We are the only ones that can give meaning to our lives. It is not a matter of “should.” It is a matter of “that’s the way it is.”
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Other people can tell us what they think the meaning of life it, but that is just their opinion. If enough people agree and they write about it and put it in a holy book, then it becomes The Truth. This makes it very easy for people who do not want to think for themselves or simply cannot do their own thinking. They can just follow some doctrine that they have been brought up with and that is good enough for them.

But without meaning that we bring to life, we are just like ants or bees, going about creating and destroying in our little hives, mindlessly going about one mechanical task after another. In the end, our lifeless bodies are tossed aside to make room for the next generation of insects. And what was the point, besides the furtherance of all the lifeforms on the planet?

Some might say that life has no meaning at all. “It just is” and we try to make sense out of it by assigning meaning. We intuit that there is too much pain and suffering in life for it to be completely meaningless. And so that is part of our quest as humans. To find our own reason for why we are on this planet. No one can do this for us. We must do it for ourselves and that is what makes life a growing and learning experience of constant change for the ones who dare.

I would not say that Confucianism is similar to Enlightenment philosophy, because Confucianism came first. It was an influence on the Age of Enlightenment after the Dark Ages. During the Dark Ages in Europe, people in general were not considered to be of any real importance, unless they were part of the ruling or priestly class. Unfairness and inhumanity were the order of the day, with widespread ignorance held in place by exploiters of the people.

Then the human-based ideas of Confucianism began to take root as European travelers returned from China or Chinese made their way to Europe. They brought with them the Confucian idea that that people are the foundation of the country. Confucianism brought the idea of “Governance with virtue” instead of by force.
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“Governance with virtue” means that men of great virtue and talent are elected who will cultivate mutual trust and promote universal understanding. There will be nationwide education for everyone without distinction. Confucianism destroyed the idea that reading and writing were for the privileged few. Therefore, it underplays Confucianism to say that it is similar to the Age of Enlightenment. It is the foundation of it.

Meditation didn’t change me. It brought me closer to who I am as an Eternal Soul. Diving deeply into a meditative state, I can see my thoughts bubbling up and bursting, one after the other. I am not attached to these thoughts. They have no emotional charge. Therefore, I can see how powerless they are when I am detached in such a peaceful manner.

I was so happy when I learned how to meditate because I was able to go beyond the turbulence of the mind and get into the peace that lies underneath it all.
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I meditate because it feels wonderful and because I like it. Not because it is going to get me something or turn me into a better person. I don’t see meditation as a means to an end, but as an end in itself. Something that allows me to go within and find all riches that unfold when the mind is not running the show.

Time is a human concept. Animals do not have a sense of time. A cat does not complain that it is late to a meeting. A giraffe is not upset if it arrives at the watering hole too early. “Early” and “late” are all human concepts, which we evolved so we can communicate with each other. “I’ll meet you at our favorite restaurant at noon.”

When we wake up in the morning, humans immediately enter into the world of time. We need to eat, get to work, keep clean, go places, do things, etc. We budget out the time of our day accordingly. But animals don’t do this. They eat when they are hungry or when food is available. They are not on a self-imposed schedule and do not get indigestion because they are caught in traffic.

Both animals and humans are conscious and aware of their environments. But only humans are aware of the passage of time. Therefore, human consciousness provides the basis of the sense of time. So in that sense we could say that human consciousness governs time. Time goes slowly when things are boring. It goes fast when things are fun for us.
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But time can also govern consciousness in the sense that people are constantly aware of the fleeting nature of life. There is not enough time to get everything done that we want to do. There is a shortage of it to us. And therefore we have anxiety issues that run our lives. Time becomes the ruler of our thoughts as we oscillate between regrets about the past and worry about the future.

Spirit guides do not lead us to anything horrible. They are there to offer unconditional love and comfort. They have been with us for eternity before this birth and will be with us after we leave our physical existence.

If we have karma to resolve, they can help us choose the right path. But they will never lead us into anything frightful or disturbing. Their whole raison d’etre is to be of peaceful assistance to us as we navigate through our lives. They await our call upon them and stand ever ready to be of service.

