“Ask a thousand people what they live for. Nobody will answer correctly. It's hard to live pointlessly. Hence all the absurdities of life."
Since time immemorial, people have asked themselves: what is the meaning of human life? People tried to find and did not find an answer, because a short-term human existence was inevitably cut short by death.
Each birth gives the world a new life. This form, a tiny creature, slowly grows, lives and develops among us, becomes a factor in earthly life, in the end, the time comes when this form stops developing and disintegrates. Life, which came from nowhere, disappeared again in the invisible other world. And then with sadness and bewilderment we ask ourselves three questions: Where do we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go?
Death is a short word, and how many of the deepest feelings this topic touches, causing fear in some, bewilderment and protest in some, and hope for the continuation of life after death in others.
Human life may seem devoid of any meaning if the birth of a person is taken as an accident, and the duration of its existence is limited to a few decades. A whole series of prejudices can arise from this assumption: this is the priority of blood ties, and selfishness, and the desire for personal property, for profit at any cost, not excluding crimes. Hence, as a result, ignorance of the interests of others, personal, family or clan isolation. There is no place in this scheme for deep spiritual and moral values.
However, neither personal enrichment, nor satisfaction of ambition, nor rampant passions can be the meaning of a person's life. After all, a person cannot come into this world to suffer, hurt, be humiliated, and even more so to hate, destroy, kill.
What is the meaning of human life?
Before we try to find an answer to this question, let's think about why the life of even the darkest person has repeatedly been illuminated by flashes of awakening conscience, repentance, self-sacrifice, love. Even his basest actions, a person seeks to justify, justify high ideals and intentions. Many people retain a conscious or unconscious faith in divine mercy and higher justice, in the existence of the Subtle World, worship of saints, sages and ascetics, worship of beauty is preserved. Many fear the inevitable retribution for "sins" and hope for the eternal life of the soul after the death of the physical body.
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The main reason for a person's search for the meaning of life is bewilderment before death, which, as they say, is the end of everything. To a person who does not know the Truth about the continuity of our life, death in reality should seem terribly meaningless and, in search of the meaning of life, a person wants to understand: in the name of what one should live, in the name of what higher goal life is given to a person.
In the choice of another victim by death, according to many people, there is no pattern, no reasonable basis. If only people who lived to old age died, this would be understandable. However, when death takes a person in the prime of his fruitful activity, or at the dawn of youth, or even just born, then the meaninglessness of death appears in all its terrifying incomprehensibility.
The result of this bewilderment is murmurings and reproaches for the injustice of the one whom people call God. Sometimes there is apathy and loss of interest in a life in which meaning cannot be found. This sometimes leads a person to even greater senselessness - to suicide, which has become almost commonplace in our time, not only among the so-called losers, but, it would seem, among people who are successful in this life.
The question of the meaning of life raises before people other insoluble questions arising from this main question. This is a question about the soul, about the afterlife, about God, about the origin of the universe, etc.
To this day, neither positive science nor religion has given an answer to the questions: Why does a person live? Where does our path come from and where does it lead?
But it is known that people are able to understand and accept only such a theory and such teaching, to which their consciousness has grown. The very question of the meaning of life is an indicator of insufficient spiritual development.
First, consider the main currents of human thought, i.e. science, philosophy and religion, because they all dealt and are engaged in resolving the question of the meaning of life and have developed many hypotheses and theories.
Let us dwell in more detail on each of these paths.
Science, which recognized only the visible world, could not in essence give an answer to the question of what is the meaning of human life, because it is associated with a whole series of higher-order concepts related to the Higher worlds, the invisible worlds, each of which has its own laws, not previously recognized by science. The question of human death, as also related to the Subtle World, was not understood by science and could not be resolved as long as scientists adhered to the materialistic view and recognized only the physical world with its laws. However, while denying the invisible world, science cannot deny phenomena originating from invisible worlds.
These phenomena occur daily, but scientists' attempts to explain such phenomena by methods suitable for phenomena in the physical world have not yielded positive results until recently. Therefore, from the grossly materialistic point of view of modern science, the reason and purpose of the meaning of human life remain unclear. Science regards the development of mankind as an eternal movement towards an incomprehensible goal.
