truly connect within life becomes […]
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: Emily, what is the meaning of life? Emily Esfahani Smith: Despite our culture’s obsession with happiness, we are more weighed down by despair than ever; suicide rates in the US recently hit a thirty-year high and depression has been trending upward for decades. This growing despair […]
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: Diana, what is the meaning of life? Diana Raab: The meaning of life is a question most human beings ponder. I believe that the meaning of life is love—loving yourself and loving others. When love is your higher power, it means that you are giving of […]
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 […]
If I had to sum up what I see as the meaning of life, it would be to be in service to others. After all, this is what the great spiritual traditions tell us. I think this lovely poem by Thomas Stanley expresses this point of view To […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Miller, what is the meaning of life? Richard C. Miller: To live from, and related to everyone and everything from “heart-centered presence of being” is my answer to the inquiry, “What is the meaning of life.” As heart-centered presence, I feel myself everywhere and nowhere specific, […]
Excellence Reporter: Byron, what is the meaning of life? Byron Metcalf: This feels like the proverbial ‘trick question’! I’m not sure I have any answers but I do have a few ideas and strategies that support my being fully engaged in life, and to that extent, the meaning […]
What is the meaning of life? Does anyone know the answer beyond a doubt? One can speculate, but how can one truly know? It may be helpful to think, rather, about meaning in life as opposed to the meaning of life. Human beings are meaning seeking and meaning […]
Excellence Reporter: Karuna, what is the meaning of life? Karuna Cayton: Simply said, the meaning of life is to live a meaningful life. The meaning of life is to be happy. This life we have is like treasure hidden in our basement. It’s value is inexpressible. The problem […]
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 […]
What is the meaning of life to Phil Zimbardo? First, to be fully aware of the brevity of human existence, so then to live each day as if it were my last and enjoy as fully as possible every moment’s pleasures in nature, friendships, family, human creations, and […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Nelson, what is the meaning of life? Dr. Bradley Nelson: One of my favorite cartoons on this topic has the guru respond to the truth-seeker by saying, “You’d better have a seat – people tend to fall down the mountain when I tell them the meaning of life!” […]
The meaning of life is to learn to love. And this journey begins with learning to love ourselves. And yet, for most of us, self-love is a radically foreign concept. Most of us live our lives feeling the opposite of self-love — self-loathing and self-judgment. Often, we hold ourselves to unrealistic standards of perfection, and then judge ourselves when we […]
As I watch my father dying, the meaning of life is very clear to me. Sadly, he will never enjoy his favorite meal again, drink fresh clean water, make love, create to his full capacity, walk freely, breathe fully, or experience many of the other gifts that come […]
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: Brother Bernard, what is the meaning of life? Bernard Seif: Meaning is something we all search for, be that journey a conscious or subconscious one. Even those of us well trained in the scientific method experience meaning in a subjective or existential manner. My mother was […]
Excellence Reporter: John, what is the meaning of life? John Astin: Experience is simply too vast, too complex and too multidimensional to be collapsed into any interpretive framework or model. And so whenever I am asked this question, “What is the meaning of life?” I find myself coming […]
Excellence Reporter: Diana, what is the meaning of life? Diana Winston: I have two intertwined responses to the meaning of life question: To awaken To help others awaken Let’s start with Part 1. The human capacity to awaken is vast. But what actually does awakening mean? For me it’s […]
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 […]
Meaning and life – two rather potent and I believe rather ineffable words in the English language. The feelings, thoughts and sentiments involved in the experience behind and involved in both of these words is dependent upon who you ask, and even then the responses can evolve over […]
Excellence Reporter: Cate, what is the meaning of life? Cate Montana: There are two distinctly different answers to the question, “What is the meaning of life?” And perhaps the best way to illustrate both is by using the following analogy. Each piece of furniture, every painting, all the […]
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: Sadhviji, what’s the meaning of life? Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji: This is such a beautiful question and a question that resonates deeply with us all. Growing up in Los Angeles and being a psychology major, I was always cognizant of this question, but for me, it was […]
Excellence Reporter: Gary, what is the meaning of life? Gary Kraftsow: What could be a bigger question than, “What is the meaning of life?” I begin an answer by reflecting on the meaning of the word meaning itself. Synonyms of the word meaning include words like significance or […]
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 […]
