Tag: meaning

Posted in Philosophy

The Meaninglessness Of It All

Posted on by Jinavie

What is the meaning of life? This has been one of the greatest philosophical questions of all time, pondered by almost every human being at some stage in their life. In the early days, the meaning of life was simple: survive. We had to use all of our resources to feed and warm ourselves, while defending ourselves from the various creative ways nature can kill us. But as civilisation developed and we had more luxury of food, time and thought, we began to wonder more and more: why are we here?

When we are babies, the world revolves around us. Parents exist to feed us, what we see are the extension of our minds and what we cannot see does not exist. This belief carries on to adulthood somewhat. We see this in old beliefs that the universe revolves around the Earth, and religions telling us that everything on Earth was created for mankind. The concepts of destiny and divine will provided us with purpose in this world. We felt important and valuable because we felt that we were part of something greater and our lives mattered.

But as science developed, we came to learn that the universe does not exist for us. Things don’t happen because they are scripted as an intricate chain reaction as part of a grand story; they just happen thanks to random chance. Biology teaches us that life is a product of a series of accidents and mistakes, to create better adapted beings. Statistics teaches us that we are not special; just a point on a bell curve. Psychology teaches us how flawed we are in interpreting cause and effect, thanks to our brain’s tendency of seeking patterns resulting in cognitive biases.

In short, there is a real possibility that there is no meaning of life. We are simply happy accidents amidst the course of the universe’s timeline.

Yet we cling to the idea that we need to find our purpose. We cannot bear the thought that we have no celestial guidance as we navigate through life, or that our choices and actions play no role in how the world spins on. We fear that without purpose, we are worthless. The thought that life is meaningless invokes existential dread and we wonder what’s the point of doing anything in life.

However, consider the opposite. If we are not bound by fate or some calling, then our lives are truly ours. We are not chess pieces following every instruction of an unseen player. Instead, we have the freedom to make our own choices and write the story of our lives however we want. This is no doubt scary, because we have little guidance along this journey. Nevertheless, it is our story, our choices, our life.

Instead of lamenting that we serve no purpose, we can create our own purpose. We won the lottery and got to experience consciousness. How will you use that gift? Will you waste it away by doing nothing, or will you make the most of it by enjoying it? If we don’t have some mission to accomplish, then we can use our time to enjoy our passions (given that it does not harm anyone) and challenge ourselves to be better people.

The pursuit of happiness, to be the best version of yourself, to help others lead a happier life… However you want to make use of your life, as long as you are content with it and accept that it is your choice, that is the true meaning of life. Hopefully, it is something positive and constructive, rather than something harmful or something that you would regret in your final moments.

You are not worthless because you have no purpose. You are priceless because there are no expectations or plans or predestined path for you. Life is like a blank canvas with little restriction on what you can do with it. You might as well get the most value from it by painting the best damn picture you can – something for you to smile upon and be proud of, while inspiring others to paint their own beautiful pictures.

Enjoy the meaninglessness of life.

Posted in History & Literature

Namaste

Posted on by Jinavie

Yoga has become a popular fitness trend in the developed world. People enjoy yoga as they feel it combines regular exercise, flexibility and meditation all in one session. One popular tradition that is seen in modern yoga is how instructors (yogi) will say “Namaste” at the start and end of a session.

What does namaste mean? Some people think it means “goodbye” in Hindi, while some people ascribe deeper meaning to the word such as “love and peace to all” or “the divine in me bows to the divine in you”. All in all, it has become somewhat of a catchphrase in the yoga world.

In reality, namaste is simply a greeting. It can be used either when you meet someone or say goodbye, but the important point is that it is a very formal greeting. It is more often used in formal settings such as important meetings. The word comes from the Sanskrit roots namas, meaning “bow” or “to pay homage to”, and te, essentially meaning “to you”. Therefore, a literal translation of namaste would be “I pay homage to you”.

Interestingly, namaste has never been an important part of traditional yoga. Yoga in India generally come from religious traditions. Since Hinduism is a polytheistic religion involving many gods, each yoga lineage would have a specific greeting praising their respective gods. This is in contrast to namaste, which puts more importance on the individual person than the god. So ironically, namaste somewhat contradicts the traditional philosophy of yoga.

Unfortunately, the worst part is that most people do not even pronounce the word correctly, saying “NA-ma-stay” instead of the correct “nuh-MAS-the” (“t” is pronounced as “th” in Hindi) with the emphasis on the middle syllable.

It is unclear when the trend of saying namaste in modern yoga came from, but it is certainly a product of the Western appropriation of the practice. Perhaps it was introduced to add a more spiritual, faux-profound flavour to exercising.

Nevertheless, to quote Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride:

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Posted in History & Literature

Flower Language

Posted on by Jinavie

Roses are the most common flowers used in modern society to profess one’s love. However, many people do not know the true meaning behind each flower. For example, every colour has a different meaning for roses.

