What is the purpose of our life ? To enjoy ? To suffer ?

God is the giver of all life, maybe if you ask Him He might answer you

I believe we have no ultimate, divine purpose, that we just are. Others believe differently. It's therefore quite subjective.

Are you asking just out of curiosity for others points of view or are you searching for your own path?

The answer is something to do with magnets, chocolates, and neckties.
Seriously now, you shouldn't ask "why are we here" a better question is "why am i here"
Becausei don't believe we all have one collective purpose that is within our understanding, yet you can find your individual meaning and calling in god.

I agree with cal, you have to find your OWN meaning of why you were born. There may however be a reason why we are all born "purpose of the human race"; but I believe that the more important is the "why I am born" because if you find YOUR purpose in life you can move on from there and help others find their purpose and live your life moving towards that goal and living happy.

Just something that I have found very interesting is that when one views the life on Earth. Vegetation, insects, and animals. Just about, if not all, life has one big driving goal behind them. Which is to reproduce. The other goal is of course to remain alive.

I believe that we are here to learn... and to love. We are here to experence life and find out what makes us tick.

I am here because God said so.

I am here because God said so.

Me too!

I'm here simply because my fathers ship was in port and my mother was a waitress in a small San Diego café. He did what any good sailor would do... he swabbed her poop deck.

I think there is no reason why we are here. Escpessially since we all die. There can't be a reason unles it's to suffer

What is the purpose of our life ? To enjoy ? To suffer ?


A muslim believer point of view...

The Almighty Creator,Lord of the worlds gave us a life for a purpose and for a set time.
To see whether we would remember Him and His favours and be thankful and live up to the guidelines set.

Each person has their joys and sufferings and during each of these times it is up to us whether we are thankful for blessings, hopeful for mercy and wish for a greater reward in the afterlife. Suffering is not to be taken as a burden and in turn be ungrateful for the favours we do have, to pray for respite is expected of the believers.

When blessings are heaped on us like wealth etc we are expected to be generous with it as it is a blessings from the Almighty and being greedy is not expected of us (not to say we should not spend on our families as the Almighty says that the food that the husband provides for the wife and family is also counted as a good deed when it is earned the right way).

Each person has their roles set as leaders,parents,children, siblings,teachers, students,rulers etc and all are expected to be just and must fulfill their roles best as they can and the Almighty will be the Judge.

Our purpose in life is not to suffer or enjoy but to live life with joy and patience and to not set up partners with the One and Only Creator, to be always prepared to meet the Lord of the worlds.

:) :) :)

i think there is no reason why we are here. escpessially since we all die. there can't be a reason unles it's to suffer

that you think that makes me want to cry.

seriously mate, life has so much meaning!
trust me. Life is good. You have to find your meaning, find your calling mate. God has a plan for you.
life is short yeah, but an eternal life would be meaningless, if we lived forever the way we are, itd just drag oooon and ooooon and ooonn and thered be no urgency about anything, no reason to do anything, because ud have forever to do it. You'd just go numb after awhile, and after a few hundred years, you'd kill yourself, just for the sake of getting out of the endless sameness and boredome.
value your life, treasure every second, because time is so valuable! Life is so valuable!
water seems meaningless to us, but I betcha it sure means something to third world kids.

there's so much you can do in your life mate. So much potential.

when I feel the pain, the pleasure in life is made so much sharper and so much more valuable!
when I feel cold, warmth is such a better thing!
when I'm thirsty, water tastes so good!
when I'm lonely, a hug is the best thing in the world!

What is the purpose of our life ? To enjoy ? To suffer ?Hello pmh:

To propagate. Your enjoyment or suffering doesn't enter into the equation.

excon

That's a very sterile and sad view of the world excon "our purpose is to make babies"
Its also illogical.
Why make a baby, if its only purpose is to make a baby which is only alive to make another baby which has only the purpose of making babies?
What's the point?
There's got to be more meaning and purpose to it than that, when I think of it, its actually and insane idea of purpose, the universe is more logical than that!

I agree with excon, we are born so that we can give birth to others and then die. That's perfectly logical.

However, there's a lot of time between that we can fill with all kinds of things, like physics, religion, or table tennis.

Table tennis is pretty meaningless.
So is reproduction as a sole purpose.
There's got to be other purposes, reason for each life.
If we follow your theory of "we exist to screw so that babies can be made"
Then thered have to be a reason for those babies to be made, for it to be logical.
Thered have to be either 1# more purpose for each life than reproduction
Or
2# a single life, down the line, at which all this reproduction is aimed at (like I'm having a baby so he can have a baby (etc etc etc) so he can have a baby, who will father this one special guy who has a purpose to his life)

Babies just to make more babies is illogical, unless there's more too it than that.

whats the point?Hello cal:

Perpetuation of the species.

