Unlocking the Mind: The sense of life
What is the sense of life? I am not the first to question this. The sense of life is one of the most challenging topics for humanity because nobody has found the one solution. Perhaps there is no single answer. Everybody has a different perspective when thinking about the sense of life. If you were to ask me, the sense of life is to give your life meaning. I personally believe that everybody is on this planet for a reason, but this is an optimistic worldview. Your own sense of life might be different, to the extent that there is no sense in life. I couldn’t argue against that because I don’t know the real answer. I just have my own answer for my own life, and yours is different. What I’m saying here is that this is completely normal. Even nihilistic views on this question are not rare. If you say that the whole world has no sense and that we are here on this earth to die, who am I to argue against that? From a rational point of view, it’s not a false statement to say that my purpose is to die, hence this is inevitable for humans (at least now). Until that changes, your life doesn’t have another sense than your death. This sounds horrible, but it’s true unless you give your life meaning. But how do you do that?
P U R P O S E
Purpose is such a commonly used word today. Every motivational influencer talks about purpose and wants to help you achieve it. This sounds great at first sight, but when you take a second glance, you can see that they define purpose by driving a nice sports car while smoking a cigar and attracting beautiful models. These are nice things to achieve as a man, not doubting that. However, this is a solely materialistic approach and more of a goal, not a purpose. What would you do with your life after you have achieved all that? If that would be your purpose, your life would have been fulfilled, and you would live a life without a striving sense, without a purpose. That’s why I personally don’t like the typical influencers for men because the only thing that they preach is materialism and guides on how to get women and set up a 'baller lifestyle.' This has grown so much in the last two years that 13-year-old boys are talking about their purpose of becoming rich like their idols on social media. I think that it’s great that these kids want to achieve a life without financial problems, but they need to understand that life is much more than that. Materialism comes and goes. What if you don’t like your lifestyle after two years? Create a new one, right? This creation leads us to the everlasting search for purpose in humanity. You try something out, find out it’s not for you, you try something else…
Is purpose even that important?
I talked about finding your purpose so that you can give your life meaning, but what if you don’t want a purpose? What answer can I give you to satisfy your inner obsolescence from purpose? What if you don’t think that your life has to make sense, or life in general is senseless?
The moment you decide that your life doesn’t need a purpose, you automatically give that decision such meaning that you have made it your purpose. 'Life has no sense, so my life doesn’t have to make sense.' You would say that to yourself and somehow start to live like the meaning behind your opinion. The paradox of this is that you still created a purpose for your life even if you wanted the exact opposite. Remember my sentence from before: 'The sense of life is to give your life meaning.' I recently finished the book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Noah Harari. In the 20th chapter, he talks about the sense of life and how humanity answered this question in the past. Humanity found purpose in tales, nationalism, religion, capitalism/communism, and so on.
What all things have in common is their origin. They all originated from the human brain and human social interactions. This was necessary to shape and to stabilize societies.
“We humans have conquered the world thanks to our ability to create fictional stories and believe in them. Therefore, we are particularly bad at recognizing the difference between fiction and reality. Overlooking this difference has been a matter of survival for us. If you still want to recognize the difference, you should start with suffering. Because the most real thing in the world is suffering.’”
When I read this passage yesterday, I was stunned because I asked myself how this is connectable to my own purpose. My purpose is to help humanity in a way that I like. Harari mentioned suffering as the realest thing on this earth. I agreed with that and noticed that I wanted to help others, especially people weaker than me because I saw the suffering around the world and in myself. I don’t agree with him because he’s a best-selling author for decades. I agreed with him because I felt that this is a great question to ask those who don’t have a purpose.
“‘If you want to discover the truth about the universe, the meaning of life, and your own identity, it is best to start by perceiving suffering and exploring what suffering truly is. The answer is not a narrative.’”
You don’t find your purpose on a backpacking trip through China
So many people think that they only find their purpose when they leave their hometown and wander around China for two years. They think that creating a new environment will give them all the answers they have in their mind. This is true to some point because new environments create change, and change, therefore, creates change in your opinions towards some topics or life in general. Humans tend to only see the outside world but forget to focus on the one thing which has so much to offer: their mind. Science mainly focused on the brain, not on the mind. Harari mentioned in his book that these two are completely different:
“‘The brain is a material network of nerve cells, synapses, and biochemical substances. The mind is a flow of subjective experiences such as pain, joy, anger, and love. Biologists assume that the brain somehow produces the mind, and biochemical reactions in billions of nerve cells would somehow give rise to experiences like pain and love. However, we currently have absolutely no explanation for how the mind arises from the brain. How is it that I feel pain when billions of nerve cells fire electrical signals in a certain pattern, and I feel love when the nerve cells fire in another pattern? We have no explanation for this. Therefore, even if the mind does indeed emerge from the brain, at least for now, it makes a difference whether I examine the mind or the brain.’”
Meditation is the answer
Most of humanity lost contact with their inner voice (their mind). Due to social media, humans are constantly distracted. This distraction explains why so many young adults don’t know what to do in their lives. I was one of them and maybe still am. I found my purpose because I was actively searching for it. Not by booking a flight to China, but by listening to my mind while meditating. This sounds esoteric, but the truth lies in your head. You don’t have to go to foreign countries and read 30 books about purpose when you haven’t done the most important thing first: listening to your mind.
How do you do that?
Sit down in a dark room without any possible distractions. No electronic devices that will disturb you. Now close your eyes and focus solely on the breath. Notice the breath coming and going. If you feel any sensations, simply observe them for what they are and think to yourself: 'I have lost focus on my breath.' You could also lay down on your floor when it’s dark and notice your thoughts firing through your neuronal nerve system. Just by doing that every day for a period of time (minutes or hours), you would be nearer to your purpose than you were before. You don’t get answers on your phone; you get answers by listening to your mind. Only then do you really know what you like and detest.
Find out what you want to do in your life or wander around without a purpose. I guarantee you will hate your existence.
Strength and Honor
