One of the topics I think a lot about is “meaning of life”. It’s not because I’m 40+ now. I’ve been thinking about it, believe it or not, since I was 10. Of course the context of that question was totally different back then and has been changing every few years. However, the question persisted.
I also encountered a lot of thoughts, quotes on this topic which further shaped up the question.
This post is the culmination of that journey. Though it is not the end (in the sense of finding answer to that question or ending the pursuit of finding the answer), it is a crucial juncture because I feel that I have permanently changed in the year 2023 and I’m going to be a new person, in many ways, from 2024.
So let me start my chain of thoughts.
Richard Dawkins in one of the debates said: “Universe has no purpose”. The world was not designed. And the process of evolution didn’t happen to serve some grand purpose.
That hit me hard. Can the argument be extended to us, who are part of the universe?
Dawkin’s idea directly contradicted Mark Twain’s thought who said: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why”.
It suggests that purpose is important for life. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche echoed a similar idea when he said: “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how“. It means if you have a purpose, a mission in life you’ll find a path – means to an end.
The Chinese philosopher Confucious had a slightly different, and in my opinion, a better take on Mark Twain’s thought of there being two lives. He said: “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one”.
I feel that Confucious’ idea is more profound and more real. We always feel that we will live a different life “some other day” in future. We dream of being someone else or doing something else when “we get there” or “achieve that thing”. However, there comes a time when we realise that we only have one life and it’s now or newhere. The moment you realise that you would approach life differently. The new generation mantra YOLO (“You Only Live Once”) is a more shallow, frivolous version of the same.
While thinking about Confucious and Mark Twain’s ideas it struck me that in Indian/Hindu/Vedic philosophy we have a similar concept called “Dvij” (द्विज) which literally means Twice Born. There is a ritual for boys called Upanayan (उपनयन) or Munja (मुंज) or Vratabandha (व्रतबंध) i.e thread ceremony through which a young boy of age 7 or 8 is accepted as a student by his Guru or Acharya and the boy begins his journey of acquiring knowledge. That person is said to be Dvij or Twice Born – because that person is now transformed into a new being. Dvij is also used for Brahmin caste because they were supposed to be the keepers or knowledge and after having transformed themselves they would live their second life in assimilation and dissipation or knowledge for the rest of their lives.
I found the concept of Dvij (Twice Born) very fascinating. Leave aside the ritual or the religious connotations. A person can become Dvij any day, any moment when a transformation happens and his life post that is completely a different trajectory.
If we agree that the universe has no purpose and our lives too have no purpose – the next question is: should there be a purpose. Or what should that purpose be?
Philosophers and thinkers have a very different take on such matters.
Albert Camus said: “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will neve live if you are looking for the meaning of life”.
Joseph Campbell said: “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to our life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.”
Pablo Picasso, the genius artist, said: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”.
This is really an exciting idea! But what if lesser mortals life me are not gifted? Well, the point is that it’s not whether you are gifted or not. It’s about the process of finding your gift. The perpetual endeavour to develop that gift. For the blessed and gifted people, Picasso’s idea should be a guiding principle. The “free” ones (i.e. those who are not “gifted”! Apologies for a bad joke!) should look up to Viktor Frankl (author of: Man’s Search for Meaning)
“The meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.”
I think this is a very good practical approach one can take. Assign meaning not in general, but in the specific moment. That may occupy the whole of your life or may keep you busy for a while.
“To live is to experience things, not sit around pondering the meaning of life.” — Paulo Coelho, Aleph
“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” – Toni Morrison
This is surreal. Think of how you will measure your life. Not others. Ben Franklin was right when he said :”Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75″.
The year 2023 was a landmark year for me because I kind of reconciled all these thoughts and questions in my mind and I think (though one can never be sure) that I know how I want to live my life. And I want to spend the rest of my life in that pursuit. That journey will start from 1st January 2024. That’s why I feel the Dvij (Twice Born) moment. It doesn’t mean that things are going to drastically change, or I have set up an ambitious goal or mission for myself. It just means that I have complete clarity of what I want to do and don’t want to do in the remaining life.
My social interactions, relations, and transactions will continue. However, I’ll also be on a path of my own. I would like to measure my life on the basis of what happens on that path.
ekoshapu 
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