The Meaning of Life
What is the meaning of life?
It depends on what you mean by “meaning.” If you mean where did we come from, that’s a metaphysical, religious, or spiritual question. If you mean what is the purpose of living, or how should we live our lives, the answer depends on who you ask.
This article is about the purpose of life, or how we should live our lives and why. For such important questions, I usually like to start with a little research. I ask myself, “How have others who have gone before us answered this same question?”
PRE-HISTORIC TIMES
It’s anyone’s best guess what human beings thought about anything, let alone the meaning of life, before the start of written recorded history. So our research begins with ancient civilizations.
ANCIENT EASTERN CIVILIZATIONS
Writings from ancient India, Egypt, and China reveal some of our ancestors’ beliefs about the purpose of their lives and how they thought people should live them.
1. Ancient Indians
Around 3,000 BC, ancient Indians believed all actions had natural consequences, and they called this causal relationship “karma.” Thousands of years later, “you reap what you sow” is the famous biblical phrase that echoes this belief. If you plant good seeds, you will grow good plants. If you plant bad seeds, you will grow bad plants. The ancient Indians believed living correctly would eventually lead to the perfect state of existence that is formless and forever, or “nirvana.” Thus, the meaning of life for them was constant self-improvement.
2. Ancient Egyptians
Around 2,000 BC, ancient Egyptians taught their youngsters to listen carefully, speak politely, and avoid violence. They also taught them to be modest and to obey their fathers. Also, families who could afford it sent their children to school so they could avoid jobs with hard labor.
Ancient Egyptians believed that if they lived in moderation, and with respect for authority and kindness to those less fortunate, they would not only become successful in this world but also enjoy the afterlife.
3. Ancient Chinese
Some ancient Chinese believed hierarchy is the best way to create social order in the home and at work. Everyone had to know their place. Children must respect and obey their elders, while elders must use their power over younger generations with wisdom and generosity.
They believed in meritocracy. In theory, their rulers ruled—not because they were descended from prior rulers but—because they ruled for the best interest of the people. If they lost sight of this purpose, they should also lost their authority to rule over the people. Every man aspired to be a “saint, scholar, and a gentleman.”
ANCIENT WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS
On the other side of the planet, the ancient Greeks and Romans formed their own beliefs about the meaning of life.
1. Ancient Greeks
Around 500 BC, a famous Greek mathematician named Pythagoras started a boarding school in Southern Italy for young Greeks. He taught his students to eat a vegetarian diet and treated women as equals. With regard to this last point, he was thousands of years ahead of his time.
The students were taught to avoid wine, blaspheming the gods, and all forms of excess, frivolity, or “sexual deviance.” Pythagoras taught them to take care of their bodies with proper diet and exercise, their minds by studying mathematics—especially geometry—and their emotions by studying and enjoying music.
Other, more popular, Greek philosophers believed that the meaning of life was to be happy and that lasting happiness came only from knowledge and, eventually, wisdom. To achieve this, their goal was to live honestly, orderly, and moderately.
2. Ancient Romans
Around 200 BC, many Romans, especially the educated ones, adopted the Greek philosophy that taught self-restraint, generosity, and courage as the true paths to happiness. They tried to avoid emotional attachment to anything that could be taken away from them so they could remain happy should everything be away from them. They valued fairness, bravery, seriousness, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice.
SUMMARY OF LIFE PURPOSES FROM ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
To summarize, in the East, some of our ancestors believed in:
• karma, i.e., every action has a natural consequence
• constant self-improvement to become perfect
• moderation in all things
• respect for others
• kindness toward those less fortunate
• formal education to get better jobs
• proper behavior leading to success in life and to the afterlife
• respect for elders in exchange for generosity to the youth
• respect for government in exchange for ruling for the people
• excellence in kindness, knowledge, and manners
In the West, some of our ancestors believed in:
• proper diet and exercise to improve the body
• formal studies to improve the mind
• music appreciation to improve the emotions
• equal treatment of women
• limiting alcohol, swearing, silliness, excess, and illegal sex
• knowledge and wisdom leading to happiness
• honesty, peacefulness, order, cheerfulness, and moderation
• self-restraint, generosity, and courage leading to happiness
• emotional detachment from material things
• fairness, bravery, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice
It’s amazing that 4,000 years ago, various people around the world more or less held some of the same beliefs about the meaning of life, or how best to live one’s life, as we do today. Be kind, generous, respectful, and fair to others; be moderate when enjoying pleasurable things; get a good education to get a good job; and, take life seriously by living it consciously to achieve success and happiness.