As humans we are meaning making machines. We have the capacity to reflect on life, to shape our lives consciously. We can be aware of every waking moment and what we are creating in it. We can live our Lives on Purpose, with Passion, in Peace. This great […]
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 […]
In the end, when all is said and done, what really matters to us? Is it our career? Our travels? Our income? Our ego? Nope. In the end it’s all about our relationships with others. My parents knew that. My wife, Tracey, knows that. We have two mentor […]
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 […]
The one thing that all psychologists would probably agree on is that in spite of the huge amount we know about the human condition, there is more we do not know. Indeed, psychological science itself is little more than 150 years old, meaning that compared with a science […]
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 […]
“I’m not sure it’s true. I believe that maybe here in this room we are all looking for new things. We are curious. And actually we find our balance into the unknown. But so many people in life don’t trust life at all. So many people are afraid […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Neimeyer, what is the meaning of life? Robert A. Neimeyer: I’m a practicing psychologist who works alongside people who are struggling with deeply unwelcome changes in their lives–the breakdown of intimate relationships, the loss of career or meaningful work, the onset of life-threatening illness, and […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Sternberg, what is the meaning of life? Robert J. Sternberg: When I was 29, my wife at the time and I started our family. We eventually had two children. I was very involved in my work at that point—determined to change the world with research […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Weiss, what is the meaning of life? Steven Weiss: Hmmm… the meaning of life? As my thoughts unwind along the Path that these words take me… I must ask myself first, “what do I mean by Meaning?” I am stuck here. As one who strives to […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Eirich, what is the meaning of life? Susan B. Eirich: To help nurture life in all its forms until it blooms in its full glory, be that life a human, animal or plant. It is Life we celebrate, honor, enhance and support, through deep loving […]
The meaning of life to me can be answered with 4 questions. What do you believe in? What is love to you? What are your hopes? What is sacred to you? What do you believe in? I believe that we are here in this world to learn how to […]
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. Kamen, what is the meaning of life? Randy Kamen: This question pondered by scholars, theologians, scientists and each of us in our own unique way embodies the simple and the profound. Having just returned from Israel, I learned on my journey that this small country, […]
At the exact moment of your birth, a horoscope or blueprint is created that describes YOU. We all come in with pluses and minuses in our character and don’t always like the living situations we are assigned. The meaning of life is to unveil this heavenly plan and […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Yapko, what is the meaning of life? Michael Yapko: Most people know of the Rorschach Ink Blot test, the psychological test in which someone looks at a series of ink blots and describes what they “see” in them. It’s called a “projective test” because it features […]
Excellence Reporter: Steve, what is the meaning of life? Steve Taylor: To me, the meaning of life isn’t something which can be put into words – at least, not directly. The meaning of life is something that can be sensed, or not sensed. There are certain states of […]
Excellence Reporter: Anat, what is the meaning of life? Anat Baniel: I believe that the meaning of life is life itself – lived to its fullest, fulfilling on our deepest dreams while honoring our values, the best we can. As humans, to be fully alive and to fulfill on […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Stevens, what is the meaning of life? Jose Luis Stevens: From my point of view, based on sixty eight years of life experience that includes working as a psychologist, writer, consultant, and teacher, and being a husband, father, and grampa, there most definitely is a […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Levin, what is the meaning of life? Jeff Levin: What is the meaning of life? That is the sort of question that brings to mind the stereotypical spiritual seeker trekking up a mountain in Tibet to enter a great temple and sit at the […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Sirois, what is the meaning of life? Maria Sirois: To become awake and aware of enough to find a way to love our lives, no matter how hard, and from that place of loving, return love through generous hearts, open minds, caring spirits. Rumi once […]
Excellence Reporter: Susan, what is the meaning of life? Susan Chapman: To me, this question opens our minds to further dimensions of ‘not knowing’ rather than to simple answers. But, like the smile on the face of a wisdom-elder, the process that unfolds from this inquiry can reveal […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Lomas, what is the meaning of life? Tim Lomas: Whenever I dwell on the question of the meaning of life, my thoughts feel like they’re becoming heavy and immobile, as if made of lead. Something about the question seems to resist any attempt to capture […]
