The Meaning of Life
In this here article I will attempt to achieve a feat no smaller than comprehensively describing that most elusive and perennial of questions which has plagued humanity since the dawn of civilization. Naturally, one would choose this most minor and trivial of topics to write on as their first foray into the world of content publication.
To condense the entire scholarship and investigation into our purpose of existence that has undergirded the institutions and philosophy of world cultures since time immemorial might seem lofty, and, dare I say, haughty. And it is. However, given the at best inaccessible and at worst indecipherable nature of existing texts on the matter, a clear and distinct composition of the more than six millennia of human endeavour to chart and explain our place in the cosmos might be in order.
By combining philosophies exploring the meaning of life, we will see that the essence of the religious tenets of mainstream doctrines, the esoteric principles of the occult and the mystical insights of spiritual traditions is in fact the same.
Good Vibrations
If you’ve come across literally any hippie or New Age literature, you will have been bound to have seen the terms ‘frequency’, ‘vibration’ and, of course, energy. These phrases can quickly excite the skepticism of many rational, scientific, atheistic types due to their nebulous definitions and general, dare I say, aura, of woo woo. To allay the fear beneath that suspicion, this conceptualisation of how the universe functions is not dissimilar to quantum physics and string theory. For a truly prodigious explication of the melding of traditional science and more spiritual descriptions of the nature of consciousness, I recommend the astounding work of Donald Hoffman.
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” — Nikola Tesla
Contrary to the prevailing sentiments held by many of the respective members of both the scientific and spiritual communities, the two frameworks are not mutually exclusive. In fact, on the most meta level, science is a subset of the umbrella of all spirituality, and spirituality is a form of science that goes beyond the egoic mind. The awe that inspires the passionate pursuit of the scientific method is the energy of the spirit in alignment. The mystery of the universe animates the soul to analyse the sophisticated nature of reality. All is one and both are compatible.
As such, any preconceptions and dubious attitudes towards the term ‘energy’ and how it is applied in the context of consciousness might be dispelled if understood through basic physics and chemistry. Namely, on the most elemental plane of existence, matter that is vibrating at a lower frequency will carry less energy, and matter that is vibrating at a higher frequency will carry more energy. Attributing states of consciousness to variations in resonant frequencies and their resulting manifestations as different vibrations of energy is not even particularly controversial in science. Further reading on this topic can be found here and here.
Thus, our journey into the meaning of life begins with an understanding that, at its most fundamental, quantum level, the universe is a field of energy. The nature of this energy field is one of infinite, undifferentiated potential. This means that the universe is essentially a neverending sandpit from which there are limitless ways to create different forms. From the same grains of sand you can construct literally innumerable types of shapes.
Moreover, these grains of sand each possess different characteristics, much like those of the different particles in physics. Accordingly, this field of energy differs in degrees of frequency. Some forms of energy have lower or higher frequencies than others, and this determines their vibration. Thus, the higher the vibe, the stronger the energy. This is inherent to all matter in the universe. This energy that pervades all things is consciousness.
“God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirs in the animal, and awakens in man.” — Ibn Arabi
As per the panpsychist model of reality, consciousness does not necessarily mean awareness or intelligence, but rather, pure experience. Hence, it is not to say that all matter, organic and inorganic, shares the same quality of being aware that it is alive, such as that intrinsic to the sophisticated sense perception of the human mind. That is, a glass, an ant, a crystal, a tree and a person might all experience varying degrees of awareness of their own existence, but these are all expressions of the one consciousness.
Where this exposition of energy as consciousness concerns us is how it pertains to the human emotional experience. As elucidated by the brilliant work of Dr. David R. Hawkins, the energetic frequency at which an individual human being is vibrating determines their state of consciousness. Lower frequencies produce painful emotions, and positive experience increases with higher vibration. Beyond this, even, are states which transcend emotion.
