“We can discover meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.”

But what especially seemed relevant to your post was what Frankl said about the big suck of a concentration camp:

“It did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected of us.
We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life-daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

I find some comfort in that. Thank you for your courage, authenticity and honesty.

Determinism is a whole other animal. Almost every time the question of determinism impinges on the question of free will (which is really what people want to know). For my part, I think the question of whether or not we have free will is not really answerable, that’s because what we are really asking is what “caused” a person’s behavior? If genes and environment “caused” it (or any other deterministic laws of physics, chemistry, etc.), and there are no other determinants, then there really is no free will, and the subjective sense of free will is “an illusion”. On the other hand, subjectively, we certainly FEEL like we have free will. From the ego perspective, when asked “what caused the behavior?”, we say “I did!” Determinists respond with all the data that show just how little of our actions are consciously determined (about 5%) and say that given the brain’s deterministic, though nonlinear/chaotic structure, what we choose to do is still deterministic, which seems to debunk free will.

But there’s a deeper problem here; that of causation. Causation is a mental construct. It’s an innate idea we are born with due to our evolutionary history; in fact, cause-effect exists in our minds because it is a pragmatic heuristic for survival, not because it is an inherent property of the physical universe. We know this from both psychological experiments that show the inconsistency of the concept, and from physics which at the microscopic level requires neither causation nor even time to exist. Note that I’m not saying that mental constructs like causation are “illusionary”, just that they are part of our inherited mental tools that help us understand the universe, and that because we are limited mortals, our tools are not perfect. In other words, when it comes to Absolute Reality, God knows; I don’t.

So that means that free will–which is a question of causation–becomes a question that we answer heuristically with the mental tool “causation” (i.e., I caused it; he caused it, she caused it), but that beneath that observation is a complete mystery we are *trying* to understand using the concept of “causation”.

We understand all deep mysteries using mental tools. They aren’t perfect, but they’re what we have–but that doesn’t mean the mystery doesn’t exist, only that it’s difficult to understand it because our brains are that of homo sapiens. To the question of “purpose” or “meaning” then, I respond the same way. Perhaps the universe has a purpose–that God has a purpose is a similar statement. But we can’t know rationally what it is, but intuitively, through introspection, we can describe it in symbolic (read: using mental tools) terms.

IMO, God has a definite purpose, and I have no idea what it is, but I sure as heck *feel* like it’s important for me not to stray from it just because it’s tough to understand concretely. To me, being with God means being “in synch” or con-temporaneous (contemplative) with God on this subject, and God’s ineffable response is always in symbols and feelings. Perhaps the “purpose” (another mental tool is teleological reasoning) is simply quiet being. Doubt if it helps, but that’s my opinion

Sorry for the ramble. Cheers.

I’ll have to check out that reference when I have time.

Thanks for sharing your most private thoughts. It takes courage to help others while struggling yourself.

Just thought I would make a link available to a website that you all might enjoy.

http://www.shalomplace.com

perhaps some of you know about it.

It is a Christian spirituality website dealing predominantly with mysticism and spirituality issues with a significant amount of content discussing the relationship between Christian mysticism and Eastern Forms of mysticism (go to the discussion board).

I have found them extremely valuable in the way they are able to encourage the relationship between Eastern and Western modes of conciousness without loosing what I considered beautiful & true about my Christian faith.

Jon, I especially thought you may enjoy interacting with some of the participants on the site regarding your non-dual experience as many/most of them have had the same/similar experiences within a Christian paradigm. They may be able to help you gain fresh insight into your experience as it is always great to learn and explore as part of a community.

Much Love in the Lord Jesus

Jacques

James
I hope you continue

Jon, you do not need a “purpose” or “destiny” in order to be happy. There are many ways to look at this,
but I find it exceedingly difficult to express my thoughts. It always is when it comes to the big questions.

I’ll give it a try (and probably fail, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?)

You are a unique individual, as is everybody else who lives and has ever lived on this planet. It is hard
for the West to accept, but we are NOT in control of that life. Your heart beats, you breathe, your intestines
process the food you eat, your cells turn that food into energy for your heart to beat, to breathe, for your
neurons to fire in order to sit up, read this message and do all kinds of other things. You can’t breathe if
there isn’t a mixture of air suitable to your lungs. Trees and plankton provided the oxygen you need in order
to breathe and live. The whole lot would evaporate into space if planet didn’t have an athmosphere.

Jon, the fact that you and I are alive at all is a miracle. I relate to your website because I have always
thought that “God” is not a “person” but a personification of that miracle. I also relate to the post above
(nameste) that “Brahman” (the World soul) is essentially the same as “Atman” (the true “Self”). Arghh…the
words fail. Have you seen this?
http://www.awareness.tk

I wish you happiness and joy, even in these times which must be difficult for you with the loss of you mom and
you cats.

Love,
Margreet

While the major religions are still promoting dualities, however, their founding teachers and sacred texts all point to the inverse. From the Tree of Life being considered preferable to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the biblical book of Genesis to Jesus’ understanding that he was (and we are) “the Way, the Truth and the Life” to the same realization arrived at by Sufi master Mansur al-Hailaj to Eastern philosophies of nonduality, all our traditions teach exactly the same thing: “God” is Truth; “God” is Being. This is the Ultimate Reality and why Jesus answered the Pharisees’ accusation of blasphemy with “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?” The answer “received” to the question of God’s name in his tradition (and ours) was “I AM” and the question “Who am I?” is consistently answered by the still, small voice within as I Am That.

This understanding of self-realization and Self-realization is universal in the human experience and entirely consistent with the core teachings of every spiritual tradition on earth. The only thing standing in the way of fulfilling our inherent destiny as a species is us and all we need do surmount that hurdle is yield our own egos to Nisargadatta’s That.

By far, the one contemporary author who has a perfect grasp of this as well as the human condition and how it can be transformed, imho, is A.H. Almaas.

There are so many other book (and blog) recommendations that come to mind, it’s unreal, but perhaps I should leave it at that.

Namaste.