Purpose of life

[Sphynx]

Bingo! I would even suggest that the intuitive approach for ANY sort of research is the one, along with direct personal experience, that allows for a DIRECT “absorption” or integration of knowledge into the self...

[Busby]

It's not life that has a purpose, it's evolution that has a purpose. There is, as far as I can see, no purpose in being a lion. Lions came into being because evolution reacts to action. The life that evolution (or God if you are so inclined) has been handed to you to make the best of.
You are one of the universe's windows used by the universe to see what it is all about. Your feedback gives the universe a reason to exist.

Originally Posted by Altair

The purpose of life is to survive and procreate. Everything else is what you make of it. Most of what we do is still indirectly related to survival and procreation, we just lose track along the way. But going to school, learning stuff, skills... it is all to the benefit of survival and procreation. However, some things got nothing to do with that, and these kind of things have increased in modern civilization, so we get side-tracked. But it's all fine, because the Universe itself doesn't care about any of it anyway. So ask yourself what you wanna do.. and see whether it brings you satisfaction.. then you have your purpose. It's not any more complicated then that.

Agree 100%.
To me, Nature has a system for organic life that we can call a purpose if we like. It's about the preservation and survival of genes. It underlies having two genders (about which humans have created so many taboos and complicated rituals).

Humans individually create or try to create a sense of purpose - we certainly get some grandiose spiritual purposes declared here - but for most people their purpose is, as you say, to survive. The ordinary pin-money worker in a factory has no greater (actual) purpose than to pull in a wage to survive and be subservient to commerce which helps others along the same route. Artists produce decoration or entertainment.
Also agree, the universe is a system without sentience. It can't deviate in any way creatively from the loops and energies that bind it. When people here speak of the universe looking out for individuals and their needs I read it as figurative.
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Originally Posted by Altair

Not at all! You're just filling in the gaps with religion... ^^
I consider it quite amazing that this Grand Universe does not care, to me it is a realization. I need no creationism, karma, ''dog wants to incarnate as human to become a saint'', talking snakes or hocus pocus to make sense of the Universe that we live in..

Did you ever even consider it possible that there can be spirits, afterlife, and all of that without any objective purpose to the Universe? For all you know it is one grand experiment of God, with no specific purpose. Just because you fill in the gaps does not mean your perspective is spiritual and mine isn't. It isn't your place to decide who is and who isn't ''spiritual''. You do your eastern thing, YAGS.

I've looked into the history of religion, there was a time when people believed in spirits and afterlife, but nothing about any desperate ''journey to end the cycle'' neither any ''talking snake that brought doom upon mankind''. Nothing of the sort! Just spirits of humans, animals, plants, celestial. None of these more ''advanced'' beliefs, which just reflect civilization.

Another post that seems dead on.
It's people who invent religions and these ideas to, as you say, fill in the gaps - and in some cases have a means to add authority to what they preach, such as the Shaman who has observed ethology at work to arrive at an understanding of herbal medicine (which if they're intelligent enough will shroud in mystery to cultivate superstition and gain control). Constantine did this with his Bible.

Point is, it resolves philosophically. There are no winners. No losers either.
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[SpiritualFreedom]

The purpose is to become a loving, caring, helper, coperative, humble, productive and creative spiritual being of light - By getting rid of fears and evil.

The purpose of hardship and challenges in the flesh is for us to ultimatelly become love & good.

The moment that makes sense in your being level, and you start to help and do good, you become joyful and happy everywhere no matter how hellish the environment it is!

Because then you will start creating, helping people, and to transform that hell into a heaven regardless of how impossible or tough it seems - All meanwhile the whole universe starts to open to you to new possibilietes you didn't imagined before to be real.

The universe & god rewards good people by giving them more possibilities, more knowledge, more support and it's like an amazing positive upwards spiral.

In and out of the body.

It's truly amazing

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by SpiritualFreedom

The purpose is to become a loving, caring, helper, cooperative, humble, productive and creative spiritual being of light -
By getting rid of fears and evil.

Been there, done that...add happy and enjoying this place.
Learned survival, to not pillage and how to stay outta jail, ...then the above things.
Now my purpose has changed big time.
Don't ask. But, not unlike many here...nothing surprising or anything. :)

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

Another post that seems dead on.
It's people who invent religions and these ideas to, as you say, fill in the gaps - and in some cases have a means to add authority to what they preach, such as the Shaman who has observed ethology at work to arrive at an understanding of herbal medicine (which if they're intelligent enough will shroud in mystery to cultivate superstition and gain control). Constantine did this with his Bible.

Point is, it resolves philosophically. There are no winners. No losers either.
.

Yes, they/we fill in the gaps. I don't mind by the way.. it's a very human thing to do, though it's good to be aware of it as well or we may justify any belief (including destructive ones).

However, I'm also of the opinion that religion could even be a necessity, not so much for every individual but for society as a whole. The way I look at it now I see secular society really struggling with having a sense of shared values and purpose. Many developed countries are frightened to have standards of culture, or have a shared understanding of what makes a man a man and a woman a woman. When we share a religion it is easier to accept there are shared values. Religious societies have far less trouble with such topics. Both the New Age, which is highly subjectivized, and atheism, can't fill in the void. If you look at many rising nations you can see many of them are still quite religious.. so who knows humanity as a whole reaches a moral dead end by the end of the 21st century? (just an open thought..)

I'm aware of the pitfalls of religions but IMO we need it as well. This forum here is an interesting place... there are many among us that are (or seem) anti-religious and see highly subjectivized, individualist spirituality as 'the cure' to all personal issues, but who says that is the smart choice in the long run when we zoom out of ourselves and look at the larger context of culture and society?

While purpose and meaning are subjective (excluding survival, procreation), at the same time there is a need to share and find agreement, which technically isn't objective meaning and purpose but still highly valuable otherwise we may end up with pure chaos. I would be interested in your thoughts on this.

Originally Posted by Altair

Yes, they/we fill in the gaps. I don't mind by the way.. it's a very human thing to do, though it's good to be aware of it as well or we may justify any belief (including destructive ones).

However, I'm also of the opinion that religion could even be a necessity, not so much for every individual but for society as a whole. The way I look at it now I see secular society really struggling with having a sense of shared values and purpose. Many developed countries are frightened to have standards of culture, or have a shared understanding of what makes a man a man and a woman a woman. When we share a religion it is easier to accept there are shared values. Religious societies have far less trouble with such topics. Both the New Age, which is highly subjectivized, and atheism, can't fill in the void. If you look at many rising nations you can see many of them are still quite religious.. so who knows humanity as a whole reaches a moral dead end by the end of the 21st century? (just an open thought..)

I'm aware of the pitfalls of religions but IMO we need it as well. This forum here is an interesting place... there are many among us that are (or seem) anti-religious and see highly subjectivized, individualist spirituality as 'the cure' to all personal issues, but who says that is the smart choice in the long run when we zoom out of ourselves and look at the larger context of culture and society?

While purpose and meaning are subjective (excluding survival, procreation), at the same time there is a need to share and find agreement, which technically isn't objective meaning and purpose but still highly valuable otherwise we may end up with pure chaos. I would be interested in your thoughts on this.

In the West/"developed" world the baby's being thrown out with the bathwater. Cohesion and shared values are breaking down. It's not hard to see. In fact it's blatantly obvious.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Altair

I'm aware of the pitfalls of religions but IMO we need it as well.

I love religion.
I teaches people there is a hell. GOOD!
Because those that would believe that, might, just might not rob me at gun point and break into my car.
That is the good reason for religion..(I've lived in cities ---this is a real danger.)
Cuts assailants maybe in half.