WIKIPEDIA’S ANSWER TO “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?”
What do we believe is the purpose of life now? According to Wikipedia, the answer is everything and nothing and everything in between. Its answer divides current people’s opinions into 6 major categories that include some of the ideas below.
1. Survival and Temporal Success
To survive, exist in time, and reproduce if possible before death.
2. Wisdom and Knowledge
To gain as much wisdom and knowledge as possible.
3. Ethical
To treat others with compassion. To work for justice and freedom.
4. Religious and Spiritual
To please God and to enjoy the afterlife. To be the best you can.
5. Philosophical
To benefit the human species or all life forms. To maximize happiness or minimize pain. Or, there is no purpose to life.
6. Other
To fulfill your dreams.
Many current ideas about the purpose of life are similar to our ancestors’ beliefs. However, some notable exceptions are to simply exist, there is no purpose to life, and to achieve personal goals.
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?
What is the purpose of your life? Do you have one? More than one? Too many? Is your purpose anything more than your life goals? Does your purpose match any of the ones listed above?
Until you know what your purpose is, you can’t get there from here. Unless, of course, your purpose is to merely exist.
THE EVOLUTION OF MY PURPOSES IN LIFE
If you’re like me, you’ve had more than one purpose over the years. I started life, for the sole reason, it seemed, to take care of my entire family. (That’s the kind of rough start that can lead even young children to question the meaning of life.)
At first, I didn’t question why I had to take care of all my younger sisters when I was only a child myself. It was expected of me, so I accepted it as normal. Nor did I question why I had to parent my own parents, including playing referee during their terrifying knock-down, drag-out wrestling matches whenever Dad got drunk. These things happened so often that I accepted them as normal, too. Nor did I question why I had to help Dad run his small welding business starting from age 10 and well into my young adulthood. All of these things were as familiar to me as breathing, so I never questioned why my purpose in life was to serve my family.
But, when I started school and saw how my classmates were treated by their families, I started to question why my purpose seemed different from theirs. My parents were quick with answers. I had to take care of the family because we were strangers in a strange land; and I, being the eldest daughter in an immigrant family with no sons, had the filial responsibility to instruct and lead the family in this new land in all things unfamiliar to my parents, which was almost everything. Also, being the eldest meant I had to be a role model for my sisters. “Blood is thicker than water,” my dad loved to say, meaning family is everything and I was expected to sacrifice everything for them. If I complained about anything my parents asked of me or from me, I was branded a bad daughter, bad sister, and bad person.
It wasn’t until my early adulthood that I finally grew tired of this old purpose for my life and began looking for a new one. At college, I studied ancient philosophy, including the beliefs of the ancient civilizations discussed above, and was happy to find a wide variety of life purposes to choose from. I studied astronomy, archaeology, geology, oceanography, history, economics, psychology, and literature. I also read novels, essays, and poems that pondered the meaning of life and enjoyed movies and TV shows with similar themes. Even law school taught me new theories about the purposes for life to weigh, consider, and adopt or reject.
My purpose in life gradually changed from taking care of others while neglecting my own needs, to taking care of myself first, then others after me. Of course, I still believed in helping others. However, I finally realized I wasn’t much good at it when my own basic needs were not being met. Ironically, this shift in perspective led me back to my roots of helping others. I found my true calling in life is to reach out to all of you, out there in the world, to help you achieve your own life goals, too!
BACK TO YOU
I wish you success in your quest for your purpose in life. Or, if you have already found it, I wish you success in achieving it. Be awesome! Be your own hero!
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May 4th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Nice article.
Much different than most bloggers. The points you made and the questions you proposed are similar to what I frequently wonder about.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Hi Shanel,
I read this article two times. I have one question. Question may be personal to you. Since you discussed about your life.
One of my friend used to say that in life some time we have to take hard steps. Hard steps in the sense that due to some situation we have to take some action which may change purpose our life. Do you have any such experience?
Thanks and regards.
Gaurav Bhatnagar
August 7th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hi Gaurav! Thanks for your comment! It’s true that most of us have at least one time in our lives when we have been forced to take “hard steps,” as you say, that ended up actually changing the purpose of our lives. I can think of many times when this has happened to me. One of them I describe in my post called “How to Be an Extrovert.” Another one I describe in “Sibling Rivalries.” In fact, pretty much the entire “All About You!” series has a lot of my personal stories, full of life-changing decisions I made under different circumstances. I hope all of that answers your question! If not, please clarify your question, and I’ll try again. : )