I write these blogs for whoever wants to read them, and for myself. Today’s topic is one we’ve all asked at some point: What is the meaning of life?

The Biological Answer

From a biological perspective, the answer is simple: to procreate the species. But so what? We come, and we go. That explanation doesn’t satisfy the deeper questions of why we exist or what our lives are for. Another common answer is religion. But why should we worship beings we can no longer see, beings who, according to One Love, created us to mine gold and serve them, giving us short lives and limited abilities compared to theirs?

The Spiritual Lens

So what about a spiritual life? That makes more sense to me, because spirit is energy, and life itself is energy. The more energy you have, the better you tend to feel. That leads to another question: Are we here simply for pleasure? In many ways, yes. We eat to satisfy ourselves. We have sex for enjoyment. We go to war to take what someone else has. And we define spirituality as the intelligent use of energy to create health, happiness, and well-being.

The Journey of the Soul

Then there’s the idea of the soul. If you believe that each person has one, then the soul uses our body to gather the energy it needs to move closer to God, when God is defined as pure energy. In that case, life becomes a Journey of the Soul, not a Journey of Mankind. In other words, your life may be in service to something else entirely. That can feel a little depressing.

Experiencing Emotions and Consciousness

Spiritual traditions often say that the soul wants to experience the full range of human emotions, through our chakra system, which helped shape us, and through the Map of Consciousness, where emotions exist in a field of energy for us to explore. (See One Love for more on this.) By this view, life is a collection of experiences the soul wants to feel.

Does Any of This Matter?

Then comes the big question: Does any of this really matter?
Probably not, not in a grand cosmic sense. Maybe it matters to you and a few others. You can help people, and they may or may not appreciate it. Your actions may or may not improve their lives. You can choose a profession, like I did with taxes, where your knowledge helps others save money. A mechanic does the same with cars; a chef does it with food. These contributions enhance pleasure, comfort, or well-being. We connect with others through what we know.

Searching for Meaning

I’ve worked with thousands of people over six decades, and I still don’t know the answer to my question. You can say the meaning of life is whatever you make it, and while that’s partially true, life often turns out differently from our dreams. We simply don’t control everything.

A Larger Reality

We’ve been placed here, somehow, as thinking creatures with the ability to shape our environment. We are part of other universes, other people, and the belief systems of Earth. I’ve read hundreds of philosophers over the years. If anyone has a final answer, I’m listening.

My Personal View

My personal view? We’re developing skills and knowledge for our species, because that’s how existence seems to work. We live, we learn, we pass things on. It’s not pessimistic—it’s just how I see the reality of our journey. But I don’t believe we are the final purpose. I think we’re a part of something larger that we’ve only begun to understand.