Meaning Of Life

The meaning of life is to find the meaning of life. Is it not? We all go through each day trying to figure out which road out the infinite amount of paths will lead us in a better direction where happiness is prominent and society is flawless. However, not every single human being is going to fit on that narrow, one-lane highway to success. Bad choices, accidents, fate, family matters, society, temptation, anger, rage, addiction, and loss of hope can all be deciding factors in opting to choose that wrong path to self-destruction. The adverse thing is, once you've traveled so far down the road, you get so discouraged that you feel like you can never turn back or make up for the "lost time."

What is the meaning of life? According to Chris McCandless living free and not conforming to the natural way of life is the meaning to life, as shown in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Similar to Chris McCandless, Ralph Emerson believes that following your dreams and making your own trail is the meaning of life according to his short story “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Emerson. The purpose of man's existence is to avoid conformity and following one's own instincts and ideas.

Daoism is a daily guide to living so a person can experience the most of their own self. Daoism teaches the follower to look inside and to gain knowledge through self-exploration and to connect with our inner nature. The yin and yang shows the complementary sides of objects and nature, even the human body. The Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego states, “All is Tao. All opposites are in actuality part of one whole, giving rise to one another. Neither is

Deity, there is thus perhaps no real Deity with the capital letter to be equated with the God of Western religion. We have seen that Heaven eventually becomes the term customarily used for the Supreme Ruler, but we now know that behind or beyond heaven, there are the workings of yang and yin which have their source in tao (Thompson, 6). There is nothing distinctively Chinese in the way whereby the forces of nature were personified or the heavenly bodies were believed to exercise a direct influence in human affairs, or the way in which otherwise inexplicable occurrences of disease and other misfortunes were attributed to malignant spirits. The deification of human beings characteristic of both family and folk religion is somewhat more exceptional, although not unique (Thompson, 7). The founder of Taoism is Lao Zi and Chuan Tze, the school advocates the doctrine that the Dao is the course, the principle, the substance, and the standard of all things, to which all of them must conform. Based on the Dao De Jing, Taoism promotes the belief that a person should live a simple life, not to strive for wealth, fame or power, which will only give one worries and trouble. The school favors the political principle of “achieving good government through

Most people have a divergent out look on what they consider the meaning of life is, while others conceivably follow a religion that believe in a certain way of living, such as Buddhism and Catholicism. It is evident that Buddhism and Catholicism both believe that the meaning of life is to do good deeds, be delivered from evil and to bring peace and happiness. Buddhism however differs from Catholicism in a way that they believe that you shouldn’t get to attached to anything life as everything comes to an end and will only result in suffering, Buddha believes that you should live your life being as happy and peaceful as you can be, end suffering for yourself and other around you and trying to reach Nirvana in life.

But, as philosopher Tom Nagel has argued, this is not the sense of “the meaning of life” people are usually interested in. Suppose an alien species created human life in order to provide them with a future food supply. Then the purpose of human life is to be food for aliens. That would be the meaning of life, if we take

According to Buddha 's teachings, the purpose of life is to end suffering and develop compassion for all living things without discrimination. He taught that meditation must be used to move beyond selfish concerns and desires. Only by quieting the mind can people connect with the power of the larger universe and reach a state of enlightenment and peace. Buddha 's teaching, or dharma, begins with the Four Noble Truths. He disclosed

Daoism means “Followers of the way”, although Dao does not means only “way”. According to the BBC religion, the word Dao or Tao can include several concepts such as “the source of creation”, “the ultimate”, “the unnameable” ,“the way of nature as a whole”, “the natural universe as a whole” and “the inexpressible and indefinable.” In Taoism they believe in way of living in which there were not many rules and believes in the philosophy of inaction. They say that you can find happiness through nature and harmony. Also this is where yin and yang come from. As we can see, there are major differences between Daoism and Confucianism, but one of them is very important, the life after death.

What is the meaning of life? Well known Greek philosphers such as Socrates and Plato believed that our purpose in this life was to gain knowledge in preparation for the next life. Other Philosophers such as Epicurus believed that pleasure is the main goal in life. After giving these ideas lots of thought, I have come to my own conclusion that the true meaning of life is far more complex than either of these; far too complex for any human to fully comprehend. In fact these two different philosophies are only part of the grand picture. If it were that easy for men to figure out our lives wouldn't be so messed up now. The meaning of life revolves around many different things. I

All of human life comes down to one thing, the making and breaking of relationships. These relationships are formed in order to feel emotions; love, happiness, sadness, anger, resentment. It is because of these feelings that people are able to form their own consciousness and find a purpose for themselves. Religions such as Christianity find the meaning of life to be forming a relationship with God and when you die, you are judged by your mortal sins and are forever sentenced to heaven or hell. Buddhism tries to find the meaning of life through enlightenment and the preservation of oneself throughout all existence. The meaning of life is at the same time the most discussed,yet taboo thing to talk about. The nature of having a volatile topic that is interpreted differently between people can be difficult, but it is needed in the preservation of the human race.

Life has no meaning if you don't have the urge to wake up the next morning to see the next day. Many people live their lives unhappy since they have no purpose or meaning to fulfill or satisfy their needs. Purpose to me is something to live for and something to look forward to in life. Without purpose and meaning in life there is no point of living at all. Recently in the existentialism unit we’ve been reading, I learned that without a passion to live, one’s life means nothing and is a waste of a soul. Based on the previous books I’ve read, I learned I am happy because I have things to look forward to in life and to wake up the next morning to enjoy the new day. Three elements that give me purpose and meaning in my life are my family, my

Daoism is synonymous with Taoism; in this religious philosophy, the way of nature is central theme of life. It was founded by Lao Tzu in 500BC in China. Lao is believed to have authored the “Dao de Jing”, which details the Daoist beliefs. Dao is a concept, a way, a principle that will lead a person to a happy, peaceful life. Dao can be achieved by incorporating the Three Jewel of Taoism that are humility, simplicity and compassion in one’s life. According to Dao, de Jing “The Way to Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure”.15 Further, there is no concept of good and evil, the Dao is simply the universe, which is perceived as a self- sustaining entity that generates energy called qi. Like other Chinese traditions, Daoist also have great reverence for the spirits of ancestors as well as spirits of nature that is plants, animals, rivers, etc. 16

My few years on this planet have been a bit confusing. I have learned of many aspects of life from which one can draw meaning, if indeed such meaning can be drawn. I have also learned that there can be no singular meaning of life to stand for us all, or even any one of us. What I have learned above all is that trying to put words to the meaning of life is a task of absolute absurdity. This is not to be confused with the idea that life has no meaning, for life certainly has meaning. However, there is no single meaning of life to be defined - life is different for us all. Therefore, rather than define life for an entire planet, I shall try to explain what life means as I perceive it, and why it means so.

Life is actually mesmerizing adventure and actually have no general meaning. Each and every person has their own meaning of life and it is oneself who renders the meaning of one’s life. Life is an opinion. It’s an idea. It begins with the birth of an individual. One day that body will die, but that opinion or idea brought by that individual is immortal. It persists in this world for many years.

Life as we know it could vanish within seconds. The next day is not promised to anyone that walks on this earth. As we live our everyday lives peacefully, we tend not to think what our mission or purpose in life is. Instead, we think what we must do for that to be a “successful” person. Despite this way of thinking, just think for a second. What makes life meaningful? What is life anyway? These questions dive right into the heart of the philosophical, psychological, and the biological aspects of life and what the true meaning of life is. This is a very arguable topic due to every person’s different perspective on life and what it means to them. In summary, I personally think that life is simply what you make of it and each person’s accomplishments has its own merit