“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” the richest King to ever live once wrote. Surely, not everything is meaningless right? Our culture is fixated on happiness, pleasure, wealth and riches, and fame. Surely one of those has some meaning to it. What about wealth and riches? Wouldn’t life be better […]
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: Richard, what is the meaning of life? Richard L. Haight: Set aside the adult perspective for a moment and recall the innocent, magical world that you inhabited as a child. Remembering back, you might realize that there was innate meaning prior to the “philosophy of meaning” […]
Excellence Reporter: Atreya, what is the meaning of life? Vaidya Atreya Smith: Liberation from the concept of being an individual. A simple question has a simple answer. Consciousness objectified becomes the individual, consciousness non-objectified is pure beingness. Living, or being, is a natural spontaneous happening that is effortlessness. […]
Our life is our daily existence. It is made up of our daily living, the unity of the body, mind and consciousness. An Ayurvedic sutra says: Sattvam Atma Sharirancha tryam etat tridandavat Sattva is the mind, Atma is the conscious principles, and sharira is the physical body. This […]
Asheville, North Carolina ER: Dr. Foor, what makes a compassionate city/community? Daniel Foor: To be beneficial, compassion calls for community members to balance self-interest and care for others. We need to stay true to our own specific destiny and soul-level purpose while also seeking to uplift others in 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 […]
I want to share what has been shared with me over my career in a good way and try and touch the souls of young people that stories matter. As a cultural outreach and world flute artist I try and bring the universal language of music to the […]
In Sanskrit the word for a human being is purusha. In English, this translates to “born with potential.” Having obtained this precious human life, we have the intelligence to cultivate the wisdom that knows the true nature of all phenomena. This means we have the potential to realize […]
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 […]
Sydney, Australia “Urbanization is the process by which rural communities grow to form cities, or urban centres, and, by extension, the growth and expansion of those cities. Urbanization began in ancient Mesopotamia in the Uruk Period (4300-3100 BCE) for reasons scholars have not yet agreed on. It is […]
Where does life come from, where does it go when it disappears, and what is its meaning? Not only the physical life of birth and death, but the life energy that pulsates in us, and out of which we say, “I feel good.” Or that eludes us when […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? Ballarat, Australia A compassionate city is made up of a critical mass of people who want to nurture and develop themselves in the recognition that they, and the world they live in, are all interdependent. Relating to each other with an awareness of […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY? Cambria, California Eye wide open and caring, are the first two steps to feed compassion where we live. With an understanding that I, as one person, cannot possibly bring well-being to all of those who hunger — those who hunger for love, shelter […]
ER: What makes a compassionate city/community In the spirit of practicing a more selfless regard for my comforts, conveniences or needs, I find I experience more peaceful contentment, and most of all, that my heart becomes softened, more tender, and more loving when helping others. When reaching out […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? The Berkshires, Massachusetts A compassionate city is a place where no one is excluded from the richness a community can offer. It is centered on providing spaces and places where people can connect – where mind, body and soul are nurtured through meaningful […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? Louisville, Kentucky True compassion is not an emotion or way of feeling. Rather it is a way of being toward others that involves two steps; first, listening to the needs and interests of others from where they live and second, responding to those […]
Patrick French: To my mind, compassion is one of the defining characteristics, or qualities, of being human — anyone who doesn’t have it can barely be called human. If you consider all the greatest stories about human beings, from the ancient times (stories like those of the Native […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? Louisville, Kentucky There was once a village led by a wise man. He was wise in commerce, but more importantly compassion. He also never really considered himself a governing leader, but only to help anyone to become their true Self. Although he had […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? by Ernie Brooks Everything! A compassionate community is everything, from the animals and humans to the nature and all things that exist in it, both living and static. We may simplify the definition of compassion to a few words, but compassion cannot be simply […]
