Beyond Existentialism, Beyond Nihilism [Hard, Chapter Thirteen]
Without the demand for meaning, life becomes something to experience rather than explain. Each moment is simply what it is, without requiring layers of interpretation or significance. This can lead to a more present, open approach to life, where every experience is accepted without judgment.
One of the hard problems: "What is the meaning of life?"
My birth religion, Catholicism, answers this way: "The meaning of life is understood as a journey of loving and serving God, growing in virtue, and ultimately reaching union with God in heaven."
A Soto Zen Master would say: "Life has no inherent meaning, so we must create our own. Our experiences shape us, and it's up to us to assign significance to them."
Existentialism, like Zen, says we create our own meaning. Nihilism says there is no meaning. But my answer to this hard problem is to change the question: "Why do you need meaning?"
You don't. Meaning is an affectation of the ego, the ego wanting to feel more important than it is. The ego wanting to transcend mortality, to feel some sort of permanent connection to ... something ... via an imposition of meaning.
But, not only is there no meaning. There is no need for meaning.
Stop asking the question. Live your life anyway. Not a life where you create your own meaning. Not even a life where you deny that life has meaning. A life where you don't ask for meaning and so you don't engage with the concept.
There are no maps to follow,
no questions to catch us by the throat.
There is no "path".
The ego craves permanence, a way to outlast mortality by latching onto meaning or purpose, trying to anchor itself to something bigger, something eternal. But that desire is another layer of illusion.
If there’s no need for meaning, then life doesn’t demand justification, nor do we need to elevate ourselves by imposing importance upon it. Meaning as an affectation of the ego is something we can let go, an unnecessary accessory we wear in order to feel secure. By dropping this jewelry behind us, life unfolds as it is, wonderfully transient, each moment complete unto itself, not striving toward anything more. A naked life, meaninglessness isn’t nihilistic-but peaceful, freeing.
One of the hard problems: "What is the meaning of life?"
My birth religion, Catholicism, answers this way: "The meaning of life is understood as a journey of loving and serving God, growing in virtue, and ultimately reaching union with God in heaven."
A Soto Zen Master would say: "Life has no inherent meaning, so we must create our own. Our experiences shape us, and it's up to us to assign significance to them."
Existentialism, like Zen, says we create our own meaning. Nihilism says there is no meaning. But my answer to this hard problem is to change the question: "Why do you need meaning?"
You don't. Meaning is an affectation of the ego, the ego wanting to feel more important than it is. The ego wanting to transcend mortality, to feel some sort of permanent connection to ... something ... via an imposition of meaning.
But, not only is there no meaning. There is no need for meaning.
Stop asking the question. Live your life anyway. Not a life where you create your own meaning. Not even a life where you deny that life has meaning. A life where you don't ask for meaning and so you don't engage with the concept.
There are no maps to follow,
no questions to catch us by the throat.
There is no "path".
The ego craves permanence, a way to outlast mortality by latching onto meaning or purpose, trying to anchor itself to something bigger, something eternal. But that desire is another layer of illusion.
If there’s no need for meaning, then life doesn’t demand justification, nor do we need to elevate ourselves by imposing importance upon it. Meaning as an affectation of the ego is something we can let go, an unnecessary accessory we wear in order to feel secure. By dropping this jewelry behind us, life unfolds as it is, wonderfully transient, each moment complete unto itself, not striving toward anything more. A naked life, meaninglessness isn’t nihilistic-but peaceful, freeing.