La Felicidad es un Compromiso Personal

Parecería que todos los seres humanos queremos la felicidad.

Yo creo que la realidad es más cruda sólo puede llegar a la Felicidad quien se compromete con ella.

Lo importante es Guiarnos a nosotros Mismos

Lo importante es conducirnos a nosotros mismos

La Fuerza del Proposito

Una vez encontrado tu proposito
Eso te dara Fuerza

Sentido a la vida

Meaning of life
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This article is about the philosophical concept. For other uses, see Meaning of life (disambiguation).
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Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
One of Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings.

The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as Why are we here?, What is life all about?, and What is the meaning of it all? It has been the subject of much philosophical, scientific, and theological speculation throughout history. There have been a large number of answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds.

The meaning of life is deeply mixed with the philosophical and religious conceptions of existence, consciousness, and happiness, and touches on many other issues, such as symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, conceptions of God, the existence of God, the soul, and the afterlife. Scientific contributions are more indirect; by describing the empirical facts about the universe, science provides some context and sets parameters for conversations on related topics. An alternative, human-centric, and not a cosmic/religious approach is the question "What is the meaning of my life?" The value of the question pertaining to the purpose of life may coincide with the achievement of ultimate reality, or a feeling of oneness, or a feeling of sacredness.
Contents
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* 1 Questions
* 2 Scientific inquiry and perspectives
o 2.1 Psychological significance and value in life
o 2.2 Origin and nature of biological life
o 2.3 Origins and ultimate fate of the universe
o 2.4 Scientific questions about the mind
* 3 Western philosophical perspectives
o 3.1 Ancient Greek philosophy
+ 3.1.1 Platonism
+ 3.1.2 Aristotelianism
+ 3.1.3 Cynicism
+ 3.1.4 Cyrenaicism
+ 3.1.5 Epicureanism
+ 3.1.6 Stoicism
o 3.2 Enlightenment philosophy
+ 3.2.1 Classical liberalism
+ 3.2.2 Kantianism
o 3.3 19th century philosophy
+ 3.3.1 Utilitarianism
+ 3.3.2 Nihilism
o 3.4 20th century philosophy
+ 3.4.1 Pragmatism
+ 3.4.2 Existentialism
+ 3.4.3 Absurdism
+ 3.4.4 Secular humanism
+ 3.4.5 Logical positivism
+ 3.4.6 Postmodernism
+ 3.4.7 Instinctivism, Social Darwinism and Evolutionary Psychology
+ 3.4.8 Naturalistic pantheism
* 4 Religious perspectives
o 4.1 Western and Middle Eastern religions
+ 4.1.1 Zoroastrianism
+ 4.1.2 Judaism
+ 4.1.3 Christianity
+ 4.1.4 Islam
+ 4.1.5 Bahá'í Faith
o 4.2 South Asian religions
+ 4.2.1 Hindu philosophies
# 4.2.1.1 Advaita and Dvaita Hinduism
# 4.2.1.2 Vaishnavism
+ 4.2.2 Jainism
+ 4.2.3 Buddhism
# 4.2.3.1 Early Buddhism
# 4.2.3.2 Mahayana Buddhism
+ 4.2.4 Sikhism
o 4.3 East Asian religions
+ 4.3.1 Shinto
+ 4.3.2 Taoism
+ 4.3.3 Confucianism
+ 4.3.4 New religions
* 5 In popular culture
* 6 See also
o 6.1 Origin and nature of life and reality
o 6.2 Value of life
o 6.3 Purpose of life
o 6.4 Miscellaneous
* 7 References
* 8 External links

Questions
Philosopher in Meditation (detail) by Rembrandt

Questions about the meaning of life have been expressed in a broad variety of ways, including the following:

* What is the meaning of life? What's it all about? Who are we? [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
* Why are we here? What are we here for? [7][8][9][10][11][12]
* What is the origin of life? [13]
* What is the nature of life? What is the nature of reality? [13][14][15]
* What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of one's life? [4][7][14][16][17]
* What is the significance of life? [17]
* What is meaningful and valuable in life?[18]
* What is the value of life?[19]
* What is the reason to live? What are we living for? [12][20]

These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.
Scientific inquiry and perspectives
DNA, the substance containing the genetic instructions for the development and functioning of all known living organisms.

Claims that descriptive science can shed light on normative issues such as the meaning of life are highly disputed within the scientific and philosophy-of-science communities. Nevertheless, science may be able to provide some context and sets some parameters for conversations on related topics.
Psychological significance and value in life

Science may not be able to tell us what is of essential value in life, but some studies bear on related questions: researchers in positive psychology (and, earlier and less rigorously, in humanistic psychology) study factors that lead to life satisfaction,[21] full engagement in activities,[22] making a fuller contribution by utilizing one's personal strengths,[23] and meaning based on investing in something larger than the self.[24]

One value system suggested by social psychologists, broadly called Terror Management Theory, states that all human meaning is derived out of a fundamental fear of death, whereby values are selected when they allow us to escape the mental reminder of death.

Neuroscience has produced theories of reward, pleasure and motivation in terms of physical entities such as neurotransmitter activity, especially in the limbic system and the ventral tegmental area in particular. If one believes that the meaning of life is to maximize pleasure, then these theories give normative predictions about how to act to achieve this.

Sociology examines value at a social level using theoretical constructs such as value theory, norms, anomie, etc.
Origin and nature of biological life

The exact mechanisms of abiogenesis are unknown: notable theories include the RNA world hypothesis (RNA-based replicators) and the iron-sulfur world theory (metabolism without genetics). The theory of evolution does not attempt to explain the origin of life but the process by which different lifeforms have developed throughout history via genetic mutation and natural selection.[25] At the end of the 20th century, based upon insight gleaned from the gene-centered view of evolution, biologists George C. Williams, Richard Dawkins, David Haig, among others, conclude that if there is a primary function to life, it is the replication of DNA and the survival of one's genes.[26][27]

However, though scientists have intensively studied life on Earth, defining life in unequivocal terms is still a challenge.[28][29] Physically, one may say that life "feeds on negative entropy"[30][31] which refers to the process by which living entities decrease their internal entropy at the expense of some form of energy taken in from the environment.[32][33] Biologists generally agree that lifeforms are self-organizing systems regulating the internal environment as to maintain this organized state, metabolism serves to provide energy, and reproduction allows life to continue over a span of multiple generations. Typically, organisms are responsive to stimuli and genetic information tends to change from generation to generation as to allow adaptation through evolution, these characteristics optimalizing the chances of survival for the individual organism and its descendants respectively.[34][35] Non-cellular replicating agents, notably viruses, are generally not considered to be organisms because they are incapable of "independent" reproduction or metabolism. This controversy is problematic, though, since some parasites and endosymbionts are also incapable of independent life. Astrobiology studies the possibility of different forms of life on other worlds, such as replicating structures made from materials other than DNA.
Origins and ultimate fate of the universe
The metric expansion of space. The inflationary epoch is the expansion of the metric tensor at left. (WMAP image, 2006)

Though the Big Bang model was met with much skepticism when first introduced, partially because of a connection to the religious concept of creation, it has become well supported by several independent observations.[36] However, current physics can only describe the early universe from 10−43 seconds after the Big Bang (where zero time corresponds to infinite temperature); a theory of quantum gravity would be required to go further back in time. Nevertheless, many physicists have speculated about what would have preceded this limit, and how the universe came into being.[37] Some physicists think that the Big Bang occurred coincidentally, and when considering the anthropic principle, it is most often interpreted as implying the existence of a multiverse.[38]

However, no matter how the universe came into existence, humanity's fate in this universe appears to be doomed as —even if humanity would survive that long— biological life will eventually become unsustainable, be it through a Big Freeze, Big Rip, or Big Crunch. It would seem that the only way to survive indefinitely would be by directing the flow of energy on a cosmic scale and altering the fate of the universe.[37][page needed]
Scientific questions about the mind

The true nature and origin of consciousness and the mind itself are also widely debated in science. The explanatory gap is generally equated with the hard problem of consciousness, and the question of free will is also considered to be of fundamental importance. These subjects are mostly addressed in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience and philosophy of mind, though some evolutionary biologists and theoretical physicists have also made several allusions to the subject.[39][40]
Hieronymus Bosch's Ascent of the Blessed depicts a tunnel of light and spiritual figures, often described in reports of near-death experiences.

Reductionistic and eliminative materialistic approaches, for example the Multiple Drafts Model, hold that consciousness can be wholly explained by neuroscience through the workings of the brain and its neurons, thus adhering to biological naturalism.[40][41][42]

On the other hand, some scientists, like Andrei Linde, have considered that consciousness, like spacetime, might have its own intrinsic degrees of freedom, and that one's perceptions may be as real as (or even more real than) material objects.[43] Hypotheses of consciousness and spacetime explain consciousness in describing a "space of conscious elements",[43] often encompassing a number of extra dimensions.[44] Electromagnetic theories of consciousness solve the binding problem of consciousness in saying that the electromagnetic field generated by the brain is the actual carrier of conscious experience, there is however disagreement about the implementations of such a theory relating to other workings of the mind.[45][46] Quantum mind theories use quantum theory in explaining certain properties of the mind. Explaining the process of free will through quantum phenomena is a popular alternative to determinism, such postulations may variously relate free will to quantum fluctuations,[47] quantum amplification,[48] quantum potential[47] and quantum probability.[49]

Based on the premises of non-materialistic explanations of the mind, some have suggested the existence of a cosmic consciousness, asserting that consciousness is actually the "ground of all being".[15][48][50] Proponents of this view cite accounts of paranormal phenomena, primarily extrasensory perceptions and psychic powers, as evidence for an incorporeal higher consciousness. In hopes of proving the existence of these phenomena, parapsychologists have orchestrated various experiments. Meta-analyses of these experiments indicate that the effect size (though very small) has been relatively consistent, resulting in an overall statistical significance.[51][52][53] Although some critical analysts feel that parapsychological study is scientific, they are not satisfied with its experimental results.[54][55] Skeptical reviewers contend that apparently successful results are more likely due to sloppy procedures, poorly trained researchers, or methodological flaws than to actual effects.[56][57][58][59]
Western philosophical perspectives

The philosophical perspectives on the meaning of life are those ideologies which explain life in terms of ideals or abstractions defined by humans.
Ancient Greek philosophy
Plato and Aristotle in The School of Athens fresco, by Raphael.
Platonism
Main article: Platonism

Plato was one of the earliest, most influential philosophers to date — mostly for realism about the existence of universals. In the Theory of Forms, universals do not physically exist, like objects, but exist as ghostly, heavenly forms. In The Republic, the Socrates character's dialogue describes the Form of the Good. The Idea of the Good is ekgonos (offspring) of the Good, the ideal, perfect nature of goodness, hence an absolute measure of justice.

