The Purpose Of Life
Some time ago I posted a quote from SE Lain about how mankind can't evolve anymore and how we have no purpose and all this stuff... Well the truth is I don't really believe that, I just wanted to post the quote because i found it interesting and it was just one of those quotes that make you think.
Well one day I was just sitting around pondering the purpose of life as we all do at times, not necessarily my life just life in general, and yep I just came up with some stuff. I think that we all really do have a purpose, I just never posted about it like I wanted to. You know how I am a procrastinator and all... Anyway my friend recently wrote something about life not having a purpose and I replied to it soo I will just post what was said.
Part of my friend's post:
In English today we were talking about questions that people would ask about the nature of life. And of course, everyone said things like "Why is life so hard?" "what is the purpose of life?" "Why do bad things happen?" and my cynical ass is not refraining myself from saying what I really think. Those questions are so pointless. I sorta learned that from those Anne Rice books. She's a really smart person. Why does life need a purpose? Why do bad things need a reason to happen? Personally, I think that only you can find the purpose for living. Maybe thats why people get religion, to have a purpose. They can say that their purpose is to worship God and to serve God.
My response:
Alright there were a few other thoughts I had on the other parts of your post but they're not really important. Here is the part I am really interested in. You said "why does life need a purpose?" That is an interesting perspective, one i have never heard before, but i think life does need a purpose because if there was no purpose in life why would it exist? If something occurs for no reason, isn't it as if it did not occur at all? One of the main ideas in buddhism is that every effect has a cause and vise versa, every action has a reaction.
It's true that as far as the present people need to make up a purpose for themselves... To live for pleasure, love, to serve god, etc... but a lot of people fail to realize that we have a purpose other than just to satisfy ourselves or a god... We can look at other people like Martin Luther King and Einstein and say "damn... see now that person really had a purpose." But just think... what if Einstein's great great great great great grandfather never existed? Then he wouldn't have been born. Therefore all of his ancestors were just as important as him.
One could argue, "what about the people who are the last of their family line and dont do anything special with their lives?" Maybe those people dont significantly change the world themselves but if you look at things on less of a global scale, every person still has a purpose because everyone affects someone. That's why I believe we're all connected. Even if you dont really think you affect anyone, you never know. A simple shared idea can change someones entire outlook on things. Your interests could inspire somebody to pursue a certain career that they suceed in.
I once saw an LJ icon that said "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known."
Yep so... there was more to the conversation but I'm not gonna post all of it because there was a lot of other things we were talking about like religion and I didn't wanna stray from the topic... but it is still interesting so you should read it if you have time. http://www.livejournal.com/users/d_a_r_a_h_3/27711.html?view=11327&style=mine#t11327
"No matter where you are, everyone is always connected."
Well one day I was just sitting around pondering the purpose of life as we all do at times, not necessarily my life just life in general, and yep I just came up with some stuff. I think that we all really do have a purpose, I just never posted about it like I wanted to. You know how I am a procrastinator and all... Anyway my friend recently wrote something about life not having a purpose and I replied to it soo I will just post what was said.
Part of my friend's post:
In English today we were talking about questions that people would ask about the nature of life. And of course, everyone said things like "Why is life so hard?" "what is the purpose of life?" "Why do bad things happen?" and my cynical ass is not refraining myself from saying what I really think. Those questions are so pointless. I sorta learned that from those Anne Rice books. She's a really smart person. Why does life need a purpose? Why do bad things need a reason to happen? Personally, I think that only you can find the purpose for living. Maybe thats why people get religion, to have a purpose. They can say that their purpose is to worship God and to serve God.
My response:
Alright there were a few other thoughts I had on the other parts of your post but they're not really important. Here is the part I am really interested in. You said "why does life need a purpose?" That is an interesting perspective, one i have never heard before, but i think life does need a purpose because if there was no purpose in life why would it exist? If something occurs for no reason, isn't it as if it did not occur at all? One of the main ideas in buddhism is that every effect has a cause and vise versa, every action has a reaction.
It's true that as far as the present people need to make up a purpose for themselves... To live for pleasure, love, to serve god, etc... but a lot of people fail to realize that we have a purpose other than just to satisfy ourselves or a god... We can look at other people like Martin Luther King and Einstein and say "damn... see now that person really had a purpose." But just think... what if Einstein's great great great great great grandfather never existed? Then he wouldn't have been born. Therefore all of his ancestors were just as important as him.
One could argue, "what about the people who are the last of their family line and dont do anything special with their lives?" Maybe those people dont significantly change the world themselves but if you look at things on less of a global scale, every person still has a purpose because everyone affects someone. That's why I believe we're all connected. Even if you dont really think you affect anyone, you never know. A simple shared idea can change someones entire outlook on things. Your interests could inspire somebody to pursue a certain career that they suceed in.
I once saw an LJ icon that said "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known."
Yep so... there was more to the conversation but I'm not gonna post all of it because there was a lot of other things we were talking about like religion and I didn't wanna stray from the topic... but it is still interesting so you should read it if you have time. http://www.livejournal.com/users/d_a_r_a_h_3/27711.html?view=11327&style=mine#t11327
"No matter where you are, everyone is always connected."