Life

My current view of Life,

The question of the meaning of life is on such a grand scale I dare not have the naivety to assume I am even close to grasping it. Especially in my very short, inexperienced, 22 years of life. But I have tried. I have wrestled with concepts and arguments from lots of different religions and philosophies. I have thought long and hard about why I’m here on this earth and why all life exists. We’ve all had those moments when were lying in bed late at night and we suddenly get this thought... “WHAT THE HECK IS LIFE!” and we begin to closely observe our hands thinking... “WHAT THE HECK ARE HANDS!” (At least I hope we’ve all had those moments!) Life is, and probably will forever be, a mystery to me.

The conclusions that I have drawn are ever changing, ever growing. Which some might argue is a weakness, because they believe in the absolute. But I actually find change quite liberating. In fact I think it’s essential in searching for truth. The idea that you can go through this life without having to change your mind on any issues is to me a sign of close mindedness and ignorance. Although hard to do, I try to admit when I’m wrong and change my mind when good reason and evidence is presented. I try to align my beliefs with what is good for one and for all. I have arrived at my beliefs through observation of the world around me, through reasoning, through deep study, through life experience (which I admit is very limited) and through some good old fashion gut feelings! So this is where I currently stand on my views about life:

I believe that all life is connected somehow in some way, both physically and spiritually. Am I a spiritual person? Yes, I think I am. I’m spiritual in the sense that I think spiritual experience is something to be explored. All around the world people confess to having what most would call a “spiritual experience” from all different backgrounds and faiths. I accept the very likely possibility that perhaps these “experiences” are nothing more than chemicals being released by the brain in certain situations, which our mind then interprets a certain way depending on our worldview, ie. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu ect. But perhaps there is something more to be explored here, perhaps there is something about spirituality that stretches beyond what we can comprehend? Perhaps there is something more, something deeper to this life than our finite minds can understand? I like this quote from Einstein:

“A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.” - Albert Einstein

Where I perhaps differ from those with concrete ideas of spiritualism is I don’t think we can currently define exactly what the word “spiritual” even means. What is a spirit? Is it a force inside all of us? What does it do exactly? What is it made from? Many people have different views on what being spiritual means. This is because we cannot define what a spirit is and unless you can define affirmatively what something is, you can never really understand it. No one has different opinions on what oxygen is. This is because we can, and have, defined Oxygen. Spirituality to me is a very big mystery and one that I am looking forward to exploring further, but I think it’s imperative that when we begin to explore subjects like consciousness and metaphysics we need to admit our ignorance and walk forward in humility. Humility in the face of ignorance is a virtue; it’s OK to say "I don’t know".

In a physical sense we are all made up of the same substance, mainly atoms and molecules. Since the big bang everything that was brought into being is what still makes up everything today. All life is made up of the same simple elements. The differences that we see in life are the result of how these elements have formed together. But the fact still remains that all life is made of the same simple elements. Everything that forms my body is also the same substance that forms yours, natures, my cats and the stars! I don’t mean this in some hippie lets all hold hands kind of way. I generally mean there is something to be taken from the fact that everything in life shares the same biochemical connection.

I believe in the power of the human spirit, that inside all of us we have incredible potential. The potential to accomplish anything we set our minds too, both as individuals and as a collective community. If you pointed to the moon 500 years ago, and told someone that one day we will walk on it, they would have thought you were crazy! I do however believe that as good as it is to be optimistic of the future; we also have to be realistic. We must first acknowledge the facts before we can progress. I would love to see this world turned into a beautiful thriving place in which every human can enjoy their lives to the fullest. But I also have to acknowledge that we also have the potential to make this world a horrible place. But I believe the choice will always be ours.

Lastly I believe in love. I believe that love can and will overcome any obstacle we face. I believe in a love that transcends religion, politics, race, and nationality. I believe in a love that demolishes the ideologies and boundaries of our society and connects us all in ways we cannot even comprehend. We are all in this thing called life together. Without love we cannot sustain a future, without love we are lost.