A brief consensus of meaning
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"He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How."
Nietzche
Meaning is very much about our dreams, beliefs and what we do, but perhaps more, about who we are.
"What is the meaning of life?"
"What is the purpose of my life?"
Answering the above questions is very challenging, as they possess a complex & multifaceted nature leading to other questions concerning our understanding of life, morality, life after death and of course our most precious gifts, time and consciousness itself. These queries may also lead us to ask about those universal conundrums, the qualities that make us significant as a species and individuals in an enormous cosmos that seems indifferent to our presence? Perhaps, most importantly, at least for some, the questions; is there is a God or why there is anything and everything rather than nothing? Is there an overall scheme or purpose to it all and again, what is my potential purpose in all of this?
These deeply difficult questions have been challenging thinkers since the dawn of history, and have a tendency of suddenly and very personally conspiring on us, often without warning, attacking our sense of security, intruding on our delicate sense of psychological balance. When we loose someone close to us, an important relationship sours, loss of a job, a severe accident, unexpected sickness or other life altering episode, we may be led back to the deeply personal questions, "what is the meaning or purpose of this?"
Some end up embracing an answer or solution of a generic type that is religious or spiritual in nature. Others choose to ignore or give up on the question of meaning altogether and proclaim with many modern thinkers that; 'meaning is an illusion'.
Interestingly, even those of us who adopt this approach or worldview, will nevertheless, and I believe, correctly declare that their lives do have purpose. For some mysterious reason many are almost always instinctively drawn to include the concepts of love, family, friendship, service of community or country, as well as a healthy personal intellectual & psychological state. They will all, I suspect, parent their children to pursue a life of success as a measure of purpose in life. Yet, many avoid or deny the question of meaning altogether. It is as if they see the importance of building a large, functional and even aesthetically pleasing looking house, without seeing the necessity for the existence of a foundation.
I think it would be safe to say that most avoid the question of meaning altogether particularly the majority of younger souls and it is now the cultural norm, in many places, to scoff at the question altogether.
Others have traditionally sought answers in religion in order to, at the very least, address these problems that the question of meaning imposes on us. However, in modern thinking less of us are inclined to depend solely on institutionalized religion for answers, yet, we are still left with finding adequate enough ways of coping with all the problems these questions raise.
Add to all of this is the more practical issue that the question of meaning presents;
"how do I lead a purposeful life and not fall into the trap of living a pointless or wasted life?".
Many do not even get this far and we are only beginning to touch the tip of the iceberg of understanding the questions and broad scope of the problem of meaning.
If you read this far and your head may already be spinning!
Don't fear. You are not alone.
Sadly, few of us ever get past the generic answers to the question of what is the meaning of life, and simply end up procrastinating on answering it, or simply give up on it altogether and ignore it. This is largely because of our attitude towards the question, believing that it's answer should come to us as it does like other questions, in a definite academic right or wrong form.
An answer that is universally the same for everyone.
Though meaning or purpose of life certainly has many unalterable universal qualities it will not be limited to a generic type approach.
What is being considered at The Meaning Tree (www.meaningtree.org)
is whether or not the pursuit of meaning or purposeful living is like the pursuit of love. Perhaps, much more of a process of discovery than a mere intellectual exercise. A process of discovery that can be enjoyed and with some time and energy can itself become a catalyst for both answering the question of meaning in a deeply personal way while leading to fuller more satisfying life.
Some points to keep in mind in while exploring meaning tree
The pursuit of meaning is also a collective story, a history as told by our ancestors who struggled leaving a foundation of ancient truths for us to build on.
For the first time in history, almost everyone has access to the many discoveries in the various perspectives of human endeavors that may provide insight into our personal as well as collective pursuit of purpose. These are, but are not limited to, science, psychology, history, classical & modern literature, and certainly ancient spiritual wisdom traditions.
These are all explored in greater depth in the sibling site to Meaning tree,
Spirituality, science & meaning. spiritualityscienceandmeaning.com
In the end it is our attitude and the decisions we make in our pursuit of meaning and the desire to lead a life of purpose that ultimately matters.
Our pursuit is growth through inward transformation.
It is the goal of meaning to provide a unique insight and approach in order to assist us
in the very difficult and challenging task of leading a life of purpose and the pursuit of meaning. Our journey or endeavor being like a child's climb through a tree, a branch by branch discovery, all of which will add up to an exciting and purposeful experience.
That tree serving as a metaphor for the stories of our lives individually & collectively.
"He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:8
- In our personal pursuit we may discover that like love, meaning has identifiable characteristics and in a sense a personality and a voice.
- Meaning, unavoidably, beckons us to consider our relationships to a hierarchy of value, that which is worthy of our energy, time and passions.
- Our response to that subtle but persistent call may be the catalyst for making the difference between a life truly worth living or not.
- The pursuit of meaning will inspire us to self-examination and reconsideration of our worldviews and personal paradigms.
The pursuit of meaning is also a collective story, a history as told by our ancestors who struggled leaving a foundation of ancient truths for us to build on.
For the first time in history, almost everyone has access to the many discoveries in the various perspectives of human endeavors that may provide insight into our personal as well as collective pursuit of purpose. These are, but are not limited to, science, psychology, history, classical & modern literature, and certainly ancient spiritual wisdom traditions.
These are all explored in greater depth in the sibling site to Meaning tree,
Spirituality, science & meaning. spiritualityscienceandmeaning.com
In the end it is our attitude and the decisions we make in our pursuit of meaning and the desire to lead a life of purpose that ultimately matters.
Our pursuit is growth through inward transformation.
It is the goal of meaning to provide a unique insight and approach in order to assist us
in the very difficult and challenging task of leading a life of purpose and the pursuit of meaning. Our journey or endeavor being like a child's climb through a tree, a branch by branch discovery, all of which will add up to an exciting and purposeful experience.
That tree serving as a metaphor for the stories of our lives individually & collectively.
"He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:8