The Meaning of Life

Yes. I'm blogging on the meaning of life. Easy cheesy.

Martine and I have added some readings to expand our yogic knowledge and deepen our discussions on yogic philosophy. The first book we read was "In the Company of the Wise" by Swami Sivananda Radha. Throughout the book, she talks about the lessons she has learned from her teachers. She also talks about the lessons she has learned about incorporating yoga into a western life. The main lessons that I took away from the book were related to how I could incorporate yoga more fully into my life.

Each time I read the parts of the book, whether it was on the train, bus, or in my bed, I felt that I was connecting back to myself and my purpose in life. My favorite part of the entire book is when she said "By the time Dadaji had finished talking I had learned another lesson: no matter where we are, it is our duty to remind people of the purpose of life" (p.92). What I found most interesting about that sentence is that she either assumes that the reader knows the purpose of life, or she has intentionally left it out to allow more room for the reader's exploration. Either way, that sentence had the most impact on me than any other in the book. I thought to myself, do I have an answer for that question? Do I really know what I'm doing here?

And, funnily enough, I found an answer hovering just below my consciousness. I thought, yes, I do have an answer. I decided that my answer was, "to make life better for others." To me, that answer made immediate sense, and felt right. As I thought about it over the next couple of days, I felt happy with that answer. And, even more strange was that I had someone ask me what the meaning of life was within 24 hours of reading that. I felt these little pieces of my life coming together, I felt that the world was sending me messages, and I felt that my yoga has really become more entrenched in my life.