5 replies to this topic

[peacenik]

this post probabaly doesnt belong here. In fact i dont know where on the internet it belongs.

i suffer from severe anxiety and depression. How i am holding a job and a marriage is beyond my comprehension. At the core of my discontent is existence. I got into this frame of thinking after my dad passed away. after that i am overflowing with questions about my existence. why am i here? etc etc. I love my mother and my wife but i am somehow really closed off to them as i think its all pointless. whatever love etc is there just becomes a mirage with time and creates quenching pain after all that you are left with is the mirage. i need to understand what i am doing "here" and i dont get it. at some level i feel this to be mental masturbation but i am not happy with limiting myself to mundane things. I need to know/experience what its all about so that i can fucking move on with my life bcoz currently its all going to dust.

can anyone relate?

[1kgcoffee]

I'm sorry to hear things aren't going well. Your philosophical problems are nothing new. What is the nature of the universe (metaphysics) how do we know (epistemology) and how should we live (ethics)? It's sounds like you are struggling with nihilism my friend, the belief that theres nothing and no meaning, but that's a non-answer and an evil way to live. Many great philosophers have struggled with the same question and come up with answers that help us to live better and become happy people with meaningful lives. Some philosophy is mental masturbation and sophistry, but there are pearls out there. You should read Aristotle (ethics), Lucretius, Aurelius, Epicurus and Rand. I will just say that the pain comes from disatisfaction with default philosophy of pure materialism and hedonism which you have rejected and until you find the right ideas to replace them with you will feel a sense of pain and doom.

edit to add: it sounds cliche but give meditation a shot too. I prefer vipassana. Stay away from the black hole of religion.

Edited by 1kgcoffee, 31 October 2013 - 03:46 AM.

[N.T.M.]

Purpose is what you make it. An achievement is estimable if you judge it to be such. Personally, I find value in exploring the universe. I've spent years studying philosophy, science, music theory, linguistic theory, and soon I plan on enrolling in an engineering program. I also have an RN (I got it with the intention of using it to fund my way through medical, but after I graduated, I thought I'd try engineering instead.). My point is that the universe offers tremendous depth. You just have to explore it. And I know how you feel. I suffer from horrible depression, but I found that the one thing that makes me feel better is exploring; finding answers. You're right: A life built around mundane ambitions is insipid. The solution, then, is to do the opposite.

[everjoymuzvidziwa]

Hi, you have asked a very good question which I am glad to answer. It is up to you though to acept this solution: Your question why are we here can also be re-written as "what is our purpose.?' I will firstly give you an illustration. what is the purpose of a car, what is the purpose of an aeroplane or what is the purpose of a microwave or a stove and what is the purpose of a washing machine?

You see, all these inventions have a purpose and i believe you already know their purposes because we use them everyday. however, the secret lies in the thing called The Manual or the Handbook. If you do not know the purpose of something, all you have to do is to find a manual or a book that describes that thing's purpose and how it is operated. For example a pilot has a handbook that tells him how to operate an aeroplane and a driver has a handbook of his car. it is simple logic.

Having said this you will need to understand that purpose is found in the Creator of the thing. The one that created the car or invented it persay gave the car its purpose, and wrote a book to describe the car's purpose and functionality.

So it is with every human being. Believe it or not, God created every human being with a purpose, even a cooperate purpose and thank God He left us with the Manual or handbook of Our purpose and why we are here. All the answers are in that book and it is called the Holy Bible. You can search for it anywhere even on the internet, preferably a New King James Version would do.

Anyway, for now I gotta go to class, I will return to answer your question in more detail. this is exciting.

[everjoymuzvidziwa]

So to continue: there is a manual that we have been given by God as humans, which is the Bible and this manual tells us everything about our purpose as humans. so let us dig into this manual together to find out our God-created purpose.

In the first book of the bible which is Genesis we discover that God created the material universe in six days and on the sixth day is when he created man. When you go to verse 26 you find that God said "Let us create man in our image and in our likeness and let them have dominion over all living things on earth. so God creates man and blessed them and said be fruitful multiply fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish, the birds the beasts of the field and every living thing on earth.