The key to experiencing the meaning of life is to open your heart and soul to joy and to serving others with unconditional love, forgiveness, and compassion. When we connect with our souls, we see clearly that we are on both a physical and spiritual journey. By cultivating […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? by Vanessa F. Hurst Compassion is heart-centered. It is a strong desire to alleviate suffering whenever, wherever, and however it presents. A compassionate city is an aware city. It is an umbrella under which small and large, organized and personal, communal and personal […]
WHAT MAKES A COMPASSIONATE CITY? I believe compassion begins at the very root of ourselves, our inner being, our core. It begins by being kind to ourselves, taking care of our bodies and nourishing our spirits. A stable and happy individual is better able to serve others and […]
Beggar or Treasure? There’s a story in India about the beggar who lived under a tree. When he died, villagers dug the hole for his grave right where he had sat. To their amazement, they found a trove of diamonds and gold. The beggar had been sitting on […]
Meaning of life – let’s talk about 3 perspectives. From one grand perspective – the meaning of life is to stay alive, to reproduce, to foster survival through generations. But that’s not it for many of us. We live in relationship – with specific people and cultures. From […]
The meaning of life (at least one of them) is to live as light. Which is a lofty spiritual concept, especially with so much darkness in us and in the world. Until we understand the transformative power of the dark. Here’s how I got to know the transformative […]
What is the meaning of life? This age old question has been the subject of so much speculation. What gives meaning to our existence is something that we know, in our own mind, has true significance, an importance that overrides all other considerations. So we need to look […]
The meaning of life is to LOVE: deeply and without fear. At this point in my life, I know that Love is the most real thing any of us can have in our life. It is special because you can’t own it or buy it, you can only […]
In the 1970s, I went to a concert by Indian masters, Pandit Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ustad Alla Rakha (tabla). The music was incredibly beautiful and transported the audience to another realm. I had a naive thought – if the world’s leaders were there and could open their hearts to […]
The older I get the meaning of life takes on different colors. There are always the essentials, love, human connection, family and feeling like you are relevant and contributing something that might, maybe make a difference to other lives now and hopefully after you have departed. For me […]
In the Zen tradition we learn that when it comes to the big questions such as “What is This reality?” and “Who’s asking?” and “What is the meaning of life?” there are no answers and no way of knowing. Knowing is considered a delusion of the rational discriminating […]
I remember when the meaning of life meant something different to me than it does today. In many years from now, will this new understanding I have about life take on a new meaning? That’s the funny thing about life it changes from moment to moment, so even […]
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: Jan, what is the meaning of life? Jan Engels-Smith: We all seek meaning in life and we have different reasons to believe that we have found it or we resign ourselves to an existential belief that there is no meaning to existence. I cannot subscribe to […]
Excellence Reporter: Danielle, what is the meaning of life? Danielle Dulsky: The meaning of life is creative expression. Our three-fold task is to seek out our own, unique, wild truth, burn through any obstacles to our expression of that truth as feverishly as possible, and, even when all else […]
Excellence Reporter: Master Mu, what is the meaning of life? Master Cathy Mu: The Meaning of Life, to me, is SHARING How to Master Qi (Vital Energy Flow) to live a fulfilled and meaningful life. Once you have learned how to align your own Qi with the Divine […]
Excellence Reporter: Amita, what is the meaning of life? Amita Trasi: The meaning of life is to live! I cannot find a better definition!:-) There was a time, in my late teens when I went in search for the meaning of life. I happened to choose two things: writing a journal and meditation—searching […]
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: Sally, what is the meaning of life? Sally Morningstar: The truth of the matter is that what comes will go, what rises will fall, what appears will disappear. All things of this world are impermanent; they will pass. To seek for the Meaning of Life from […]
