By Victor M Fontane
The normal life cycle of humans is to be born, educated, maintain a working life, get sick, grow old and die. The other kingdoms (animal, vegetable, etc.) show a similar cycle. In this cycle, some suffer more and others suffer less, but the path is the same for everyone. For humans, race, nationality, economic and social status, etc. does not matter.
But, what’s the real purpose of life?
Life is full of suffering. That is the universal truth of Buddhism. There is nothing permanent in life is another truth that Buddha teaches. But if life is full of suffering and there is nothing permanent in life, then what is the point of living? What is the meaning of life?
According to the Four Noble Truths, life is full of suffering. We suffer because we live. Growth, love, friends, family and the things that happen to us bring both joy and pain. The things that seem to be joyous causes us to feel pain as well because they are all ephemeral.
Suffering is brought about by our DESIRES. Sentient beings think and therefore want. Because of our ability to understand life, we tend to hunger for bigger and bigger things. We never feel satieted. The more money we have, the more we want to have even more money. When we find someone to love, we try to possess them and even control them. And because of all these desire we end up in misery.
Removing Suffering
Life does not mean we will forever suffer. We have the ability to simplify our lifes. By lessening things that we don’t need we find more meaning in our lifes. We cultivate kindness and compassion. We make our connections with others better.
To find the true meaning of life, we must find a way to release ourselves from the cycle of pain and suffering. Letting go of desire helps us achieve happiness and enlightenment.
The True Meaning of Life
A lot of people would ask “If I no longer desire anything, then what is the point of living?”.
The point of living is simple, to cleanse and purify us in order to achieve full enlightenment. Unless we truly know suffering, we cannot full understand compassion. Unless we have felt pain and loss, we cannot truly be kind. We can be kind when we are never hurt but it not similar to compassion that comes from the heart that has once felt misery.
The true meaning of life is helping others achieve freedom from suffering. The true meaning of joy is compassion. The goal in life is to assist others to realize their full potential. The meaning of life it to grow into a kind and caring soul who is selfless and understanding.
The key then to get rid of suffering according to the Buddhist teachings is:
1. Life is full of suffering but we can be from it if we leave desire behind. 2. Living in the Right Path allows us to achieve Enlightenment. 3. Life is impermanent, has suffering and therefore we need to understand that we cannot claim anything in this life. 4. We need to be compassionate and aid other in their journey towards enlightenment.
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