Alter Ego
Higher energetic frequencies can be achieved with the realisation of ego. This is called awakening. This process is referred to as such because it involves the act of ‘waking up’ to the construct of the ego and the reality of universal consciousness. The ego is the collection of stories, symbols, identities, labels, memories and attachments that we hold in our mind about who we believe we are. The ego is not inherently bad, as it is required to survive as a human being. This is because the ego’s primary directive and purpose for existing is to protect the individual from death.
“The ego is a tool. You don’t separate it. It’s a tool for the spirit.” — Ram Dass
The ego allows for the creation of a unique identity for each individual such that they can perceive the same reality differently from everyone else. Consequently, every human being who has ever lived, is alive currently, or will ever live, will have a conscious experience unlike that of any other. The effect of this is that consciousness has infinite variations of inputs to experience itself. The precise, specific and distinctive traits that make up every person — from family history, to genetics, to attachment style, to childhood events, to social connections, to demographics, to skills, to traumas, to psychological conditioning, to education and beyond — are then different settings that can act as an overlay on reality.
The principal device the ego uses to maintain its grip over the individual’s perception of reality is attachment. When someone believes that the story of who they are is real, they hold on to it. The ego believes that the individual self-concept is finite. Because of this, then, the ego is perpetually concerned with its own mortality and thus fixated on survival. This is why death is the basis of all fear.
To the ego, death doesn’t just involve the act of physically dying — the end of life-sustaining function in the body. Rather than just the cessation of breathing, of the pumping of blood around the organs and of activity in the brain, death is also symbolic. With the demise of the physical form also comes the end of the story of who you believe you are. The abstract concepts of lineage, legacy, impact on the world, meaning, knowing, certainty, memories and connections, as well as missed opportunities and regrets, are the attachments that people actually fear losing or never attaining through the process of dying. People aren’t just afraid of the end of their own life, but that, in essence, with their death will come the death of reality itself.
This terror around mortality is caused by the illusion of separation. Because the ego is formed around individual self-concepts and personal narratives, its nature is inherently exclusive. That is, as the ego develops in childhood, the child begins to see more and more distinctions between themselves and others. When a child learns to perceive a dichotomy between internal experiences and external reality, they isolate their bodily sensations, emotions, memories and thoughts from relationship with the physical world. By the time the ego is fully constructed, the individual believes themselves to be an entity entirely separated from everyone and everything around them.
“Our separation from each other is an optical illusion.” — Albert Einstein
Rise and Shine
What exactly is one waking up from that this should entail an awakening? The slumber of this illusion of separation. In Hinduism, this illusion is referred to as maya. Maya is the pervasive yet false perception that all phenomena in the natural world around us is real. It also describes a cosmic force that has the power to deceive us into believing a false reality. Thus, maya composes the artificial fantasy that is produced by the ego. Maya and ego thus blind us to the true nature of unadulterated, infinite, absolute, universal consciousness.
Two other broad concepts exist within Hinduism in opposition to maya: Atman and Brahman. Atman is analogous to the soul, whereas Brahman is absolute consciousness. Separating the ego and the soul, the ego and universal consciousness, and the soul and infinite consciousness is an act of duality. Duality is the process of finding polarities, divisions, opposites and dichotomies in reality.
Non-duality, on the contrary, sees no separation between anything. Atman and Brahman, rather than being two different entities, are in fact the same. The universal consciousness that forms reality is at once all there is as Brahman, but it also exists within every human being as Atman — the soul. That is, the entire universe is within all of us. Moreover, then, the ego and the soul, as well as the one consciousness, are not discrete phenomena, but rather a single entity. The soul — finite universal consciousness — uses the ego as a vessel to direct itself within the entirety of infinite universal consciousness.
“There is neither creation nor destruction, neither destiny nor free will, neither path nor achievement. This is the final truth.” — Sri Ramana Maharshi
The soul guides the ego through the body. The emotions are a medium by which the soul attempts to communicate to the ego. Emotional responses perceived as sensations in the body convey messages to the ego about its alignment. Alignment occurs when the ego is acting in accordance with its soul’s mission. Dharma consists of both a prescribed path of living that is in harmonious balance with nature, but also to an individual’s unique life purpose.
