As human beings we have an incredible cognitive capability to discern, understand, and explain how physical systems function. Our ability to answer questions of philosophy, physics and mathematics is absolutely phenomenal. Out of this amazing ability a number of questions have arisen that perhaps no other species that we know of has considered. Many many years ago during the process of evolution our forefathers began asking questions related to our spirituality, to what happens upon death, a thought process that ultimately took us to ask the question of what the meaning of life itself was.

Personal beliefs, religions and even nations have arisen founded on the principles behind these questions. In this article I wish to offer you a perspective that might empower those looking to answer the question of what is the meaning of life.

Is there an answer to the question?

This is an interesting thing to consider. Is there an answer out there to be had. I’d like to take the position that the answer is clearly yes. The answer is absolutely out there. The challenge is in finding who or what knows the answer to the question itself.

Who (or what) knows the answer?

Now that is the right question to ask. While its apparent that no human being has convincingly answered the question to date, it is less apparent as to who or what does know the answer. 

As we observe the world, we see it from an absolutely human perspective. All of the things that we interpret are done so with the limitations set forth by our minds – which are engineered to work a specific way. Part of that engineering includes our imagination, our ideas and thoughts, and our capacity to retain information that is given to us by our senses. We are wired in such a way that we know that we can learn, we know that we can analyze, interpret and that we have the capacity to grow – but we seldom consider our limitations in that growth. There are certain puzzles that we simply can not answer within the confines of how our minds are wired. As an example, I remember when I was first introduced to a perplexing paradox.

My favorite paradox

I clearly recall in seventh grade, Mr. Harrington our teacher presented to us the first paradox which I recall. He gave us the following scenario.

“Would anyone disagree that you have to go ½ of the way to get to get to the location you desired?”. The enthusiastic 7^th graders followed suit in agreement. “Then if I have to go ½ way to go any distance, then half way again from that halfway point and so on, how is it possible that I could ever reach the desired destination?”.

We all considered the question and were a bit confused because logically we knew that we could reach a destination, but when framed in these two questions we knew both were correct-however contradictory. It did not fit into logic as we had been learning.

Now I can already hear the comments to this blog explaining the paradox and how it works in the physical world, but in overanalyzing we miss the point. These two statements exist (that I have to go ½ way to reach the destination, and I can reach a destination), they are both true, and intuitively they can not co-exist. We can analyze this, we can philosophize on ways this can happen, but our human minds do not allow for true understanding of this paradox without seeking an alternative explanation of how two truths can not co-exist.

Finding meaning

I introduced this discussion saying that an answer to the meaning of life was out there. I know this to be true, yet the answer is incomprehensible to the human mind. It might be so simple or so complex that we can not frame the question into our human experience. It might not be the right question to ask at all. Let me pose another question to explain what I mean by this. Try to answer this as best as you can.

What is the meaning of a tree?

Interesting question isn’t it. I can discuss the purpose of a tree in terms of the environment, its role in the ecosystem etc., but can I really answer what the meaning of it is? Can I answer what the meaning of a cow is? When we ask what the meaning of life is – it is ultimately incomprehensible to our way of thought – perhaps its simply not a question we can interpret with human consciousness.

The role of religion in answering the question

Any time a discussion of spirituality is brought forth, there becomes an opportunity for great misunderstanding and heated debate particularly when presented in the context of religion. I’d like to bypass that debate and simply define our spirituality as that aspect of us which transcends the physical makeup of our body. Likewise philosophers and scientists have been trying to understand the relationship of the physical body with our spirit since recorded history began-with no answers to be found. Instead what we have built is a pool of philosophies, belief systems, and religions that provide some explanations and answers to the questions that our human minds can not understand.

A common thread of all the great religions is that there is a God. An infinite being that guides us, directs us, lives within us and without us that does have all the answers. Serving that being (whether we believe in Christianity, Hindu, or Gaia) provides us with meaning for our life. That may fill the gap of understanding but logically that just shifts the question to someone or something else rather than answering it for ourselves. This gives up our capacity to know the answer on our own and it is a meaningful step towards letting go of our ego which tells us we must know!  This is in complete alignment with a perspective that our human makeup is not designed to be able to answer this question – and it does not mean that the answer does not exist.

You begin to see that asking the question ‘What is the meaning of life?’ can lead you to finding a belief system or religion that is in alignment with your personal values, however outside of this context it is a fairly useless question given our capacity to make sense of the question itself.

Purpose not meaning

If you’ve struggled with these thoughts before – perhaps a much better question that you can entertain is ‘What is the purpose of my life?’. Now this question takes on a much different flavor. People may live their life trying to find purpose, they may wait for it to one day miraculously hit them on the head, or they may intuitively know what their purpose is from a young age.  Whatever category you find yourself in know that the purpose of your life is a choice. 

Your purpose may involve your given talents, your personality, your passions, or whatever path that you have followed whether it be that of least resistance, or one of purposeful decision.  Regardless of the path you have created, know that your life’s purpose is that which you choose to make it.  Our purpose is not a question incomprehensible to the limitations of the human mind, its simply a decision that we make on how we would like our lives to impact the world.  Isn’t our purpose a much more interesting question to consider than the meaning of it all?

As always, I appreciate your comments on this blog topic.  Also, let me know if you’ve got other paradoxes you like!  (i.e.: is god so powerful that he/she can create a rock so big that he/she can’t lift)

Be Well

Related Articles:  Coming Soon

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net