In Platonism, the meaning of life is in attaining the highest form of knowledge, which is the Idea (Form) of the Good, from which all good and just things derive utility and value. Human beings are duty-bound to pursue the good, but no one can succeed in that pursuit without philosophical reasoning, which allows for true knowledge.
Aristotelianism
Main article: Aristotelian ethics

Aristotle, an apprentice of Plato, was another, early, most influential philosopher, who argued that ethical knowledge is not certain knowledge (like metaphysics and epistemology), but is general knowledge. Because it is not a theoretical discipline, a person had to study and practice in order to become 'good', thus if the person were to become virtuous, he could not simply study what virtue is, he had to be virtuous, via virtuous activities. To do this, Aristotle established what is virtuous:

Every skill and every inquiry, and similarly, every action and choice of action, is thought to have some good as its object. This is why the good has rightly been defined as the object of all endeavor [...]
Everything is done with a goal, and that goal is "good".
—Nicomachean Ethics 1.1

Yet, if action A is done towards achieving goal B, then goal B also would have a goal, goal C, and goal C also would have a goal, and so would continue this pattern, until something stopped its infinite regression. Aristotle's solution is the Highest Good, which is desirable for its own sake, it is its own goal. The Highest Good is not desirable for the sake of achieving some other good, and all other ‘goods’ desirable for its sake. This involves achieving eudaemonia, usually translated as "happiness", "well-being", "flourishing", and "excellence".

What is the highest good in all matters of action? To the name, there is almost complete agreement; for uneducated and educated alike call it happiness, and make happiness identical with the good life and successful living. They disagree, however, about the meaning of happiness.
—Nicomachean Ethics 1.4

Cynicism

In the Hellenistic period, the Cynic philosophers said that the purpose of life is living a life of Virtue that agrees with Nature. Happiness depends upon being self-sufficient and master of one's mental attitude; suffering is consequence of false judgments of value, which cause negative emotions and a concomitant vicious character.

The Cynical life rejects conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and fame, by being free of the possessions acquired in pursuing the conventional.[60][61] As reasoning creatures, people could achieve happiness via rigorous training, by living in a way natural to human beings. The world equally belongs to everyone, so suffering is caused by false judgments of what is valuable and what is worthless per the customs and conventions of society.
Cyrenaicism

Cyrenaicism, founded by Aristippus of Cyrene, was an early Socratic school that emphasised only one side of Socrates's teachings — that happiness is one of the ends of moral action and that pleasure is the supreme good; thus a hedonistic world view, wherein bodily gratification is more intense than mental pleasure. Cyrenaics prefer immediate gratification to the long-term gain of delayed gratification; denial is unpleasant unhappiness.[62][63]
Epicureanism
Main article: Epicureanism
Bust of Epicurus leaning against his disciple Metrodorus in the Louvre Museum.

To Epicurus, the greatest good is in seeking modest pleasures, to attain tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia) via knowledge, friendship, and virtuous, temperate living; bodily pain (aponia) is absent through one's knowledge of the workings of the world and of the limits of one's desires. Combined, freedom from pain and freedom from fear are happiness in its highest form. Epicurus' lauded enjoyment of simple pleasures is quasi-ascetic abstention from sex and the appetites:

When we say . . . that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do, by some, through ignorance, prejudice or wilful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not by an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not by sexual lust, nor the enjoyment of fish, and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul.[64]

The Epicurean meaning of life rejects immortality and mysticism; there is a soul, but it is as mortal as the body. There is no afterlife, yet, one need not fear death, because "Death is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved, is without sensation, and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us."[65]
Stoicism

Stoicism teaches that living according to reason and virtue is to be in harmony with the universe's divine order, entailed by one's recognition of the universal logos (reason), an essential value of all people. The meaning of life is freedom from suffering through apatheia (Gr: απαθεια), that is, being objective, having "clear judgement", not indifference.

Stoicism's prime directives are virtue, reason, and natural law, abided to develop personal self-control and mental fortitude as means of overcoming destructive emotions. The Stoic does not seek to extinguish emotions, only to avoid emotional troubles, by developing clear judgement and inner calm through diligently practiced logic, reflection, and concentration.

The Stoic ethical foundation is that good lies in the state of the soul, itself, exemplified in wisdom and self-control, thus improving one's spiritual well-being: "Virtue consists in a will which is in agreement with Nature."[65] The principle applies to one's personal relations thus: "to be free from anger, envy, and jealousy".[65]
Enlightenment philosophy
Further information: Enlightenment philosophy

The Enlightenment and the colonial era both changed the nature of European philosophy and exported it worldwide. Devotion and subservience to God were largely replaced by notions of inalienable natural rights and the potentialities of reason, and universal ideals of love and compassion gave way to civic notions of freedom, equality, and citizenship. The meaning of life changed as well, focussing less on humankind's relationship to God and more on the relationship between individuals and their society. This era is filled with theories that equate meaningful existence with the social order.
Classical liberalism

Classical liberalism is a set of ideas that arose in the 17th and 18th centuries, out of conflicts between a growing, wealthy, propertied class and the established aristocratic and religious orders that dominated Europe. Liberalism cast humans as beings with inalienable natural rights (including the right to retain the wealth generated by one's own work), and sought out means to balance rights across society. Broadly speaking, it considers individual liberty to be the most important goal,[66] because only through ensured liberty are the other inherent rights protected.

There are many forms and derivations of liberalism, but their central conceptions of the meaning of life trace back to three main ideas. Early thinkers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith saw humankind beginning in the state of nature, then finding meaning for existence through labour and property, and using social contracts to create an environment that supports those efforts.
Kantianism
Immanuel Kant is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of the late Enlightenment.

Kantianism is a philosophy based on the ethical, epistemological, and metaphysical works of Immanuel Kant. Kant is known for his deontological theory where there is a single moral obligation, the "Categorical Imperative", derived from the concept of duty. Kantians believe all actions are performed in accordance with some underlying maxim or principle, and for actions to be ethical, they must adhere to the categorical imperative.

Simply put, the test is that one must universalize the maxim (imagine that all people acted in this way) and then see if it would still be possible to perform the maxim in the world without contradiction. In Groundwork, Kant gives the example of a person who seeks to borrow money without intending to pay it back. This is a contradiction because if it were a universal action, no person would lend money anymore as he knows that he will never be paid back. The maxim of this action, says Kant, results in a contradiction in conceivability (and thus contradicts perfect duty).

Kant also denied that the consequences of an act in any way contribute to the moral worth of that act, his reasoning being that the physical world is outside one's full control and thus one cannot be held accountable for the events that occur in it.
19th century philosophy
Further information: 19th century philosophy
Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham

The origins of utilitarianism can be traced back as far as Epicurus, but, as a school of thought, it is credited to Jeremy Bentham,[67] who found that nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure, then, from that moral insight, deriving the Rule of Utility: that the good is whatever brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. He defined the meaning of life as the "greatest happiness principle".

Jeremy Bentham's foremost proponent was James Mill, a significant philosopher in his day, and father of John Stuart Mill. The younger Mill was educated per Bentham's principles, including transcribing and summarising much of his father's work.[68]
Nihilism

Nihilism rejects any authority's claims to knowledge and truth, and so explores the significance of existence without knowable truth. Rather than insisting that values are subjective, and might be warrantless, the nihilist says: "Nothing is of value", morals are valueless, they only serve as society's false ideals.

Friedrich Nietzsche characterized nihilism as emptying the world, and especially human existence, of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, and essential value; succinctly, nihilism is the process of "the devaluing of the highest values".[69] Seeing the nihilist as a natural result of the idea that God is dead, and insisting it was something to overcome, his questioning of the nihilist's life-negating values, returned meaning to the Earth.[70]
The End of the World, by John Martin.

To Martin Heidegger, nihilism is the movement whereby "being" is forgotten, and is transformed into value, in other words, the reduction of being to exchange value.[69] Heidegger, in accordance with Nietzsche, saw in the so-called "death of God" a potential source for nihilism:

If God, as the supra-sensory ground and goal, of all reality, is dead; if the supra-sensory world of the Ideas has suffered the loss of its obligatory, and above it, its vitalizing and up-building power, then nothing more remains to which Man can cling, and by which he can orient himself.[71]

The French philosopher Albert Camus asserts that the absurdity of the human condition is that people search for external values and meaning in a world which has none, and is indifferent to them. Camus writes of value-nihilists such as Meursault,[72] but also of values in a nihilistic world, that people can instead strive to be "heroic nihilists", living with dignity in the face of absurdity, living with "secular saintliness", fraternal solidarity, and rebelling against and transcending the world's indifference.[73]
20th century philosophy
Further information: 20th century philosophy

The current era has seen radical changes in conceptions of human nature. Modern science has effectively rewritten the relationship of humankind to the natural world, advances in medicine and technology have freed us from the limitations and ailments of previous eras, and philosophy —particularly following the linguistic turn— altered how the relationships people have with themselves and each other is conceived. Questions about the meaning of life have seen equally radical changes, from attempts to reevaluate human existence in biological and scientific terms (as in pragmatism and logical positivism), to efforts to meta-theorize about meaning-making as an activity (existentialism, secular humanism).
Pragmatism

Pragmatism, originated in the late-nineteenth-century U.S., to concern itself (mostly) with truth, positing that only in struggling with the environment do data, and derived theories, have meaning, and that consequences, like utility and practicality, also are components of truth. Moreover, pragmatism posits that anything useful and practical is not always true, arguing that what most contributes to the most human good in the long course is true. In practice, theoretical claims must be practically verifiable, i.e. one should be able to predict and test claims, and, that, ultimately, the needs of mankind should guide human intellectual inquiry.

Pragmatic philosophers suggest that the practical, useful understanding of life is more important than searching for an impractical abstract truth about life. William James argued that truth could be made, but not sought.[74][75] To a pragmatist, the meaning of life is discoverable only via experience.
Existentialism
Main article: Meaning (existential)
Edvard Munch's The Scream, a representation of existential angst.

Each man and each woman creates the essence (meaning) of his and her life; life is not determined by a supernatural god or an earthly authority, one is free. As such, one's ethical prime directives are action, freedom, and decision, thus, existentialism opposes rationalism and positivism. In seeking meaning to life, the existentialist looks to where people find meaning in life, in course of which using only reason as a source of meaning is insufficient; the insufficiency gives rise to the emotions of anxiety and dread, felt in facing one's radical freedom, and the concomitant awareness of death. To the existentialist, existence precedes essence; the (essence) of one's life arises only after one comes to existence.