Excellence Reporter: Oren, what is the meaning of life? Oren J. Sofer: There is something profound, mysterious, and sacred about being alive. The experience of being consciousness in a sensitive, vulnerable human body is so utterly unexpected, so remarkable, that we cannot help but wonder: Why we are […]
Excellence Reporter: Monica, what is the meaning of life? Monica Cassani: I’ve been sitting with this question: What is the meaning of life? on the back burner for a good long while. Finally today, I realized that the reason I haven’t been able to come up with writing anything is […]
Everything in the universe is structured by and functions through dynamic interrelatedness. Even the most minute part of our cells and organs, our blood, flesh, and bones are in constant vibratory interaction with vast fields of interrelatedness comprising everyone and everything around us on Earth and in the […]
“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent, but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light…” […]
Excellence Reporter: Sister Jenna, what is the meaning of life? Sister Jenna: The meaning of life at this time in our cycle is to cultivate an intellect with conscience i.e., awareness. An intellect with conscience will seek learning in just about every corner of life while fulfilling its […]
As the shadows were awakening and a scent of the morn was carried on the breeze, I saw an eagle descending from the mountain-tops. It came down without a flutter of the wings into the valley, and there disappeared among the shadows of the black mountains. At the […]
Myriads of questions flood in and out of our personal space twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Each of these questions is fundamentally important within its own time-frame, and the answer inadvertently aims at being as coherent and definitive as possible. In fact, this is the […]
Excellence Reporter: Dian, what is the meaning of life? Dian Duchin Reed: Meaning is not something we add to life; instead, how we live our life is what gives it meaning. As the ancient Chinese sage Laozi saw it, we would be better off if we practiced subtraction: […]
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: Master Yan Ti, what is the meaning of life? Master Shi Yan Ti: First of all thank you very much for giving me this question and I am very happy to have it and answer it in my way. What is the meaning of the life? […]
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. Ananda, what is the meaning of life? Ananda Shankar Jayant: Life is the greatest adventure we as human beings are blessed with! And like any adventure, brimming with learning. I truly believe that life is actually one big school, where one learns, and adds to one’s […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Theise, what is the meaning of life? Neil Theise: Meaning is to be found in words, concepts, questions and their answers, actions and their consequences. All of which are, necessarily and always, secondary. There is no meaning to life, there is simply life. And life is the direct […]
Am I happy? Is my life a happy one? Am I happy inside my marriage? Am I happy with my family? Am I happy in my job? Am I happy with my church? Am I happy inside my own skin? Are these good questions to ask ourselves? No. […]
Excellence Reporter: DeAnna, what is the meaning of life? DeAnna L’am: The meaning of life is Service. When we serve the Whole we fully express who we are and what we came here do do. In order to find our calling, the true meaning of our existence, the unique […]
Excellence Reporter: Shifu Rinaldini, what is the meaning of life? Shifu Michael Rinaldini: As a Daoist priest, my concern about the Meaning of Life is the preciousness of life and how we, as a global society, are so reckless with it. Just look at the current state of […]
Excellence Reporter: Ken, what is the meaning of life? Ken McLeod: Meaning in life is contingent upon the context in which we live our lives. A meaningful act in one context may not have any meaning in another. This was the dilemma the Native-American Crow warriors faced when […]
For me the meaning of life is well LIFE itself. It is to LIVE. To experience the pure surge of life. To experience the beauty of creation with all its facets and opposites, all emotions, interactions, sensations, phases, relationships, diversities and contrasts. I live to be ALIVE. To […]
Excellence Reporter: Julie, what is the meaning of life? Julie Daniluk: What is the point of living? To use all of your senses to extract the full experience of being human. Because after we lose our life, we don’t have a body to see, hear, smell, touch or […]
Life has its own intentions and purpose and when the mind is quiet one is in alignment with it, not to satisfy a self created made up purpose, but strictly for the betterment of the Universe. You do what you do because the Conditioned Mind tells you what […]
