The purpose of life NOT according to science OR religion.

In this thread I would like to approach the ultimate question (the meaning/purpose of life) not from a scientific or a religious standpoint but from a viewpoint of simple personal observation that can be verified by anyone by themselves, for themselves.

For this I would like to propose that we, as human beings, consume/transform and excrete three different types of food:

1) The normal food we are all familiar with; bread, rice, water, etc...
2) The air we breathe.
3) Impressions taken in by the 5 senses; touch, taste, smell, hearing, and seeing

These three distinctions can serve as an illustration to us of what our physical bodies do every day. From the observations of our 'taking in' of these three "foods" we can begin (perhaps) to see a reason for our existence as human beings on planet earth.

So, let's look at each separately.

The first, our normal everyday food we consume in order to maintain our physical bodies and provide us with energy for "doing" various activities in life. What is not utilized is excreted by our organism and returns back to the earth from which it came. Simple enough.

The second, the air we breathe, can be looked at as a "food" of a higher vibrational energy. Upon entering our lungs, certain parts of it are retained and absorbed into the bloodstream for use in providing oxygen to muscles, organs, the brain, etc. Also, as with the first "food", a part is exhaled and returns back from whence it came.

The third, the impressions taken in by our five senses, are of even higher vibrational energy than the first two "foods" and are more difficult to categorize but, for the purposes of simplicity, lets just keep them all in this one category. Parts of the impressions we take in stay with us forever, some fade with time, others seem to disappear just as quickly as they were experienced. If this "food" of impressions is equated to the first two foods, it follows that there must be a part retained and utilized and a part "given back" (not utilized).

It seems our physical body is a sort of machine intended for the transformation of a wide variety of substances.

The purpose of the "leftovers" or "devolving" parts of these foods is quite obvious: to replenish the earth and further perpetuate the cycle of life, as it were.

But is that it? Is that all we are here on this planet to do?

Can these three "foods" be taken in in such a way as to build or create something for ourselves? Is this what meditation and prayer and the like seek to accomplish?

In my own, personal, life experiences it seems ludicrous to think that the sole purpose of our existence is the simple transformation of various substances in order to serve Mother Nature. Don't get me wrong, however, I think that that IS an important and certain/unavoidable purpose of our lives.

How can we utilize the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the impressions we take in, for our OWN purposes? Is our own conscious awareness of these processes as they happen within us the key? Not simply letting them HAPPEN....?

Please share your thoughts ...hope I make some sense...

Cool, just like when you drink water when your thirsty, the body knows best.

You dont need somebody telling you what you need all the time, you know what you need.

Those just keep our physical bodies in motion and moving. I believe that we are here to learn and grow spiritually. In order to do that, we must experience and gain wisdom. But this does not happen in one lifetime, this happens over many lifetimes. Terra Firma is a schoolhouse for souls, not humans. The brain might have difficulty recalling information, but the soul never forgets.
In my experience, I have come across young and old souls. The best way to tell the difference is through the eyes. Some humans have such a vacant look in their eyes, while others have a sparkle, like an inner light. While others have a different "look" that gives me reason to believe that they are older then the usual human. Other then those methods, intuition kicks in and how people act to certain situations.

So, what I am trying to state is that we are here to grow in spirit not in body, we just need the body to help the spirit grow.

reply to post by Skada


I appreciate these thoughts and have much the same myself. In this thread, however, I am trying to look at what is readily observable. To see something in someone's eyes is a subjective observation and is "colored" by moods, past experiences, etc.

Also, with the gaining of experience and wisdom, as you say...that is not readily definable or observable, it can mean 100 different things to 100 different people.

Restricting our observations strictly to what we KNOW our bodies to be engaged in can provide us with further insight without the fantasy that our minds tend to lead us to.

Number three seems a bit weak maybe.

Sure, I get it, to some extent, we might say that the brain "feeds" on it's input.

But what would a brain "excrete", keeping with your thoughts. How would it do that?

If excrement "benefits" Nature in some way, as what has not been utilized is returned to the earth, and exhalation perhaps benefits plant-life, etc., in keeping with this great cycle, how does your third part return anything, and who / what might benefit from such a return, if one took place?

Of course, I can see taking life in, it's various experiences, and judging, deciding what was good, what was bad, and trying to get rid of, or "forget", the bad. But even if we could somehow forget some of our more unpleasant inputs, how would we really "excrete" them? Maybe this is where the metaphorical treatment begins to break down.