Søren Kierkegaard coined the term "leap of faith", arguing that life is full of absurdity, and one must make his and her own values in an indifferent world. One can live meaningfully (free of despair and anxiety) in an unconditional commitment to something finite, and devotes that meaningful life to the commitment, despite the vulnerability inherent to doing so.[76]

Arthur Schopenhauer answered: "What is the meaning of life?" by determining that one's life reflects one's will, and that the will (life) is an aimless, irrational, and painful drive. Salvation, deliverance, and escape from suffering are in aesthetic contemplation, sympathy for others, and asceticism.[77][78]

For Friedrich Nietzsche, life is worth living only if there are goals inspiring one to live. Accordingly, he saw nihilism ("all that happens is meaningless") as without goals. He discredited asceticism, because it denies one's living in the world; denied that values are objective facts, that are rationally necessary, universally-binding commitments: Our evaluations are interpretations, and not reflections of the world, as it is, in itself, and, therefore, all ideations take place from a particular perspective.[70]
Absurdism
Main article: Absurdism

"... in spite of or in defiance of the whole of existence he wills to be himself with it, to take it along, almost defying his torment. For to hope in the possibility of help, not to speak of help by virtue of the absurd, that for God all things are possible – no, that he will not do. And as for seeking help from any other – no, that he will not do for all the world; rather than seek help he would prefer to be himself – with all the tortures of hell, if so it must be."
Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death[79]

In absurdist philosophy, the Absurd arises out of the fundamental disharmony between the individual's search for meaning and the apparent meaninglessness of the universe. As beings looking for meaning in a meaningless world, humans have three ways of resolving the dilemma. Kierkegaard and Camus describe the solutions in their works, The Sickness Unto Death (1849) and The Myth of Sisyphus (1942):

* Suicide (or, "escaping existence"): a solution in which a person simply ends one's own life. Both Kierkegaard and Camus dismiss the viability of this option.

* Religious belief in a transcendent realm or being: a solution in which one believes in the existence of a reality that is beyond the Absurd, and, as such, has meaning. Kierkegaard stated that a belief in anything beyond the Absurd requires a non-rational but perhaps necessary religious acceptance in such an intangible and empirically unprovable thing (now commonly referred to as a "leap of faith"). However, Camus regarded this solution as "philosophical suicide".

* Acceptance of the Absurd: a solution in which one accepts and even embraces the Absurd and continues to live in spite of it. Camus endorsed this solution, while Kierkegaard regarded this solution as "demoniac madness": "He rages most of all at the thought that eternity might get it into its head to take his misery from him!"[80]

Secular humanism
Further information: Secular Humanism and Humanism (life stance)
The "Happy Human" symbol representing Secular Humanism.

Per secular humanism, the human race came to be by reproducing in a progression of unguided evolution as an integral part of nature, which is self-existing.[81][82] Knowledge does not come from supernatural sources, but from human observation, experimentation, and rational analysis (the scientific method): the nature of the universe is what people discern it to be.[81] Like-wise, "values and realities" are determined "by means of intelligent inquiry"[81] and "are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience", that is, by critical intelligence.[83][84] "As far as we know, the total personality is [a function] of the biological organism transacting in a social and cultural context."[82]

People determine human purpose, without supernatural influence; it is the human personality (general sense) that is the purpose of a human being's life; humanism seeks to develop and fulfill:[81] "Humanism affirms our ability, and responsibility, to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity".[83] Humanism aims to promote enlightened self-interest and the common good for all people. It is based on the premises that the happiness of the individual person is inextricably linked to the well-being of humanity, as a whole, in part, because humans are social animals, who find meaning in personal relations, and because cultural progress benefits everybody living in the culture.[82][83]

The philosophical sub-genres posthumanism and transhumanism (sometimes used synonymously) are extensions of humanistic values. One should seek the advancement of humanity and of all life to the greatest degree feasible, to reconcile Renaissance humanism with the twenty-first century's technoscientific culture, thus, every living creature has the right to determine its personal and social "meaning of life".[85]

From a humanistic-psychotherapeutic point of view, the question of the meaning of life could also be reinterpreted as "What is the meaning of my life?"[86] Instead of becoming focused on cosmic or religious questions about overarching purpose, this approach suggests that the question is intensely personal. There are many therapeutic responses to this question, for example Viktor Frankl argues for "Dereflection", which largely translates as ceasing to endlessly reflect on the self, instead of engaging in life. On the whole, the therapeutic response is that the question of meaning of life evaporates if one is fully engaged in life. The question then morphs into more specific worries such as "What delusions am I under?", "What is blocking my ability to enjoy things?", "Why do I neglect loved-ones?". See also Existential Therapy, Irvin Yalom.
Logical positivism

Logical positivists ask: What is the meaning of life? and What is the meaning in asking?[87][88] If there are no objective values, then, is life meaningless?[89] Ludwig Wittgenstein and the logical positivists said:[citation needed] "Expressed in language, the question is meaningless"; because, in life the statement the "meaning of x", usually denotes the consequences of x, or the significance of x, or what is notable about x, et cetera, thus, when the meaning of life concept equals "x", in the statement the "meaning of x", the statement becomes recursive, and, therefore, nonsensical, or it might refer to the fact that biological life is essential to having a meaning in life.

The things (people, events) in the life of a person can have meaning (importance) as parts of a whole, but a discrete meaning of (the) life, itself, aside from those things, cannot be discerned. A person's life has meaning (for himself, others) as the life events resulting from his achievements, legacy, family, et cetera, but, to say that life, itself, has meaning, is a misuse of language, since any note of significance, or of consequence, is relevant only in life (to the living), so rendering the statement erroneous. Bertrand Russell wrote that although he found that his distaste for torture was not like his distaste for broccoli, he found no satisfactory, empirical method of proving this:[65]

When we try to be definite, as to what we mean when we say that this or that is "the Good," we find ourselves involved in very great difficulties. Bentham's creed, that pleasure is the Good, roused furious opposition, and was said to be a pig's philosophy. Neither he nor his opponents could advance any argument. In a scientific question, evidence can be adduced on both sides, and, in the end, one side is seen to have the better case — or, if this does not happen, the question is left undecided. But in a question, as to whether this, or that, is the ultimate Good, there is no evidence, either way; each disputant can only appeal to his own emotions, and employ such rhetorical devices as shall rouse similar emotions in others . . . Questions as to "values" — that is to say, as to what is good or bad on its own account, independently of its effects — lie outside the domain of science, as the defenders of religion emphatically assert. I think that, in this, they are right, but, I draw the further conclusion, which they do not draw, that questions as to "values" lie wholly outside the domain of knowledge. That is to say, when we assert that this, or that, has "value", we are giving expression to our own emotions, not to a fact, which would still be true if our personal feelings were different.[90]

Postmodernism
Further information: Postmodernism

Postmodernist thought - broadly speaking - sees human nature as constructed by language, or by structures and institutions of human society. Unlike other forms of philosophy, postmodernism rarely seeks out a priori or innate meanings in human existence, but instead focuses on analyzing or critiquing given meanings in order to rationalize or reconstruct them. Anything resembling a 'meaning of life', in postmodernist terms, can only be understood within a social and linguistic framework, and must be pursued as an escape from the power structures that are already embedded in all forms of speech and interaction. As a rule, postmodernists see awareness of the constraints of language as necessary to escaping those constraints, but different theorists take different views on the nature of this process: from radical reconstruction of meaning by individuals (as in deconstructionism) to theories in which individuals are primarily extensions of language and society, without real autonomy (as in poststructuralism). In general, postmodernism seeks meaning by looking at the underlying structures that create or impose meaning, rather than the epiphenomenal appearances of the world.
Instinctivism, Social Darwinism and Evolutionary Psychology
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According to Instinctivism, the ultimate meaning of life is to seek the fulfillment of the human instincts. Instinctists believe that all actions in life are results of instincts and in particular reproductive needs. Instinctivism demonstrates how the existence of human individual being the result of reproduction instinctly lead human to achieve the reproduction goal in a cycle. Instantism emphasizes that when people think critically, they shall realize the ultimate goal for every actions they do is to attract the opposite sex. Instinctivism's central idea can be followed in this way:

As it is accepted that people are taught to learn in school. Why study hard? To receive good grades. Why receive good grades? To be able to go to college. Why go to college? To have a good occupation. Why a good occupation? To have wealth. Why wealth? To buy nice cars; To buy nice house; To buy nice products. Why all the nice things to make one look good? Ultimately to attract the opposite sex, to fulfill the basic need of reproduction and the continuence of the human race.

Common arguments used by instictivismists that all of humanities action can be explained by our goal of procreation are the following: Why are people so opposed to same-sex marriage? Because homosexual couples can not reproduce. Why do people love each other? Because love leads to sexual intercourse, which contributes to the population of the human species. Why do mothers love babies before they are even born? Because it contributes to the maintenance and increase of the population of the human species. Why are so many people against abortion? Because it is a deterrent to procreation. Why are there so many doctors and so much medicine? To maintain the population of the human species. Why is murder such a big crime? Because it decreases the population of the human species.

Many of these approaches often consider the goal of life to be "maximizing reproductive fitness", arguing that adherents of approaches which do not do so are doomed to die out. The view becomes somewhat less reductionist - albeit at the expense of increased ambiguity -with the introduction of the concept of a meme. (cf. Dawkins Selfish Gene)
Naturalistic pantheism

According to naturalistic pantheism, the meaning of life is to care for and look after nature and the environment.
Religious perspectives

The religious perspectives on the meaning of life are those ideologies which explain life in terms of an implicit purpose not defined by humans.
Western and Middle Eastern religions
Symbols of the three main Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Further information: Abrahamic religion and Iranian philosophy
Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy named after its prophet Zoroaster, which influenced the beliefs of Judaism and its descendant religions. Zoroastrians believe in a universe created by a transcendental God, Ahura Mazda, to whom all worship is ultimately directed. Azhura Mazda's creation is asha, truth and order, and it is in conflict with its antithesis, druj, falsehood and disorder. (See also Zoroastrian eschatology).

Since humanity possesses free will, people must be responsible for their moral choices. By using free will, people must take an active role in the universal conflict, with good thoughts, good words and good deeds to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.
Judaism

Judaism's most important feature is the worshiping of a single, omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and governs it. Per traditional Judaism, God established a covenant with the Jewish people, at Mount Sinai, revealing his laws and commandments in the Torah. In Rabbinic Judaism, the Torah comprises the written Pentateuch (Torah) and the oral law tradition (later transcribed as sacred writing).