Excellence Reporter: Jacqueline, what is the meaning of life? Jacqueline Maria Longstaff: I suggest that the meaning of life is to fulfil itself. When the time is right each one of us hears the call from deep within and then begins the inner journey. This journey begins as […]
What does it mean, to be alive? To live, to experience life? Why on Earth are we here on Earth? What are we to do and be? Some have said the purpose of life is to serve, with which I agree. Some have said it’s to learn and […]
Revolutionary Art, Anti-Zombie Apocalypse — DO NOT BE AFRAID JAGUAR PAW — create like crazy until you Wake UP spinning silk from your heart, shining eyes at your neighbor, holding your loves close, making, creating like you might DIE if you don’t. Reading, laughing, breathing sun, bathing moon […]
Excellence Reporter: Master Frantzis, what is the meaning of life? Bruce Frantzis: The meaning of life within the old tradition of Taoism has several levels depending on how mundane or sublime your life becomes and goes beyond intellectual concepts. To quote the movie Forrest Gump: “Mama always said […]
Excellence Reporter: Grandmaster Liu, what is the meaning of life? Grandmaster Hui Liu: Life is about learning and giving. We begin learning immediately after birth: we learn to survive, eat, and communicate with others. We learn to use eyes, facial expressions, smile, and cry, point our fingers, and kick […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Farmer, what is the meaning of life? Dr. Steven Farmer: 35 years ago I was witness to my oldest daughter Nicole being birthed. I was in shock, not quite finding a place for this miracle in the familiar trappings of my mind. Up to then […]
Excellence Reporter: Ven. Tenzin, what is the meaning of life? Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi: As a Buddhist teacher, I will often be approached by students who say, “I just have one quick question – it will only take about five minutes,” and I respond, “ ‘What is the meaning […]
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 […]
Traditional Chinese Daoism believes that the only purpose of life is joy and happiness. To achieve a happy and healthy life, Daoism uses the three treasures of the Dao: conscience, mercy and forgiveness. These are basic virtues unique to humanity to achieve a quality of healthy longevity. As […]
Excellence Reporter: GuruMeher, what is the meaning of life? GuruMeher Khalsa: A question as big as this necessarily has more than one answer. These answers will seem contradictory or even paradoxical. In fact, the two answers I offer below illuminate why there are as many answers to this […]
Life is a miracle… The meaning of life is to participate to its miracle. No matter what your mind can tell you, your heart knows that you are born for a good reason, and that reason is good! We all have a very important purpose to fulfill throughout […]
Excellence Reporter: Geshe Tharchin, what is the meaning of life? Lharampa Geshe Jampa Tharchin: I believe that the meaning of life is living happily and joyfully. In Tibetan language, the word Happiness is compound by two syllables De–Kyi. The first one is related to physical happiness or comfort; being physically healthy. In […]
What is the Meaning of Life? To Remember To wake up To remember you are already Free There is no place to go and nothing to figure out Gather the willingness to be open and present Connect to something greater than the stories we tell our self A […]
Excellence Reporter: Martha, what is the meaning of life? Martha St. Claire: We are here to make a difference, to touch hearts, to heal others and ourselves, and to accelerate consciousness. We are here to love one another back to the Divine and along the way, to co-create […]
Harry Potter’s favorite word was brilliant, Yogi Bhajan taught the importance of developing caliber, the Pope is called His Eminence, we want to live our talent, we know what Wiley E. Coyote wanted to accomplish, companies proclaim their products have quality, our destiny calls for our greatness, and […]
Excellence Reporter: Hanna, what is the meaning of life? Gyan Devi: The meaning of life is for everyone something else, mostly given by Lords of Karma according to the required experiences, development of soul. Whether we accept it or not, our bodies are tools, puppets for the development […]
Excellence Reporter: Dr. Sun, what is the meaning of life? Dr. Guan-Cheng Sun: From the perspective of internal cultivation, the meaning of life is to fulfill the destiny of the authentic self. The authentic self refers to the prenatal intelligence and wisdom as the original light of consciousness. […]
Excellence Reporter: Ash, what is the meaning of life? Ash Beckham: I think the meaning of life is authentic human connection. Our relationship with others is the one universal truth across cultures and time. We are biologically wired to be social creatures. But today we live in an […]
