What is the Meaning of Life?

[unsubscribed_cm]

So I finally broke down and just put it to the Yijing, a question that was perhaps bigger than I realized. But I knew it was a big one. I have been trepidatious about asking the Yijing questions which are of ultimate meaning and grave purpose, simply because I was not sure I could bear the onslaught of the truth of the answer...

Nonetheless, I was watching a movie seeing men die and families slaughtered and women get raped by evil people and gangsters.. while playing a game called "Migration" which is about helping animals make it to their migratory destination, without getting eaten.

I decided to go ahead and ask one of the biggest questions...

"What is the cosmic or ultimate purpose of life?"

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60 unchanging

Limitation?

Wow. So the purpose of life is to experience the finite, the limited, conservation of novelty.

"Unlimited possibilities are not suitable" to life...

That makes sense. It seems it's really what life is about...
Some people turn away from the infinite and live their lives
in their narrow self righteousness...
In fact most it seems. I turn back to the infinite and live my life,
I admire those others that do also, but they are few...

Glad I didn't get 23, 36 or 44 hehe...

Of course this opens up a whole new set of questions...

[chingching]

42

[trojan]

So I finally broke down and just put it to the Yijing, a question that was perhaps bigger than I realized. But I knew it was a big one. I have been trepidatious about asking the Yijing questions which are of ultimate meaning and grave purpose, simply because I was not sure I could bear the onslaught of the truth of the answer...

Nonetheless, I was watching a movie seeing men die and families slaughtered and women get raped by evil people and gangsters.. while playing a game called "Migration" which is about helping animals make it to their migratory destination, without getting eaten.

I decided to go ahead and ask one of the biggest questions...

"What is the cosmic or ultimate purpose of life?"

- -
---
- -
- -
---
---

60 unchanging

Limitation?

Wow. So the purpose of life is to experience the finite, the limited, conservation of novelty.

"Unlimited possibilities are not suitable" to life...

That makes sense. It seems it's really what life is about...
Some people turn away from the infinite and live their lives
in their narrow self righteousness...
In fact most it seems. I turn back to the infinite and live my life,
I admire those others that do also, but they are few...

Glad I didn't get 23, 36 or 44 hehe...

Of course this opens up a whole new set of questions...

OTOH the answer could mean "you need to narrow your question down a bit cos I can't fit the meaning into one hexagram theres 64 of em". What you tend to leave out of your readings is you. You take the answer as pure objective fact....how can it be ? Cyclo asked this question on the 20th may 2011, got hex 60 and so this settles the meaning of life once and for all ? Or maybe the answer was for Cyclo on 20th may 2011



If all of us asked Yi the same question I expect we would all get different answers though it would be phenomenal if we all got 42 !

[rodaki]

What Trojan is saying was one of the thoughts that came up for me too when I read your post C . .

one of the other things that I thought is a standard reference for me regarding hx60, which is found here, maybe with some emphasis on annealing (also posted on the memorizing threads).
An example in art is a clip of an artwork of a Japanese artist I posted yesterday on my 'notes' thread. The artwork is actually just a small dark room with some lights hanging, covered in mirrors and a thin layer of water on the floor -the result it produces though is reminiscent of the universe. The gist of it as I perceive it is that the way to discover the infinite is thru the finite . . life can be divided in many moments, periods, phases and being wholly in each of them could generate a meaning all its own and yet part of a greater image, one that is constantly being given shape, molded, created . .

It could also be that the answer was showing something to reflect upon, while watching your own reverberations rising on the surface .. my guess is that the answers of the I Ching often fit our needs at the moment, directing our next questions rather than answering them. On the other hand, if meaning is created thru our own limitations, it can also be saying that your life's meaning is what you'll make of it . . a very definite (in distinction to definitive) but far-ranging answer too

Looking back in the 'memorizing' thread I also came across another description of 60 I'd like to quote:

Hex 60 as simplicity manifest
The wonder of hexagram 60 is that it represents the final quiescent fulfillment of its set. The flowing water has come to rest within the local topography to form a lake. It is an achievement of a great symphony of forces and developments though it just sits there quietly reflecting the sky. What started in the Divine power manifest in awesome thunder has settled out as simple limitation of possibilities within local available structure.

Frank

this one given to us from Frank Kegan . .


so these are some of my thoughts, that I first of all apply to myself while I keep on working on my meaning . .

[arabella]

Maybe it means that the Yi can only express a limited amount of what life is for; perhaps because there are also myriad possibilities depending upon who's doing the living?

[hebe]

Yes,that's what I would say...I think that point resonates best for me as I can't imagine there being an answer expanisve enough or definitive in any way.....Hebe

[gato]

Galling limitation must not be persevered in... means that one should not persist in believing such thing exists(meaning of life). this is just an invention to satisfy our egos

[anemos]

"What is the cosmic or ultimate purpose of life?"
60 unchanging

Limitation?