In the Judaic world view, the meaning of life is to serve the one true God and to prepare for the world to come.[91][92] The "Olam Haba"[93] thought is about elevating oneself spiritually, connecting to God in preparing for "Olam Haba"; Jewish thought is to use "Olam Hazeh" (this world) to elevate oneself.[94] "Al shlosha devarim," a well-known Mishnah from Pirkei Avot, relates to one of the first scholars of the Oral Law, Simeon the Righteous, the saying that "the world stands on three things: on torah, on worship, and on acts of loving kindness." This concept further explains the Jewish mentality towards the meaning of it all.

Kabbalistically, the meaning of life is to connect with the One God. Kaballah posits that there only God exists, though "Klipot" (shells) separate the holiness of God, therefore, the meaning of life is to remove those shells and connect to God.
Christianity
Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro is symbolic of Christianity,[95] illustrating the concept of seeking redemption through Jesus Christ.

Though Christianity has its roots in Judaism, and shares much of the latter faith's ontology, its central beliefs derive from the teachings of Jesus Christ, as presented in the New Testament. Life's purpose in Christianity is to seek divine salvation through the grace of God and intercession of Christ. (cf. Gospel of John 11:26) The New Testament speaks of God wanting to have a relationship with humans both in this life and the life to come, which can happen only if one's sins are forgiven (John 3:16-21), (2 Peter 3:9).

In the Christian view, humankind was made in the image of God and perfect, but the Fall of Man caused the progeny of the first Parents to inherit Original Sin. The sacrifice of Christ's passion, death and resurrection provide the means for transcending that impure state (Romans 6:23). The means for doing so varies between different groups of Christians, but all rely on belief in Jesus, his work on the cross and his resurrection as the fundamental starting point for a relationship with God. Faith in God is found in Ephesians 2:8-9 - "(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9)not as a result of works, that no one should boast." (New American Standard Bible; 1973). Under the Christian view, people are justified by belief in the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus' death on the cross. The Gospel maintains that through this belief, the barrier that sin has created between man and God is destroyed, and allows God to change people and instill in them a new heart after His own will, and the ability to do it. This is what the term 'reborn' or 'saved' almost always refers to. This places Christianity in stark contrast to other religions which claim that believers are justified with God through adherence to guidelines or law given to us by God.

In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the first question is: What is the chief end of Man?, that is, What is Man's main purpose?. The answer is: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever. God requires one to obey the revealed moral law saying: love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves.[96] The Baltimore Catechism answers the question "Why did God make you?" by saying "God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven."[97]

The Apostle Paul also answers this question in his speech on the Areopagus in Athens: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."[98]

In Mormon theology (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) the purpose of life is to become more like God.

For those who call themselves non-denominational, or "True Christians", the purpose of life is to first become free of sin by keeping His commandments[citation needed], as stated in 1 John 3:6.
Islam

In Islam, Man's ultimate life objective is to serve Allah (the Arabic equivalent for "God") by abiding by the Divine guidelines revealed in the Qur'an and the Tradition of the Prophet. Earthly life is merely a test, determining one's afterlife, either in Jannat (paradise) or in Jahannum (Hell).

For the pleasure of Allah, via the Qur'an, all Muslims must believe in God, his revelations, his angels, his messengers, and in the "Day of Judgment".[99] Qur'an describes the purpose of creation as follows: "Blessed be he in whose hand is the kingdom, he is powerful over all things, who created death and life that he might examine which of you is best in deeds, and he is the almighty, the forgiving" (Qur'an67:1-2)and "And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)." (Qur'an 51:56). Worship testifies to the oneness of God in his lordship, his names, and his attributes. Terrenal life is a test; how one acts (behaves) determines whether one's soul goes to Jannat (Heaven) or to Jahannam (Hell).

The Five Pillars of Islam are duties incumbent to every Muslim; they are: Shahadah (profession of faith); Salah (ritual prayer); Zakah (charity); Sawm (fasting during Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).[100] They derive from the Hadith works, notably of Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

Beliefs differ among the Kalam. The Sunni concept of pre-destination is divine decree;[101] like-wise, the Shi'a concept of pre-destination is divine justice; in the esoteric view of the Sufis, the universe exists only for God's pleasure; Creation is a grand game, wherein Allah is the greatest prize.[102][102]
Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith emphasizes the unity of humanity.[103] To Bahá'ís, the purpose of life is focused on spiritual growth and service to humanity. Human beings are viewed as intrinsically spiritual beings. People's lives in this material world provide extended opportunities to grow, to develop divine qualities and virtues, and the prophets were sent by God to facilitate this.[104][105]
South Asian religions
Further information: Indian religions and Indian philosophy
Hindu philosophies
Further information: Hinduism, Hindu philosophy, and Dharma
A golden Aum written in Devanagari. The Aum is sacred in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religions.

Hinduism is a religious category including many beliefs and traditions. Since Hinduism was the way of expressed meaningful living for quite a long time immemorial, when there was no need for naming this as a separate religion, Hindu doctrines are supplementary and complementary in nature, generally non-exclusive, suggestive and tolerant in content.[106] Most believe that the ātman (spirit, soul) — the person's true self — is eternal.[107] In part, this stems from Hindu beliefs that spiritual development occurs across many lifetimes, and goals should match the state of development of the individual. There are four possible aims to human life, known as the purusharthas (ordered from least to greatest): Kāma (wish, desire, love and sensual pleasure), Artha (wealth, prosperity, glory), Dharma (righteousness, duty, morality, virtue, ethics, encompassing notions such as ahimsa (non-violence) and satya (truth)) and Moksha (liberation, i.e. liberation from Saṃsāra, the cycle of reincarnation).[108][109][110]

In all schools of Hinduism, the meaning of life is tied up in the concepts of karma (causal action), samsara (the cycle of birth and rebirth), and moksha (liberation). Existence is conceived as the progression of the ātman (similar to the western concept of a soul) across numerous lifetimes, and its ultimate progression towards liberation from karma. Particular goals for life are generally subsumed under broader yogas (practices) or dharma (correct living) which are intended to create more favorable reincarnations, though they are generally positive acts in this life as well. Traditional schools of Hinduism often worship Devas which are manifestations of Ishvara (a personal or chosen God); these Devas are taken as ideal forms to be identified with, as a form of spiritual improvement.
Advaita and Dvaita Hinduism
Further information: Advaita Vedanta and Dvaita

Later schools reinterpreted the vedas to focus on Brahman, "The One Without a Second",[111] as a central God-like figure.

In monist Advaita Vedanta, atman is ultimately indistinguishable from brahman, and the goal of life is to know or realize that one's atman (soul) is identical to Brahman.[112] To the Upanishads, whoever becomes fully aware of the ātman, as one's core of self, realises identity with Brahman, and, thereby, achieves Moksha (liberation, freedom).[107][113][114]

Dualist Dvaita Vedanta and other bhakti schools have a dualist interpretation. Brahman is seen as a supreme being with a personality and manifest qualities. The ātman depends upon brahman for its existence; the meaning of life is achieving Moksha through love of God and upon his grace.[113]
Vaishnavism
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Another branch of Hinduism is Vaishnavism, where Vishnu is the principal deity. Not all schools of Vaishnavism teach a meaning to life, but Gaudiya Vaishnavism, for example, teaches Achintya Bheda Abheda meaning worship of a separate and single true God Krishna while all the living entities are eternal parts and parcels of Supreme Personality of God Head Krishna. The constitutional position of a living entity is to serve the Lord with love and devotion. Uninterrupted, unmotivated voluntary service to Krishna and His devotees is the purpose of life in liberated as well as conditioned state of life. We were in spiritual world serving Krishna blissfully in full knowledge as we are the eternal spirit souls. Because of our aversion to Krishna and due ot the desire to enjoy separate from Krishna we are in this material world undergoing the repeated cyle of birth, disease, old age and death in the acquired bodies of 8.4 million species of life, transmigrating from one body ot another according to our karma and desire. The purpose of human life especially is to think beyond the animalistic way of eating, sleeping, mating and defending and engage the higher intelligence to revive the lost relationship with Krishna, our eternal Father, from whom everything came, who is the sustainer and annihilator. The revealed scriptures like Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam teach the Sambandha (Who am I? Who is God? What is my relationship with God) and Abhideya (the process of re-establishing that lost connection with the Lord through the 9 processes of Bhakti - Devotional Service) and Prayojana - the result - attaining the love of Godhead. The simplest process is to chant the maha mantra - "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare - Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare" in the association of Lord's devotees. While the purpose of life is to revive the lost relationship with the all loving Lord, the purpose of material creation is to utilize the resources to go back home back to Godhead, the eternal spiritual world Goloka Vrindavana - the kingdom of Godhead.
Jainism
The Jainist Vow of Ahimsa. The dharmacakra (wheel) is the resolve to halt the cycle of reincarnation via truth and non-violence.
Further information: Jainism and Jain philosophy

Jainism is a religion originating in ancient India, its ethical system promotes self-discipline above all else. Through following the ascetic teachings of Jina, a human achieves enlightenment (perfect knowledge). Jainism divides the universe into living and non-living beings. Only when the non-living become attached to the living does suffering result. Therefore, happiness is the result of self-conquest and freedom from external objects. The meaning of life may then be said to be to use the physical body to achieve self-realization and bliss.[115]

Jains believe that every human is responsible for his or her actions and all living beings have an eternal soul, jiva. Jains believe all souls are equal because they all possess the potential of being liberated and attaining Moksha. The Jain view of karma is that every action, every word, every thought produces, besides its visible, an invisible, transcendental effect on the soul.

Jainism includes strict adherence to ahimsa (or ahinsā), a form of nonviolence that goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice a lifestyle similar to veganism due to the violence of modern dairy farms, and others exclude root vegetables from their diets in order to preserve the lives of the plants from which they eat.[116]
Buddhism
Early Buddhism

Buddhism is a nondual doctrine, in which subject, object, and action are all seen as illusory. Buddhists believe that life is inherent with suffering or frustration. This does not mean that there is no pleasure in life, but the pleasure does not cause everlasting happiness. The suffering is caused by attachment to objects material or non-material which in turn causes one to be born again and again in the cycle of existence. The Buddhist sūtras and tantras do not speak about "the meaning of life" or "the purpose of life", but about the potential of human life to end suffering through detaching oneself from cravings and conceptual attachments. Suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from both suffering and rebirth.[117]
The eight-spoked Dharmachakra

Theravada Buddhism is generally considered to be close to the early Buddhist practice. It promotes the concept of Vibhajjavada (Pali), literally "Teaching of Analysis", which says that insight must come from the aspirant's experience, critical investigation, and reasoning instead of by blind faith. However, the Theravadin tradition also emphasizes heeding the advice of the wise, considering such advice and evaluation of one's own experiences to be the two tests by which practices should be judged. The Theravadin goal is liberation (or freedom) from suffering, according to the Four Noble Truths. This is attained in the achievement of Nirvana, or Unbinding which also ends the repeated cycle of birth, old age, sickness and death.
Mahayana Buddhism
Further information: Mahayana

Mahayana Buddhist schools de-emphasize the traditional view (still practiced in Theravada) of the release from individual Suffering (Dukkha) and attainment of Awakening (Nirvana). In Mahayana, the Buddha is seen as an eternal, immutable, inconceivable, omnipresent being. The fundamental principles of Mahayana doctrine are based on the possibility of universal liberation from suffering for all beings, and the existence of the transcendent Buddha-nature, which is the eternal Buddha essence present, but hidden and unrecognised, in all living beings.[citation needed]

Philosophical schools of Mahayana Buddhism, such as Chan/Zen and the vajrayana Tibetan and Shingon schools, explicitly teach that boddhisattvas should refrain from full liberation, allowing themselves to be reincarnated into the world until all beings achieve enlightenment. Devotional schools such as Pure Land buddhism seek the aid of celestial buddhas - individuals who have spent lifetimes[citation needed] accumulating positive karma, and use that accumulation to aid all.
Sikhism
The Khanda, an important symbol of Sikhism.