The origin of the Universe was explained by science as a random cohesion of particles of matter that came into motion, human life is also an accident that does not repeat itself either in the past or in the future. We live because we were born and our life - a short-term combination of particles of matter - is affirmed by science. With human death, this matter returns to the common reservoir, from which the mechanical law creates a new accident - a new person. This was the opinion of science until recently.
Science also claimed that a person does not have a soul. There is only the mind, or the function of the physical substance of the brain, which after the death of a person, together with the body, is subject to destruction. Hence it follows that there can be no life after the physical death of a person, because everything that constituted a person is destroyed.
With such a worldview, what meaning can be given to human life? The fullness of being is the meaning of life put forward by science.
But this meaning of life, with a low mental and moral state of development of modern man, is nothing more than the awakening of lower human instincts, nothing more than a cover for vulgarity and vices, nothing more than a call for permissiveness, impunity. The earthly physical ideals, even the highest of them, cannot create any complete happiness for man. Only the most backward people in spiritual development are content with the fullness of being.
A spiritually developed person cannot be satisfied with the ideals of earthly life alone. He demands something more from life, and since he does not find this more in life, then, having tasted the fullness of being (wealth, power, glory), he will soon be satiated with it and ready to leave, anywhere from it, even into nothingness, which is more regret he often does.
The merit or demerit of any theory and any teaching depends on the results brought about by the dissemination of that teaching or theory. What results did the preaching of materialism bring? The most negative ones. Whatever the reasons for the sad state of modern mankind were given, the denial of the invisible world, the preaching of materialism and the fullness of being as the meaning of life, played a decisive role in this respect, because the spread of crudely materialistic teachings and the decay of mankind go hand in hand, that we and can be seen from its current state.
Whatever lofty ideas are applied to the theory of the completeness of being, as the meaning of human life, such as the development of social feeling and the struggle for great subjective ideals, but since a spiritually underdeveloped person will realize this fullness of being, the struggle for great ideals will turn into an animal struggle for existence, in the most hopeless egoism, in the desire to live a personal life, will result in the slogan "We live once in a lifetime, all we can, we take from life!"
But not all science is to blame for the creation of such a bleak worldview. The part of science dealing with the study of nature, higher mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology speaks of expediency, the rationality of the universe, and the Highest Guidance!
In the same way, experimental psychology, meeting with inexplicable phenomena, from the point of view of the visible physical world, leads science to the threshold of the other world and gradually begins to penetrate and study that invisible world and its laws, which for a long time were denied by it.
Eventually the ice broke! And those of the scientists who were not shackled by scientific dogmas ventured into a mysterious area. Several decades ago, sensational reports of a scientist from America, Dr. Raymond Moody, appeared in the press that scientists registered an amazing phenomenon: after death, some invisible substance "conscious entity" released from a person continues to clearly and consciously perceive the world around him.
This was unexpected for most specialists and caused a real storm in the scientific world. Years have passed, and now the presence of this phenomenon has been confirmed by qualified research. Analyzing the transitional state from life to death, a group of scientists led by Doctor of Psychology Kenneth Ring for 13 months conducted research in clinics in the American state of Connecticut. As a result, it turned out that life after death exists and this phenomenon is not associated with any pathology.
But back to the question of the meaning of human life. How philosophers look at this difficult question.
Modern philosophical worldviews with enthusiasm invite us to believe in the joyful bright future of all mankind, in the coming earthly paradise, in the earthly physical bliss of future generations, for which we, people of the present time, should serve in a sense as a fertilizer, because only on the fertilized by our through the labors of the soil, that wonderful garden of the future humanity, to the creation of which philosophy invites us, will be able to blossom.
Although the philosophy calling us to work for a brighter future is a rather lofty idea, but in the form as it is, it is unacceptable.
First, it is unacceptable because instead of a clear and definite goal in the present, a person is invited to believe in a problematic future. He is promised a kind of mythical earthly paradise, in which he will not have to visit and for which he must serve as a fertilizer. An invitation to such a bad deal cannot be taken lightly.
