What Is the Meaning of Life?
We know it’s not to endlessly chase money. We know it’s not to chase sex or power until we die. The drug addicts we see on the side of the street with needle marks all over their bodies show us that chasing bursts of pleasure can’t be the answer either. Many would very nobly answer “family” - but what if they were gone?
What actually is the point? I’ll answer this question from two separate perspectives, based on insights I’ve gained on my own spiritual journey.
(1) Life is meaningless.
From the Absolute perspective, life is meaningless. There is no ‘point’ to it.
“How awful!” I hear you say.
But no - when I say “life is meaningless”, I mean life is meaningless. I’m not saying “life is meaningless and so that’s a bad thing.”
That wouldn’t be true meaninglessness; the ego despairs and adds the inference that this is a negative thing. This would be nihilism.
Through thousands of hours of meditation, I’m led to the inescapable conclusion that Love is the substrate of Reality. A Love so intense, so profoundly pure, that it’s meaningless.
What do I mean by that?
The Love that I refer to is unconditional. As humans, even our deepest love still has conditions if we’re radically honest with ourselves; there’s a point in all of us which the other person could do something so heinous that we’d say it’s a step too far and love them less for it. This is no bad thing, but simply a symptom of temporarily living in this limited human form. When I say that Love is the fabric of existence, I refer to an infinitely forgiving Love.
In a relationship, one might think “I love her because she’s beautiful.” This is clearly not true love.
Another might say “I love her because she provides me with stability.” This is utilitarian and transactional.
“I love her because she makes me feel good.” This is slightly better, but it’s still not pure — after all, would this mean that you’d only love her through the highs of your relationship, not the lows?
The truest love is a love that has no because. There is no reason to it. There is no meaning. It just is the case.
And THIS is what makes life so beautiful. Because meaninglessness is the nature of Love, and thus the nature of life itself.
So yes, life is utterly meaningless. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
(2) We’re all in Universe-ity
Another answer to what the point is, is that on a soul level, we’re here to learn.
Our spirits incarnate into these human skin suits with egos so that we grow through life’s hardships. The “point” here, is so that we eventually learn enough to reach spiritual enlightenment. That is, to become One with the Absolute while in human form, like Jesus, the Buddha, and countless other great, unsung souls have done.
With every incarnation we have, every lesson we learn, we take a step closer towards the Ultimate Goal — whether we know it or not.
“The purpose of life is to find your purpose”
As we first explored, ultimately, life is meaningless. And yet a playground ultimately has no meaning either. But this is what makes it so fun. We’re free to interact with it however we’d like to!
This meaningless blank canvas called Life is what gives us the opportunity as Co-Creators to paint the life that we want to live. To create our own meaning. What’s important to me? What do I want to do before I die? What do I want to put into the world?
Living in the knowledge of the second perspective we explored, God gives us the paintbrush and asks us:
“What would you like to paint on this canvas?”