We do not plan what we are going to do before we incarnate. It is determined by many variables that are way beyond our individual control. We are part of a huge dance of the Universe in which are souls are never destroyed but continue to grow and evolve in accordance with the laws of the Cosmos. Spirit guides are part of this, though most people ignore them until their backs are up against the wall.
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Then they call on their guides and angels. But the guides have always been there. We just need to open our consciousness to them. They are there to be consulted any time of the day or night. I use them all the time and greatly appreciate their loving assistance.

Nothing in the universe is static. Everything changes. Rocks turn into sand, tadpoles into frogs. Nothing stays the same. This is true for cultures as well.

Sometimes cultures move backwards, as we see in social systems where scientific inquiry and individual thinking is discouraged or even punished. Often these cultures are based on fundamentalist religious views that are strongly tribal and warlike.

Other cultures leap ahead, due to technology. Where there were landline phones at all, cell phones are now prevalent, jumping a huge leap ahead. This changes the way individuals in a culture interact with each other. The internet brings the world to anyone with a phone and connectivity. Now they can see how people beyond their immediate culture are behaving and living their lives.
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I don’t care what it is: The sun, the stars, and every drop of water on this planet. It is all in a state of flux. That is the order of the Universe. Nothing is stagnant, static, and permanently dead. It all changes and transmutes into something else. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes slow, but the wheels of change grind on producing and creating endless possibilities

Nietzsche is a super-brilliant, multi-talented philosopher who is widely misunderstood even today. People have taken his statements, twisted them around to suit their purposes and completely trashed the intention behind what he wrote. They take a few sentences and, without reading the complex material behind it, make generalizations.

This is understandable, because Nietzsche wrote a lot in his short life. He is the originator of the sentence: “God is dead.” This caused a lot of outrage when he said it and continues to reverberate today. Did he mean that the Source Energy of the Universe is no longer operative? No. He meant that the old, paternalistic man in the sky who is looking over everyone’s shoulder and waiting to punish them or reward them, is no longer relevant to the modern, thinking person.

Nietzsche has been called “the antichrist” for his “God is dead” statement. And he has also been misinterpreted to support the Nazi concept of the Übermensch or the “overman” or superior man over the Jews. This was not Nietzsche’s intention either. Throughout his whole life he detested antisemitism. He was referring to what could take place after the death of the old God. He said a new person will emerge, someone who creates new values.
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Granted, the “overman “does not follow morality of common people since that means going along with herd mentality, but it has nothing to do with exterminating the Jews. Instead, it s about spiritual evolution, where morality and justice are not based on superstition but on self-awareness and overcoming traditional views. In this way, he is very much like Kant and his categorical imperative: We do good things because that is the right thing to do, not because God will punish us if we don’t.

Humans have tried to figure out, since the beginning of organized thought, the answers to all the mysteries of the Universe. Why are we here? Why is there so much suffering in life? How do we find inner peace? How do we live the good life? How did the Universe get here? These are just a few of the mysteries of life that have kept the human mind active for centuries.

But does anyone have an answer? World religions claim to—stories that explain why things are the way they are. The mystery is solved. Everyone can be happy and get on with their lives. But no. If you are a thinker who insists on going deeper, you will keep asking why, why, why, until you get to a place where there can be no explanation. It just is.

The whole cosmos just is. And everything in it is inter-related in an infinitely complex system that is beyond human comprehension. We may create mathematical formulas to reveal the underlying order of the Universe. We may tell tales of gods that create and destroy. But we will NEVER, ever be able to explain all the mysteries of life.
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This is very humbling and at the same time awe-inspiring. The wonder of not knowing while we observe the passing show is much more stimulating and life-giving than thinking you know all the answers to all the questions. Knowledge is always of the past, anyway, and not part of the possibilities of the future.
I like Dan Millman’s statement in The Peaceful Warrior:
“Life is a mystery. Don’t waste time trying to figure it out.”