The monotheistic Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak Dev, the term "sikh" means student, which denotes that followers will lead their lives forever learning. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture entitled the Gurū Granth Sāhib, which includes selected works of many philosophers from diverse socio-economic and religious backgrounds.

The Sikh Gurus tell us that salvation can be obtained by following various spiritual paths, so Sikhs do not have a monopoly on salvation: "The Lord dwells in every heart, and every heart has its own way to reach Him."[118] Sikhs believe that all people are equally important before God.[119] Sikhs balance their moral and spiritual values with the quest for knowledge, and they aim to promote a life of peace and equality but also of positive action.[120]

A key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non-anthropomorphic concept of God, to the extent that one can interpret God as the Universe itself (pantheism). Sikhism thus sees life as an opportunity to understand this God as well as to discover the divinity which lies in each individual. While a full understanding of God is beyond human beings,[121] Nanak described God as not wholly unknowable, and stressed that God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart", of a human being: devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment. Nanak emphasized the revelation through meditation, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings.[121]
East Asian religions
Further information: Chinese philosophy and Japanese philosophy
Shinto
Shinto torii, a traditional Japanese gate

Shinto is the native religion of Japan. Shinto means "the path of the kami", but more specifically, it can be taken to mean "the divine crossroad where the kami chooses his way". The 'divine' crossroad signifies that all the universe is divine spirit. This foundation of free will, choosing one's way, means that life is a creative process.

Shinto wants life to live, not to die. Shinto sees death as pollution and regards life as the realm where the divine spirit seeks to purify itself by rightful self-development. Shinto wants individual human life to be prolonged forever on earth as a victory of the divine spirit in preserving its objective personality in its highest forms. The presence of evil in the world, as conceived by Shinto, does not stultify the divine nature by imposing on divinity responsibility for being able to relieve human suffering while refusing to do so. The sufferings of life are the sufferings of the divine spirit in search of progress in the objective world.[122]
Taoism
Taijitu symbolizes the unity of opposites between yin and yang.

The Taoists' cosmogony emphasizes the need for all sentient beings and all man to return to the primordial or to rejoin with the Oneness of the Universe by way of self cultivation and self realization. All adherents should understand and be in tune with the ultimate truth.

They believe all things were originally from Taiji and Tao, and the meaning in life for the adherents is to realise the temporal nature of the existence. "Only introspection can then help us to find our innermost reasons for living...the simple answer is here within ourselves."[123]
Confucianism

Confucianism recognizes human nature in accordance with the need for discipline and education. Because mankind is driven by both positive and negative influences, Confucianists see a goal in achieving the good nature through strong relationships and reasoning as well as minimizing the negative energy. This emphasis on normal living is seen in the Confucianist scholar Tu Wei-Ming's quote, "we can realize the ultimate meaning of life in ordinary human existence."[124]
New religions

There are many new religious movements in East Asia, and some with millions of followers: Chondogyo, Tenrikyo, Cao Đài, and Seicho-No-Ie. New religions typically have unique explanations for the meaning of life. For example, in Tenrikyo, one is expected to live a Joyous Life by participating in practices that create happiness for oneself and others.
In popular culture

The mystery of life and its meaning is an often recurring subject in popular culture, featured in entertainment media and various forms of art.
Charles Allan Gilbert's All is Vanity, an example of vanitas, depicts a young woman gazing at her reflection in a mirror, but all is positioned in such a way as to make the image of a skull appear.

In Douglas Adams' popular comedy book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything has the numeric solution of 42, which was derived over seven and a half million years by a giant supercomputer called Deep Thought. After much confusion from the descendants of his creators, Deep Thought explains that the problem is that they do not know the Ultimate Question, and they would have to build an even more powerful computer to determine what that is. This computer is revealed to be Earth, which, after 10 million years of calculating, is destroyed to make way for a galactic bypass five minutes before it finishes calculations.[5][7][11][125] In Life, the Universe and Everything, it is confirmed that 42 is indeed the Ultimate Answer, and that it is impossible for both the Ultimate Answer and the Ultimate Question to be known about in the same universe, as they will cancel each other out and take the universe with them, to be replaced by something even more bizarre; one character, Prak, suggests that this may have already happened.[126] Subsequently, in the hopes that his subconscious holds the question, Arthur Dent guesses at a question, coming up with "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?", probably an incorrect guess, as the arrival of the Golgafrinchans on prehistoric Earth would have disrupted the computation process.[127] However, Dent, Fenchurch, and a dying Marvin did see God's final message to his creation: "We apologise for the inconvenience".[128]
Hamlet with Yorick's skull

In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, there are several allusions to the meaning of life. In "Part VI B: The Meaning of Life" a cleaning lady explains "Life's a game, you sometimes win or lose" and later a waiter describes his personal philosophy "The world is a beautiful place. You must go into it, and love everyone, not hate people. You must try and make everyone happy, and bring peace and contentment everywhere you go."[129] At the end of the film, we can see Michael Palin being handed an envelope, he opens it, and provides the viewers with 'the meaning of life': "Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."[129][130][131]

In The Simpsons episode "Homer the Heretic", a representation of God agrees to tell Homer what the meaning of life is, but the show's credits begin to roll just as he starts to say what it is. Earlier in the episode, Homer founds his own religion, in which he tries to worship God in his own way, later pointing out to Moe that it has no hell and no kneeling. However, Homer quickly abandons his self-indulgent personal religion after his house almost burns down, taking the fire as a sign of divine retribution, and exclaiming "O Spiteful One, show me who to smite, and he shall be smoten." Ned assures Homer that the fire was not God's vengeance and Lovejoy explains that God was "working in the hearts of your friends and neighbors when they came to your aid."[132]

At the end of The Matrix Revolutions, Smith concludes that "the purpose of life is to end" and is determined to move that purpose along.[133][page needed] The Matrix series also presents the idea of "living in a simulated reality" and the associated question whether such an existence should be considered meaningless, in a way that may be compared to Plato's allegory of the cave and how certain belief systems view reality, like Buddhism or Gnosticism.[134][page needed]
See also
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Origin and nature of life and reality

* Awareness
* Being
* Existence
* Life
* Abiogenesis
* Biosemiotics
* Logos
* Metaphysical naturalism
* Teleology
* Perception
* Reality
* Simulated reality
* Universe
* Ultimate fate of the universe

Value of life

* Culture of life
* Bioethics
* Quality of life
* Value of life


Purpose of life

* Destiny
* Ethical living
* Intentional living
* Life extension
* Means to an end
* Purpose

Miscellaneous

* Life stance
* Perennial philosophy
* World riddle
* World view

References

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2. ^ Robert Nozick (1981). Philosophical Explanations. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674664795.
3. ^ Albert Jewell (2003). Ageing, Spirituality and Well-Being. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 184310167X.
4. ^ a b "Question of the Month: What Is The Meaning Of Life?". Philosophy Now. Issue 59. http://www.philosophynow.org/issue59/59question.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
5. ^ a b Glenn Yeffeth (2005). The Anthology at the End of the Universe: Leading Science Fiction Authors on Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. BenBella Books, Inc. ISBN 1932100563.
6. ^ David Seaman (2005). The Real Meaning of Life. New World Library. ISBN 1577315146.
7. ^ a b c d Julian Baggini (September 2004). What's It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life. USA: Granta Books. ISBN 1862076618.
8. ^ Ronald F. Thiemann; William Carl Placher (1998). Why Are We Here?: Everyday Questions and the Christian Life. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 1563382369.
9. ^ Dennis Marcellino (1996). Why Are We Here?: The Scientific Answer to this Age-old Question (that you don't need to be a scientist to understand). Lighthouse Pub. ISBN 0945272103.
10. ^ F. Homer Curtiss (2003). Why Are We Here. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0766138992.
11. ^ a b William B. Badke (2005). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Meaning of Everything. Kregel Publications. ISBN 0825420695.
12. ^ a b Hsuan Hua (2003). Words of Wisdom: Beginning Buddhism. Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. ISBN 0881393029.
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External links
Look up meaning of life in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

General

* Meaningsoflife.com
* Meaningsoflife.tv – Video discussions on the ultimate meaning of life with various religious and philosophical leaders.
* Frequently Asked Questions about the Meaning of Life
* Why Life Extension — or Why Live at All?

Scientific

* Meaning and Happiness – Research on meaning and happiness from the perspective of Positive psychology.
* The Big Question: Why are we here? – by Richard Dawkins

Philosophical

* Einstein's credo
* "The Meaning of Life" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* An Objective Philosophy: Why We Exist? – by Martin G. Walker.
* Hedonism & Meaning of life
* The Logic of Existential Meaning
* A Guide for the Godless: The Secular Path to Meaning
* The Origin of Human Nature, A Zen Buddhist Looks a Evolution by Albert Low

Spiritual

* A Guide for the Perplexed (excerpt included) – by E. F. Schumacher
* The Meaning of Life (from a Jewish perspective) – by Rabbi Noah Weinberg
* Human Life – by K. Sri Dhammananda
* Handbook for Mankind – by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
* Answers to Life's questions – by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* Human life on earth - A Spiritual Perspective – by New age

How do you discover your real purpose in life?

How do you discover your real purpose in life? I’m not talking about your job, your daily responsibilities, or even your long-term goals. I mean the real reason why you’re here at all — the very reason you exist.

Perhaps you’re a rather nihilistic person who doesn’t believe you have a purpose and that life has no meaning. Doesn’t matter. Not believing that you have a purpose won’t prevent you from discovering it, just as a lack of belief in gravity won’t prevent you from tripping. All that a lack of belief will do is make it take longer, so if you’re one of those people, just change the number 20 in the title of this blog entry to 40 (or 60 if you’re really stubborn). Most likely though if you don’t believe you have a purpose, then you probably won’t believe what I’m saying anyway, but even so, what’s the risk of investing an hour just in case?

