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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Meaning of Life / 101 Great Ways

Short Answer

To learn.
To suffer.
To laugh.
To seek.
To see.
To hear.
To speak.
To cry.
To change.
To accomplish.
To think.
To accept.
To be happy.
To make meaning of it.
To live.
"It's not about the length of life, but the depth of it"

Detailed Answer

The philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.

These questions are separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.
Popular beliefs
"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...No point. Since having a point is a condition of living human consciousness. Animals do not need a point to live or exist. It is more of an affliction of consciousness that there are such things as points, a negative side to evolutionary development for lack of better words.

Wisdom and knowledge
...to master and know everything
...to be without questions, or to keep asking questions
...to expand one's perception of the world
...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
...to understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life

Ethical
...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds

Religious and spiritual
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment, and atonement
...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
...to discover who you are
...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced

Philosophical
...to give life meaning
...to participate in the chain of events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end (either freely chosen or determined, this is a subject widely debated amongst philosophers)
...to know the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualisation
...all possible meanings have some validity
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
...to die
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever
...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory )
...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"

Other
...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
...to participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)
http://thehalfwaypoint.net/2009/10/101-great-ways-to-pack-meaning-into-a-lifetime/

Monday, May 4, 2015

Four Hour Life

http://www.4hourlife.com/

Inner Vs Outer
A wise man is said to have four things. Both inwardly and outwardly there are four techniques. They are called Sama, Dama, Bheda and Danda.

  1. To deal with people in the world, to be in the world, the first thing you use is Sama. Sama means in a peaceful and understanding way. When that doesn’t work out, then you go to the second method as the rescue. The second method is Dana. Dana means allowing it to happen, forgiving, creating a space. When people don’t recognize your generosity in allowing them space, then the third principle comes, Bheda.
  2. Bheda means to create a discrimination, make a difference, intentionally create a gap. If somebody is at loggerheads with you, first you talk to them. All problems arise because of lack of communication. If you communicate properly, talk to them with love, an evenness starts. When that dosen’t work out, then, with the same love, you just ignore them. If somebody makes a mistake, then ignore their mistake. Don’t take notice. Allow them to realize it for themselves. Your generosity, your letting go, should make people realize their mistake. If they don’t notice even then, then you start using difference, Bheda – create a difference. If two people are there, then you be partial to one another, because, by doing that, the other person will realize the mistake he has made.
  3. In Dana, don’t create any difference. It is a very big thing to note. In life you deal with Bheda many times. You create difference. But it is not with awareness or intention. It is coming out of your unconsciousness. Consciously create a difference. This, a sensitive person will understand. 
  4. Now, even then if they don’t come to the way, then take a stick, Danda, the final approach. If that person is insensitive even to the difference, what can you do with him? You have to take a stick. At last, with a stick, you make them realize.
inner life – inner consciousness

The same four methods apply to your inner life, your Being. However, in inner life, it is not one after another.
  1. Sama, equqnimity, maintain the equanimity. If pleasant sensations come, so what. Watch them. If unpleasant sensations come, watch them too. Take it with equanimity. Meditation, yoga, all that is pertaining to Sama – Equanimity in the mind, inside. But observing equanimity becomes difficult for many people. 
  2. Then Dana, which means giving up that which disturbs you, that which cannot put you in the royal seat of equanimity. What is it that disturbs you? A guilty feeling of doing something wrong or an egoistic feeling of having done something great. Both these feelings. This whole mind, with all its merits and demerits – give it away, surrender, Dana. There is a second aspect of inner growth in Dana. It is Giving. Giving includes forgiving also. Without surrender and love, your meditation will be dry. When you do something it should appear fresh. Every day you are new.
  3. Now comes Bheda. Bheda - differentiate, separate the imperishable from the perishable. This very body is so hollow and so empty. We never realized before that inside our body there is so much emptiness! The whole body could be put into a small envelope. When you are watching the body, pleasant sensations arise, unpleasant sensations arise. As you watch, they disappear.    Quest for Moksha! Enlightenment is not just having some sensation. What has happened? Many people go and do different types of kundalini. They try raising different chakras. What are they doing? They are just playing with some sensations. You can even do this with acupuncture. Acupunsturists will put needles in different places. You can yell and shout and have the energy move up and down. It has some utility in the sense that it energizes you. It puts your mind a little bit in the present moment. But that’s all. Nothing beyond that. It doesn’t give you the knowledge of your Self, your Being, which is space, emptiness and fullness.
  4.  Then comes Danda – Danda means support. Determination and Commitment are the Danda. Your spiritual discipline is Danda. Mind is like a vine (creeper), it needs a support. Listening to spiritual discources, satsangs, practice, Guru’s presence are all the support, the Danda.

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