J - Is life finally just meaningless?
JJ - Well, I don't know, Jim. Who's asking the question?
J - Ohh come on now, don't go existential on me. You very well know "who" is asking the question.
JJ - Ohh, I think I do.
J - Come on man. Give me an answer if you have one.
JJ - I asked a question too, brother. You only get what you give. Give me an answer and I'll give you one too. Now, who's asking the question?
J - Ok, then. It's me - Jim, who's asking the question - is life finally just meaningless?
JJ - Yes, for Jim life is finally just meaningless.
J - What? Really?
JJ - Yeah, for Jim, life being really meaningless is one statement that he cannot be talked out of. Tell me, what does Jim mean when he says life is meaningless.
J - I mean that it all is for nothing really right? The job I worked so hard to get, and even harder to keep getting promoted in; the girlfriend I really wanted to marry, but now that we're married, it's not really that dreamy. I used to love travelling to new places, listening to new music, reading new books, watching new TV shows - but somehow everything I do, I now get this feeling that it's eventually for nothing - it's just one more place or one more song or or one more book or one more TV show. I mean whatever you really want to do, once you've done it, it just feels so empty. I'm constantly just looking for the next place to go to, the next way to entertain myself - basically just the next thing to do. It feels like I'm just running around in a circle. And to top it all off, eventually I know I'm gonna die too, so what is the point of all of it anyway. Just feels so utterly pointless.
JJ - Do you realize that all of what you're saying is a narrative you're building for yourself.
J - Yes, but it's true nonetheless right?
JJ - It's true from how you're looking at it. Not objectively true. You're using the word 'meaningless' as an adjective for the word 'life'. You do realize that all adjectives are a matter of opinion?
J - Yes.
JJ - Then that means it's an opinion you hold. That life is meaningless or that it's full of purpose - both are just that - opinions. What's true lies beyond opinions.
J - Can you explain that a bit more?
JJ - Look at it this way. Consider that you were born a few years ago - a new born baby. You've come a long way since then - you've studied, you've met so many people, you've had so many conversations - the net result of all of that is what you're holding to be true right now. For someone who has had just a little different life experience, truth might be something completely different. Which of them has the 'true' truth?
J - Both are right from their respective standpoints.
JJ - Correct. But the absolute truth is beyond both these 'opinions'. Do you follow?
J - Are you saying that all opinions we hold are false? Because I don't think I agree with it totally. I mean I have a certain opinion because I have had a certain experience or rather multiple experiences that have led me to that opinion. Should I just consider everything I know and have experienced to be false?
JJ - Slow down, slow down. I was trying to tell you that you're trying to establish objective truths from a subjective standpoint. By subjective standpoint, I mean 'your' point of view. As long as you're considering things from 'your' point of view, it'll be limited to what 'you' know, what 'you' remember - and in that sense, it'll always be limited. Do you follow?
J - I think I do. Are you saying that what something actually is, is clouded by what it seems to be to me?
JJ - Exactly right. And just in that sense, you finding life meaningless is a function of a bunch of opinions - don't take them to be objectively true. And someone who finds life totally meaningful and full of purpose is also probably giving you their opinion - you needn't take it to be true as well. What's true lies beyond opinions.
J - Ok, I follow that. But where does that lead me? I understand that it's a matter of opinion, but my opinion is all I have, and right now, everything looks really quite messed up to me.
JJ - Look at the totality of what we just discussed. Observe in your day-to-day life how much (out of all you take to be true) is actually true and how much is actually based on your opinions, your memories, your knowledge. If you do that earnestly, you'll start to observe that almost all of what you do is governed by what's already happened in the past.
J - Or what I think can happen in the future?
JJ - Yes. And extending the joust further, what you think can happen in the future is also based on what you know and in that sense, even that is based on what's already happened in the past.
J - But that's needed isn't it? I need to learn from the mistakes in my past and I need to prepare for my future.
JJ - Absolutely. I'm not saying doing this is useless. It's how we've survived and have come this far in civilization. I'm just asking you to have a look at it. This is how we do things. All our studies, jobs, businesses, careers are done this way. But if you want to understand life in its totality, not "your" life or "my" life or "someone else's" life, but Life with a capital "L", if you want to get a glimpse of what's true in the objective sense, you'd have to step out of the limited subjective viewpoint. Because until you do, whatever you consider to be true is just that - it's what "you" consider to be true, it's "your" opinion. And the truth lies beyond opinions.
J - Ok. So I get this feeling that you're suggesting I shouldn't trust my memories and my knowledge to help me form an accurate model of Life in general, and I think I understand that. But they do shape how I view things for myself right? I mean I can understand that Life in its totality is something much bigger and more mysterious than me, but how does that help me? What do I do with it when my little speck of life feels meaningless to me?
JJ - So that's why I asked you initially, "who is asking this question". Go into it now. "Jim" is what you identify as. Who is Jim if not an image in your mind - a bunch of memories, opinions, etc. Is Jim really who you are, or is Jim more like a mask you wear to interact socially?
J - I don't know how to answer that question. I mean I am Jim.
JJ - Try to enquire into that statement earnestly. Who or what exactly is this 'Jim' that you identify as? Isn't Jim an image you have of yourself? You take Jim to be the thinker behind all your thoughts and the experiencer behind all your experiences. What is more subtle and is often missed is the fact that this idea of a thinker behind your thoughts is in itself just another thought, it's not real in the sense that it doesn't exist outside your mind.
J - Not quite sure I follow this train of thought. I mean I know I am Jim and others around me also refer to me as Jim so Jim does exist outside my mind right?
JJ - Ohh absolutely. But when someone refers to you as Jim, the Jim they're referring to is an image they have of you in their mind. It's as much an image as is your image of yourself.
J - So then what's real?
JJ - Find out what isn't real and whatever remains is real.
J - Isn't that answer just an escape?
JJ - That's what it seems like, sure. But that's the only way to put reality into words. You see, whatever we put into words, it immediately becomes clouded by our opinions and ideas.
J - And the truth lies beyond opinions?
JJ - Correctamundo, Sir! So don't give too much value to opinions and adjectives. Just see them for what they are, don't act on them right away. Once you witness and observe your own thoughts and emotions, you'd understand how much of it is just false projection on reality and not reality itself. Do that first, then try to see if Life, with a capital L, is meaningless or not. Till you're viewing and observing everything from the lens of the limited subject you call Jim, it is bound to appear meaningless at some point of time because of everything we just talked about. If there's one thing I want you to take away from this conversation, it's this - "Not only are we blind to the obvious, we are also blind to our blindness. The willingness to accept that and seeing your blindness is the first step towards reality. Because what's real lies beyond opinions and ideas."
Image source - Instagram - Blindness
<Recommended follow-up reading: Who am I really?>
In all honesty, I prefer having personal chats rather than back and forth in the comments' section. If you feel like you want to have discussion with me regarding the content on my blog or anything else, please connect with me on my Instagram here: Chetan Narang - Instagram
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