The Answer!

[mibn2cweus]

Are you unhappy and upset and believe that some important knowledge crucial to living a joyful life has been denied you? Find the missing piece of the puzzle you've been seeking all your life here

[naomi24]

Well, if you're talking about seeking the meaning of life, philosophers have been doing that for thousands of years, and I'm not sure any of them have ever come up with the right answer. Maybe the answer isn't as complex as they think it might be. To seek a 'meaning to life' would assume there exists an outside agent somewhere in the great unknown meticulously formulating a plan, but it's far more likely that we're here simply as the result of a human act resulting in a biological process. Quite simply we are animals that have the ability to rationalise. Nothing more than that.

As for your personal purpose in life, again unless you assume there is something out there that has pre-ordained a purpose for each and every one of us, then, there is no plan, and there is no one we can rely upon to 'show us the way'. The way we live our lives is our choice. We can either face life as adults with minds of our own, and do our best to fulfil our own personal aspirations, or we can sit by wasting our time and our talents in the child-like and futile hope that someone, or something, will take us by the hand and tell us what to do. We have to acknowledge that life doesn't simply revolve around us. There's a big and wonderful world out there, but to access it we need to take responsibility for our own lives and make every effort to realise our own potential. Whether or not you choose to do that is up to you, but I know what I prefer to do.

[naomi24]

Good discussion, and a good one to continue, so I'd be interested in reading your response (and you too Starman) - but blimey, it's a bit heavy for a Saturday morning! I'll tell you a joke.

A Muslim was sitting next to Paddy on a plane. Paddy ordered a whiskey.

The stewardess asked the Muslim if he'd like a drink.

He replied in disgust "I'd rather be raped by a dozen ****** than let liquor touch my lips!"

Paddy handed his drink back and said "Me too, I didn't know we had a choice!"

[naomi24]

The deleted word is w-h-o-r-e-s. Hope that works.

[mibn2cweus]

Luna, I liked Naomi's joke as well, almost as much as her reply to your inquiry. At the risk of racial/cultural/sociological whatever stereotyping, I find I have more admiration for the ones who are perhaps less easily offended and better able to make or take a joke at their expense. But I'm sure this is an over-simplification of the matter.

I found your death/life question quite intellectually stimulating and in fact a little overwhelming in light of the division of labour my mind has been subject to of late. So that said I will not apologise for my answer if you don't apologise for your question. Deal?

For one thing I find it fascinating how ones mind can drift from thoughts of ice lolly jokes to questions of death in the space of a few minutes . . . OK, so it was twenty-four, but who's counting.

I really would like to devote some cweus thought to these questions but unfortunately I rarely have ready answers, even for important questions I have given much significant consideration at various times in my past. But death will have to wait (hopefully) a while before I can afford the time to pull it to the front burner. In the mean time Naomi has done an impressive job of putting into words my initial thoughts on this grewsome subject.

Nevertheless, In the spirit of keeping on subject I will add this to the discussion.

Please let me know if you have problems with this or any other links I provide.

[mibn2cweus]

I am of the conviction that the most valuable contribution one has to offer their fellow human beings is the realisation of their own personal potential for success and the achievement of their own happiness. To the extent I have fallen short in fulfilling my own part in this bargain I make no apologies for I have always endeavored to understand what is and to do my best. :o)

I seek neither to be envied nor admired but if someone should see something in me that eases their own struggles or encourages their own efforts then my own life will have derived no less meaning or value.

I realise I have not failed to reiterate this on several occasions and have no reservations to state once again my observation that this universe would be a meaningless and pointless place without beings such as us to have an appreciation for the splendor of its existence through this marvelous capacity of ours to do so. And in so doing we lend purpose, fulfillment and completion to an otherwise meaningless and pointless universe. This observation alone has enabled me to cast a light on my darkest moments and anything more that might have been or awaits to be added to this recipe is icing on an already delicious cake.

I don't know how much of the meaning of all this I have been able to convey or to what extents others can relate but if nothing else this helps others with the creation of their own recipes I am only all too happy and willing to share.

[naomi24]

Luna, what do you want out of life?

[mibn2cweus]

So basically you're saying, We bring light to the darkness of the universe only to appreciate our being here in the first place?
Or is it the first place?
The light was there long before anyone or anything had developed the capacity to see it and will quite possibly still be shining long after anyone one or thing with the ability to see and appreciate it have ceased to exist. But for the relatively brief period of time we are here to ask these questions we are intrinsic to and an essential part of any meaningful answer we derive.

I wake and see the awe of a sunrise, a bee pollenate a flower, an ant carry food three times bigger than itself to the nest, a sea moved by the draw of our celestial sister and all of this we have to look at just to express our joy for it being here to others and ourselves?
I think it would be rather presumptuous of us to believe this was all put here for our entertainment and edification. It is through the act of observing and effort to understand we are entertained and edified.

Did the big bang go bang for us?
No, but without us (or someone/thing like us) who would know it went bang?

Are we just like the ants (only less clever) stuck on earth for observation?
I see in an ant colony a microcosm of the complexity of a mind able to grasp and make some sense of it all.

I believe we are just one of many races given an opportunity to see what we can do with our toy called earth.
Quite possibly we are not completely and uniquely alone in the universe. There�s plenty and I�m willing to share, and in so doing the pleasure is multiplied.

[mibn2cweus]

To create for the existence of not only ourselves but those that either put us here by choice or not.
If we are some other higher beings� ants, this has no bearing on the glory of the existence of ants or that of our own. At any point in this hierarchy there is a reliance on the evolutionary process that proceeded it. The ability to created with intent and purpose presupposes a vast chain of evolutionary steps. The universe only serves as a backdrop and provider of the raw materials from which mindful creativity could evolve. Remember it was the evolution of stars and the death throws of their explosions that created the raw materials that preceded and enabled our own evolution.

Can we really evolve through being human?
Essential to taking the next step is an appreciation for this incredible step we have taken in our evolution.

Do we really evolve from the shell we carry to the spirit to beyond?
If there is more awaiting me beyond all this I would expect it to be in proportion to how well I did with what I have already been given.