Secondly, it is unacceptable because philosophy does not give answers to questions and does not solve the mysteries of life. Serving the bare idea of humanity temporarily living in the physical world, which eventually perishes just like any individual person, the difference is only in time, the meaning of life cannot serve.
The true meaning of life can only be that which itself is eternal and incorruptible and never perishes.
It would seem that the answer to the question about the meaning of human life should be given by religion, that is, the third path along which mankind goes in its development, but it also does not give it.
The answers to the mysteries of life that the Christian religion gives are briefly as follows:
The meaning of life is in the knowledge of God, in approaching Him. Love for God as the source of life, and the fulfillment of this love through service to humanity.
The earthly existence of man, in the opinion of the churchmen, is only the beginning of the path, because God creates a New innocent soul for each one who is born. Ahead lies infinity, either in heaven or in hell. Death is conquered by eternity. And the key of immortality lies in the resurrection of Christ and the immutability of the resurrection of the dead who believed in the resurrection of Christ.
In these main tenets of church teaching, along with the truth, errors alternate and, together with pearls, rubbish. This is due to the fact that the foundations of each teaching were distorted beyond recognition by false interpreters and false teachers, who sometimes had more zeal than reason. This is especially true of the scriptures, which are the essence of religion. This refers to the special language that the Teachers of mankind have used and are using at all times to communicate to people cosmic truths that cannot be conveyed in simple language.
The peculiarity of the language of the scriptures must be considered that the truth is communicated to people in symbols. This makes it possible for any person to understand the truth hidden by the symbol in accordance with their development.
The need for a symbolic language stems from the fact that teaching is given not for one generation, but for hundreds, not for one century, but for tens of centuries, during which at each given moment there are people of different mental and moral development.
This language of the scriptures reveals the secret covered by the symbol gradually, leaving the mind all its freedom. The language of symbols can reach every human soul at any time, with any of its development. Thus, over the centuries, people, reading the same dictum, find in it the truth that is available for their perception. Symbolic language maintains the freshness and vitality of the scriptures over the centuries, but it also serves, in part, to distort and misinterpret doctrine.
When a person, with his limited mind, ahead of time tries to understand the truths covered with a symbol, which do not yet fit in his head, then he inevitably comes to mistakes and delusions. But delusions and mistakes are inevitable: they are a sign of growth. A person must go through delusions, and when he passes them all and they all end up in disappointment for him, then he will find the true path.
Evil begins when a person begins to spread his mistakes and delusions as truth, and declares the truth a lie. Then a clear and bright teaching, through the efforts of false interpreters, turns into a distorted mirror, in which the truth ceases to be truth, distorted beyond recognition. Such a change also took place in the Teaching of Christ. Pearls were removed from it - the continuity of life and the laws by which it is implemented. These include the Laws of Karma and Reincarnation. According to the Law of Reincarnation, human life is an endless thread, on which, like beads, many incarnations of one soul are strung.
According to the Law of Karma, i.e. To the Law of Causes and Effects, the fate of a person in a given life depends on the reasons laid down by a person in a past life on earth. As a result, the one who does good in the past life will enjoy its fruits in the present incarnation, and the one who sowed evil and confusion will reap them. Among the people, this law sounds short and convincing: "As you sow, you reap." The justice of this law lies in its implacability. Everyone will be asked for the evil they have done, and everyone will be rewarded for good deeds.
Instead of these cosmic laws, the ministers of the church gave a meaningless theory of eternal torment or eternal bliss for the deeds of one short earthly life.
The injustice of the punishment of eternal torment for the sins of one short life is striking. Trying to mitigate this absurdity, the churchmen came up with absolution. This, in their opinion, made it possible for those who had sinned, repenting, to go to heaven. As you can see, you will not sin - you will not repent, you will not repent - you will not be forgiven, and you will not be forgiven - you will not go to heaven. The absurdity is obvious: sin and repent and you will go to heaven.
We have the only common sin - this is ignorance, and there is the only salvation for all - this is Applied Knowledge. All sorrow, suffering and pain are traces of not knowing how to act, and the school of life is just as necessary for us to reveal our hidden abilities, as is the daily activities at school.