“Complete surrender does require that you have no desire of your own, that God’s desire alone is your desire.” — Sri Ramana Maharshi
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell
Happiness, contentment, joy, gratitude, hope, enthusiasm, excitement, optimism, elation, euphoria, serenity and peace are all positive emotional states of consciousness that result from alignment. When a person is not following their dharma, however, the soul will use emotion to cause suffering in their body. This can manifest as anything from short-lived feelings of boredom, sadness, anger, shame, guilt and fear to more chronic ones of grief, loneliness, despair and depression.
“Suffering is part of our training program for becoming wise.” — Ram Dass
It can also show as health conditions, including IBS, diabetes, heart problems, teeth grinding, restless legs syndrome, asthma, eczema, exacerbated viral infections, insomnia, fatigue, sleep apnoea, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, migraines, dementia, cancer, accelerated ageing and more.
“Suffering is how Life tells you that you are resisting or misperceiving what is real and true. It is the way Life suggests that you are not in harmony with what is.” — Adyashanti
Another mode of transmitting information about dharma from the soul to the ego is intuition. Intuition is how the soul speaks directly through the body. A ‘gut feeling’, when something ‘doesn’t feel right’, when you ‘just know’, or when ‘your heart just isn’t in it’, is your intuition trying to communicate to you how to stay in alignment. Heeding the call of intuition demonstrates your respect for it, and this strengthens it.
“The more you let go of it and trust it, as if it were quite other than you, the more you realise the inseparable identity of self and other.” — Alan Watts
A World of Pain
“Enlightenment is absolute co-operation with the inevitable.” — Anthony de Mello
To free oneself from this state of suffering endemic to the human condition — beyond the process of awakening to the ego — comes enlightenment. After being brought to the realisation that one has an ego, what it is, and how it produces suffering, the next steps along the path of awakening lead to ego death. Ego death produces enlightenment in much the same way that after being submerged beneath the ocean and breaking through the surface you may finally gasp for air. For the first time you are able to see that the world wasn’t what you had always believed it to be beneath the waves, but that it includes the whole expansiveness of the sky too.
“Only those prepared to die will find eternal life.” — Byzantium
“Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.” — Dōgen
In Japanese Zen Buddhism, enlightenment is represented by the terms satori and kenshō. Kenshō is the initial glimpse at or insight into the ultimate nature of reality, whereas satori is the deeper experience of enlightenment. The path to full, complete enlightenment, or samyaksaṃbodhi in Sanskrit, is characterised by many periods of both satori and kenshō. That is, enlightenment is rarely a single moment of ultimate awakening to the infinite nature of consciousness, but rather, a series of progressive steps up a mountain with no end.
Enlightenment is merely the awareness of one’s infinite consciousness in the eternal present moment. Thus, enlightenment is not the result of difficult and strenuous discipline achieved after many years of study and practice, but rather, simply a state of consciousness that you already have. Beneath the layers of the ego, and behind the veil of maya, we are all already enlightened.
“Enlightenment is nothing more than the complete absence of resistance to what is. End of story.” — Adyashanti
Meditation is the standard and traditional method of attaining enlightenment because it requires the ability to quiet the mind so that infinite consciousness may be revealed. With dedicated commitment to the practice of meditation, the capacity to suspend thought is strengthened. This enables one to embrace the present moment without distraction or judgement from the egoic chattering of the mind.
“Real meditation is not about mastering a technique; it’s about letting go of control.” — Adyashanti
“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.” — Jiddu Krishnamurti
Perseverance in achieving meditative states allows for greater degrees of mindfulness. Mindful states of consciousness allow for non-attachment to reality. By observing the present moment rather than attaching to it, one gradually loses the unconscious attempts of the ego to resist what is happening. Resistance is the futile effort to control reality. The ego’s identity is often in opposition to what is occurring to it, so it creates obstructions to surrendering to the present moment. This is because the ego believes it knows what ‘should’ be happening based on its perception of reality, and, as discussed previously, it operates from the basis of fear.
