Page:
.:star:.SILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,785 posts
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom


Posted:
Ok firstly....I have done a search, i know there are other meaning of life threads but this one asks a specific question for people to answer so i thought that it deserved a thread of its own biggrin

I've been doing my psychology work all afternoon and this exercise I have found really interesting and somewhat difficult!

firstly a little extract from my textbook

The Austrian therapist Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) who emphasized our need for meaning

Frankl distinguishes four ways in which personal meaning may be sought. One way is through actions, in particular creative activity. By building a machine, creating a garden, a poem or a painting we give value and meaning to our life. A second way is through experience - of beauty, nature or music, for example. A third way is through love, 'encountering another unique being in the very uniqueness of this human being' (Frankl, 1959, p.69). Finally, in situations of inescapable difficulty, we may find meaning through fortitude. For example, Frankl himself spent several years incarcerated in Auschwitz and Dachau. He found that one way in which some prisoners were able to give meaning to their lives, even in these awful circumstances, was by the strength of spirit with which they bore their suffering.

List three ways in which meaning is given to your life. One way of distinguishing these is to think of aspects of your life (such as a relationship or activity) which, if they were no longer possible, would significantly detract from the meaning which life has for you. Do these come within one or other of the categories which Frankl suggests? Are there other categories you would want to add (e.g. spiritual meaning, religious belief, having children)?

StoneGOLD Member
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
I’m not sure that I’d agree with that conclusion Mr Majestik. I think we need to free ourselves for all the stories we make up about everything, like the “meaning of life” before we can participate fully in life. Otherwise we are kept prisoners by our minds.


Flashpoint, great comments, but I disagree that meaning of life is to prepare for death, which to me seems futile. Surely, the meaning of life is to live. Are not Buddhist philosophies a prescription for living, rather than a recipe for death?

If there is no esoteric meaning to life, then why do suggest we were put here for a reason. My limited understanding of enlightenment from wiki , suggests that awakening is a pure unobstructed awareness of reality as-it-is, and nirvana is ending all ignorance and unhappiness.

Hi wave FireTom, good to see you back


smile

If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh


Patriarch917SILVER Member
I make my own people.
607 posts
Location: Nashville, Tennessee, USA


Posted:
I like the way flashpoint directed the conversation: if we were put here for a reason, what is that reason?

Before you can ask what the meaning of life is, you must first ask whether there is a meaning at all.

There are many who would say that we were not put here for any reason, and that our lives our puposeless and meaningless. We can invent some "meaning" for ourselves, but this is itself a meaningless task. It makes no difference whether we invent the ultimate meaning of life, or just pop acid until we die.

I am of a different opinion, as I mentioned before. The meaning of life is not in the seeking, it is in the finding. Our goal is not to knock at the door, but to have it opened and enter in.

In accordance with my being a stickler for accurate Bible quotes, Stone, I feel the need to mention that He said that He was "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," but I know what you meant smile. You are probably thinking of where He explained "I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Mr MajestikSILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: Stone


I’m not sure that I’d agree with that conclusion Mr Majestik. I think we need to free ourselves for all the stories we make up about everything, like the “meaning of life” before we can participate fully in life. Otherwise we are kept prisoners by our minds. smile



is that not a story you just made up?

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley


StoneGOLD Member
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
Probably, Mr Majestik, but I think the credit goes to Albert Einstein wink



Hi Patriarch917, now this will probably come as a shock, but I’m one of the many who say “we were not put here for any reason, and that our lives our purposeless and meaningless.” This does not mean we invent some "meaning" for ourselves, or this is itself a meaningless task. From what I understand, accepting that life is purposeless and meaningless is the first step to awakening or enlightenment.



I would not recommend the acid experience as people have reported seeing god, and becoming “all” spiritual. Interestingly enough, I heard on the radio recently that John Hopkins University did a clinical study on the relationship between magic mushrooms and spiritual experiences. Apparently, over a third reported bad trips.



If your goal was to have the door it opened and enter, I would say we would have to knock down the house before we could enter that door.



Yes Patriarch917, I was thinking “He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Darkness for me is trapped in a mind full of stories made up by adding meaning to everything we do in life.



smile oops edit
EDITED_BY: Stone (1153362310)

If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh


GitasGuyPooh-Bah
2,303 posts
Location: Brisbane


Posted:
There's a meaning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ubblol ubblol ubblol Hmmm..........

:admires giant wooden aeroplane: Its about time trees were good for something, instead of just standing their like jerks!!! ubblol ubbtickled

Homer rocks!!!! ubblol ubbrollsmile


FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
I thought...

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


simian110% MONKEY EVERY TIME ALL THE TIME JUST CANT STOP THE MONKEY
3,149 posts
Location: London


Posted:
the phrase "the meaning of life" is a category error in itself. Words put together in a meaningless way.
They look like they signify something, and yet do not.

You may as well ask:
What's the meaning of elbows?
What's the meaning of seven?
What's the meaning of eggplant?

The only things that have meaning are signifiers.
Life, on the other hand, is full of sound and fury, and signifies nothing.

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."


jo_rhymesSILVER Member
Momma Bear
4,525 posts
Location: Telford, Shrops, United Kingdom


Posted:
simian, obviously the meaning of elbows is so we can bend and straighten our arms!

the meaning of seven is so we can tell the joke: "why is six afraid of seven? because seven ate nine"

eggplant is so we can have a moan at americans. "they're called Aubergines!! you idiots! They look and taste nothing like eggs!! They're bloody aubergines! fools!"

and so on and so forth smile

Hoppers are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.


mausBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
4,191 posts
Location: Sihanoukville, cambodia


Posted:
I love you Jo! ubblol

darkhorse445member
29 posts
Location: hampshire


Posted:
the meaning of life is to live how you want to be create a name or hide in a shell.
stand out, stand up or sit down if you really want but al the meaning of life is to me
is to be yourself!

"O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!"
shakespeare


Mr MajestikSILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: jo_rhymes


simian, obviously the meaning of elbows is so we can bend and straighten our arms!
the meaning of seven is so we can tell the joke: "why is six afraid of seven? because seven ate nine"
eggplant is so we can have a moan at americans. "they're called Aubergines!! you idiots! They look and taste nothing like eggs!! They're bloody aubergines! fools!"
and so on and so forth smile



mmmmmm, i work in a cafe called Aubergines. indeed it sounds much more impressive than "eggplant"

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley


Page:

Similar Topics

Using the keywords [meaning life] we found the following existing topics.

  1. Forums > Meaning of Life/ Meaning of Death [24 replies]
  2. Forums > Meaning of Life [16 replies]
  3. Forums > Biodiesel Burn Question [3 replies]
  4. Forums > Terrible terrible thing. [16 replies]
  5. Forums > The meaningful discussion thread [33 replies]

      Show more..

HOP Newsletter

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more...