Here’s a story about Bruce Lee which sets the stage for this little exercise. A master martial artist asked Bruce to teach him everything Bruce knew about martial arts. Bruce held up two cups, both filled with liquid. “The first cup,” said Bruce, “represents all of your knowledge about martial arts. The second cup represents all of my knowledge about martial arts. If you want to fill your cup with my knowledge, you must first empty your cup of your knowledge.”

If you want to discover your true purpose in life, you must first empty your mind of all the false purposes you’ve been taught (including the idea that you may have no purpose at all).

So how to discover your purpose in life? While there are many ways to do this, some of them fairly involved, here is one of the simplest that anyone can do. The more open you are to this process, and the more you expect it to work, the faster it will work for you. But not being open to it or having doubts about it or thinking it’s an entirely idiotic and meaningless waste of time won’t prevent it from working as long as you stick with it — again, it will just take longer to converge.

Here’s what to do:

1. Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type (I prefer the latter because it’s faster).
2. Write at the top, “What is my true purpose in life?”
3. Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
4. Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.

That’s it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a counselor or an engineer or a bodybuilder. To some people this exercise will make perfect sense. To others it will seem utterly stupid. Usually it takes 15-20 minutes to clear your head of all the clutter and the social conditioning about what you think your purpose in life is. The false answers will come from your mind and your memories. But when the true answer finally arrives, it will feel like it’s coming to you from a different source entirely.

For those who are very entrenched in low-awareness living, it will take a lot longer to get all the false answers out, possibly more than an hour. But if you persist, after 100 or 200 or maybe even 500 answers, you’ll be struck by the answer that causes you to surge with emotion, the answer that breaks you. If you’ve never done this, it may very well sound silly to you. So let it seem silly, and do it anyway.

As you go through this process, some of your answers will be very similar. You may even re-list previous answers. Then you might head off on a new tangent and generate 10-20 more answers along some other theme. And that’s fine. You can list whatever answer pops into your head as long as you just keep writing.

At some point during the process (typically after about 50-100 answers), you may want to quit and just can’t see it converging. You may feel the urge to get up and make an excuse to do something else. That’s normal. Push past this resistance, and just keep writing. The feeling of resistance will eventually pass.

You may also discover a few answers that seem to give you a mini-surge of emotion, but they don’t quite make you cry — they’re just a bit off. Highlight those answers as you go along, so you can come back to them to generate new permutations. Each reflects a piece of your purpose, but individually they aren’t complete. When you start getting these kinds of answers, it just means you’re getting warm. Keep going.

It’s important to do this alone and with no interruptions. If you’re a nihilist, then feel free to start with the answer, “I don’t have a purpose,” or “Life is meaningless,” and take it from there. If you keep at it, you’ll still eventually converge.

When I did this exercise, it took me about 25 minutes, and I reached my final answer at step 106. Partial pieces of the answer (mini-surges) appeared at steps 17, 39, and 53, and then the bulk of it fell into place and was refined through steps 100-106. I felt the feeling of resistance (wanting to get up and do something else, expecting the process to fail, feeling very impatient and even irritated) around steps 55-60. At step 80 I took a 2-minute break to close my eyes, relax, clear my mind, and to focus on the intention for the answer to come to me — this was helpful as the answers I received after this break began to have greater clarity.

Here was my final answer: to live consciously and courageously, to resonate with love and compassion, to awaken the great spirits within others, and to leave this world in peace.

When you find your own unique answer to the question of why you’re here, you will feel it resonate with you deeply. The words will seem to have a special energy to you, and you will feel that energy whenever you read them.

Discovering your purpose is the easy part. The hard part is keeping it with you on a daily basis and working on yourself to the point where you become that purpose.

If you’re inclined to ask why this little process works, just put that question aside until after you’ve successfully completed it. Once you’ve done that, you’ll probably have your own answer to why it works. Most likely if you ask 10 different people why this works (people who’ve successfully completed it), you’ll get 10 different answers, all filtered through their individual belief systems, and each will contain its own reflection of truth.

Obviously, this process won’t work if you quit before convergence. I’d guesstimate that 80-90% of people should achieve convergence in less than an hour. If you’re really entrenched in your beliefs and resistant to the process, maybe it will take you 5 sessions and 3 hours, but I suspect that such people will simply quit early (like within the first 15 minutes) or won’t even attempt it at all. But if you’re drawn to read this blog (and haven’t been inclined to ban it from your life yet), then it’s doubtful you fall into this group.

Give it a shot! At the very least, you’ll learn one of two things: your true purpose in life -or- that you should unsubscribe from this blog. ;)

Update 8/8/06: Be sure to read the follow-up to this article, especially if you’re having trouble with this particular approach (there’s an alternative method you can use): The Meaning of Life: Discover Your Purpose.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 16th, 2005 at 11:02 am and is filed under Motivation, Personal Development, Purpose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
33 Responses to “How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes”

1. whoisnick.com » Crying with purpose Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 7:58 am

[...] e blogs. Why? Becuase with an easy (and yet not easy at all) technique he helped me find my lifes purpose in about 40 minutes Sure, his title says 20 minutes, but you’ve got to [...]
2. Hans Says:
January 16th, 2005 at 8:21 pm

Interesting approach, Steve. Several years ago I tried to identify my purpose by writing drafts of my epitath – how I would like to be remembered by others. In that exercise I had similar flashes of emotion when I got close to the “right” statement. Regardless of technique, the journey is what matters.
3. Rich Says:
January 16th, 2005 at 8:30 pm

I haven’t read the article yet, but I just have to say that you have a very catchy title there!
4. whoisnick.com Says:
January 16th, 2005 at 11:58 pm

Crying with purpose
Steve Pavlina is easily running up the list in my favorite blogs. Why? Becuase with an easy (and yet not easy at all) technique he helped me find my lifes purpose in about 40 minutes Sure, his title says 20 minutes, but you’ve got to have all you…
5. Oleg Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 8:19 am

Hi Steve,

I have read your article and decided to give it a shot. I can remember having similar emotional experiences like you described, but I never did it consciously. After 40th answer I realized that I was going in circles around same idea. The closer I was to it the more emotional I became. Then I suddenly realized something so important that I had to stop and write these comments…

What’s the point of this exercise? Is it to realize ones ultimate goal? Or, is it just to find something that makes you cry? I mean, there are numerous things that make us emotional. For example, everyone wants to be remembered after his death. Does anyone want to be forgotten the day after? Everyone, wants to make a significant change in people’s life in one or another way. Who, for example, doesn’t want to be as influential as Bill Gates? (Lets not make comments about him being evil :)

Thus, the ultimate goal can easily become the most useless goal you can ever set. It will make you cry, but will it make you get up and do something towards achieving it? Steve, as you mentioned above: “Discovering your purpose is the easy part. The hard part is keeping it with you on a daily basis and working on yourself to the point where you become that purpose.” That’s true. For example, one realized that he wanted to do something so important that he would be remembered for ages. So what? It is too general. With such weak motivation I bet he will never make even one step.
6. Oleg Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 8:25 am

Me again…

Steve, your articles are very motivational they make me think. Thank you. However, I believe there is one issue I just realized – the articles make me think, but they don’t make me get up and act. Here is my idea on how you can fill this empty spot at least for me:

As far as I understand you spent last 10 years writing games. Does word “Evercrack” mean anything to you? Gaming addiction? Despite it is all wrong and weird, it seems people addicted to MMORPG don’t have any problems with motivation at all. They don’t need anyone to “babysit” them, to write motivational articles on how it is great to play. At the same time they are people with weak motivation, unfulfilling jobs and evil bosses. They are people you are trying to wake up.

An average gamer spends 20 hours a week. I think actual numbers are much higher. Some servers have more than 200,000 people online at the same time. It is enourmous amount of energy and time people spend on something so pointelss. Take a minute to read this article http://wow.warcraftstrategy.com/printer_friendly_version.php?article=16
I personally worked with people who lost their jobs, friends, and one even lost his family. I worked in the same office with people who spent real money on virtual clothes and food. I can tell you that they were not stupid kids without parental control. They all were very intelegent and goal-oriented individuals in their late 20s. They realized that what they did was totally pointless and had to be stopped. There are numerous support groups like Everquest Widows. That’s all sad, but I don’t want you to focus on that. I want you to think about all this time and energy that people invest without any motivation at all. Just think about such enormous level of addiction generated without any effort. Do you know why is that? What if you, me, someone else could figure out what makes us so addicted to those virtual lives and then use it to develop strategy that will make us addicted to achieving our true goals in the real world? Will it be your next article? ;-)
7. snfg Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 9:28 am

I think these instructions are flawed. Not because of the motivation issue that’s been raised already, but because I, personally, don’t want to spend my life working towards something that merely meets the criteria of “makes me cry”. I’m reminded of a quote…

Nothing is true unless it makes you laugh, but you don’t really understand it until it makes you cry. — _Illuminatus_, Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea
8. Steve Pavlina Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 9:55 am

If you go in circles around the same idea but haven’t yet pinpointed it, then you didn’t finish. You can always take a break and come back to it fresh. Am I correct in assuming that the last couple posters didn’t actually finish? The exercise is fairly pointless if you don’t take it to completion. You can debate the possible merits of it until you’re blue in the face, but you can’t really gauge what the water is like until you’ve gone for a swim.

The point of the exercise is simply to awaken yourself to a purpose that is possibly much greater than what you’ve been living. What you do with that knowledge is up to you. Most people shrink from it; some grow into it.

You don’t get addicted to your purpose because you live it consciously. Addiction is unconscious. Living on purpose is a daily choice, not a habitual addiction. The goal isn’t to substitute one unconscious habit for another. It’s to become more fully conscious (which is basically the method through which people are able to break addictions, as opposed to merely redirecting them).

Your purpose isn’t going to drive you to action. That’s a reactive attitude. It may call you to it, but you have to consciously answer that call — proactively, not reactively. Goals and purposes don’t motivate you, but they can call upon you to motivate yourself. Expecting something outside you to motivate you makes you powerless to act. That “motivational something” has to come from inside you — you’re the motivator, not me, not a book, not an article. If you catch a glimpse of a great purpose within you and make excuses to do nothing with it (such as, “it’s too general”), then you’ll be the one burdened with the results of that choice.

I realize that may sound a bit harsh, but it’s true. As long as you believe something outside you must be the source of your motivation, then nothing you do for yourself can motivate you. You’ll be perpetually waiting for the stove to give you heat before you’ll give it wood. The responsibility for taking action, for motivating yourself, for finding your purpose or living without one … all lies with you alone.

