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On the essence of life, and our purpose in being here

Simply put, our "raison d'être" is to thank God and be grateful. Quite simply, we do not know if there is a God out there, but if there is one, and if you are grateful and show it, he will be glad to be good to you. Plus, there is a good feeling that comes from having faith in something. (Personally, Einstein and myself do believe God exists)

"I cannot believe that God plays dice with the universe." Albert Einstein

We have three choices in life:

To escape, to contemplate, or to commit.

Others have said, and I quite agree that aside from the godly aspect just mentioned one must during life contribute the following things to this World: A child, a tree, and a book. Interpret this as you will.

You should also pray every day and count your blessings. Tomorrow you may be kidnapped or killed or get a heart attack. I know its hard to be grateful when things are going well, but they wont always. Pray to God for thanks every day.

Probably the Buddhists have the best answer. They say you should be compassionate. The religion you choose doesn’t have to be one specific one, just one that fits you and the way you are. Due to the way you were brought up some religion will suit you better. Its really not important which, but just that you love God and realize he comes first and is the most important thing.

But lets be more practical…

This is probably the most important text in this “Advice”. As you go through life you will have lots of stresses and anxieties. Very simply put I wish you wouldn’t have these, as they significan’tly reduce from the quality of your life. (They did mine) I could also tell you that you should simply be grateful for everything you have, and even though that is certainly true, it is very difficult to accomplish. (Especially in the materialistic way I have brought you up). You should do everything you can to be happy, healthy and stress free. Don’t do things which come back as bigger problems later. Do things which make you fearless. Never do anything which makes you feel guilty. Take precautions for the future. (This means saving money, creating trusts, buying insurance etc.) Make your own decisions so others don’t impose them on you. You are not the owner of your destiny and even though life can be considered short, it is really so long in that we don’t fully appreciate it or its contents during that short time. Being human implies that we can’t. The saddest thing is that if you don’t become a monk and surrender all materialism, you will never grasp the meaning or purpose of it all. Within being alive, just be good to the world around you. Help others when you can. Follow your conscience and pray to God every day. Always be generous, but don’t be stupid. Try to make your good acts have the greatest effect. It is good to buy a trophy as sponsorship for a game, but it is even better to donate infrastructure, because it lasts. So what then is the purpose of your life? I would guess that it is to contribute to the human race, to your planet, and to God. This means that by the time you leave this earth (you die) that your passing should have been good for these three. At the same time, you should try and enjoy your passage through life as much as you can, because life is all emotional.

"A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind." Robert Oxton Bolton

Finally, I would have to say that the purpose of your life is to be happy.

So far there is one person who clearly states the purpose of one's life. This is the Dali Lama. He says our purpose is to seek happiness. It gets harder from then on. Because he says we must seek it through compassion towards others and devotion to helping others. He explains the principle of causality where everything has a cause and causes something. What one must do according to him is remove the causes in our lives that prevent happiness and add the causes that cause it. Materialism, since it cannot always be fully attained, is obviously out. The problem I have with this theory is that it has no place for family either. My university Dynamics profesor, Dr. Yu, was a Budhist, and eventually he left his family to become a monk. Something about this doesnt quite agree with my way.

The purpose of existence is happiness, and compassion is the basis for happiness.

Ten non-virtuous actions: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, slander, irresponsible chatter, verbal abuse, covetousness, vindictiveness, holding wrong views.

Karma = Action = A Causal Determinant

You must have: Right action and right intention.

You must always be greatful to God.

When I was young I asked God to give me knowledge, and now that I am older I realize I was wrong. To be happy is much more important.

So what can be said? Just that you should do something that makes you happy, or you will waste your time.

Miguel Reznicek - 10/2000

From Ivy SeaZine:

It's when something in our experience -- a circumstance, an issue -- is not as we wish it would be. We resist it, we try to change it, we feel the friction. Ultimately, we may feel frustration when what we're trying to change outside of us resists our efforts to change it! Usually, it arises again and again, in stubborn cycles.

The real metamorphosis, the real change, comes not from trying to manipulate or change what's around us so that it conforms to our desires. It comes from ceasing the resistance, allowing what is, and then going within, and transforming or transmuting what's within us.

The psychotherapist-visionary Carl Jung said that what remains unconscious within us gets reflected by our experience that happens around us. Our experience is our mirror; the situation, Life, is our guru.

As Gandhi said, "As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - but in being able to remake ourselves."

Instructions for Life
From the Dalai Lama

1.- Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risks.
2.- When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3.- Follow the three R's: Respect for self. Respect for others. Responsibility for all your actions.
4.- Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of love.
5.- Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6.- Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7.- When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8.- Spend some time alone everyday.
9.- Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10.- Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11.- Live a good honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12.- A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13.- In disagreements with loved ones deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14.- Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15.- Be gentle with the earth.
16.- Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17.- Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18.- Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19.- Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Prayers

When you thank-thank absolutely, and when you ask, ask for Awareness. No need to spend lots of time praying, but pray often, at least once every coupe days. Use every church visit to pray-and be sincere. It’s good for you. Here is a great quote:

"Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. ...But prayer as a means to a private end is meaningless and theft."

Ralph Waldo Emmerson

_{As I construe it, the central component in the moral realm or domain is a sense of personal agency and personal stake, a realization that one has an irreducible role with respect to other people and that one's behaviour towards others must reflect the results of contextualized analysis and the exercise of one's will.... The fulfillment of key roles certainly requires a range of human intelligences - including personal, linguistic, logical and perhaps existential - but it is fundamentally a statement about the kind of person that has developed to be. It is not, in itself, an intelligence. 'Morality' is then properly a statement about personality, individuality, will, character - and, in the happiest cases, about the highest realization of human nature. - Howard Gardner}