The Meaning of Life

“Death.”

To explain, here is more than a word— here is a sentence.

“The meaning of life is that it ends.”

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the greatest meditation is meditation upon death.

Why?

In western culture, we spend almost all of our life in different ways avoiding death. We try to prolong the life we have, we promote various ideas of an afterlife through religion and science), we deny the finality of death (as far we know… it is final), we avoid or demonize the pain of death and loss, we glorify youth, we are overly serious and not lighthearted as well about the process of moving from birth to death, we have built and perpetuate a culture around material things that keeps us from thinking about the reality and finality of our own death, and we spend our money, time, and energy on material things rather than investing in true relationships and experiences (what was once more properly called “the spiritual”).

There are individuals who come close to death. This may be personally, through illness or injury. Or it may be through the experience of those close to them dying. Sometimes this profoundly changes that person, and they begin to live their life differently. Perhaps they quit a career they do not enjoy and instead pursue something they love. Or they restore a broken family relationship. Or they become more lighthearted and gracious. I believe this is because they have realized the reality of death in a way they hadn’t understood before (and few of us do understand it until we face it), and this has made them realize how precious life is… not in material things or through fear… but in how fleeting it is, and how important true relationships and experiences are. It restores the love of their “true nature”, or the capacity for humans to be powerful, creative, loving… as “godlike” as we can become in the sense that this word has any meaning.

In the end, “you are not what you own,” as Fugazi said :) There is no you. There is only an accumulation of relationships and experiences in the form of memories and how “you” (your consciousness) relates to those things. When life comes to its end, as far as we know, everything ends. Having a proper “you” or consciousness that relates to the world around us in a powerful, creative, and loving way is of great value and “meaning”.

For some, the idea of our “self” or consciousness coming to a final end in obliteration one day is the most terrifying and depressing thought, and so we choose to avoid the finality of death in ways such as those I’ve listed. But others choose to accept that as far as we know… death is the end of our “self”. And instead of fighting this reality, we let it inspire us to live a beautiful and MEANINGFUL life.

If you had only one hour to spend with a loved one… for some people this “limitation” might depress them, and they would always be worrying about the time ticking away and not being enough. For others, they might jump completely into that hour and enjoy it as fully as possible without thought of it ending. When it ends, it ends. There is no point in fighting against this. But there is great meaning in jumping into life for the time that we have been given and experiencing it fully.

What a remarkable thing to be alive, isn’t it? You are alive. There was a time you weren’t… and there will also be another time when you aren’t. Right now, you are alive. Create a beautiful meaning for your life in that time.

These things are both simple and yet complex. That is why meditating on (or thinking deeply on/reflecting on/acting on) this most important of all questions is a good thing.

So… another way of answering your question is:

“Birth.”

Birth and death are simply two sides of the same thing— the unfathomable mystery of what it is to be a conscious, living being… which you did not choose nor cannot control. You simply are.

Meditate on the reality of this, and you will then find the only meaning of life that is meaning itself… not as an answer, but as a way of being. A way of living one’ s life.