The Meaning of Life?

[Roy Collins]

Soultraveler Dave: Aside from the "context" of the previous dialog which implied religion overall is in a box and segregated from an ultimate reality, I can see your point. All is in the mind, however. If one sees all thngs as being in boxes, then they, in turn must also be in a box, only they me unaware of it.

We create our own boundaries in society, personal affairs, relationships, business, etc., etc. Our planet is round, however and is spinning in a sea of infinite expansion that has no beginning, no end, no center. Freedom is in your heart/mind, it cannot be seen. You can be living in box in the recesses of hell and still be as free as a bird.

In peace, Roy

[Ulrike]

Roy,

Glad to hear you are not angry. Nothing I wrote was intended as an insult.

Dave,

yes, that's the boxes I'm aiming at.

On the free man thought: Aside from any spiritual realm, I feel a lot of exercise is needed to be different and not feel bad because there is a very subtle automatism installed in society, in everybody, to feel free to question whoever is different. Starting with the innnocent question why do you do this or that- which one will be asked by others like an automatism if one acts different. For instance the not eating meat thing. It must be obvious to anybody who asks a vegetarian that they are not the first people who ask that. At the other hand, I can't believe that I'm the first person they ever found who is vegetarian or that they just started to think about this question.

Children like to make fun of names of other children if the names are good for that. Partly I think, because they consider this to be a new joke. Grown up we realize that if the person has that name we needn't comment on it because any comment we make will likely be repetition.

In the vegetarian question there is another part that is interesting to me: it's the box. Why am I labeled a "vegetarian", why are they not called "meateaters"? If they would eat humans they would be called "cannibals". In this context I would say the box, or label is often misused to define a vegetarian as somebody who is not normal, an outsider.

Being a pacifist right now you have to preface your argument with, of course you are appalled about what happened to the Twin-Tower victims, but if you are not a pacifist you don't have to do that. How come? To me it seems to be the same mechanism at work. Either you are mainstream or you are suspect.

All of us have a strong desire to belong and when our beliefs set us apart often our first impulse is to conform. Hopefully a maturing process allows us to accept our unique view of reality.

I agree with your view that labeling diminishes our ability to see the complexity which makes genuine relationship more difficult.

I'm afraid I have no dogs or cats or any pets except for my American, vegetarian, pacifist, buddhist husband (who I had to smuggle through customs) .

Ulrike

[mike chen]

herman famously said that life is a "picnic" - has anyone ever heard somebody say that a picnic is boring?

[mistry]

I recently saw a tv show about the cosmos. It referred to mankind wanting to turn tin into silver; lead into gold. It said that stars are performing this alchemy all the time, and in fact have created all the elements in the periodic table, including those which we and our planet are made from. Oxygen, iron, hydrogen, carbon, etc. It bascially said we are made up from "star debris" or as I like to call it "star vomit". LOL.

Religion is another avenue of thought.

Reincarnation yet another.

I am grateful for the experience of life. We have urges and hormones that fuel aggression and violence and cruelty; we have an equal amount of compassion, caring, love.

Are we just here as a result of a chemical soup mix? Did one of many Gods/Goddesses put us here?

The vastness of the universe is mindblowing. The smallness of our planet is increasingly evident. We are driven.

We are alive. We are driven. The meaning of life is: around the next corner.......

~Mistry

[khalid]

Dear Ulrike

Those r good questions

But I would like to refer to the beginning of that thread ..
What is this life all about ..
Is it a picnic ?!! all the glory of this universe can not be described as a PICNIC ....I guess

It is mostly like a QUIZ...EXAM

you should be ready at anytime that someone will come to you and see ..Stop writing ....

Religion and believing in the other life will give you more energy ...
That is
If u don't have money ..lost your job .. had an accident (as far as u did not do anything against morals) ..this life is not the core of interest...concentrate on the other life

We have a saying here
Work for your other life as if u die tomorrow
Work for your life as if you live forever

Do not allow anything to steal your freedom ..your life
Do not allow your Boss @ Work to be a GOd ...
Do not allow your family make you greedy and money machine

We all gona die

One last thing ...
If u ever considered how a simplke task like opening the door is done by your brain and body
You'll realize that God created us ..we are one of his (evidence of Glory) ..This simple task you do on the fly ..think about ..ask a robotics specialist how complicated this task is

God Created us ...we are great creature if we kept ourselves on the (BASIC ) programs and routines he embedded in us

[mike chen]

this is a really great exam paper from khalid! thanks, khalid!