  • Red rose: true love, passion
  • White rose: eternal love, innocence
  • Black rose: death, farewell
  • Yellow rose: friendship, jealousy, betrayal
  • Pink rose: grace, gratitude, youth
  • Mix of red and white roses: unity

As seen from above, a rose can mean love, friendship or even separation. It is also important to note that roses are traditionally given as a bouquet of one, six, dozen or any multiple of six. 
The following is a list of common flowers and what they symbolise:

  • Acacia: secret love
  • Bellflower: thinking of you
  • Cherry blossoms: beautiful mind, purity
  • Chrysanthemum: peace, love, mourning (used in funerals)
  • Cosmos: forever, devotion
  • Daffodil: Chivalry, respect, unrequited love
  • Daisies: innocence, modesty, beauty
  • Edelweiss: memories of an important person
  • Hibiscus: rare beauty
  • Lavender: silence, devotion
  • Lilac: memories of youth, first love
  • Lily: innocence, chastity, purity
  • Magnolia: unrequited love
  • Pansies: memories of love
  • Sunflower: happiness
  • Tulip: declaration of love (red), hopeless love (yellow), broken heart (white)
  • Violet: faithfulness

Posted in Philosophy

Four Seasons

Posted on by Jinavie

Spring. The warm sunshine and the soft breeze form a balance to breathe new life into everything – flowers, trees, hibernating animals, babies. The baby grows on the nutrition that is love. The baby spends the most peaceful, free stage of childhood and experiences new things every day. He learns life slowly as he grows like a fresh sprout. Unfortunately, at this stage the sprout is also vulnerable to harm, and these scars will be a burden for the rest of the baby’s life.

Summer. The hot, burning sun, the boundless, clear ocean. The hot, burning love and desires, the boundless, clear possibilities life brings. The boy spends the happiest moments in his life, and discovers what he wants and who he is. Through this he also develops obsessions; his main obsession is love – so hot that it may even burn up into ashes or cause scalding wounds. He enjoys the present, without knowing the weight of the world and true pain. To him, the future is a land of infinite dreams and hope. His boyhood times burn like a roaring flame, and happiness reaches a climax.

Autumn. The leaves, bleached yellow, fall gently. The endless and cloudless sky. The cold wind. The boy, now a young adult, laments why life and love are so painful, and why he must suffer so much. The future that was once full of dreams has now become a hopeless reality. As the leaves die away, so do the boy’s hopes, romance and his identity. Can he pull through this bitter adolescence? What does he wonder while staring at the dead leaves? No one truly understands his thoughts and pain, and he trudges along a road strewn with leaves. The passion and heat of summer have completely disappeared.

Winter. There is no life. Only white snow covers the world, turning it into a blank page. The man feels that there is no meaning to life, and looks back on his life. The dream-like spring, the passionate summer, the despairing autumn, the end of the four seasons – winter. But then, he finally realises. The naive spring, the foolish summer, the pain he overcame through autumn. The man looks back at how he has grown and developed, and turns his attention to his inner self for the meaning of life and peace. After overcoming his mid-life crisis, he clears his mind and reaches nirvana.

Spring. A spring comes again, new life arises once more. The old man calmly smiles and thinks. He now understands the true meaning of life and is satisfied with his. He sees a baby facing another set of four seasons and thinks: “That child will walk a similar journey as I did.” He now knows that life cycles, and that spring will indubitably return always.

He is now completely at peace.

Posted in Philosophy

The Truth Lies Within The Finger

Posted on by Jinavie

A wise man points at the moon, but the fool looks at the finger. (Chinese proverb)

The wise man explains that his finger is not important and what should be looked at is the moon, but the fool carefully listens to him and thinks that he is a very good speaker. (a modern adaptation of the proverb)

The wise man pleads the fool to look at the damn moon, but the fool is only afraid and does not look up. (a very modern adaptation of the proverb)

The wise man finally gives up talking about the moon and instead starts talking about his finger, which he thinks the fool will be more interested in. The fool then says to himself, that the wise man is someone who is able to explain his own stories to others in an easily understandable manner, and that he can talk about any subject – even a random thing such as a finger. (an even more modern adaptation of the proverb)

When the wise man dies, the fool asks himself: “So really, what was it the wise man tried to explain to us lifting his finger so high?” (the ultimate adaptation of the proverb)

(from Paradise by Bernard Werber)

Posted in History & Literature

Meaning Of Family

Posted on by Jinavie

Father
And 
Mother
I 
Love
You

Although the actual etymology of the word comes from the Latin word familia, meaning “members of a household”, perhaps this acronym best reflects the true meaning of the word.

Posted in Philosophy

Evidence

Posted on by Jinavie

When a person dies, what do they leave in the world? As an old proverb states, tigers leave their hide after death and people leave their name after death. Little is left after death: bodies slowly decay and return to the ground, wealth is split up and taken by others. If you think about it, the only thing that remains as evidence that the person existed is their name, and people’s memories regarding that name. Official records or photos can be lost among time and forgotten about, but a strong bond between people is hard to forget.

But as even memories fade away, a person who you met once or twice will be forgotten eventually. Therefore, a person who never was close to people or make an impact in someone’s life would “not have existed” to anyone other than a select few, such as family. Therefore, his or her life would have had no meaning, as it may have never existed. Although some may argue that there would have been meaning while the person was alive, there is no greater meaning outside of the past and present, with no impact in the future.

However, if one is close to many people and actively leaves some mark in someone’s life, they will be remembered for those “marks”. In other words, the way people see you is how you will be remembered after death, and by extension, it will define who you were. If you were generous and kind, you become a “good person” forever, but if you did not interact with people or treated them with little respect, you are then defined as a “not so good person”, or even worse, not defined at all. This is regardless of what kind of person you are on the inside, as that would be completely destroyed after death.

The main point of this thought process is that if you do not leave some evidence that you existed, more specifically a good mark, whatever you did in your life will be meaningless. One could accomplish a great feat and have their name known across the world, or leave a work of art or literature that will be seen and read, or even just befriend many people and leave an everlasting impression of yourself in their mind. 

But if you do not want your life to have any impact on the future, there is the option of simply enjoying the present and disappear as Andersen’s Little Mermaid did.
Ergo, it is ultimately your choice whether you want to leave a mark in the world or not.