Certainly, we might share our experiences with another, perhaps attempting to spare them some pain (that might be a benefit to someone else), but the metaphor begins to fail for me. Perhaps you can further elaborate.

JR

The food and water feeds the body and brain, and the brain feeds the gathering mass of Intellect - in direct response to the instant-to-instant business of corporeal survival, and in the only way it can manage that survival for the body as a whole - with burst after burst of reaction and initiation launching from its amazing intricacy and capacity. And as it does, that mass of Intellect grows and develops in nuance, sophistication and (maybe) the powerful transcendence of common decency, creating the human being that will emerge whole, viable and eternal when the entire gestation process is completed.

Some gestation cycles last longer than others, and some result in wonderful human beings. Some are over before they ever get much of anything developed at all, while others probably should've been so fortunate to have been cut short in their own development. Most develop by default, which is too bad when you consider the type of damaged, aggressive influences that generally insist on imposing their version of development on others. In the end, each human being is its own creation, and what each has become is a direct reflection of what it either made of itself or (worse yet) what it allowed itself to become by persistent default.

The body and brain emerged from the womb after the 1st gestational stage, and the human being emerges from the corporeal realm upon completion of the 2nd stage of gestation. It is the only beast on this planet that is preparatory in purpose, and it knows this at a visceral level - which is why it continues to seek an explanation for why it's just not in sync with the rest of the program that exists around it.

Religion and science are just scatters of tragically isolated efforts to get the whole thing to make sense. Both hold bits to the truth about all of this and guard those bits jealously, but neither holds the core essence that will make all of these bits and pieces add up to the full reveal that we all seek. It takes a disinterested perspective to wind between all that is already known to be true, leaving behind its acknowledgement - like a long line of sticky web snaking through all of it - and to then pull hard, yanking it all together until the truth becomes obvious and inescapable to everyone but the most invested in whatever it is that they've long embraced.

It's not esoteric. It's not mysterious. And it sure isn't miraculous. When it finally yanks everything together as one, it'll be something unexpected - that is until it's revealed as having been here all along, and as recognizable as the essence of the everyday life we each enjoy, suffer through, and know to be what's real and tangible.

Philosophically, there is no "we".
The word means nothing, because in most people's minds, it does not include other creatures, only humans.
And, if you limit "we" to just humans, you are including humans that live to pollute their minds, bodies and the earth "we" share.
So, who are "we"?
I happen to think that, for the most part, humans were best described as a virus, or cancer...oblivious to the real world around them, preoccupied only with their own self-preservation at the expense of virtually every thing else.
So, if "we" are supposed to be here for a reason, "we" are failing miserably as a people, or "we" were put here to destroy the earth.

So what COULD the reason be that human were "put" here? Well, if humans just learned to coexist with other creatures on this planet, like other creatures manage to do, that would be such a huge leap forward from our current state, that the question should probably be...

Why do humans think they are special when they are so pathetically clueless?

No offense to the OP.

Reality is subjective. There is no one answer, it is of just your opinion in the OP.

I agree with the above poster. Because we're bigger and see every ant as looking the same as every tiger (because we don't see the flaws in them, only ourselves. We both see the beauty and the flaws at the same time) doesn't mean we're top dog. For all we know, there could be life beyond our imagination using the clouds or planets as a speck of dust in their proverbial swimming pool or anything. Noone will ever know, all you can do is live in the present.

Once you see the planet as an atom, the problems just fall away.. and I find it hilarious how once you see it then watch the 'serious' people, it's just laughable. Think Night at the Museum when Ben stiller picks up the tiny people battling it out. It's hilarious.

I remember story about ancient civilization in here, when there are no nation and no religions as we know this day.
They believe something great than human, and believe they have some tasks in this life.
Ancient wisdom think we as human as a controller, regulator and leader of mother earth. We responsible to take the best care of everything as much as we can so mother nature will always be friends with us and keep this earth in the best condition and balance. Provided anyone, human animal and tree.

The other purpose is to make the ability to control, regulate and lead the earth getting better and better from generations. Each generation must make the system better than before and more efficient so everything on earth can be balance and "happy". With simple society and law, never take more from nature than they need or than nature can provide, and everyone are family, are the basic rule.