“There is no philosophy by which I can do a thing if I think I cannot.” — Dr. James W. Parker (founder of Parker College)
9. X-Master Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 11:39 am

Steve, can you please write some articles on motivation? In spite of some important accomplishments (I’m a successful entrepreneur and was an excellent developer before that), I have struggled hard with motivation and with getting myself to do something all my life.

Thank you!
10. Oleg Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 11:40 am

I have to clarify that I have been going in circles around the idea I _already_knew_. I don’t know whether I have finished this particular exercise or not. What are the criteria of success? Tears coming from the eyes? Yes, it was emotional. I didn’t cry though. It’s just my individual reaction. You are not expecting everyone to actually cry, right? :)

Steve: “What you do with that knowledge is up to you. Most people shrink from it; some grow into it… Goals and purposes don’t motivate you, but they can call upon you to motivate yourself. Expecting something outside you to motivate you makes you powerless to act”

I have to disagree. Goals and purposes do motivate, but only when they are realistic and precise. If your goals don’t motivate you then those are not your goals or they are just too blurry so you can’t figure out how the hell you are going to achieve them.

Personally, I am not waiting for something external to motivate me. That would be just stupid. I am trying to find motivation inside myself and like many others looking for the books, articles that have answer or advice. I have not found anything on that yet. Most speak about purpose of life, goals, values, and feelings… While most of the people are concerned about only one aspect – “OK, I realized my purpose, my ultimate goal, whatever. Now what? How do I energize myself to actually achieve what I want?” Steve, we are not what we think, we are what we do. It is all about ACTION. You could be right saying that I like many others just making excuses to myself. I may even accept it. But, why would I make such excuses? This is my ultimate goal, that’s what I really want, right?

Steve: “The goal isn’t to substitute one unconscious habit for another.”

Addiction is unconscious. Well… I tend to agree. However, why would it be so bad if you unconsciously wanted to achieve your goals? We tend to do a lot of things unconsciously, brush our teeth, drive our cars, and… achieve our goals :)
11. X-Master Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 11:44 am

Oleg, Steve has not written games such as Evercrack. He has written puzzle games, etc – which are good and help kinds and people who want to get their mind in motion.

I play chess on my PDA. The game was programmed and distributed by a guy like Steve. I have periods in which I play 2-3 games per day, and periods in which I play 2-3 games per week.

Playing chess helps me feel relaxed and exercise my mind. Chess doesn’t take over my life. VERY FEW GAMES ARE HARMFUL TO PEOPLE.
12. Steve Pavlina Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 12:06 pm

If you do the exercise to completion, then yes… actually cry. Tears running down your face and all that. Like Robert De Niro in the movie Analyze This. ;)

A smaller swelling of emotion is what I called a mini-surge in the blog entry. That isn’t enough and won’t do anything for you if you stop there. If you follow the pingback link from comment #4 above, you can see an account of someone who completed it. If you don’t expect to cry or define yourself as a person who doesn’t, that will only make the exercise take longer, but it will still eventually converge.

If you “already knew” the answer you think you know and seem to be going around it in circles without quite hitting the center, that’s what the Bruce Lee story in the original post was about. You need to let go of your attachment to what you expect to find in that circle. The true answer lies elsewhere; you’re only circling a false pre-conditioned answer, which is why you can’t get it to converge inside that circle. Just loosen up a bit on your expectations, relax your mind, head off in a new direction, and keep typing answers, one after another. You have to empty your cup first before you can fill it. The true answer always seems to come just a bit past the point where you’re ready to give up.

I know this process may sound silly, goofy, ooky-spooky, or whatever — don’t let that stop you though. :)
13. Oleg Says:
January 17th, 2005 at 12:41 pm

X-Master,

You’ve got me wrong :) I am not trying to accuse Steve in writing harmful and addictive games. Neither I tried to prove that _all_ games are addictive and harmful. You missed whole point of what I wrote about MMORPGs. Please read my post again.
14. Rod Says:
January 18th, 2005 at 1:39 am

Agh! You got me. I spent about 45 minutes doing the exercise last night, although I was a little put off when my wife burst into the room about 25 minutes into it. I got a few things that resonated, but nothing made me cry, so I was left wondering if I had been doing it right.

This morning I realised that even if I hadn’t found my life purpose, I was still feeling good because I’d managed to dump a whole load of baggage. Then, I was sitting at my desk at work and my mind went back to last night. I looked out of the window, saw that it was a beautiful sunny day, then … kablam! I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from embarrassing myself in front of my colleagues, because it hit me.

My true purpose in life is to enjoy the journey.
15. Nick Says:
January 18th, 2005 at 10:12 am

Sorry, Steve. 40 minutes, 136 answers and nothing. No mini-surges, no crying, no nothing. I tried. I really did. But I honestly believe that this life we are living has no meaning or purpose. None. We are random bits of consciousness and nothing we do matters.

I know the things I like: sex, love, sports, reading, programming, good food, travels. But that doesn’t make a purpose. They are just my motivators. For them (or through them) I worked hard and I was able to accomplish quite a bit. But I know it is all empty in the end. It only serves my pleasure. It has no greater meaning or purpose.

And I am not complaining, actually. I kinda’ like what I do and how I do it. I am good at it and it is fun. But I know its only purpose is to self-serve me. To make me feel good. Incidentally it helps others around me (the objects of my affection, the people that use my creations or my employees and the people making money for me) but that is NOT my purpose in life.

Of course, I act as if it is. I have assigned it to be and it brings me where I want to go. But I know that is I whom I decided it. Because there is no such thing as a “true” purpose.

Oh, and all these ideas are after-fact explanations. I do not think I had them in mind when I completed the exercise. I wrote all the possible purposes I could think off, both small and great, both easy and impossible. I stopped when I had nothing else to write. I can’t think of any more purposes that are not simple variations or combinations of those 136.

But I won’t unsubscribe to your blog. I like your writing. Its fun, intelligent, and well meaning. Of course, it is naive and too new-age / nlp and conscience bull, but it’s well intentioned. You’re just spending too much damn time thinking about just living. Screw “live consciously” and just LIVE. Run, ski, dive, write code, have sex, enjoy yourself. Your way is just too much damn work: find purpose, find values, establish goals…

Nick
16. Kent Says:
January 18th, 2005 at 7:40 pm

I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything you’ve written up to this point. I especially enjoyed the “Quantum Leap” article when you said in order for a rocket launched from earth to reach outer space, the rocket must exert a sufficient amount of sustained force to overcome the earth’s gravity. Then you analogized that to our situation in trying to produce change. I have an area of my life in which I need to “exert a sufficient amount of sustained force” to bring about a change, and I have found your analogy to be a powerful motivating force.
However, this current article seems out of character for you, and, I must say, inflexible. Everyone is going to cry? Come on! You may need to rethink this one. It’s too formulaic and inflexible. Different people react different ways. And for many people a crying experience never occurs, nor does an ‘aha’ experience. They simply slowly come to realize what is right for them over time.
17. JD Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 1:14 am

I would go to the next step and say that once you have discovered your true purpose (and I completely understand what Steve’s saying, but I got there by a different route) and start to work towards it, then things start to flow. I worked for many years in a profession I was good at, and which made money, but I hated. I was constantly having to overcome obstacles to keep moving forward.

However, once I realised what my purpose is, it was as if I had tapped into a pipeline and the people and resources for me to move forward flowed without much effort on my part. In fact, some of the synchronistic events have been downright spooky!

So, I would strongly urge anyone to complete Steve’s exercise and then, when you have found the very thing that taps through to your core, then work towards it and see how much easier it all becomes. (With one caveat: you have to trust it … at times, you will be faced with apparent obstacles which you are strongly attached to and reluctant to abandon, even annoyed when they are not going your way. Let them go. Trust that the ‘right’ thing will come and, if you stay aware, you will notice that what takes its place is *so* much better than your own puny plan!)
18. Steve Pavlina Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 8:39 am

Nick,

Surely you can generate more than 136 answers. Given your initial belief that life has no purpose, I would have pegged you as one of those 3-hour 5-session guys. But it’s not a lack of time or the ability to generate answers that’s stopping you, is it? Given your beliefs it doesn’t surprise me that you would stop yourself short of finishing.

Keep in mind that this exercise is more of a process of shedding and letting go vs. a hunting/finding process. The main purpose of populating the list is to clear all the false answers out of your mind, so you open yourself to the purposeful answer coming through. So in your case, you may not need to shed the idea of a false purpose but rather the idea of no purpose. I might suggest then that instead of asking the question, “What is my true purpose in life?” you try starting with a different question like, “Why do I believe my life has no purpose?” And see where that takes you. Again, the goal is to empty your mind to achieve the state of a “mind like water” where the answer that is true for you can come through clearly.

Purpose also involves choice. You don’t have to choose to live a purposeful life. You can freely choose not to. For several years (when I was an atheist), I also believed that life had no purpose or meaning. Consequently, I’ve developed a good understanding of what it’s like to live on both sides of the fence. If I merely looked at both possibilities from a standpoint of logic, based on the results I got, purpose wins hands down.
19. Richard Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 2:06 pm

Steve,

While I did not do this exercise yet I did come up with a life purpose several months ago. I came up with:

“Live an extraordinary life”

My problem is that I don’t know how to do that. I have a lot of problems dealing with work. I don’t know if it is that I am unhappy with what I do or just working in a big corporate environment. I find the corporate world too limiting on what an individual can accomplish. I have considered moving into sales, construction and/or owning my own business as a possible alternative. I don’t know why but these seem like options to give a person the environment to ‘live’.

Do you or anyone else have any resources on how to find good jobs and careers that enable you to live an extraordinary life?
20. Steve Pavlina Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 3:05 pm

Richard,

Your question is a common one, but it’s sort of backwards, which is why I don’t think you’ll be able to find a satisfactory answer. Your question contains the hidden assumption that jobs or careers are the enablers of an extraordinary life. I think that’s a false assumption.

For me it’s more of the opposite. If I wanted to live an extraordinary life, I’d forget about career or jobs for a minute. I’d just take a moment to define to myself what it means for me to do that. What is extraordinary? What does that word entail?

For example, if I were to define this for myself, an extraordinary life would mean a life of extraordinary service. So then I’d look at my talents and skills and desires and ask myself where I could best achieve that. Out of that line of questioning would pop out the job/career that’s right for me.
21. Crimson Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 4:45 pm

I’ve become convinced than many people’s lack of satisfaction with life comes with a fundamental inability to deal with tediousness. No matter what you do and no matter how much you love it, there will always be moments where you have to deal with tedium.