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.” — Eckhart Tolle
Due to this fear, the ego attaches to identities, people, places, material desires, goals and outcomes. Attachment in this way serves to quell the ego’s fear of lack. The ego operates from a scarcity mindset, the unconscious fear that there are limited resources, connections and opportunities available in reality. Underlying this attitude is the ego’s belief that by lacking these things it will die.
“The extent to which you don’t have the thing you want in your life is the extent to which you are resisting it.” — Brad Gates
The ego will do anything to resist surrendering to the present moment. This is because that by accepting that the present moment is perfect as it is, the ego would realise that there is in fact nothing wrong with what is occurring and that there are no problems. When the ego truly knows this, and thus the soul overpowers it, it has no reason to exist. Given that the ego’s sole objective is to keep itself alive, any information that would make the individual question the need to hold on to the ego will be avoided, distracted, obstructed, denied, repressed, projected, displaced or rationalised away.
“Let go or be dragged.” — Zen proverb
What do you realise when you sit without judgement for or attachment to the present moment? The ultimate nature of reality. And what this is is the most daunting and harrowing prospect for the ego: that you don’t exist.
Much Ado About Nothing
“Nothingness is an absolute infinite potential, not an empty box.” — Adyashanti
The awareness brought by enlightenment is that the essential nature of reality is that of infinite nothingness. The field of energy from which maya emerges is a void from which any creation is possible. Peace arises from a deep understanding of this as, ultimately, nothing is real, so nothing matters. Rather than the morbid and somber despondency of nihilism that knowing this can produce, it can instead inspire complete freedom and bliss.
Everything is nothing, so it can be anything.
How can knowing that your life is an illusion possibly inspire such serenity? Because this is not to say that your life is meaningless or empty. Just because the matrix is a computer program, doesn’t mean that the simulation isn’t real. The difference that enlightenment offers from the type of meaning derived from egoic desire is that meaning is found in pure existence, rather than attachment. Aligning with your dharma is in fact the most fulfilling way of finding purpose. Peace is found by flowing with life, rather than against it.
“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.” — Wayne W. Dyer
The force that catalyses imagination to emerge from nothingness is love. Love here doesn’t imply the human emotional experience, but rather, the spirit of awe, passion, reverence, ecstasy, wonder, amazement, sanctity, grace, purity and elegance. Love inspires creation from the void. And this is because — and hold for the most hippie sentence in this entire article — love is the most powerful force in the universe. So in answer to another timeless question — why is there something rather than nothing? — because we love being alive.
“The more love you give away, the more love you will have.” — John O’Donohue
“When emptiness is still, that is eternity. When it moves, that is love.” — Adyashanti
The beauty of creation animates us to conjure up infinite dimensions and qualities of reality within which to play. What is more enjoyable than not existing? Anything. So we create. And the majestic delight of invention, imagination, innovation and inspiration is the most beautiful experience of all.
“Love is the experience that others are not others. Beauty is the experience that objects are not objects.” — Rupert Spira
“The biggest embrace of love you’ll ever make is to embrace yourself completely. Then you’ll realize you’ve just embraced the whole universe, and everything and everybody in it.” — Adyashanti
Within the non-duality of consciousness exists the duality of experience. Light only exists in opposition to darkness. When infinite possible renditions of reality are available, we love to explore the beauty of it all. We are a child wandering through an endless garden, mesmerised by the abundance of different natural wonders.
More love is always the answer.
Manifest Destiny
The process of creation from the endless potential of the infinite energy field of consciousness is realised through manifestation. Manifestation operates by converting love energy into form. This is transmutation, the basis of alchemy. By emitting the frequency of gratitude for the present moment, you align with this energy and thus will draw in more of the same vibration. This is the law of attraction. Exhibiting gratitude for that which one does not yet have conjures it into one’s experience. Because the present moment is eternal, being grateful for that which one would like to manifest in the future is simply aligning with a different reality in the now.
