Day 2: Man's Search for Meaning

This past weekend I attended an event in Orlando, Florida put on by the Global Information Network, a club of which I am a member. In one of the talks given, Troy McClain discussed Viktor Frankl, a famous psychiatrist, and shared with us his philosophy of man, as compared to other popular philosophies, such as Freud’s or that of the behaviorists. There was quite a bit discussed, and it can best be summed up by watching this video of Frankl giving a lecture to university students in 1972. As I later started to investigate Viktor Frankl and his work, I found that he wrote a book that was published in 1946 entitled Man’s Search for Meaning.  Now, I have not yet read the book myself, so I won’t be giving a review, but the title of the book forms the topic that I would like to address in this post. And that is Meaning and Purpose. Many dictionaries define the word ‘meaning’ as synonymous with purpose in some contexts and that is the context in which I am using the word. Meaning and purpose can be defined as the significance of something, the end, the intention behind an action or series of actions. So, if man’s ultimate search is to find a meaning and purpose for his life, it would be of value to ask, “What is the purpose of a human life?”

As Frankl pointed out, and I’m sure we can all relate to this, man is searching for meaning. Which is to say that he (and if I use the word ‘he’ it is generally meant as he or she) is looking for a purpose for his existence and his actions. For me that search began in college, in the sense that I began to consciously question and look for a purpose. However, we always have a purpose for our actions, whether we are aware of it in each moment or not, because every action has an end or significance by definition. Again, what then is the purpose and meaning of a human life? As we explored in the last post, most people live and die simply fulfilling a function in our system. We are born, we are educated, we find work, and then we do that until we either retire or we simply keep working until we die. It’s interesting if you look at the word ‘retire’ because when a machine breaks down and is removed from operation, we say that we are ‘retiring’ it. Or if a pitcher in a baseball game can no longer pitch and is replaced, he is ‘retired.’ So this word retirement is promoted in this world as a point where one can now relax and live the good life, but it is in fact the time at which your usefulness to the system, in terms of contributing to the economic system has run its course and therefore you are retired. As we shall see along this journey, there are many words which we define one way in our mind, but which we live in a completely different way in reality.

So that brings us back to the question of what the purpose of a human life is, because it seems that if we look at the overwhelming majority of cases, the purpose is simply to fulfill a function of providing some form of labor within the system. One might say that the purpose of life is to be happy, but if that is true then why are so many unhappy? See, purpose cannot be something that you wish it to be, it is what it is. A thing’s purpose is what its end or significance is in fact. So for example, we might say that our purpose is to be happy, but if we live a life where we are not happy, then that was not our purpose.  A wise man once said that it is important to have dreams but not to live in a dream world. Some may not want to look at this reality directly, but, by looking at it, we can address it head on and make the changes necessary to bring our desired experience into reality, instead of keeping it in our minds as a fantasy, unfulfilled.

So the way I see it - and I would like to take a moment to make a point, that just because I do not have a degree in psychology or a doctorate in medicine, does not mean that I am any less qualified or able to see what Life is really about. I have my own common sense and a desire to know the truth and that is all that is necessary. We are all susceptible to dishonesty within ourselves and towards events or information. Having letters after your name does not immunize you against self-dishonesty. You, likewise, have your own common sense, and although we are taught not to rely on that and instead to defer judgment to the ‘experts,’ I would implore you to think for yourself. Question everything, even your thoughts. Get to the bottom of things. Do not accept anything at face value. The degree of cultural programming that influences our thoughts, feelings, emotions, and beliefs is quite extensive and so we must be diligent to place our minds out before ourselves, in writing, and examine what we take for granted. As long as we continue to think as we’ve always thought, we’ll continue to get what we’ve always got.

