Meaning of Life

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Is it probable the meaning of life is 'nothing.'

Let me explain - animals that make it near the top of the food chain (and therefore, have the time) lay down and relax and do nothing. Not many species can afford the time to drop all their senses and relax, bask in the moment. Most cannot because that would be a great time to be pounced on.

So, no animal really has the opportunity to 'live in the present' since they must worry about the future (either being eaten or being able to kill something TO eat).

Essentially, meditation allows the best opportunity to 'clear ones mind' (from worry, normally from 'future' or past happenings) and live in 'the now' which, asides from the time thread, is the only thing that truely exists (in time speak) and should, essentially, be the only thing people focus on (but they dont via bills, work, other people, etc a lot of stress).

Would it be possible that the meaning of life is to achieve a state of 'nothingness?' A 'clear' mind, if you will.

I dont necessarily believe this, just a thought

Sounds good to me. I liked the line "Null and Void" in the movie "Ray".

http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?article=395

"Then I will tell you a great secret. Perhaps the greatest of all time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this planet and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are starstuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. "

JMS quote.

Just thought i'd throw that out as i'd always liked the idea.

ps:- Enlightenment is supposedly based upon being able to live in "the now". I don't know alot about buddhism but it sounds similar too your idea.

The meaning of life is what you make of it.

A quote from me.

It's Fate that brought us here.

If that planet didn't smack into us 4 billion years ago, we wouldn't be here.

i think that we have to deal with the 'nothingness' by creating meanings for life..

ala...all 7 billion of us get on the net...get stoned and have a big pow wow....and go...

ok...preserving the planet...that can be a meaning

um....a collective crack at finding other life....that can be a meaning...

giving everyone the means to enjoy their time on earth instead of making it a drag...

could go on all day....im sure if we took on the role of creators....we could think up a million meanings of life

We could 'become' creators over the course of time. However, when we've created everything and experienced everything, then the only thing left is death. At this point, the meaning of life is death. The meaning now can also be death

Why not let meaning be progress and strength? That way, humanity will master something, and will grow and control more even as various worlds die. Nothingness can be a meaning, but what does individual nothingness ever do? Besides, why should potential be continually wasted by a pursuit of nothingness? We were given great potential and to throw it away as such seems to be utter waste. Preserving the earth is meaningless, the world will die somehow in its own way no matter what we do. Not only that but the earth is just a tool of ours anyway, why should we give it any inherent value? Finding other life is too difficult. At least attempts at all the previous will bear fruit, but attempts to find life will end up failing and this will just disappoint. We should be creators, creators of progress, of knowledge and masters over our reality. That has been our forte to this point, why not let it be our purpose?

I don't think its valid to compare humans to animals. Animals act by instincts and therefore don't have much of a choice. When they have nothing to do, they relax because they don't have the intelligence do do anything else. Nor are they able to think outside their instincts of basic survival and procreation. Thats probably why they lay down until they become hungry again, or an opportunity to mate presents itself.
Humans have a conciousness greater than animals. Thats why animals don't have politics, tonal music, philosophy etc...

The meaning of life is whatever you wish it to be. I don't think there is a general meaning for every human. That would make life rather boring.

Humans rose from the primordial soup so they could create nonbiodegradable plastic. The earth can now co-exist with its nonbiodegradable plastic that was begotten from materials from the earth after discarding us like a bunch of fleas. n_n

@Revanant
We're physically inferior to other creatures in almost every aspect, and in spite of popular belief, there's really no evidence that shows that we are the most intelligent form of life on the planet (how do you even define intelligent?). We're not even the dominant form of life on the planet, after bugs and microbes... Like elephants have huge brain capacity and display complex behaviours like mourning their dead. Some great apes are able to put sequences of numbers in order faster than a human can. Whale's sing complex songs that last for hours without ever repeating, then remember the whole thing and sing it again note for note years later. Many creatures have language, create tools, construct buildings, teach their children, have nurseries, have complex social groups, work in teams, wage wars, get high, and even take the p**s out of their mates. Physically, we're based on the same basic ideas as all mammals. Biochemically we're all but identical. To say that we are somehow different or above other creatures is completely irrational.

Ya, I'm not in a state of meditation all day, fyi.

Besides, you're advancing society - why?

Forty-Two