“What the universe will manifest when you are in alignment with it is a lot more interesting than what you try to manifest.” — Adyashanti
“The divine will not give you anything new if you’re still holding onto the past.” — The Dream Clairvoyant
For example, if one believes that they lack money, they will manifest a further lack of money by unconsciously perpetuating the scarcity mindset. If one expresses a state of gratitude for abundance in their life, events will shift around them to align them with a reality where they will attract more money. The key here is to surrender to the process. Suffering occurs when one resists what is, so one must release the illusion of control and trust the universe in order to receive what one asked for. Don’t be surprised when your life “falls apart” to rearrange your circumstances to push you to get what you want. Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.
Everything you’re going through is preparing you for what you asked for.
An understanding of this process requires the dissolution of the concepts that seem the most real to the ego. One of these is time. Time is an illusion. Rather than a series of events that progress in a linear, continuous course, time is simply a dimension of consciousness that can be manipulated to manifest form into reality from the endless field of energy.
“You are already that which you want to be, and your refusal to believe it is the only reason you do not see it.” — Neville Godard
“Now is not a moment that appears in time; time is an idea that exists in the ever-present now.” — Rupert Spira
“Zen is a liberation from time. For if we open our eyes and see clearly, it becomes obvious that there is no other time than this instant, and that the past and the future are abstractions without any concrete reality.” — Alan Watts
Another such illusory concept that must be surrendered is control. Control is the false belief of the ego that it can restrict, contain and restrain reality through effort. The irony in this is that control can only be achieved through surrender, not resistance. When one aligns with their dharma, that which one truly needs flows into one’s life effortlessly. Be discerning about that which you really want to manifest, because the universe will transform itself to give it to you, and your ego may not like how it does so.
"In giving away the control, you've got it." — Alan Watts
The phenomenon by which manifestation materialises is co-creation. Co-creation as a term is inherently dualistic, but it is a potent way to elucidate this process. Dharma and manifestation go hand in hand. Co-creation is an arrangement between the soul and the universe — or Atman and Brahman. At the ultimate level of consciousness, however, of course, it is an agreement with yourself.
“The more you let go, the higher you rise.” — Yasmin Mogahed
This agreement is that, if the universe is to undergo metamorphosis around you to align you with that which you desire to manifest, you must also agree to listen to your intuition, surrender your ego, follow your dharma and trust the divine order of the cosmos and infinite consciousness. As above, so below.
What does this say about free will versus determinism? Like all dualities, the supposed distinction between these two schools of philsophy is an artificial polarity. Though dharma is intrinsically deterministic in prescribing a set life course for every individual human being, the ego can and almost always does ignore it in favour of free will. Nonetheless, though you always do have the power to act with volition as a free agent through your ego, doing so often causes suffering. Thus, whilst we do have free will, it is not without consequence.
Further, if one undergoes awakening to their ego and attains the enlightened knowledge of the ultimate nature of reality and of their individual dharma, suffering still does occur. This is because there is nothing necessarily wrong with suffering — ‘wrong’ is a projection of the ego of resistance to what is. Suffering is simply a tool to direct the individual within the universe.
“Ego is neither positive nor negative. Those are simply concepts that create more boundaries. Ego is just ego, and the disaster of it all is that you, as a spiritual seeker, have been conditioned to think of the ego as bad, as an enemy, as something to be destroyed. This simply strengthens the ego. In fact, such conclusions arise from the ego itself. Pay no attention to them. Don’t go to war with yourself; simply inquire into who you are.” — Adyashanti
The belief that suffering is worse than peace creates suffering. A deep knowing that suffering is no worse than peace makes it so.
