What is the meaning of your life?

[qacwac]

to IBhacknU: You are right Jesus is not the only game in town. There are many games as you say, and they are just that, games. Yor own words. Jesus, however, is not a game. I am sorry if it offends you but I believe Jesus is the only Son of God and the only way to God. That's what I was saying by His life, death, and resurrection. He proved He was the Son of God and the verse I quoted is what He said, not me. I wish I could say that all ways lead to God but that's not what Jesus said. And as I said before I have faith that what He says is truth.

I do not consider this being shallow to the beliefs of others
It is what I believe. You are telling me to deny what I believe because of what others believe. I say plainly that is ridiculous. I am not tying to bash anybody else's belief. I simply answered your question.

Is there nothing that you believe that is in contradiction to others. Obviously you do because you replied to me. So then I tell you what you told me, Try not to be so shallow to the beliefs of others. See how illogical that is. It takes away all beliefs.

I am quite sure that if you asked a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness or Catholic or some other religions they would say that they are the only ones who are right and I am wrong.
This doesn't offend me. It saddens me that they are blinded but I don't think they are being shallow to my beliefs. I know what I believe and your not believing it doesn't make me angry. Now I could see your reasoning if I was going about condemning all of them as ignorant, stupid people and gave no justifaciation for my reasoning. I'm not doing that though. Once again I simply answered your question. You just don't like hearing my answer.

 

[AMDJunkie]

We live to die, we die to let others live. That is the truest statement I have found.

 

[WombatWoman]

Why am I here? To serve others. But I dunno why the "others" are here.

 

[IBhacknU]

well, I didn't come to this board or thread to discuss religion. That is something better left discussed on a doorstep, or in a theology class.

No hard feelings qacwac

 

[BoberFett]

WombatWoman

Nobody told you? We're all here to serve you.

 

[Namuna]

My life is based on experiences. In all aspects. Relationships, work, family.

I am an observer, student and participant. Joys, sorrows, achievements and failures. And someday I will pass on what I've learned, by way of teaching or parenting or both.

 

[RSI]

I don't know. Hopefully next year I'll be in college, but I really don't know where I'm headed.

I'm not a very useful person, the world could do without me.

 

[WombatWoman]

Nobody told you? We're all here to serve you.

OK, [/b]BoberFett[/b], I'd like a double cheeseburger with pickles, a large order of onion rings, and a nicely chilled bottle of Cold Duck, to go.
Hold the mayo. Between your knees.

 

[Moonbeam]

I feel that when the question of the meaning of life comes up it often indicates that the seeker has discovered within him or herself a sense that something is missing or incomplete. Is there something not quite right, some sense of longing or loss, etc. Ask yourself. Maybe you would put it differently. Kierkegaard? We achieve the ideals we thought were where it's at, money, status, a great partner, beautiful kids, and yet...

So one question is, what is at the root of this feeling. But there is another question that we never think to ask, and that is do we really want to know. The answer to that, I think, is that we don't.

Why is that so? I think it is because we were born perfect, in the image of God (if God is not actually himself the projection of that original self) into a world of sleeping monsters who had to kill the life within us because they couldn't bear to be reminded, in turn, of what they had lost. We have all been through an emotional consentration camp, physical and or psychological torture extreme enough to cause us to hate ourselves as if we were the worst garbage in the world. We don't know this happened, we don't want to know it, and we don't want to know that we don't want to know.

We are cut off from our feelings completely unconscious of the inner reality of motives that constantly lead us to want to re-experience our terror and run from it at the same time. All that ever gets out is vague feelings that something isn't quite right. There is no joy, because we can never again take the chance to feel.

The way back is to die, to take the chance to allow what we feel to come out and be felt. We need to cry for our murdered selves, to know it's OK, that it wasn't us that were the monsters. Oh we are now, but not then.

What we feel about ourselves is a total lie. There never was a thing wrong with us. It was them; they were the ones that were asleep; they who were our gods. We are all absolutely perfect and we cannot shake the lie.

So the purpose of some part of life, I would say, is to realize that because we are trapped by a need to deny how bad we feel, we can't feel how bad we feel. Because we don't feel, we can't relive our past and afterward see with adult eyes that it was all a lie.

Having at least some inkling of what is going on is a beginning

 

[adams]

I was just thinking of posting a thread like this...

I often have thoughts like this.