They always believe one day this world will be gone. And the real owner of this world is the last generation of human. They believe this generation that put trust on them to take care of it until they time arrived and mother earth that have a beginning will be end cos of mother nature itself.

What is the purpose in life of a tree? A mouse? A sardine?

Humans are no different. Whether we one day might be remains to be seen.

Maybe the purpose of life is to simply allow consciouness to evolve and to reflect it back into matter until the entire descent of the pure or divine consciousness into matter is reached!

Originally posted by JR MacBeth
Number three seems a bit weak maybe.

Sure, I get it, to some extent, we might say that the brain "feeds" on it's input.

But what would a brain "excrete", keeping with your thoughts. How would it do that?

If excrement "benefits" Nature in some way, as what has not been utilized is returned to the earth, and exhalation perhaps benefits plant-life, etc., in keeping with this great cycle, how does your third part return anything, and who / what might benefit from such a return, if one took place?

Of course, I can see taking life in, it's various experiences, and judging, deciding what was good, what was bad, and trying to get rid of, or "forget", the bad. But even if we could somehow forget some of our more unpleasant inputs, how would we really "excrete" them? Maybe this is where the metaphorical treatment begins to break down.

Certainly, we might share our experiences with another, perhaps attempting to spare them some pain (that might be a benefit to someone else), but the metaphor begins to fail for me. Perhaps you can further elaborate.

JR

The brain's 'excrement', as it were, would be such things as knee-jerk reactions, negative emotional states, outbursts, temper tantrums, and the like. In other words; outward manifestations that have no creative intentions behind them.

Originally posted by Stewie
Philosophically, there is no "we".
The word means nothing, because in most people's minds, it does not include other creatures, only humans.
And, if you limit "we" to just humans, you are including humans that live to pollute their minds, bodies and the earth "we" share.
So, who are "we"?
I happen to think that, for the most part, humans were best described as a virus, or cancer...oblivious to the real world around them, preoccupied only with their own self-preservation at the expense of virtually every thing else.
So, if "we" are supposed to be here for a reason, "we" are failing miserably as a people, or "we" were put here to destroy the earth.

So what COULD the reason be that human were "put" here? Well, if humans just learned to coexist with other creatures on this planet, like other creatures manage to do, that would be such a huge leap forward from our current state, that the question should probably be...

Why do humans think they are special when they are so pathetically clueless?

No offense to the OP.

I don't consider "we" as being an exclusive of humankind. I do, however, consider humankind as having greater possibilities of further development than our fellow earthly inhabitants.

I used to think of as a virus or disease of the Earth as well, and maybe, in our actions (or inactions), we do have similar effect. But what is the use of this thought? And to say we are pathetically clueless? This type of thinking will indeed lead to just what you describe "us" as, a disease on the earth.

Before we can learn to live and coexist in a harmonious way with one another, we have to learn and understand ourselves, and our own personal purpose.

p.s. no offense taken ...thank you for your response.

There are 6 senses, so it could be speculated that the reason the third bullet is not easily understood is that the excrement part is to "create by virtue of our ability to manifest". However, some cannot see beyond religion and think that this is part of that chasm. It is not.

I imagine, I visualize, and I materialize either through my efforts or the efforts of the Universe in concert with me!

This 6th Sense is our way of giving back to other corporeal beings through Energy.

Originally posted by Essan
What is the purpose in life of a tree? A mouse? A sardine?

Humans are no different. Whether we one day might be remains to be seen.

Humans are no different...in a sense. We all, humans, mice, trees, and sardines, transform substances. Humans, however, have a unique make-up. Do you think a sardine, when it gets speared with a hook and tossed into a lake is experiencing sheer terror, knowing that at any moment a larger fish could swim by and take him away? Or does a tree spend nights awake hoping that it will be sunny the next day so that it can get it's photosynthesis on ?

I don't deny that, perhaps, many in the animal kingdom experience emotions and perhaps even have thought of some sort or other...but the connections and unification of instinct, thought, and emotion is unique in humans. And, I think, serves a "higher" purpose.

reply to post by Greensage


I considered whether to mention a 6th sense, but as said in OP I wanted to keep this thread to things easily, directly observable so decided to just stick with the basic five that are undeniable.

For the record, however, I don't deny a 6th sense. I would consider such as a whole awareness of self (all the 5 base senses working together as one).