We are evolutionary creatures whose meaning in life is largely dependent on how well we can collaborate with the evolutionary process, at every level – cosmic, planetary, and human – therefore striving to align our well-being and happiness with that of the entire creation. ~Diarmuid O’Murchu, a member […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Radin, what is the meaning of life? Dean Radin: Each of us defines our own meaning of life. For those who are simply trying to survive pondering this question is an impossible luxury. But for those who have the time and means to wonder why […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Ivtzan, what is the meaning of life? Itai Ivtzan: Meaning in life is one of the greatest gifts we could offer ourselves. Research in positive psychology is showing that people experiencing high levels of personal meaning are happier and more grateful, passionate and hopeful. It […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Meyerhof, what is the meaning of life? Nina Meyerhof: How simply boring would life be if we did not seek this answer? Life is a series of experiences which we create to learn all the magnificent lessons our inner self wishes to learn and at the […]
Excellence Reporter: C. JoyBell, what is the meaning of life? C. JoyBell C.: Thank you for inviting me to answer this question, it is an honour. When you asked, “What is the meaning of life?” the first thought that came to mind, was, I wonder what his definition […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Batthyány, what is the meaning of life? Alexander Batthyány: According to Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy—the one pioneering psychological school which single-handedly put meaning on the landscape of psychology and psychotherapy—life is meaningful – not so much because there is one single Meaning of Life, but rather because […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Farrell, what is the meaning of life? Warren Farrell: The meaning of life is paradoxical: it is empty of meaning, and filled with meaning; it is the meaning we ascribe to it. If we ascribe to ourselves a sense of purpose (what the Japanese call […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Schneider, what is the meaning of life? Kirk Schneider: The core issue concerning the meaning of life in my view is not so much a concept, a thing, or even a person, but the sense of awe, that is humility and wonder or sense of adventure […]
Excellence Reporter: Prof. Cooper, what is the meaning of life? Mick Cooper: I don’t think there is one. At least, not one that is universal and generic for all human kind. That is one of the great paradoxes of human existence: that we come into the world with a […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Neff, what is the meaning of life? Kristin Neff: I’m not sure that there is an ultimate “meaning” to life, but it is certainly the case that we can live our lives with meaning. For me, compassion is one of the most important aspects of […]
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 […]
The experience of meaning in life is fundamental; it is hard wired into the way the brain works, not a nice to have or a luxury. The evolutionary psychologist Eric Klinger argues that the brain evolved to help us understand our environment during the pursuit of goals, working […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. DeMaria, what is the meaning of life? Michael Brant DeMaria: The eternal question…and like all good questions, leads us on a quest (quest-i-on). The rational mind ultimately is defeated in the depths of this question. There is an infinite depth to this question and as many […]
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: Professor Csikszentmihalyi, what is the meaning of life? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: No one can give you an answer to the question:”what is the meaning of life?” If you want your life to have meaning, you have to give it one yourself. For some people, meaning comes from the wonderful […]
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 […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Hameroff, what is the meaning of life? Stuart Hameroff: The meaning of life is to feel good by resonating with the universe. In the view I take on the nature of consciousness with Sir Roger Penrose, feelings are related to quantum processes in the fundamental […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Brendtro, what is the meaning of life? Larry K. Brendtro: There are two kinds of cultures in the world: dominator cultures and cultures of respect. Modern mad-dash materialism is a struggle to get ahead, “win lest you lose” says Peggy McIntosh. We see this all […]
Excellence Reporter: Charly, what it the meaning of life? Charly Emery: I’ve come to appreciate that the meaning of life can be a subjective concept I define, or a profoundly dynamic awareness I gain through the conscious actions I take and the experiences through which ‘meaning’ is revealed. […]
Excellence Reporter: Jack, what is the meaning of life? Jack Kornfield: When I was younger, I would lie on the grass on a clear night and gaze at the stars. I would imagine that I was at the very bottom of the world, held against the earth by […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Bryant-Davis, what is the meaning of life? Thema Bryant-Davis: The meaning of life is to use all that is within us to live fully with love, gratitude, and creativity. We are to honor God, ourselves, and humanity by showing up and thriving as we apply ourselves […]
