What’s the meaning of life?
It’s a question we’ve all asked — sometimes in different words.
Why am I here?
What’s the point of all of this?
Why do these things happen?
I’ve spent a lot of time sitting with those questions. Looking for answers.
I thought I’d share the clearest explanations I’ve found. To maybe provide insight or at least save you some time.
So here goes. The three teachers who sum up my understanding.
Viktor Frankl
First, is psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl whose core teaching was that:
The meaning of life is to give life meaning.
As human beings we assign meaning to the physical events in our lives. Why? Because we need those events to fit into the larger story we tell ourselves about the world.
Everything we experience is open to interpretation.
Without this story — without meaning — the hardships of life would be too much to bear.
Essentially, you decide what is meaningful in your life. What brings you joy. What’s worth fighting for. And that, I think, is a beautiful concept.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Next, is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest who tried to reconcile spirituality, evolution, and consciousness. He is credited with the idea that:
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
The first time I read this I got chills throughout my entire body. I thought: that is it.
Teilhard de Chardin helped me see that we aren’t merely human beings who occasionally have spiritual moments, but something deeper experiencing itself through a human life.
What makes this even more powerful is that it wasn’t exactly church canon. Teilhard de Chardin was sharing his truth — even if it didn’t align with the institution he had dedicated his life to.
Alan Watts
Lastly, is Alan Watts who taught:
The universe is playing at being you.
Watts teaches us that you are something the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something the whole ocean is doing. Every individual is an expression of the total whole.
I like to imagine us as windows the universe — or God, if you prefer — uses to look at itself.
Watts called this the game of Hide-and-Seek. We forget we are the universe itself because to remember would spoil the game.
Watts often said that asking for the “meaning” of life is like asking for the meaning of music. The meaning is the experience itself, not some external payoff.
In her song Woodstock, Joni Mitchell sang:
We are stardust.
We are all made of the same matter.
We are all of the same source.
The idea that we are separate is the illusion.
Greatest Teachers
The teachers I find to be most profound are also the most open-minded and inclusive. All three of these men lived fascinating lives. I encourage you to learn about them and explore their teachings.
Whatever you believe — whatever story you’ve chosen to accept about why you’re here on this planet — know that it is yours to mold.
Whether you put your faith in “God” or “The Universe.” Whether you feel certain or whether you’re questioning. We are here together. You can never be alone because you are part of the story of all of us.
What do you believe?
Who are your teachers?
