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your life - purpose, lessons learnt etc. please share.
misecmisc1
I am a HinduIndia Veteran
hi all,
as per you - what is the purpose of your life? what are the lessons you have learned in your life from your own life's experience?
just general questions. please share, if you wish to share.
as far as if i would have to tell about my life, then i would say - till now, my life has just been a routine life for me. from childhood till almost 23 years when i completed my masters degree in computer applications, it was just studying and attending classes. i am not good in any sport, so never played any sport on regular basis - i think till class 8, i was playing cricket in our colony during evening on almost daily, but after that from class 9 tutions started in evening and so that playing was also gone - moreover, since i was not good at any sports, so i was not even interested in playing much. when my masters degree got completed, in same year i got job and then my job started and from then, till now i am working as a software professional - again routine job, sitting nearly 10 hours on laptop, sometimes more. nearly 1.5 years back, i struck spirituality when i accidently read Bhagwad Geeta and then Buddha's teachings, so these days, studying about Buddha's teachings from different websites and trying to sit and trying to be in present moment. moreover, nearly 4 years back, i got married and now i have a daughter 2 years old.
so i had kind of boring life, as you could easily see from above. moreover, i think i am kind of boring person too, since i do not have much enthusiasm in doing any activities like shopping, travelling, adventure sports etc. also these days, i do not find even interest in watching movies.
as for what is the purpose of my life - my answer is - i don't know. may be i am too stupid to even know this basic thing about my life. but i do not know what is the purpose of my life. after coming into contact with Zen, i am trying to live in present moment, which i am not able to do, but still trying. moreover, i have left the ideas of what i want to become 5 years down the line, or 10 years down the line - may be i am just thinking like this, but when things like promotion come up later, i may again get entangled with pursuits of status, wealth, gain etc - but currently my job is going on steadily in a relaxed manner, so i am just trying to relax. i think enough of the crap about me.
now over to you all for the above questions. also i think we have some experienced aged people on here, so my question to them is - what do you think is really worth to do in life, if you look back at your years which are gone? will like to know genuine answers please, instead of what you think is worth to do in life - so no philosophizing about spirituality please, rather if you say spirituality, then practical aspects of spirituality from your life's experiences. thanks in advance.
as per you - what is the purpose of your life? what are the lessons you have learned in your life from your own life's experience?
just general questions. please share, if you wish to share.
as far as if i would have to tell about my life, then i would say - till now, my life has just been a routine life for me. from childhood till almost 23 years when i completed my masters degree in computer applications, it was just studying and attending classes. i am not good in any sport, so never played any sport on regular basis - i think till class 8, i was playing cricket in our colony during evening on almost daily, but after that from class 9 tutions started in evening and so that playing was also gone - moreover, since i was not good at any sports, so i was not even interested in playing much. when my masters degree got completed, in same year i got job and then my job started and from then, till now i am working as a software professional - again routine job, sitting nearly 10 hours on laptop, sometimes more. nearly 1.5 years back, i struck spirituality when i accidently read Bhagwad Geeta and then Buddha's teachings, so these days, studying about Buddha's teachings from different websites and trying to sit and trying to be in present moment. moreover, nearly 4 years back, i got married and now i have a daughter 2 years old.
so i had kind of boring life, as you could easily see from above. moreover, i think i am kind of boring person too, since i do not have much enthusiasm in doing any activities like shopping, travelling, adventure sports etc. also these days, i do not find even interest in watching movies.
as for what is the purpose of my life - my answer is - i don't know. may be i am too stupid to even know this basic thing about my life. but i do not know what is the purpose of my life. after coming into contact with Zen, i am trying to live in present moment, which i am not able to do, but still trying. moreover, i have left the ideas of what i want to become 5 years down the line, or 10 years down the line - may be i am just thinking like this, but when things like promotion come up later, i may again get entangled with pursuits of status, wealth, gain etc - but currently my job is going on steadily in a relaxed manner, so i am just trying to relax. i think enough of the crap about me.
now over to you all for the above questions. also i think we have some experienced aged people on here, so my question to them is - what do you think is really worth to do in life, if you look back at your years which are gone? will like to know genuine answers please, instead of what you think is worth to do in life - so no philosophizing about spirituality please, rather if you say spirituality, then practical aspects of spirituality from your life's experiences. thanks in advance.
1
Comments
The most interesting parts have been the meditation experiences, (spiritual materialism yeehaa!) but that's not what you asked.
hi all,
please also tell your current age, if possible, or an approximate current age if you do not wish to tell your exact current age
as far as i am concerned, currently i am 32 years old.
also, if you want then you can also tell what things you have done in your life in past, which now you think it would have been better if you have not done that thing in your life.
With the breath.
Life is one long breath: in (at the beginning) and out (at the end).
What happens in the middle, is up to us to live, with an easy, relaxed, and grateful breath.
So when stress occurs, breathe.......
I have no idea whether I have a purpose in life; all I know is that I gain the best experiences when I breathe easy, and enable those around me to do the same.
As for my age? I'm old enough to be tried as an adult for murder, but young enough to still think that music on the Top 40 charts isn't just 'noise.'