So to get back to the point: the way I see it, there are only two options when it comes to meaning and purpose. You either accept the purpose and meaning of life as it is given to you, or your question that purpose and use common sense to discover the purpose for your life that makes the most sense and then do what is necessary to actually live it in reality. Again, not the purpose that the experts say is the ‘correct answer’ but the purpose that you can work out for yourself. And, again, just because you ‘choose a purpose’ does not mean you are living it. Here the writing allows me/you to measure what I am living. In this, self-honesty is important, because it’s very easy to lie to yourself. For me, I have seen enough times that being dishonest with myself always brings me back to the same point so I’ve had enough of that. But still we must be diligent and not take our self-honesty for granted. It’s not a ‘thing’ you can own, it is something we do and prove in each moment as we apply it. Just remember that you may be able to draw a beautiful picture of an apple pie, but it will not satisfy your hunger. Furthermore, if we lie to ourselves and pretend as if something is what it is not, then we disenfranchise ourselves from the opportunity to make the thing what we want it to be. So, to stay in alignment with our principles we must take advantage of the power and simplicity of the tool of self-honesty.

Earlier I indirectly implied that the purpose of Life as we know it is not to be happy. Let me be clear. I’m not saying that I would not like that to be the purpose, but I’m saying that the way we are living our lives currently, as a collective, is not actually creating the desired result. Most people suffer tremendously and experience only fleeting moments of happiness if at all. According to my own assessment, however, happiness is the only purpose that we can all universally agree upon as a desired state that one would wish for themselves and for others. So if that is the real purpose that we would like for our lives, then why do we not live with that purpose? Is it obvious to you yet that the world is not set up to guarantee happiness for anyone? And even if one person says “I am happy” then I would have to ask, “How can you be happy knowing that children are born in this world and sold into slavery as sex objects,” because, that does occur. And at this point I am sure that I will lose many people who are looking for the positive thinking secrets of success and who believe that one must only think happy thoughts and feel great all the time to achieve anything in life. Well, I’m here to tell you that that is a great lie that has kept humanity in a cycle of abuse for as far back as anyone can measure. Real ‘positivity’ would be sustainable indefinitely, because that would be best (remember, according to our principle, this will always be our measure.) One cannot, within common sense, truly accept that it is best to experience suffering and abuse and to allow the perpetration of abuse on innocent children. Now, before you or anyone feels that I am judging anyone else for ‘thinking positively,’ I am not free from judgment. I have been down that path myself. I went down that path because I wanted to be happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. I thought that the path of positive thinking was the path to happiness. But the problem is that positive thinking blinds one to the reality that others are suffering and if one has the courage to look, one can easily see that one is contributing to the suffering of others, even if in very subtle ways, and it is in many cases not deliberate or conscious. As an American I use products everyday that are made by the hands of other human beings who have no opportunity to make a decent living for themselves and are thus relegated to slave labor just to survive. You may be aware of the scandal involving the suicide epidemic with workers at the Foxconn plants in China where iPhones are assembled. These people live under physical conditions that even you or I would have a tremendous amount of difficulty surviving under, much less changing or altering to our benefit. And, while I do understand the power of belief, and that what you believe completely will in some way or another manifest, even you and I had to be taught that, and it is possible to keep this hidden from someone through the way we structure their environment and education. So the point is not to feel bad and to become depressed, but to realize that by being honest about the situation we find ourselves in we then have a better vantage point to see the problem clearly and to thus take measurable action that will actually change the situation.

So, we have this issue: that so many believe that through simply being positive and only thinking positive thoughts that their lives will automatically be happier. This is a result of pervasive social programming, which in some cases is designed to actually disempower everyone, especially those who would be in a position to change the system. It doesn’t mean that one should deliberately feel bad. Obviously if you are feeling bad then you are not going to be in a position to do anything. It is this point that is keeping so many people in poverty. Ultimately each and every person is responsible for what they believe about themselves, but our beliefs are shaped by the environment we are born into and the possibilities that we are aware of. There are those rare cases, where people are able to escape their circumstances and do ‘great things’ but if we are honest (and this is very difficult to do, I know) and we look at what all of these ‘rags to riches’ stories actually accomplished, we do not see anyone having created a systemic change that leads to a system that is best for all. The system is very clever at finding ways to trap even those with the biggest hearts and desire to give to others into perpetuating the system of abuse, even if indirectly. This is not to say that we should discount the efforts of those who have risen above their station. No, we can learn from them some of the secrets of how to alter our circumstances. And yet, if we do not hold ourselves to the principle of always doing what is Best for All, then we too will inevitably fall into the same trap. And ‘holding ourselves to a principle,’ again, is not something we do in our mind alone. It is not a belief system. It is a consistent application of ourselves in action and self-support to not go with the pre-programmed path but to stand up and stand out. Structuring this principle within ourselves through writing is the key to ensuring that our stand is not based on energy so that we an remain stable within our directive principle when the hard times come. And, if there is one thing I have learned as an entrepreneur, it is that the hard times will come. This is why so few succeed. We are taught to fear and avoid failure and to internalize failure as a reflection of who we are when it is in fact part of any learning process. The best students are willing to fail again and again and to use that feedback to become their very best.