However, adhering to one’s dharma will always ultimately create peace such that the choice of free will is free only within a set of limits. But there is also nothing wrong with abiding the demands of the ego and suffering if you so choose. It’s just that, usually, one is not aware that one is making a choice from ego. So, whilst we all do have a choice, we’re almost never aware that we do, what it is, what the alternatives are or aren’t or what the costs are. Essentially, you have a forced choice: obey your dharma and achieve peace (but you’ll still suffer), or give in to your ego and suffer (but you might not, too).
Consequently, reality is both and neither deterministic and free. And not.
“We never make a decision. When the time is right, the decision makes itself.” — Byron Katie
Mind Games
Given all of this knowledge, how can one live well within this reality? By respecting it as a game of deception. The purpose of the ego is to obscure the true nature of reality such that the universal consciousness can experience subjectivity. Pure, boundless void cannot experience anything, so the ego creates a way for the universe to investigate itself. Through this recreational pursuit of experience, the universe learns what it is from all possible perspectives.
“Nothing appears to be something. The human experience is a sensory organ for the divine self. Through these eyes, the divine gets to see itself in form.” — Adyashanti
One reason for this is to experience the bliss of enlightenment. If consciousness remained in its state of pure, undifferentiated, infinite, absolute potential energy, it would already be ultimate awareness. By deceiving itself into maya and the limitation of finite forms, it can enjoy the peace of awakening to itself.
“I see my life as an unfolding set of opportunities to awaken.” — Ram Dass
The universe plays games with itself to experience the love of discovering its own beauty. Human beings act as vessels for this process. Mindfulness allows the ego to be suspended such that intuition can be interpreted more strongly and one can achieve greater awareness. The purpose of this is that the universe communicates through everything around you. With meditative practice, one is able to notice synchronicities and decipher their meanings more quickly.
Synchronicities are clues that the universe uses to remind you of higher divinity and to nudge you to align with your dharma — or, clues that you project onto reality to communicate with yourself. Hence, there is no such thing as chance, luck or coincidence. Pondering the magnitude and sophistication of the universe illuminates one to see that these concepts are implausible with any honest consideration of the myriad interactions of variables required to produce any event.
“You’ll see it when you believe it.” — Wayne W. Dyer
“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” — Roald Dahl
The conscious awareness that one is signalling information to oneself and watching the play of one’s own creation leads one to achieve Buddhahood. This is the state of knowing that one is the writer, director and actor in the movie of one’s own life—the divine play, or lila. Such understanding produces the state of nirvana or moksha, the release from egoic suffering and liberation from the cycle of reincarnation — samsara.
“Moksha is not freedom for the individual. It is freedom from individuality.” — T.M.P. Mahadevan
Reincarnation is the process of experiencing reality through infinite perspectives, accumulating knowledge about the nature of one’s own existence in the soul. As such, and as per the illusion of separation, there is only one being writing and reading this article.
“The Sage has no thinking mind and therefore there are no ‘others’ for him.”
— Ramana Maharshi
“Our whole spiritual transformation brings us to the point where we realize that in our own being, we are enough.” — Ram Dass
Why create suffering at all if we are infinite energy that can be anything it wants to be? By creating the ego to experience a unique perspective on reality and then dissolving it, we can learn about ourselves. Only through suffering can the soul push the ego to align with the highest good of universal consciousness. This way, consciousness understands its infinite depths more and more as it explores its own creation. Suffering is a feature, not a bug, of the game.
“The truth is that you already are what you are seeking. You are looking for God with his eyes. I suggest you ask, “What’s ultimately behind this set of eyes?” Turn around to see what is looking.” — Adyashanti
At the highest level, of course, nothing is good or bad, everything simply is. So that is the meaning of life. The indescribable state of being. Love. The higher you vibrate, the more love you radiate to yourself, and the higher the frequency of all of creation rises. There are no subjects or objects, there is only you, and you simply want to see what you can create because you love the beauty of it all.
“The whole universe is contained within a single human being: you .” — Rumi
“When we’re in our true being, the purpose of life is to feel that every moment is the purpose.” — Adyashanti
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