The Meaning of Life, or Not

Last month I asked my Twitter followers what I should blog about. Bridget Pilloud (@intuitivebridge on Twitter) responded with "the meaning of life", so here it goes.

My kneejerk response is to live from love. Then, when I meditate on it, I really believe that individuals make their own meaning, and no meaning is wrong.

The strongest thought I had when Bridget suggested this is, "Huh, I really don't sit and wonder about the meaning of life anymore". I pondered it deeply, up until I was 21 when I sat with my first spiritual teacher in Nepal. And by the way, I measure my life in two different time frames: before Kali Baba (BKB) and after Kali Baba (AKB). The first time period didn't feel spiritual, and now this second period does.

When I didn't feel like I was on a spiritual path, I wanted to know the meaning of life. Now that I recognize my spiritual journey, I have no questions about the meaning of life. Is it because spirit is so fulfilling? Probably, and I also don't have a desire "to know" anymore. The more I think I know, the more limited my reality feels. I just want to experience life moment to moment, allowing the meaning to change when my path calls for it.

Monkey Bar Religion

When did you first realize that judging people based on their religion is silly and pointless? I honestly remember that moment much more than my first kiss.

I've been passionate about breaking down religious barriers all my life, and today I wondered "Why am I like this? Was I born this way?" 

I dug deep into the files, and I remembered my first realization of this was on the playground. I was in second grade, playing on the monkey bars with my pigtailed cohorts. One of the girls asked the group, "What kind of Christian are you?" I didn't get it. I thought, "Christians are divided?!? How is that possible?" So I asked her what she meant. She said, "Well, we go to Congregational Church and we're the best kind of Christian. That's what mom says". I was almost afraid to say it, but I piped up, "My family is Catholic. How are you guys better? Don't we all believe in Jesus?" All the girls gave me a blank stare and went back to doing kamikaze back flips on the bars while simultaneously trying to blow the world's biggest chewing gum bubbles. Those were the days... No wonder I'm always going to the chiropractor.

It's crazy how kids pick this up at such an early age, and you know they get it from home.  And here I am now, still scratching my head at why people fight over religion, when we're all just worshiping the same God by a different name. Some days, I just don't know.

Creative Commons Photo by Jon Nicholls