January 12, 2006

• Socrates Cafe Topic #26: The Reason For Existence

  

  An instant is an eon.
  A leaf is a tree.
  A rock is a world.
  A mind is all minds.
  Forever.
  Through history.
  Through space.
  Through time.
  Forever.
  Now.

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  Socrates Cafe Topic #26: Do you think we humans have a reason for existence? Do we have a purpose here on earth?

  Or, in other words, as philosophers and theologians have been questioning for millennia: "What is the Meaning of Life?"

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  Consider this.

  We are here for a reason, but we aren't meant to know what it is yet.
  Humans are part of the vast network of total Universal Life. From the tiny amoeba to the great extinct dinosaurs, from the beauty and delicacy of a single rose bloom to the spectre of alien beings. "We" seem to be the only species of life who thinks, communicates, creates legacies, and plans for the future, even if, as mortals, we won't be around to experience said future. Because of our power of thought, we ask questions, and we ponder our very existence, sometimes to the extent that we seldom enjoy our existence while it lasts. Instead of living for each moment, irregardless of "time served", we catalog and organize our time, we draw up calendars and timetables, and we watch the clock. We've been doing this for almost our entire existence. No matter how many clocks we build, or schedules we keep, there is one tiny fact that forces the question of existence into the forefront of our brains night and day, prompting us to ask this question about our live's meaning. This fact, of couse, is that we all die. And no matter how long the Earth seems to last, we don't really have an answer to what comes next.
  If we didn't die at the "end" of "life", then there would doubtless be more questions we would ask ourselves. But the "big question" of existence is pondered whenever a good life ends, and we wonder what made that life so special if it is gone. What happens to that life? Does it acknowledge it's existence, or it's exit from same? Is our "stay" on our planet one of a "stage" of existences?
  Physical life, without the benefit or curse of intelligence and reasoning, can be pretty simple. Life finds a way to survive and propagate. The Universal Law of the Food Chain dictates that some life is actually dinner for other life. Most life simply exists, eats, defacates, and furthers it's species. As live evolves, some forms become extinct, and some forms multiply.
  Mankind does more than multiply, however. He reasons. And this is what has caused most of his problems in his world. As time progresses, he tries to teach future generations what he has learned, but since he dies, no amount of living really ever answers the question.
  It's almost as if man's only reason for his existence is to question it.
  The "plan for life" is Universal. The only thing we really can count on is our own understanding. No matter what we absorb or read, or to whom we listen, we are each "programmed" to trust our own perceptions. Sometimes these perceptions aren't reality, but it is our own thought processes that help us to survive our own life. Without "parents", "teachers", or "mentors", some life has not only survived, but excelled at both intelligence and understanding. The most powerful "organ of life" is our "mind". I won't physically call this the "brain" either. Our complete corporeal existence is like all the other life in the Universe. We are born, we eat, we propogate, we die. It is the mind which enters this equation and causes us to be somewhat different than all other life.
  This is not to say that penguins and mayflies don't think. Perhaps they have equally intelligent and communicative skills. They don't write books or make documentaries about their reasoning abilities and questions about existence. Mayflies live for only one day, and their complete day is preparing for their mating, after which they expire. Perhaps this mystery of life is just as haunting and as complex as our own, yet is seems simple, and simply absurd. Do they enjoy themselves? Are they happy?
  Humans could be said to be collectively happy. We have built ourselves "societies", "libraries", "living spaces", and Disneyland. We manufacture entertainment, we participate in discussion. We even develop belief systems and kill our neighbors if they don't agree with us. We have been trying to understand weather and time for as long as we have been around, with varying degrees of success.
  Every time we find an answer, more questions are revealed in it's wake.
  The "reason" for human existence is as simple as the "life" of an amoeba. There's that "eat, defecate, propogate" plan, but it is enhanced by our own sense of "self". We rarely feel "connected" to our fellow man in any "real" way however, and this also spurs the tide of questioning about our existence. The truth of the fact of life, that we die, has always caused me to ponder that this connectedness exists, but outside the plane of corporeal existence, and when we die, and pass to the Universal Plane, we do, in fact, connect with the "minds" or "souls" of all existence.
  Perhaps the rocks and mountains, besides the birds and bees, have souls as well, and when we are granted the answer, we shall not exist in the "age of reason" but in the "age of understanding". Our purpose of existence, whether or not we feel we have made a purpose in life, comes to us at the time of our death in an instant, and instantly we are granted the answer to all our questions. This is known as the Final Realization. As long as we are granted breath, however, our minds are not engineered to understand the eventual outcome.
  I've always felt that I was given an epiphany years ago concerning the purpose of life. It has fueled most of what I believe, and all of what I write. Religion and Philosophy are merely attempts to explain the unexplainable. All thought is cyclical, and the cycle ends, and begins again, at the time of death. Time and space are nonexistant in the Universal. Everywhere is nowhere, and all minds are one mind. I believe "we" retain the originality of "ourselves" , but we are finally linked with everybody else in the Universal, and we find that this feeling of "individuality" is actually rather selfish. The Universal Mind is an almost unbelievable depository of thought. The Universal Mind is the last stage of "life". I won't limit this to "human" life either. I believe that all life, and even perhaps geology and cosmic dust, are part of the Universal. The "joke" that proves God has a sense of humor is that we are not meant to understand these connections while we live our corporeal "life". The Universal is attained only after death. A few souls have tasted the succulence of the Universal MInd while on Earth, and these few have become prophets and seers. Universal Mind Theory has been around longer than "Pantheism" or "New Age Religion". It has never been given a name, and that is part of it's mystique. Most theologians would rather contemplate monotheism, and the construct of "God" as a "being" has overshadowed most of the pagan Pantheist thought processes over the centuries. As religion and political society have merged thoughout most of the world, the concept of "One God, One Nation" has permeated most of our modern ideas, and has caused a lot of trouble in paradise.
  The concept of "wondering" about our existence does end. With our death. Then we are allowed to find the answer to the question, and we join our brethren in the Universal, where the Great News is that this "reason for existence" should never have been questioned, but enjoyed. We do have a limit here on Earth, and we should spend our time better preparing for a globel understanding while we're here.

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  This essay will be reprinted on "The Universal Blog".

  • 10:16 am
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