We run into trouble when we think we're important enough to HAVE a purpose.

excon

Table tennis certainly isn't meaningless, it makes you more agile, which means you catch a guy who was trying to pickpocket you, which means you didn't lose all your money, which means you could buy a better car, which means you attracted a more attractive mate, which means you made genetically superior babies. And then you die.

Everything we do is ultimately aimed at making more and better babies. Everything that all animals do has exactly the same motive.

My purpose is to help my kids grow up to be good people so I guess I follow excon's and Capuchin's theory. Before I had kids I enjoyed life by dating, travelling and learning... all to get laid. But seriously folks...

... sad...
You saying your whole life success is hinged on ping pong?

Why perpetuatue a species that has no reason to exist other than to exist?
It will probably be wiped out oneday anyway
I guess maye because "perpetuating the species" feels good, and hey, may as well do it in spite of the universes way of killing things.

Well I'm certainly not here to constantly worship an invisible deity that may have rules such as woman can't wear pants or cut their hair or I can't have a delicious cold alcoholic beverage or wine. No that's not included in life at all.

I don't play ping pong, but many people do, please don't insult them by calling their only pleasure in life "meaningless".

Our genes propagate due to how good we are at making babies. Our genes are the things that determine how good we are at making babies.

Therefore, the genes that are good at making babies are propogated, and with relatively few generations you end up with a population which is perfectly adapted to make lots of babies.

Now some of these population will have some of their genes slightly mutated with each generation, some of them will develop cancer early in their life and will not reproduce, their faulty genes die with them. Meanwhile, the environment around them is changing, some of the mutations allow these people to create more babies than the rest of the population by taking advantage of the changing environment. Within a short while, the majority of the population will have the extra-babies genes.

This is evolution. We make babies.

"invisible deity"?
The winds invisible, yet you know its theire by its effect on stuff.
Same goes for god, yet he effects even more stuff
And I think he lets you wear wateva you want, well I guess you got to be decent.

I believe a better word for needkarma to use would be intangible.

Jesus was quite tangible.

Yes. He was. So am I. Your point?

well i guess you gotta be decent.Hello again, cal:

According to who?? That's some of the trouble I was talking about. We're the only animal that worries about that. My dogs are naked and they don't care. Frankly, their purpose is no more or less important than my purpose.

excon

excon, your dog can run naked through the streets without being arrested and scarring kids for life.
Can you?

We have to be decent because our society demands it. If you are not decent, you don't get to make babies. (except, you know, during the process :rolleyes: )

Hello again, cal:

It IS true, that my naked body would scar those whose eye's fell upon it... and I'm joking...

The only reason my naked body COULD scar someone, is if someone told that someone that they SHOULD be scarred by it. The people who do that, are the same ones who told you the stuff you believe. They think they're important - more important than a dog. I don't subscribe to that ridiculousness.

excon

I don't have a dog, but I was good at making babies(my opinion) and they made babies, so I have multiplied myself. I wouln't mind multiplying some more but my wife says over her dead body, and I haven't figured out the mechanics of that, so maybe going naked is the answer, and attracting some one else to multiply with. I suspect that would be over my dead body though.

Tal,
And the world is a better place because of your actions. Mission accomplished! :)

.
Why perpetuatue a species that has no reason to exist other than to exist?

Why not?


it will probably be wiped out oneday anyway

So? One day isn't right now. I exist right now.


I guess maye because "perpetuating the species" feels good, and hey, may as well do it in spite of the universes way of killing things.

I have nothing better to do than exist, since the only alternative is to not exist. Might as well make the best of it.

Talani, not many people know this, but it makes perfect sense to me. The classic male mid-life crisis is not actually about the man becoming over the hill and needing to reassert his youth. It's about his wife becoming over the hill. The inner animal of the man needs to become attractive again to attract a younger (and more fertile) mate. They do this through, for example, buying a flashy car or whatever.
While the man have absolutely no intention of trading in his wife for a more fertile model, his animal instincts are still there, they are just regulated by the (unnatural) monogamous society that we are now accustomed to.

Your post reminded me of that :). It all comes down to making more babies.

^^

That explains why I'm suddenly going to the gym more. Also explains why those university girls seem so attractive.

They do this through, for example, buying a flashy car or whatever.


That explains the red sports car and riding all across the country, whew!! And the super hot Texas chicks, young and... er, maybe I'll just keep in practice just in case..!

Maybe I'm wrong, but can't you have a blast, while you realize what your true purpose in life is?? Tennis anyone?

What is the purpose of our life ? To enjoy ? To suffer ?

To carry on the human existence

Ping pong? :D

All I know is that I spent the first half of my existence making the second half misreble and propagation had a lot to do with that. I'm through propagating. I'd rather just live in a cave and be left alone.