As a programmer for example, I’m sure you’re familiar with it. While making games is fun, sitting down and figuring how to design an file access module that is cros-splatform is NOT fun (for most people). Not saying this applies to you per se, but it’s an example of something people in one career may reasonably be expected to encounter which is extremely boring, regardless of whether they like their career as a whole.

But I think a moment of transformation comes for those who get through this. All pre med majors know of the guys who couldn’t get through Biology or Organic chemistry and so had to drop. All compsci people know of guys who couldn’t handle the Math or C++ course and so had to drop. Rarely I think this is because these people aren’t smart enough to figure it out, but more often it’s because they aren’t willing to do what it takes to take their learning up a steep plateau to the next level.

Now the learning and tedium thing aren’t exactly aligned, but they are close. When learning a big new subject area, there’s often a tediousness that’s involved before you reach the point where you’re effective. Some people know how to handle this and others don’t. I think know how to maintain the drive to keep at it is also important (something I believe Steve discusses in one of his dexterity.com articles)
22. Steve Pavlina Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 5:33 pm

I have a slight variation in my take on the tedium concept. While I’d agree that no line of work (even a purposeful one) is totally free of tedious activity, I think it’s not the tedium itself that stops people. I’d say it’s the question of “why should I put up with this” that causes people to stop themselves.

For example, I once tried to learn to play the piano. I found it really tedious and boring — and especially awkward as a left-hander. So I gave up within a matter of weeks. But there are those like my wife who learned to play beautifully. For me there wasn’t a strong enough “why” to learn to play music, but many others who do learn to play have a stronger reason to push through the tedium.

If you’re living on purpose, your capacity for putting up with failure, rejection, tedium, etc. will increase dramatically because you’ll have a very strong and compelling reason for pushing through. But without a compelling purpose, it will take a lot less of these obstacles to stop you in your tracks.
23. Crimson Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 9:09 pm

Agreed, the “why” is important. But sometimes I question the purpose of a life where the why is defined by someone else. I know of many succesful students/professionals who were successful because they were pushed by their parents, afraid of looking dumb in front of their peers, or are afraid of losing a lifestyle, NOT because they had a strong internal drive to succeed. They go on to live outwardly successful lives, living in nice houses, driving nice cars, having the typical family, etc., but not because that’s what they chose to do, but because that’s what they were told to do. I think your excercise can be a good way to find that internal compass. For me personally, a “successful” life that was basically molded completely by the hands of others seems kind of empty. When you tell people like this that you’re just gonna leave your job, or up and move somewhere else, they always seem flabbergasted because you’re going off the well-worn trails of what you’re supposed to do. To me these are people who’s whole life is one based on reaction and fear, not concious choice, even though they’re materially successful.

Also, I think some people, myself included would be perfectly happy doing nothing. Well, not really “nothing”, but not doing any one thing and pursuing whatever interests you have at the time (traveling, cooking, studying, etc.). When I imagine a life of no work, I don’t see one of laying in front of the TV 24 hours per day, but one where I’m free to do whatever I please, whenever I please. Unfortunately, I’ve got to work hard to get to that point where I can be lazy. :)

Fortunately, I can use a skill that I love to use to try to get there and if I’m lucky, find some free time to pursue my other interests. That’s about as good of a medium I can find.
24. Crying dude Says:
January 20th, 2005 at 4:45 pm

Hi Steve,

I tried this exercise for 5 times. I guess I am the one of those who is really stubborn. I did cry, but it was not the answer that made my cry. During this exercise I was listening to online radio. There was one particular melody that touched me so deeply. Just to be sure I tried this exercise one more time without any music. Nothing… Then I tried to listen to the same melody again and think about my true purpose… This time it was even more powerful. It made me cry again. Is this the answer? How to interpret it?
25. Steve Pavlina Says:
January 20th, 2005 at 7:24 pm

When you open yourself to finding your purpose, it isn’t uncommon to find quirky little things happening whereby it seems like the universe is trying to help you find the answer. Some people take a fairly atypical route through this process. My interpretation of the music is that it’s not the final answer but rather a clue. How did the music make you feel? The feelings you name can help point you in the right direction… towards a new line of possible answers.

For example, I’m often inspired by music, and what’s most inspiring is that which evokes the feelings in me that reasonate with my purpose: being courageous, being awake and alive, being at peace, etc.

Just relax and focus on the intention to allow the answer to come to you. Again, this is a process of emptying yourself more than of trying to find the right answer.
26. Jethro Says:
January 25th, 2005 at 2:44 pm

Steve,

Can your purpose change from time to time, or is it supposed to be constant throughout your whole life? I used to have a deep burning desire for doing meaningful work at a meaningful employer, but that aspect in my life just doesn’t matter that much anymore. I’m in my mid-20’s and right now the only thing that really gets me excited and ready to jump out of bed every morning is passionate romantic love, or the anticipation/challenge of trying to find it. And I should also mention that this purpose doesn’t even involve one particular woman, but it’s more like this ideal I have about sewing my wild oats.

So I’m not sure if having this as my purpose is just doing what you said not to do – letting my motivation exist outside of me and not within me. However, personally, I don’t think this is being outer-motivateed or attached to one particular event in space/time. But instead I am internally motivated by just the idea of romantic love. Just as a person who has a purpose involving “service” isn’t attached to particular outcomes or results of one instance he helps another, but is internally motivated by the whole idea of serving others. I don’t know.

I came up with some more general purposes and some others that probably sound more noble than just romance and sex. But honestly, these other more general/noble purposes just don’t move me as much as the thought of living a life full of romantic love.

As an example, in the past, I was deeply motivated by career accomplishment and working at these high-profile companies. I never stayed in a particular job longer than 1 year and I kept moving up and up the proverbial corporate ladder looking for the next challenge. And every job I had was the result of self-motivated self-education that I willingly did myself on my own free time and paid for with my own money. So even though that purpose wasn’t necessarily all that general or noble, and doesn’t really motivate me all that much today, I still think I was able to accomplish a lot while I had that particular purpose involving personal career advancement.

So I guess my question is should I just follow whatever current purpose that really seems to motivate me at this point in my life? Or am I selling myself short by not discovering a more universal or noble purpose? Or will the more noble life purposes, such as service and compassion, come to me later when I’m older and have more life experience?

Because one of my biggest fears right now is trying to help others and ending up making things even worse. Kind of like as if I was some pointy-haired manager who “inflicts” leadership and compassion on other people who don’t even need it.
27. Brian Yamabe Says:
February 15th, 2005 at 4:04 pm

I was pretty sceptical about this. I tried sitting down and doing this for 20 minutes and felt some tugs, but I didn’t think there was anyway this was going to work. I kept putting down things like own my own business, have a successfull this, be good at that. Nothing. It seemed like something that might work for some, but not for me.

So, I was reading some other article by Steve today and found my way back to this one. After reading the article again, I still couldn’t imagine this working. I then started reading the comments and decided to follow trackback #4 as Steve suggested. whoisnick.com ’s purpose turned on some lightbulb and BAM! I was balling. I’ve found my purpose and it make sense. I think the people having trouble are taking the wrong approach. Your purpose is not something you do, it’s the reason you do things. One person’s purpose may sound like a goal to someone else and that is part of the reason why this is difficult.

In case you were wondering, my purpose is, “To be at home to raise my daughter.”
28. gtdlife Says:
March 11th, 2005 at 11:49 am

My Purpose
I’m always looking for ways to improve myself. One day I ran across an article
by Steve Pavlina which discusses …
29. Warren Hicks Says:
June 11th, 2005 at 1:05 am

Thank you Steve for a creative approach to the problem of finding out what a person’s purpose in life is. A couple of reflections though – in all the replies i didn’t find many revealing what they discovered. Were they embarrassed or did they discover something they felt was unreachable?

I discovered my purpose in life in quite another way – yet I think it might be possible to find it using your method if a person was really honest and prepared to allow his creator to speak to him.

OUr creator is keen that we discover it so he wrote it down and if we are prepared to take the journey he will also reveal it tous spiritually. In general terms it is to be Know the Son of God and to seek to imitate him.
30. thankful Says:
July 16th, 2005 at 2:08 pm

67. To make worthy of my love the unworthy, to enlighten those who are dull, to embolden those who need emboldening, to love a wife, to love children, to know, to learn, and to laugh and cry as much as possible with those who I love.
31. Kenneth Lantrip Says:
July 25th, 2005 at 3:29 pm

Hmmm, Where do I start?

Let’s start at the beginning.

I was as lost as anyone on this subject, searching for purpose in my existance. And I mean, heavily searching. As in the kind of search for answers to keep you a participant in this world.

So one day about two months ago, I was thinking about conciousness and the soul. As in exactly what makes my conciousness me. I got to thinking about who I would be if I were cloned. Which body I would be in. The original at first but maybe the second if suddently the original died, say in it’s sleep. I would wake up in the second. I got to thinking, that if the thing that makes this person me is the pattern of processing in my brain, then copying that pattern is copying me. I would then be inside two bodies at once with some hidden tanglement connecting the two as one. If not, then the pattern is NOT what makes this person me.

Hmm, let’s go a little deeper. Since, I find myself in existance now, it is a hard “self-proovable” fact, that I do exist. The world around me may not exist as I perceive it. But I exists none the less.

What would happen IF there was no God and religion was just made up? Let’s think about that. Well, let’s see, first, I exist anyway. So when this body dies, so will the processing that makes it me. Hmm. Then what? Well, since time is infinite, and the atoms of this universe did happen to make me in existance once… It could happen again. And again. And again!

Oh dear, that kind of exposes a problem. What shall I do about this problem of hopping into existance over and over till…. the end of time… which, is NEVER???

Hmm, I think, I’ll need a safe place to spend my awake moments. If I’m lucky, I’ll land into an existance that will be enjoyable to be in. Unlucky might land me in a ground excavation machine, stuck in a mountain for a very long time with nothing but myself and my limited memories. Hmm, I wonder, if there are any entities out there that are already smart enough to have thought of this problem? Perhaps one that would care about us “lost souls” and that would create a safe place specifically for “holding” souls in say, a paradise of some sort. Hmm, that sounds a lot like GOD.

Maybe, there is something to religion, after all.

Long story short… I personally don’t think God created people specifically. He created a creating ground that would allow us lucky souls to come into his existance. Once here, it is our responsiblity to seek the safety that he has provided.

And in that, you can find, the grand purpose for your life, and everyone around you.
32. Tomas Says:
July 30th, 2005 at 7:25 am

great article, thanks Steve!
33. EA Says:
August 26th, 2005 at 5:01 am

Ah, I see the problem. Nick, you’re assesing activities, not purposes. See, a purpose consists out of your goals, which are filled with necessary activities.
With other words, you’re on a different abstract level. To be more of a helping hand, ask yourself: “What good would I give to humanity?”.



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