In an atheistic universe, it becomes not only our task to perform our duty, but to define it as well.

I am not sure how many Nexians are religious and/or subscribe to the idea of an ultimate higher power that is facilitated by modern religions, to whom they look for guidance on how to live. But I have a feeling that many of you believe that there is no objective meaning of life (such as "to love people" or "to have offspring" ).

Do you feel that you must define your own meaning in life? If so, what is that meaning? If not, why not? I understand there are many who choose to live moment-by-moment, where no ultimate meaning is necessary, and I respect that view a lot. When I try to BE HERE NOW, that is what I practice. When living in the now, I'm not thinking about the total arch of my life. But when I question why I do many of the things I do, the meaning of my life tries to take form.

So how about you? What do you think about this?

I think living moment by moment can be seen as a meaning to life. Live in the moment.

I personally really have no idea what the meaning of my life is. Sometimes I wonder, what should I be doing or what direction do I need to take. Often times my life has taken me down certain paths that taught me things, then I find myself in need of major change in order to discover another path each time accomplishing whatever goal appears to me when on that path.

Ultimately I don't really see an end game, as mostly I dont prescribe to any beliefs really. As long as I do the best I can to make a positive impact on whatever I can I feel I am doing what I am suppose to be.

There is no meaning. I just try to appreciate the fact that i have been lucky enough to experience this happy accident called existence. My opinions sometimes change on these kinds of subjects and i am not completely closed to the existence of a higher power (especially after i have just taken psychedelic drugs).

Here is a Master's response to this dilemma. I am very much in accordance with it.
Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

I'm sitting on my fence watching the grass grow, the sun is shining, and I wonder, what more meaning do I need? Then I slip of and fall on my head.


In a black hole it is now said that time stops, there is no time and if there is no time, how could it have a beginning or an end? But we can see that gravity is it's source? What is gravity? Not sure what it is, but we can see how it behaves.

What are these hidden forces pulling at me.


I am star dust, that is a fact.

I am a child of the universe, we all are. Why we are flipped over on it's back and I wonder, why we are not.

My mind is a jewel, what thing? is it?

I can feel my awareness growing and that gives my life meaning. What happens after, I'm just a leaf falling in the wind, where I land maybe time only knows.

Meaning, hmm..

Imo, life itself in all it's forms is imbued with all the meaning it needs; to exist, simply, and play all it's various parts; like a well orchestrated dance; dancing forever.

Anything outside of that, in terms of 'the meaning' is arbitrary imo; secondhand.

As the great huxley once said - everything is it's own minute particular.

DMTheory

Thank you ever so much for this interesting thread... I have been on a journey of trying to create and discover my own meaning within my life for some time now.

In my twenties I got really involved in the environmental movement and I worked for the largest independent direct action environmental organisation in the world. After being greatly disenchanted and disappointed with the organisation, I made the decision to try and work for a grass roots environmental orginsation.

Over time it became more and more apparent to me that this particular grass roots environmental orginisation was deeply rooted with political and communist agendas, with very much a cult orientated perspective which I personally wanted nothing to do with as it in no way aligned with my own personal perspective.

I came to the realisation through my entheogenic and meditation practice that I truly needed to "Be the change that you wish to see in the world" (Mahatma Gandhi). Instead of trying to change the world from the outside I needed to try and change the world from the inside of my own heart and mind. Gandhis words had never resonated with me more deeply.

My entheogen journey: Iridescent Mushroom Journey came flooding back into my mind.

I had a feeling that perhaps if I peruse trying to became the change that I wanted to see in the world it might create a ripple effect as we are all ultimately connected. Through introspective meditation and mindfulness meditation I discovered how to cultivate meaning in my life and it is through nurturing and more specifically nurturing: children, animals and plants.

My hope is that through conducting my actions with honour and the purest intentions, my future meditation practices and enthegoen journeys that I may be able to uncover how to actualize my meaning in the most profound and meaningful way possible. I guess only time will tell... I would love to know how do you cultivate and grow meaning within your life?


Much Peace and Respect

Life's a garden...dig it. I don't like to define myself by any ist or ism, but some of those fairly arbitrary concepts associated with them can resonate more powerfully than others, and in different ways.



No not really. And I am totally OK with that

Folks here have some noble pursuits, motivations and cares, no doubt. Which is all well and good.

I guess I just think that when you try and boil down all of the meaning of your existence to a few words, you do existence a great disservice in some way. It's sort of like when you are growing up and staring in wonder at what we dumbly call a "forest". Once we have that unfathomably beautiful and complex snippet of infinite categorized and under the guise of our conceptual labels, we loose a truer sense of the depth of it's being.



I hear you. But just to play devil's advocate for a second...doesn't trying to be here NOW sound a bit contradictory in some ways?

Kind of like in meditation when they say that quieting the mind through will power doesn't really work. Just like how trying to flatten the waves of a pond with a board is just makes more waves - you just have to let it be.

Then again, on the other hand there are some great techniques to help us along it seems... Some of it seems to coax or trick your normal "self" into relinquishing it's control and constant need of stimulation/thought. So I guess this whole thing is a bit paradoxical...heheh.
To quote the principia discordia:

All statements are true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, and true and false and meaningless... in some sense.

Thank you very much Tatt, especially for the Huxley quote. I once heard an offhand discussion about the meaning of life, and one person said, "I don't get why people always argue and fight and discuss over this. The meaning of being is simply being, it's for itself." I thought that was rather pithy. Part of my tattoo alludes to this as well. I enjoy this view, but it's a difficult one to embrace 100% of the time (for me at least).

