The meaning of life part III - One human
Either you believe that there is a meaning to individual human life or you don’t.
In the mythic perspective, the meaning of human life is predetermined by its role in the scheme of things. Every man has a destiny, and this destiny cannot be changed, not even by the gods. A good example of this is the story of Achilles. He knew that after killing Hector he would die. He knew this to be his destiny. He could refuse to kill Hector in order to live, but if he killed him, nobody, not even the gods, could prevent his early death. His personal role in the scheme of things was pretty much set. He could fulfill his destiny or not, but if he did, nobody could change the order of things. So he killed Hector and he died soon after from an arrow in his heel, his only vulnerable spot.
In the Judaeo-Christian-Muslim perspective, the meaning of one’s life is its end, its direction. One aims towards eternal life and eternal bliss. The meaning of this life on earth is as a test or as a way to earn eternal bliss. It is sort of a circular thing since the meaning of one’s life is an ulterior life. So it’s always about “me” really. We could also say that one is supposed to work towards the establishment of the kingdom of heaven, playing a role in God’s plan. But it is difficult to understand how or why God would need me for anything. But I suppose that one could help along in one’s own little way. One keeps thinking though that the real reason for action is to earn eternal life.
The Buddhist has a way to look at this that is radically different. The purpose of life is to learn to disappear as an individual in order to join something that could be called the soul of the world. The meaning of this life, in its many incarnations, is to learn enough to lose the ego. When one has accomplished this, one does not come back but stays joined with the universe. So there is a circular idea of being born out of the one as a separation, and then having to learn to eliminate this separation to get back into the one.
For the atheist, there is of course no more meaning to individual human life than to the life of a bug, except that you can dedicate yourself to a cause. You yourself give meaning to your own life. That’s what the existentialists call the dignity of man. There is no predetermined meaning but that does not mean that you cannot create meaning for yourself. Of course, it is entirely subjective.
In the mythic perspective, the meaning of human life is predetermined by its role in the scheme of things. Every man has a destiny, and this destiny cannot be changed, not even by the gods. A good example of this is the story of Achilles. He knew that after killing Hector he would die. He knew this to be his destiny. He could refuse to kill Hector in order to live, but if he killed him, nobody, not even the gods, could prevent his early death. His personal role in the scheme of things was pretty much set. He could fulfill his destiny or not, but if he did, nobody could change the order of things. So he killed Hector and he died soon after from an arrow in his heel, his only vulnerable spot.
In the Judaeo-Christian-Muslim perspective, the meaning of one’s life is its end, its direction. One aims towards eternal life and eternal bliss. The meaning of this life on earth is as a test or as a way to earn eternal bliss. It is sort of a circular thing since the meaning of one’s life is an ulterior life. So it’s always about “me” really. We could also say that one is supposed to work towards the establishment of the kingdom of heaven, playing a role in God’s plan. But it is difficult to understand how or why God would need me for anything. But I suppose that one could help along in one’s own little way. One keeps thinking though that the real reason for action is to earn eternal life.
The Buddhist has a way to look at this that is radically different. The purpose of life is to learn to disappear as an individual in order to join something that could be called the soul of the world. The meaning of this life, in its many incarnations, is to learn enough to lose the ego. When one has accomplished this, one does not come back but stays joined with the universe. So there is a circular idea of being born out of the one as a separation, and then having to learn to eliminate this separation to get back into the one.
For the atheist, there is of course no more meaning to individual human life than to the life of a bug, except that you can dedicate yourself to a cause. You yourself give meaning to your own life. That’s what the existentialists call the dignity of man. There is no predetermined meaning but that does not mean that you cannot create meaning for yourself. Of course, it is entirely subjective.
posted by cassandreos | 12:00 PM
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