.

My favorite " definition" is the one of J. Campbell. “Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is Whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.”

Wilhelms' hex 60 commentary ... the fixed limits that the superior man sets upon his actions-the limits of loyalty and disinterestedness, in a way matches with that. 60 not as limitations but more as choices to what one clings.

[bamboo]

I think 60 is a perfect answer to what Purpose of Life is about. Focus. every individual is a point of focus, you see the world from your particular lens, the sacred lens of your unique vantage point. And to work with that (seemingly) narrow focus is the purpose. It doesnt mean a disadvantage, it means your opportunity, your particular gift of Life. perfect your focus, cultivate what is yours to cultivate.

Imagine if every kid went to college and never focused on what called to them, the thing natural to their talent and interest. what if they got so distracted by all the stimuli and possibility and social interaction that they never honed in on their true purpose there? They would end up scattered and lost, and without purpose nor direction.

having a particular focal point does not preclude endless possibility, the possibilities for cultivation are enormous, success is expansive, creativity in your endeavors is wide open. but to know who you are, and to embrace your sacred focal point- your unique window onto the world of this existence-- is to find your purpose, and to be it in action.

[unsubscribed_cm]

OTOH the answer could mean "you need to narrow your question down a bit cos I can't fit the meaning into one hexagram theres 64 of em". What you tend to leave out of your readings is you. You take the answer as pure objective fact....how can it be ? Cyclo asked this question on the 20th may 2011, got hex 60 and so this settles the meaning of life once and for all ? Or maybe the answer was for Cyclo on 20th may 2011

If all of us asked Yi the same question I expect we would all get different answers though it would be phenomenal if we all got 42 !

Trojan you seem to have the tendency to relate almost every divination back to the person casting it (at least for me). So there is no objective information, everything is rendered subjective. Is that something you just apply to CyclotronMajesty or to all divinatory messages from the Yijing? And if so why? I agree that sometimes the book seems to take this sort of route, but I've noticed it seems only to apply it when the question is vague, flippant sarcastic etc.

It could also be that the answer was showing something to reflect upon, while watching your own reverberations rising on the surface .. my guess is that the answers of the I Ching often fit our needs at the moment, directing our next questions rather than answering them. On the other hand, if meaning is created thru our own limitations, it can also be saying that your life's meaning is what you'll make of it . . a very definite (in distinction to definitive) but far-ranging answer too

Yes. The Yijing does seem to do this. Especially when you want to extract information like a data miner. It wants to then soften your touch…

But also it looks like what you said there (in bold) suggests a non-maternal definite answer.

I think 60 is a perfect answer to what Purpose of Life is about. Focus. every individual is a point of focus, you see the world from your particular lens, the sacred lens of your unique vantage point. And to work with that (seemingly) narrow focus is the purpose. It doesnt mean a disadvantage, it means your opportunity, your particular gift of Life. perfect your focus, cultivate what is yours to cultivate.

Imagine if every kid went to college and never focused on what called to them, the thing natural to their talent and interest. what if they got so distracted by all the stimuli and possibility and social interaction that they never honed in on their true purpose there? They would end up scattered and lost, and without purpose nor direction.

having a particular focal point does not preclude endless possibility, the possibilities for cultivation are enormous, success is expansive, creativity in your endeavors is wide open. but to know who you are, and to embrace your sacred focal point- your unique window onto the world of this existence-- is to find your purpose, and to be it in action.

I dunno where I read it, but Chris Lofting's Emotional I Ching, one of the hexagrams, suggests that that boundless is actually more the oppressive than the limited. I found that a totally new idea, but it's pretty well founded, notwithstanding that limits have to be limited themselves, as infinite limits is once again hitting infinity, and therefore not limited.

Limits could also suggest choices, as choices are clear universal boundaries. So as already stated: it is what you make of it.

... Although I do think that life is really about the finite, the limited, it's about the flesh, moments, and self realization, at least IMHO, figuring out what you are, and as Gandalf said: "What to do with the time we have..." or something like that. I've also noticed, life isn't about the profound very much. It's not about God, the spiritual or ultimate human destiny in general. Deep thinkers and introverts with grand ideas, are not often given a public hearing, people just don't have time for that. So even if you are a sage or guru of some sort, you have to compartmentalize yourself in order to deal with the world, sell DVDs, and schedule retreats, even though you probably officially find such fussy things tiresome.

Yes the limited indeed. Our time here is limited, and novelty is limited and conserved.

This is a very Saturnian view of life. I bet a NWO Illuminati type would relish it: the purpose of life is LAWS, and control, population control and finite resources etc. Lol...

...

On the other hand self actualization:

"The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is." -Wilhelm

Determining who he is, what to do, etc.