The question most people ask is “What is the meaning of life?” The meaning of life is simply that it is. I think a more provocative and useful question is, “What am I doing here?” My take on this is that we came to experience humanity, in all […]
Excellence Reporter: Rev. Debra, what is the meaning of life? Rev. Debra Jarvis: The meaning of life is for everyone to find the meaning of their particular life. When reflecting on this question, the words that float through my brain are, “love,” “service,” “purpose,” “passion,” “connection to the Source,” […]
My first thought when asked this question was “42,” a nonsensical answer that Douglas Adams popularized in his novel Life, The Universe, and Everything. While it may seem flippant, I agree that we really can’t know the ultimate meaning of life. It’s unknowable. A mystery, one that’s better […]
Excellence Reporter: Roshi Wendy, what is the meaning of life? Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao: This question, “What is the meaning of life?” drove my spiritual search from my childhood through my mid-twenties until I encountered Zazen, the sitting posture that unites body-breath-mind in the mystery of life right […]
Excellence Reporter: Jenna, what is the meaning of life? Jenna McCarthy: The greatest minds of all time, from Albert Camus to Snoopy, have pondered this question, so it’s almost absurd to think I might have anything meaningful to add. But since you asked, I’ll tell you: it’s coffee. Wait, […]
Life can be viewed as a flow of moments. And how we spend these moments could bring meaning to life. What we chose to do or not to do in a moment will belong to the past when the moment is passed and that moment can never be […]
Excellence Reporter: Sally, what is the meaning of life? Sally Kempton: When I was young, I believed that the meaning of life was in our relationships with others and with our own work. As I got older, it seemed to me that the meaning of life is self-knowledge […]
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 […]
The answer is very simple, it is just life. Life wants to be, so it is. We do not know, where it comes from. It is given to us, a gift. So enjoy it, be thankful, do no harm, respect it. ~Yürgen Oster, a wandering and wondering Daoist. […]
Excellence Reporter: Sri Maharaj, what is the meaning of life? Sri Ramakant Maharaj: There is no meaning of life because you are basically unborn and hence formless. What identity was there prior to beingness, and after leaving the food-body? Your spontaneous, invisible Presence does not have any specific […]
The Yellow Emperor summoned Lao Tsu the Taoist and Bodhidharma the Buddhist to meet him by the Dragon Gate. Bodhidharma gathers his robe about him and seats himself at the wall. Lao Tsu reins in his ox and settles in the saddle. ‘Sages,’ says the Emperor, ‘I have […]
In a short time, you will evolve beyond confusion and disappointment and arrive at the Dao. Ultimately you will attain great profundity. In simplicity you will find the most joy. Indifference is the highest expression of a mature life. I dreamed I was riding a horse on the […]
Trying to summarize the meaning of life is a great exercise as it does vary for so many people. The best way I can describe it is “to find happiness”. Many experiences we gain from external sources can make us happy although this kind of happiness tends to […]
I’m pretty sure I knew the answer when I was in college. It was the late 80s and I forged my opinion on this and other essential questions during those clichéd late night conversations with dorm mates. The philosophy types had their expositions on truth, reason, and existence. […]
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 […]
Life is the Breath of God breathing. As co-creators with the Creator, we experience and extend the self-givingness of that eternal pulse now, always and forever. *** ~P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D. is one of the original researchers in the field of near-death studies, having begun her work in 1978. […]
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!” […]
Right now we are entering the most turbulent times of human history. We are about to face the most intense climate changes ever witnessed in our recorded history. Tumultuous times are getting more and more tumultuous. Wars are raging all over the world and increasing at a fast […]
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 […]
Excellence Reporter: Sensei Carl, what is the meaning of life? Sensei Carl Genjo Bachmann: Sitting quietly doing nothing spring comes and the grass grows by itself. -Basho “Sitting quietly doing nothing” refers to a mind that is still. And when the mind is still “spring comes and the […]
Finding Meaning/Making Sense I am a philosopher; I teach philosophy; So I can’t hide from the question, “What is the meaning of life?” It has a way of finding me. Fortunately, I mostly teach courses in logic, philosophy of language, and epistemology, and my pedagogy is largely informed […]