For example, I'll be doing some required work and I just think to myself, I really don't want to do this. This is not fulfilling at all and does not make me happy. It is solely a systematic waste of my time on Earth. But I have to complete to maintain my standard of living, so it does serves that purpose. However if my meaning was to just be, I wouldn't do a lot of things. One day. But maybe this is a poisonous view of life...




Thank you for sharing your story, Aegle. In many cases it seems to come down to doing whatever you think is best with your given circumstances.

The search for meaning in my own life is what prompted me to make this post. I have learned over various psychedelic journeys that it is my mission to either define my own meaning or take on a prescribed one. Lately I have been having a lot of difficulty with this, as knowing and doing are two very different things. I am in college at the moment and I find a lot of days I am in bed just thinking about how I don't want to do this anymore. I was very sick recently and most nights I had a wish in the back of my mind that I wouldn't wake up the next morning.

I am a believer in extraterrestrial realms/merging with the mind at large after death, or at least the idea of the void. Many times I think it would just be easier to enter the void rather than live through this short life on Earth (whereas for many this might be a terrifying prospect). For a while I was an antinatalist, meaning that I believed it would have been better to never have even been born. That changed, as I realize how unique our lives are/seem. I understand my sentiments might sound alarming to some, but it is a philosophical anxiety, definitely not a suicidal one.

I have dreams for what I want to do in life, so I guess those are what keep me going. I have plans of helping a lot of people as well, assuming I have the resources to do so. Satisfying many of my ape pleasures/ego is another (unfortunate?) component. But when faced with the objective meaninglessness, the inevitable, infinite void always seems easier.



Yeah I kind of got that thought as I was typing but it sounded okay when I read over it. For me personally I do have to make a conscious decision or 'shift' to this kind of existence. After that shift is made the trying stops. But I have to work a little to become aware of my awareness, feel if it is ready, etc. I need to make sure I can safely relinquish all worry about the past and future, as I have a fear of "getting burned" and regretting something that happened because of a lack of action.

DMTheory

My greatest allies in being able to discover my meaning have been mindfulness meditation and techniques in combination with entheogenic journeys. I find personally that meditation and mindfulness techniques are integral tools for integration. I guess everyone has their own personal tools that they use but for me personally I was only able to uncover my meaning through combining mindfulness with my other meditation practices and entheogen journeys.

I am in the process at the moment of being able to muster the courage that I will need in order to discover how to actualize my meaning. Acceptance, surrender and gratitude are also key. An amazing quote: The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. Pablo Picasso

I wish you all the best along your journey my friend, I think we all have a unique gift to give to the world. I truly hope that you are able to discover your meaning and when the time is right that you have the bravery and courage no matter what to be able to actualize it within yourself and your life.

Here is a link to a beautiful and inspiring video, enjoy: Vibrasphere - Ensueño


Much Peace and Happiness

To sustainably suspend myself in as interesting situations as possible without saying anything too crass around the wrong ears.

Language is a living entity, idea's are it's flow. Language flows from things seen into the beheld.

Do you see what I mean.. and the meaning is found in the flow. We are born and we plug into a language so that we can get into the flow. That in it's own essence has very deep meaning.

There is a transformation happening right now.

Pro-recreation

"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in metaphysics, he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do, or why his friends should not seize political power and govern in the way that they find most advantegous to themselves...

For myself, the philosophy of meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political."

--Aldous Huxley

Thank you Aegle. That was quite the video; it's nice to be reminded that we are on such a unique planet. I took much of today to try to rework my outlook on things and everyone here's words helped a lot. I realized what I like doing is eating, watching TV, spending time with friends, using substances and meditating on those experiences, and doing helpful tasks. I guess my mission, for now at least, is to experience the beauty and happiness in things, and helping others along the way.

a1pha, I have seen before how the realization of meaninglessness is liberation. Many people are so scared of this fact that they choose to embrace a prescribed faith out of their fear. I still struggle with the freedom, as it inhibits how I make choices. I tend to subscribe to utilitarianism for this; I think the choices that give everyone the most utility/happiness are the best ones, and the ones I should therefore make.

To help or relieve suffering. After realization that one is a cell, one helps the body. I think I'm in the process of differentiating into some immune cell.
I think it really is gratuitous to be experiencing this place, it's beautiful.

My life has no meaning. What a trip to believe any of this is significant or will be remembered by anyone 100 years from now.

I acknowledge that pain is necessary but suffering is optional. Thus the meaning of my life is to consume minimally and to try to treat others the way I wish to be treated - with kindness, compassion and an inherant level of respect that acknowledges that there is a crapload of pain in just being alive for anyone who dares take their heads out of the muck and look around a bit. Take a stand and say "It stops here with me." I'm not gonna replicate that hateful meme, even if it's "what everyone does."

Thus, meaning is reflected back to me with love, kindness and compassion and respect, at least out here in my real life.

The meaning of my life is to be an ˝eye˝ for the nothingness trough which it observes and experiences it self in particular micronom point of view.

Many a sci-fi fan has embraced the idea that we are the Universe's attempt to know itself.

Right now my goals in life are to make a bunch of money and get my body fat percentage down to 10%.

So I guess you could say my life has no meaning. I doubt it ever will. All I can ever hope to do is make myself and those I love feel alright.