It remains for us to develop what we lack. Of course, we still have a past to be reckoned with, and in general, many misfortunes can still occur from wrong deeds, but if we stop doing evil, we can joyfully look at every misfortune as paying the old bill and bringing us closer to the moment. when we receive a clean bill.
Great minds who distribute to each person the amount of his past bills to pay off in each life will always help the person who pays his debts for the past without adding new deeds, giving him as much as he can bear, bringing the day of his liberation closer.
But that is not all. According to the teaching of the church, only those who believe in Christ will rise from the dead and inherit eternal life. And those who do not believe in Christ have already been condemned to eternal torment by their unbelief.
According to some Christian sects, only 144,000 of them should be saved. And where, in this case, will the rest of the myriads of souls, created by God during the existence of the Earth, go (even if the age of our planet is determined by modern theologians at 6,000 years). Although, in reality, man has been living on earth for tens of millions of years.
Here again we see an advantage for some and a punishment for others. But for what such reason should a believer of another religion be condemned to eternal torment, who might not even hear, but lives according to the Teaching given by another great Teacher. However, belief in the superiority of one's religion and condemnation and non-recognition of any other belief is a delusion that is not unique to Christians.
Despite such unfavorable conditions in which the correct solution of the question of the meaning of life is found, there have always been and are individuals and small groups for whom the meaning of life was always clear and understandable. These are those who, in their searches, managed to reach the primary source and know the truth there, that is, those who have grown to understand it, who feel it with their heart and that higher mind, which is called intuition, that mind that does not make mistakes and always determines correctly: where is truth and where is error. There have always been such people, but their opinion was rarely considered.
In the Middle Ages, they were burned at the stake, as dangerous heretics, then they were excommunicated from the church, now they are called apostates, lost their way and similar names. But if you ask any of these apostates, no matter which of the existing religions they belong to, they all do not differ in their views on the purpose and meaning of life, and they will all say the same thing that striving for the Ideal, that is, for Perfection and Love and Service to one's neighbor is the purpose and meaning of life.
According to the teaching, the goal of life is life itself. But since life is manifested in movement, the synonym for life is movement. A delay in movement and inaction is a delay in life or what is commonly called death. And since the movement itself is eternal and never stops, passing only from the visible to the invisible, then our life is eternal.
Eternal life is governed by eternal and indestructible laws that govern everything in the Universe. There is no death in eternal life. Death itself is an incessant action of life, which replaces outdated forms of life with new, more perfect ones.
The earthly life of a person is not the beginning of life and death is not its end. The beginning of a person's life goes into the Infinity of the past, and there can be no question of an end, because Infinity has neither end nor beginning.
From the time a person began to think, he did not stop thinking about the secret of his being. To unravel the mystery of a person, it is necessary to remember all the time that a person is in the process of development and take him not in a complete form, but as a transitional phenomenon. At the beginning of his evolutionary path, man was associated with the need to go through stages, in the middle of the path (and this is the current state of most people) he is bound by his passions and ignorance of his true essence, and only at the end of the path, when his Divine nature wins and reveals himself, he becomes free creator of his own destiny.
The word personality itself comes from the word mask, a mask and an embodied person is in fact only that mask under which the same performer appears in one role, then in another, depending on what experience is next for him. At the same time, it is not at all what is experienced by one or another actor that is important, only eternal (i.e. spiritual) values are important, only what is important for the immortal essence of a person, i.e. for his personality.
It is necessary to realize this difference between individuality and personality as clearly as possible, because this difference provides the key to a correct analysis of complex processes within the human soul. The personal beginning is necessary as a transition from the animal pole to the Divine, but it is necessary to firmly remember that there is something Higher and to strive for this Higher.
Nourishing and deifying our "personality" we go to egoism, stay at a lower level, and as a result we interfere with true progress. By restraining her and forcing her to serve the Highest, we make her a footing for the God developing within us and contribute to true progress.
In each of the next incarnations, a person is given his personal expression: today it is a warrior, tomorrow a carpenter, then a slave, then a ruler, then a monk, then a scribe, and so on and on, until his essence touches comprehensively and widely the most diverse living conditions that give he is also able to fully reveal the inexhaustibility and strength of the potential of his spirit.
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