My "existance" has only been 15, almost 16 years so far (do you guys actually remember or realise I'm so young? Lol)
I've wasted most of my existence lol, until this year its turning around.
I mite take up ping pong.

Good question... when a reasonable answer is found inform me.

On the other hand, here is what I think.

Life is a cycle; we are born, we live, then we die, to be reborn again... and so one and on...

So, why are we on this cycle??

To learn lessons we seem to forget each time we die or perhaps we just do not learn those lessons well enough to break the cycle.

To learn lessons we seem to forget each time we die or perhaps we just do not learn those lessons well enough to break the cycle.

What do you think happens when the cycle you propose is broken?

Good question ... when a reasonable answer is found inform me.

On the other hand, here is what I think.

Life is a cycle; we are born, we live, then we die, to be reborn again ... and so one and on...

So, why are we on this cycle???

To learn lessons we seem to forget each time we die or perhaps we just do not learn those lessons well enough to break the cycle.

Irulan,
Are you saying that the same people are born and reborn again and again?

If then why the increase in population if the same number of people dead are being born again, hypothetically there should be no increase in the population.
And the ones who break the cycle, what happens to them?

Every one of us is born, after millennia of genetic selection down to our parents who give us our final genetic codes, an assortment of cells with some many attributes and proclivities... best to enjoy and make the best of it!!

Suffer?. that's for Catholics, Lutherans and Jews. ;););)

What do you think happens when the cycle you propose is broken?



The cycle of life... birth life death... is an inevitable fact of life, now the rest of the cycle is an opinion which I cannot ubstantiate since I have no proof... there is a vast difference between fact and opinion.

Irulan,
Are you saying that the same people are born and reborn again and again?

If then why the increase in population if the same number of people dead are being born again, hypothetically there should be no increase in the population.
And the ones who break the cycle, what happens to them?

Let me repeat my previous to Clough anwer which In my opinion also answers your question.

The cycle of life... birth life death... is an inevitable fact of life, now the rest of the cycle is an opinion which I cannot ubstantiate since I have no proof... there is a vast difference between fact and opinion.

Let me repeat my previous to Clough anwer which IMHO also answers your question.

The cycle of life ... birth life death... is an inevitable fact of life, now the rest of the cycle is an opinion which I cannot ubstantiate since I have no proof ... there is a vast difference between fact and opinion.

Irulan even if you cannot prove it,
You can still explain what you are talking about??

Are you saying that in this world the same people are born, die and are born again?

Irulan even if you cannot prove it,
you can still explain what you are talking about???

Are you saying that in this world the same people are born, die and are born again?

I would like to know the same things about which you are asking.

Irulan even if you cannot prove it,
you can still explain what you are talking about???

Are you saying that in this world the same people are born, die and are born again?



Have you never heard of the belief in reincarnation?



Reincarnation is a belief with a long and varied history. In modern times, the Eastern religions of Buddhism and Hinduism are often thought of as the source of this belief, but the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, native North and South Americans, and the Aboriginal peoples of Australia also have this belief. (http://www.newagemerchant.com/wejees/index.php?cPath=136)

Reincarnation is the belief that the soul is indestructible and survives physical death, to be reborn into a new physical life; the passing of the soul from one body to the next. According to many religious beliefs our souls never really die.

Some American Indian tribes avoid eating certain animals because they believe that the souls of their ancestors dwell in those animals.

In most, if not all, ancient religions with a belief in reincarnation, the soul entering a body is seen as a metaphysical downgrading, an tainted rite of passage.

According to Buddhist beliefs, our souls are striving for perfection, whether we consciously realize it or not. We are born again and again to confront and perfect our Karma. To know the laws of action and reaction so instinctively and purely, that we never transgress them, is true enlightenment. At that point, our souls are free of Karma, and free to join with "The One" in a state of Nirvana.


Reincarnation seem to offer an explanation for some extraordinary phenomena such as the ability of some people to regress to a past life under hypnosis (http://skepdic.com/hypnosis.html).

Reincarnation could explain why bad things happen to good people and why good things happen to bad people: they are being rewarded or punished for actions in past lives. Karmic law states that whatever action one does to another good or bad, it will return in triple form in this life or another.

One could explain déjà vu (http://skepdic.com/dejavu.html) experiences by claiming that they are memories (http://skepdic.com/memory.html) of past lives. Déjà vu is French for "already seen." Déjà vu is an uncanny feeling or illusion of having already seen or experienced something that is being experienced for the first time.

To refute all the above, past life regression and déjà vu experiences are best explained as the recalling of events from this life, not some past life. Since bad things also happen to bad people and good things also happen to good people, one might well suppose that there is no rhyme or reason why anything happens to anybody.


