Ponder this

Now, I am going to start with a cliche, saying that many philosophers and learned men have asked this question before and tried to give an answer. Good thing is that, what they said is no more true or untrue from what I am going to lay down here. This subject matter is so personal that any definition one tries to give is bound to be different from another person’s opinion. But (I hope ), some will be in a broad agreement with my definition.

If one says that our purpose here is to do one and one thing only, for example become a rich person or be the first one on the Moon, Mars or what ever single achievement one can think of, I would beg to differ. I think that our purpose here, on earth, in this life, is multipurpose, like a big Swiss-knife. First of all, as we go through our lives, we make impact on everything around us, by our actions, or no-actions, by our thoughts, words, decisions, every second of our time we influence what happens to us and what happens to others. And all this is with a purpose. In the same manner as other people’s actions affect us, directly or indirectly, like a famous butterfly effect.

However, I think as souls that have chosen where and how we are to be borne, we are here to learn, experience, grow spiritually, contribute to the whole of the humanity and help and facilitate others in their growth and experience.

Our material advance or material and economic status is only a sideshow to the spiritual development and experience, which is our main purpose. Why would I think this? Has a material gain ever made you feel content and fulfilled in the same manner as a spiritual advancement or achievement had? Unfortunately, some will go through life, never experiencing the spiritual content. And that is also OK. As everybody has a role to fulfill, those souls also have a role to play, which they have chosen willfully and purposefully.

Why is it important to find out what our purpose is here and this life? What is it that we have chosen to do, learn or experience? Good thing is that we are already on the path that naturally leads us to fulfill our destiny. Problem is that, we get sidetracked by things we think we ought to be doing. We get distracted by material. But even if you are on the right track, it doesn’t mean that fulfilling our destinies is easy – if it was, there would be no opportunity to learn, experience and grow. Once one is back on the track, one knows, feels he or she is doing the right thing. One feels content and that quiet happiness associated with the feeling all is as it should be.

The image that comes to my mind is me swimming in the river. The flow tries naturally to take me downstream. I still need to swim to be able to reach the end of the river, so some effort is required. Sometimes, because I see something on the shore or upstream I try to swim in the direction that does not follow the flow, and it is hard. Much harder than following the stream… and I stubbornly persist. Because I think that is the way, or others tell me that is what I should do, or I am afraid of what is waiting behind the bend downstream and I desperately try to avoid it by swimming upstream… And until I realize the only way is to follow the flow, I will struggle, and feel that I am doing something wrong. I am unhappy.

And that is also OK. By swimming upstream, I learn and experience. And until I learn and  experience, I will keep swimming in the wrong direction. However, once the lesson has been learned and realized, I will follow the natural flow again, at least until the next lesson comes into view.

Why is it important that we find out our purpose? It will make our life easier and happier. How do we find out?     Ponderthis

Alex

Can somebody explain to me what God is ? And if somebody wants to venture an opinion, I would like to know his or her personal thoughts and not what they have been told or read somewhere and now they only repeating. I want to hear, honest and well thought-out opinions.

I bet that no two people, if really honest with themselves in describing what God is to them, would have the same opinion or definition.

I believe in God. I don’t think or believe that God is a personification of a man (or woman) sitting somewhere above us, who created us some 4-5,000 years ago and then decided not to talk to us anymore, only to send messages through chosen church representatives.

God, for me, is not a personification of a man or woman. For me, it is, an energy, for lack of a better word, that encompasses everything we see, know or exist and more than that – as I think there is much much more to existence and reality than we can ever comprehend.

So, if my definition of a God is so vague, to the point that I am not clear I can even comprehend or define what God is, how can science rebuke my belief when there is no clear definition as to what God is. Just to say it doesn’t exist because somebody doesn’t believe in it… I would say, what is it that doesn’t exist… The word is simple, 3 letters (or more in different languages) but the scope is so vast that it cannot be defined. And, undefinable cannot be confirmed or denied by scientific methods.

I often think about an article I read some years ago. The gist of it was that scientists say our universe is so finely tuned that if any of the constants that hold it in place were off by a minute number, there would be no universe. The chances of it being as it is are so infinitely small, that there could be two explanations. Intelligent design (i.e. God) or infinite number of universes where everything that can happen happens, all of it  playing at the same time in the same space. I would say that the theory of infinite number of universes is equally “unbelievable” or “believable” as an intelligence design, especially as neither can be proved or disproved by direct scientific methods.

So if you chose to believe in an infinite universes, why can’t you believe that there is something more in the play, something that we vaguely refer to as God? For me, both are possible and probable, and more.
Anyway, this is my opinion.

Alex