As best as I can tell, in order to really come to any clarity on this point, we must learn to observe reality deeply and continuously. It is only direct experience which can help us to see the truth.

Certainly we can try and speculate about what is true, but it will not bring us to reality.

Personally, I practice Vipassana meditation, which is a non-sectarian technique whose sole purpose is to allow you to impartially observe the truth about the mind and matter which we are made up of. There are no preconceived ideas about reality, and there are no belief systems to impose upon ourselves. There is simply the attempt to objectively observe what is the nature of one's experience.

If we are able to directly understand reality, I suspect we will more easily understand the "meaning of life", and be able to live our lives in a way which brings us great fulfillment.

Vipassana Meditation

 

[Bling Bling]

<< Christianity is the only one based on love >>



bull$hit. you're full of crap. you obviously have no knowledge of other religions, yet you feel wise enough to make a statement like that.




<< It saddens me that they are blinded >>



who in god's name (no pun intended) do you think you are to say that other people are blinded?!?!? You have no proof of that. All you have is what you believe. That is what faith is all about. You have no right to disclaim or denounce others. What kind of a religion based on love is that, eh? I am not saying your beliefs are wrong because i know i do not have the right to question or judge others. I just don't understand how you can have the audacity to say non-christians are &quot;blinded.&quot; You are a fool.

 

[pen^2]

<< Its the best one though

Not to say some of the others aren't completely wrong, Islam and Judaism base their religion on God as well. Christianity is the only one based on love, and unfortunatley it is seperated into so many factions. >>


wow, what an absurd statement! people like you make me hate christianity more and more :| do a favor to your [sarcasm]great[/sarcasm] religion and dont babble cr@p like this :disgust:

 

[Bling Bling]

Amen.

 

[jhu]

to get laid and be an iconoclast

 

[mosdef]

qacwac appears to be no more than a programmable robot. He only spits back what he is told. He hasn't proven anything though he likes to think that way. qacwac, maybe you should look up what circular logic means.

You even spoke of the error in your thinking:


<< So I know I chose the right one because Jesus said so. >>


Followed by:


<< Now one must believe that the Bible is true and Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, which I do. >>



You have proven nowhere that Jesus's word is true, you have only established an implication that if Jesus's word is true then God exists.

Open up your mind a little, don't make broad generalizations, and don't think that the rules of logic don't apply to religion.

-mosdef

 

[IBhacknU]

/me hands the reins to Bling Bling, BrotherMan, and mosdef

 

[pen^2]

<< Where are you going? What are your goals? In what do you find meaning? Do you ever get bogged down by the fact that your job basically creates job for other people who create jobs with other people to create an economy in which some people contribute positively to the increasing of human knowledge or the human condition? >>



with the religious take aside, my goals are finding that someone i would like to share the rest of my life with i have no clue how where i stand as far as that goal is concerned hmmm... thats something i havnt given a thought about. an interesting idea, AndrewR, to say the least.

 

[mosdef]

My goals are in order:
1. To find a life partner and raise children.
2. To be able to support a family.
3. To find what makes me happy, including finding an exciting, interesting, dynamic occupation.
4. To answer the many questions in my minds that beg for answers.

-mosdef

 

[wolf550e]

my life doesnt have any meaning. i just fluncked a really important math test (dont lough, but it was that stupid easy trigonometry...), and i dont know wheter i be kicked out of school or smth like that... i have problems with my parents (who doesnt?) and i dont have a GF (never had). i am 16 and a week. i am addicted to these forums (i read much much more than i post, so dont tell me my posting count is low, i know it), and the only reason of me not killing myself was that i am curious: can it be any worse? (it can...)

 

[Aquaman]

My purpose in life is based on this quote:

'Happiness is not a destination - it's a manner of travelling' - Lao Tze

So basically, be happy what your doing in homelife &amp; at work

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[VisionsUCI]

life here, like pain, is only temporary. money too. so, make the best of it and use it while you can!

 

[qacwac]

to mosdef: Christ's resurrection is the basis for my beliefs. Apart from it the Bible would just be a book telling humans of their condemnation and faults. So because I believe He rose from the dead I believe His teachings which are the Bible.