Plato

"The Soul is older than body. Souls are continuously born over again into this life."

William Wordsworth
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting, The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar."

Kahlil Gibran
"A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me."

Pythagoras the ancient mathematician claimed to have remembered his transmigrations.

Plotinus, in "The Descent of the Soul", claimed to have knowledge of the Soul and its origin.

Salvador Dali claimed to vividly remembered his previous existence as St. John of the Cross.


As I said, it is my opinion that all this is merely opinion.

From a hypothetical point of view, reincarnation poses some out of the ordinary problems which would present many difficult conjectures such as:

Is reincarnation a viable possibility?

What is it that is reincarnated?

Most likely, it is the soul (http://skepdic.com/soul.html)that is reincarnated, but what is the soul, a disembodied consciousness?

"One could explain déjà vu experiences by claiming that they are memories of past lives." Only if we live the same life over and over.

Groundhog day, anyone? :)

Reincarnation seem to offer an explanation for some extraordinary phenomena such as the ability of some people to regress to a past life under hypnosis (http://skepdic.com/hypnosis.html).
If that were the case wouldn't a large number of humans on this planets be able to regress to a past life versus the 0.002% (statistic made up to emphasize a very low amount) of the population that reports being able to do that?

Hi Irulan,
Thank you for the explanation, yes I do know about reincarnation in some religions.

I do believe the soul does not die, I also believe that there is a life after death, I also believe each one will get his due in the next life.

The difference in my belief is that I do not believe the next life is in this world(the present world we live in earth,sun,moon etc).

If that were the case wouldn't a large number of humans on this planets be able to regress to a past life versus the 0.002% (statistic made up to emphasize a very low amount) of the population that reports being able to do that?

Precisely why I say that the belief in reincarnation is opinion and nothing else. There is no proof of actual reincarnations thus my statement that it is OPINION and nothing more.

We all choose to come here! Life is an experience that we all sign up for. We come from the boundless... where we are not confined to time and space. We are all spiritual beings! Before we choose to take on this physical form (spirit inside) we are pure spirit! This life can appear to be long, but the physical experience is really VERY SHORT (relative to our timeless nature). Time is a concept of our physical mind... so everything about time is just perception. Life should be enjoyable. It is exactly what u make it. U are the director of this play... God has given all of us the power to control our lives and our destiny (free- will). Life is exactly what you believe it to be! So be careful with your thoughts. THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS! Why? Because "you are the director" (god's gift). If we are not responsible for thoughts, then we are still creating... but we are just doing it by DEFAULT! Which means we are at the mercey of our thoughts. We have to take responsibility for this power (god given)! U can have any and everything you desire.. if this is what u believe! If this is what your "THOUGHTS" are! Because your thoughts.. combine with your emotion (means u REALLY believe.. not just random thought)... speak directly 2 your sub-contious mind! And this is where all your answers are. Every question u have had, or ever will have... Iz right there inside u!! Consult your inner pressence! It will always give u TRUTH!!

Vu jà dé: This has never happened to me before!

"The meaningless absurdity to life." wrote Leo Tolstoy. But does that mean life has to be futile?

Yes, we will all die, but I don't think that requires for life to not have some meaning.

It's what we make of our short time on this planet that give us meaning to our single lives.

But happy anthropocentric certitudes have been thrown out the window.

Hi Irulan,
Thank you for the explanation, yes I do know about reincarnation in some religions.

I do believe the soul does not die, I also believe that there is a life after death, I also believe each one will get his due in the next life.

The difference in my belief is that I do not believe the next life is in this world(the present world we live in earth,sun,moon etc).

Hello Firmbeliever,

Like you I also believe the soul continues on to another facet of existence. Exactly where and how that next facet of existence will be is uncertain and most probably we will never know in this lifetime, however, we will find out in due tme.

CaptainRich, there is a condition called jamais vu, where an experience that should be familiar feels like it is new :)

And presque vu, for "On the tip of my tongue"
Like when we struggle for the right word, we're sure we know.

This question can't be answered nowadays at least. What ever we do and discover are steps towards the analysis of reality and of course meaning of self and the reasons of existence of self as well.
Just live, be patient, feel, cry, understand.

We all have a purpose on earth what ever it may be... may be you just have not come across yours yet and therefor you don't know,, but some day in life you will accompish the goals that u were meant to. Then u will know

The best part in having a choice, we can define our purpose in life, and enjoy it.

I tell you what you need is "hope" and "positive thoughts"
Don't worry about why we were born, be realistic now-
Look at the big picture. Your life includes a lot of different things. Let go of the little things and be content. Be grateful for what you have and stop wishing for the things you don't have.
Gain inner peace, that's the way to go.
Peace.:)