So back to Purpose. At the moment, because of how our environment is designed, through the accumulation of the past actions of our ancestors, and perpetuated in present time by our own, when a child is born, they are programmed to live only for the benefit of the system itself. The system is not a person. It does not have feelings or wishes or desires. It does not feel pain or sadness. It does not feel joy. It is a machine. Its purpose is to continue to exist no matter what. That is the nature of a system. It is not something to be judged, and yet we can look and see that the system, as it is currently functioning is not the best it could possible be. I don’t have to prove that. And you don’t need an expert to back it up. You will either agree or disagree. And if you disagree then I am confident that you will eventually experience, at some point, the consequence of not changing the system. And if it were best, then why wouldn’t we want to run perpetually? Anything that is not best will in the end produce a result for everyone that is not best. That is common sense. So no matter how much money or fame or security you have, eventually, if we do not all together change this system so that it is the best it can possible be, then how can it possibly give you or me or anyone the best possible result?

So what is best? You can work that out for yourself. Is it best for everyone to have every practically possible opportunity to be happy? Is it best that everyone understand the value of effort within the equal understanding that your effort and action produces consequences that if not aligned with what is best for all, will produce an inferior result? Is it not best that everyone be able to express who they really are? Is it not best that we continually expand and experience ever expanding joy and happiness?

The key here is to not engage in wishful thinking. The things listed above are on our ‘to-get’ list, not our ‘to-do’ list. We may have to do some things we do not enjoy doing because we have to walk through the consequences we have allowed as they are programmed into the system. If your toilet overflows, you may have to wade through some shit. But then design a better toilet so that it doesn’t overflow again.

So my purpose, the one I give to myself, is to do whatever it takes to create a world that is best for all. Part of that is this writing process that I am now sharing with you and the world. There are others walking the same process, all one has to do is google ‘Journey to Life blogs’ and you will find many others with different perspectives but with the same directive principle. You may find lessons there that you do not find here. Fortunately we live in an age where we are able to share our lives and experiences with each other through technology and thus what may take 15 years for me may take 5 or less for you. And imagine what we can then do to support our children and their children?

We are all here together in this world and no man is an island. Our choices have consequences. Our preprogramming limits the range of choices we have, and yet one must find within oneself that spark of Life and the resolve to kindle it and bring to shine out in this world. It’s not easy, and yet as a group, anything is possible. There is so much to do in this world. Do not let that dishearten you. Let it excite you! Let it spur you to action. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I have made plenty. And I still have a lot to learn. The truth is that there little to add, but much to remove. I believe that given the right environment a person will naturally want and do what is best. And given the option to choose their purpose, unencumbered by force or negative influence, anyone would choose to be happy and to act in a way that allows others to be happy as well.

So here we are together, at a unique point in history where this is actually possible. I really don’t think that this message could have had a real impact at any other time. We all know what happened to Jesus. His message was one of equality and in essence was that we should give in order that we may receive. If we want happiness when we must ensure if for all equally, and yet we have not yet manifested the ‘kindgom of heaven’ here on earth. Heaven on Earth is possible, because I believe it is. What that will actually look like, it’s hard to imagine, because our imaginations have been captivated and molded in the image and likeness of a system of consumption and abuse. We will have to let go of our beliefs and realize that we don’t know what we don’t know. We have to be willing to learn and to accept change and always bring ourselves back to our principle, our starting point because that will determine our end point, and thus we give to ourselves in every moment the best purpose possible.

If you find this blog to be of value and support, share it with others. Follow this blog and check back often to walk with me on this journey. Feel free to reach out! Let’s move together as one until all are equal! Until next time, “All the Best!”