Now history (apart from the Bible) records that Jesus existed, had followers, and was crucified. They also have never discovered His body. It also records that since His time His followers have been burned at the stake, eaten by animals, branded, and much more. Even today people are still thrown into fires for His name sake. (read about a boy a couple of weeks ago who watched his whole family get murdered before his eyes, and was then thrown into a fire himself but rolled out and lived, all because he would not denounce Christ) History and present day societies also regard Jesus with special respect. (Muslims believe Him to be a prophet, Emerson and Thoreau wrote of Him, Mormoms beleive Him there brother, even non-Christians on anandtech, perhaps you (perhaps not), respect the way He lived) I believe, even from a worldly point of view, that He has impacted the world more than any other being to ever walk the earth and secular people agree with me. (I think Time said that, our dating system even revolves around His life and birth, i.e. BC, AD, you even posted your reply because of Him, there have been about 500 posts lately all pertaining to Him, no other subject even comes close, every time a Christian topic is posted it gets about 100 replies)

All of these are ACCEPTED facts. Undisputable. (the numbers may be a little off)

Now there are personal testimonies of those who saw Christ after His resurrection. Written testimonies. More than one. All claiming the exact same thing. (Christ rose from the dead, there is no body because it ascended, the Pharisees claimed His body was stolen) Now generally if the act weren't supernatural this would be accepted as fact also. However because of the nature of it (you can't prove that a body doesn't exist unless you check everywhere at the same moment which is humanly impossible) it has remained as speculation in history books.

Now I admit this proves nothing, but it is interesting to realize and be exposed to. I do not base my beliefs on it still. I have faith that Jesus is the Christ. Everything goes back to that.

So I do not use circular logic because I have a presupposition based on faith that God has given me. My beliefs end in God. Yes the above evidences help, nature declares to me there is a God, but by faith I believe. If you look at my previous arguement I think I implied this. (I know I chose the right one because Jesus says so in the Bible which I believe because Jesus was resurrected was my thought process)

I have opened up my mind. I know there is a God/Creator because of the impossibility of the contrary. I have thought about it. The complexity of life, beauty of nature, order, morality, life, emotions, knowledge all convince me that there is a Creator. I know that I am evil. I have thought about it. I know that I will have no excuse when He as my Creator righteously demands why I have not glorified Him as I should. I know that I have no excuse because I have tried to think of one and so have many others and not one has been given. I know that since He is Creator He must be just. Therefore He must sentence me to the only thing worthy of such a drastic offense against my Creator, eternal punishment. In myself I have no hope. I have thought about these things. It is the only thing that makes sense to me. It is my logical deductions. All of this is simply natural revelation. (the American Indians had similar beliefs when the Europeans arrived) However what natural revelation does not do is reveal a perfect substituinary death by God the Son which removes all sin and justly takes away the demanded punishment. That is divine revelation, the Bible.

Now because of Christ's resurrection everything is confirmed and I believe the Bible which is where I got my previous replies. (Though this exact thought process may not be the same for all Christians)

As for logic applying to everything. With my world view logic fits in. I have some questions for you however because I do not understand your world view.
In nature it is survival of the fittest. You kill what you can to live. There is no such thing as murder. There is no such thing as rape. The stronger male takes the weaker female (in general) and has his way to carry on the species. So if this is the way nature does it then why don't humans do it also?
I don't know what your reply would be but whatever it is I just say, &quot;Not for me.&quot; or &quot;Why?&quot; Maybe you would say because we have laws I say, &quot;Why do we have laws?&quot; and &quot;So what if we do have laws, I don't want to obey them and you shouldn't be able to make me.&quot; If you say laws are determined for the greater good of society I say, &quot;I don't care about the greater good and you have no right to make me care.&quot; If you say to avoid chaos I say &quot;I want chaos.&quot;

An example would be te Nazis. Why did we stop them from taking over the world and killing the Jews? You tell me. If they are the strongest shouldn't they take over the world and kill who they wanted. At the least we should have let them do what they wanted to do in there own country and kill the Jews.
Another would be slavery. The south had generally decided slavery was fine. Why did the north change that? Why did they help slaves? Why did northerns go against their own laws set up by northern elected officials and help the slaves escape?

I can think of no answer excpet humans have morality. We know right from wrong. The only explanation that makes since is the Bible's, humans are made in the image of God. It fits into my world view. How does it fit into your world view. I can't think of how it can be logically.

Well those are the beliefs that God has given, make sense to me, and I am convince of.

 

[IBhacknU]

please... make it go away!

 

[jhu]

my purpose is to inflict as much pain as possible

 

[U2fan]

To learn about Jesus, to follow Jesus, to teach people about Jesus, and to
glorify Jesus in everything I do.