I'd say that the purpose of life is whatever you give it. So for me a better question than 'Does life have a purpose?' would be 'Can my life be given a purpose' or 'Can I live my life with purpose?', or 'What purpose should I give my life?'. etc.
But you can still ask 'Is there a purpose to giving my life a purpose'. I'd say that Buddhism answers this question.
It's enough to just be alive.
I also like @SillyPutty trying to save the world . . . from her . . .
The Sufis have a great saying that is worthy of non-zen porpoise that I aspire to:
'Increase in Love'
Nihilism and Taoism going nowhere has no passion, no zest, no jest
As I said to the Buddha only this morning: 'Don't just sit there, Do Nothing . . .'
Emptiness is Form
Form is emptiness
So learn to dance . . . :clap:
There is suffering
There is an end to suffering
Choose
thanks for your replies.
just to re-collect, the questions are:
as per you - what is the purpose of your life?
what are the lessons you have learned in your life from your own life's experience?
also, if you want then you can also tell what things you have done in your life in past, which now you think it would have been better if you have not done that thing in your life.
Lessons in life are too many to name, but the most important is that life is suffering. And what to do about it.
Ive done a lot of things I should not have. I used to steal all the time as a young teenager as an example.
What lessons I've learned. SO many. I've learned that my way isn't THE way. That I can trust my kids, my husband, my parents, and everyone else to do what is right for them most of the time (sometimes the kids need a bit of extra guidance but really they are good at knowing what is right for them). That if they tried it my way, it would be a disaster for them, and vice versa.
That most of the time when people say or do things that are hurtful, they are coming from a place of pain in their own life. My mom tends to be really critical of some things, but I understand now that the reason she does so is out of fear from the childhood she grew up with.
I've learned that fear and anger and other negative emotions are not just a given, you don't have to suffer with them any longer than possible. You most certainly don't have to wallow in them. Once you recognize them and name them, they tend to dissipate and disappear.
And while there are many more, lol, I have things to do today. So I'll end with nothing lasts for ever. We are always told that. But to truly understand it is life changing. It's not limited as a cliche when a relationship ends or a pet dies. It is true for *everything* and knowing that is the ultimate freedom.
Being bored or boring or being exciting and alive are empty.
Being in the form and experience of Emptiness is the Heart of the Buddhist 'experience'.
There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.
Heart Sutra
. . . so find what you love, have fun
. . . and dance . . . even when sitting still . . .
P stands for passion living each moment as fully and with as much enthusiasm as possible.
I stands for integrity
M by my own means. I feel i am a free agent and i am able to make my own choices based on my own reason and logic
M is for meaningful dedicating my energy to things that will out last my brief existance or will benefit others
S stands for simplicity because the world is too complicated as it is. Although s sometimes stands for sarcasm, i know i shouldnt but i love clever wit.
In my free time i try my best to read and research brain stimulating things not just mind numbing things. Oh yeah and i meditate.
Although my down days as i call em really do mess my efforts up.
I hope my small voice reaches you and you can take some thing from or atleast enjoy reading my comment.
Peace out dudes and dudettes
I was about 18 years old when I discovered Buddhism, now about 7 years ago. (So I'm mid 20's) That discovery was one of the best things in my life. I was quite young and also, I was lucky to find teachings that were good for me right away. The practice brought me more kindness and peace. I can share this with other people, so in that sense it is also very worthwhile.
Are there also things that would have been better not to have done? Of course. But there is no need to go into details because these things happened and helped shape me. I don't regret anything I did. Even stupid things. They happen, but it's ok because nobody is perfect.
But, then again, isn't uncertainly a part of life?
BTW, I'm 22 and a college student, so I guess that can add to life's uncertainty?
In my life I have found that soulmates aren't the most important because you break up and then they're just someone you used to know.
Intelligence is also not reliable because I lost a lot of it with my illness. I couldn't find how to love myself once I was not pyschologically (confidence) and cogntively (delusions) able to continue my chemistry career.. It's like my identity had a hole shot in it.
36 years
I don't think a romantic notion of a soul mate exists, but I do think it's possible to reconnect in that way. I don't think everyone does it, I don't think because you love someone very much they are a soulmate. And while all of us probably have a soul mate somewhere on the planet, I think the chance of lives coming out so that you are together again in any way, is probably pretty rare.
I grew up in non-religious home but the heart of my mother's teaching was that her children treat others as they would want to be treated; aka The Golden Rule. This ideal has been rooted in my psyche, but there is still times to this day where that three year old comes out and plays.
However, I would say that my mother's teaching and my involvement with Buddhism, and now Christianity, has helped me put my experiences into a purposeful perspective, and from that I'm only just now beginning to see and starting to believe that my life purpose is a movement towards Personhood and what it truly means to be human being through self-emptying.
I'm an idiot and as such I often provide my own entertainment.
My life isn't all about me.
My "internal self-identified spiritualness" will not allow me to be a bringer of pain. This sounds high and mighty, I guess. Its not. Because I've brought pain. And the suffering I caused was unbearable for me to witness.
I love birds.
And green is my favorite color.
Lessons are in everything.