A question that never ceases to haunt people's minds for a second. What people? All of humanity as a whole. From the moment of its inception to the present day. Probably, there is no person who has not asked himself about it at least once during his life.
It seems he is, but it seems not
You can travel around the world, swim across the ocean, become an orthodox believer, give birth to a crowd of children, but you still cannot find an answer to a burning question. It seems that having taken a new frontier in life, you are about to come closer to the solution, but meanwhile it seeps through like sand through your fingers and slips away …
Probably, the point is that "the meaning of life" is not a static concept, but constantly changing. And for everyone it is different. That is, a person himself determines, based on experience and living conditions, what meaning will be filled with his existence in a given period of time. We were born to constantly ask ourselves this question, then doubt the correctness of the answers and again seek the truth. And the more mature and wise a person becomes, the more profound his thoughts on this matter will be. The reassessment of values and life guidelines, which is an inevitable stage of growing up, is a vivid example of this.
Here's a new twist … what does he bring us?
Remember yourself at the age of 4-5? What did you think was the main thing then? Play with all the heart, shriek, tinker with the neighbour's children in the mud, go to bed later … "The meaning of life? No, I haven't heard" - you would have answered then. And who needed him in the leapfrog of rapidly changing pictures filled with joy.
But you grew, developed and became wiser. School bench, exams, graduation, session … The whole essence of being was reduced to somehow getting settled in life, becoming someone. Then there were children, a family. The world has turned upside down again. Little fidgets have now become at the head of your life. To bring up, educate, "put on their feet", love, care, protect … And 1000 more and one task. And now the family has already filled you completely, moving everyone and everything, taking a leading position. But the children quickly grew up and flew away from their fatherly nest.
What's next? And then again to search and find the answer to this question. After all, there is a hundred times more free time! You can devote it to self-development, creativity, travel … Yes, a lot more that you can think of. And so on until the very last breath. We gain, lose and re-fill our lives with more and more new meanings. And this process is endless, like being itself.
Buddhist opinion on this matter
Rejecting all worldly cares and worries, Buddhists assure people: "Stop futile attempts to find an answer to the notorious question. Just be happy. Right now. In spite of everything and everything. Tomorrow may not come." And in this approach, of course, there is something. He is so sincere and serene that you involuntarily think: "Maybe it's true - is it better?" Indeed, why rack your brains, and then fill it with all sorts of existential nonsense, if you can be in the moment here and now and enjoy it. A similar recipe for endless happiness was promoted by Diogenes. He assured that nothing matters except a joyful and peaceful state of mind. That is why he lived in a barrel in protest.
There are also weaknesses in Buddhist theory. For example, how a person knows happiness without knowing suffering and sadness. He simply will have nothing to compare with. And here Christianity comes to the rescue.
Finding the meaning of life in the Christian religion
Often, in search of an answer, people reread hundreds of books, and in the end they come to the Bible. And this is quite logical. Who else can open the veil of secrecy, if not her? The Bible suggests looking at the path foreseen from above, as a kind of school. In it, a person is assigned the role of an "eternal student". As a student, he is allowed to make many mistakes, "break wood", stumble and follow the wrong path, suffer and suffer, not understanding why … But all this is only in order to gain experience. And through a series of committed sins, realize them, repent and promise yourself and God not to do them again.
That is, in the Christian model, the meaning of life is constant improvement, purification of the soul and body. And in the end, as a reward for a righteous life - returning home to the Almighty. Where there are no worldly problems, but only endless love.
This is a very constructive position. Indeed, in search of God, a person becomes the best version of himself. Here, positive metamorphoses are inevitable, inevitably following the "student" on the heels. If earlier, wandering blindly through life, it was possible to create whatever you wanted, then with the acquisition of faith, everything changes completely and irrevocably. Having accepted Christian dogmas, a person will no longer be able to live as before. He will have knowledge about the infinity of life and the rebirth of the soul. That the earthly existence will be followed by another, the afterlife, in which all actions will have to be answered. And armed with this knowledge, the layman will strive to be kinder, more humane and purer.
Life is like a biological process
In contrast to faith, there is also an atheistic worldview. People who consider themselves to be in this camp treat life exclusively as a biological process. Drawing an analogy with the animal world, a person is considered here exclusively as a successor of the family, nothing more. And the meaning of his existence comes down to only one thing - to leave his genetic code in the world - offspring. This worldview captivates with its simplicity: live, love, do what you want, all the same, the end is one. The main thing is not to forget to raise a child, then your earthly destiny can be considered fulfilled. Don't worry about anything anymore.
Hedonism
There is another philosophical position that reduces the meaning of life to simple pleasure. Her name is hedonism. Its founders were Aristippus and Epicurus. They argued that all beings on the planet strive to receive pleasure. Moreover, it does not have to be bodily, it can be spiritual. Like a flower stretches towards the sun, so does a person - towards pleasant sensations. This theory had many followers, but critics did not pass it by, especially in the modern world. Examples of heroism were given: when people, deliberately renouncing their personal welfare, gave their lives for the interests of the country.
The meaning of life from the point of view of L. Tolstoy
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy treated this issue very painfully and painfully. The search for the meaning of life with an invisible thread touched almost all of his works. In any of his novels, at least one of the characters asked himself this question and was tormented by it constantly. After many years of searching, Tolstoy came to the conclusion that the essence lies in the self-improvement of the individual, in constant growth. Moreover, this growth is inseparable from other people, from society.
So where is he, the only correct answer?
The fact is that it does not exist. No, not the meaning of life, but the correct answer to this question. If you asked yourself it, then something in your life went wrong and you are not satisfied with it. The bell of change rang. Most likely, this will be the starting point for your further development. The main thing here is not to engage in self-criticism. It is better to analyze the time span and draw conclusions. Be sure to find the answers. It doesn't matter what they are - right and wrong. Don't be surprised that they will constantly change over time. Just live, look for your purpose, rejoice, filling your life with new meanings.