Wow, did you just see that? So it is clear that the purpose of mankind is to rule over everything on earth and to be fruitful and to be like God in every way. God created us (Humans) in his Image and likeness. that means we are like God. He gave us a kingdom to rule over as kings over that kingdom. This is our true purpose: to be kings, to be rulers, to be like God, to act like God, to talk like God and last but not least to be in a relationship with God.

However you cannot enter this kingdom unless you are born again. this is because The first man Adam committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the consequence of his action was that him and all his descendants had to die. in other words, death entered into the earth because of Adams sin. However, about 4000 years later, God sent his only Son Jesus Christ to come and die for the sins of the whole world. Being born again means that you believe in your heart that Jesus not only was crucified for your sins but also rose again from the dead after 3 days and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is lord. You see it is not enough to believe, you need to speak it with your mouth.


Just say these simple words of faith: Jesus, I believe you are the Christ the Son of the Living God. I believe you died for my sins and rose again on the third day. I now accept you as my Lord and personal Saviour. Thank you, amen

If you said those words meaningfully Your depression will go. trust me, The Kingdom of god, is Righteousness, Peace and JOY, in the Holy Spirit.

Talk to me

So to continue: there is a manual that we have been given by God as humans, which is the Bible and this manual tells us everything about our purpose as humans. so let us dig into this manual together to find out our God-created purpose.

In the first book of the bible which is Genesis we discover that God created the material universe in six days and on the sixth day is when he created man. When you go to verse 26 you find that God said "Let us create man in our image and in our likeness and let them have dominion over all living things on earth. so God creates man and blessed them and said be fruitful multiply fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish, the birds the beasts of the field and every living thing on earth.

Wow, did you just see that? So it is clear that the purpose of mankind is to rule over everything on earth and to be fruitful and to be like God in every way. God created us (Humans) in his Image and likeness. that means we are like God. He gave us a kingdom to rule over as kings over that kingdom. This is our true purpose: to be kings, to be rulers, to be like God, to act like God, to talk like God and last but not least to be in a relationship with God.

However you cannot enter this kingdom unless you are born again. this is because The first man Adam committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the consequence of his action was that him and all his descendants had to die. in other words, death entered into the earth because of Adams sin. However, about 4000 years later, God sent his only Son Jesus Christ to come and die for the sins of the whole world. Being born again means that you believe in your heart that Jesus not only was crucified for your sins but also rose again from the dead after 3 days and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is lord. You see it is not enough to believe, you need to speak it with your mouth.


Just say these simple words of faith: Jesus, I believe you are the Christ the Son of the Living God. I believe you died for my sins and rose again on the third day. I now accept you as my Lord and personal Saviour. Thank you, amen

If you said those words meaningfully Your depression will go. trust me, The Kingdom of God, is Righteousness, Peace and JOY, in the Holy Spirit.

Talk to me

[sthira]

this post probabaly doesnt belong here. In fact i dont know where on the internet it belongs.

i suffer from severe anxiety and depression. How i am holding a job and a marriage is beyond my comprehension. At the core of my discontent is existence. I got into this frame of thinking after my dad passed away. after that i am overflowing with questions about my existence. why am i here? etc etc. I love my mother and my wife but i am somehow really closed off to them as i think its all pointless. whatever love etc is there just becomes a mirage with time and creates quenching pain after all that you are left with is the mirage. i need to understand what i am doing "here" and i dont get it. at some level i feel this to be mental masturbation but i am not happy with limiting myself to mundane things. I need to know/experience what its all about so that i can fucking move on with my life bcoz currently its all going to dust.

can anyone relate?

Maybe give yourself time to grieve your father's death? It's a big, destabilizing event in your life. Advice to explore meditation is good, as is reading the works of others who've explored existential angst. Just knowing you're not alone sorta helps. And witnessing how others have learned to cope with meaninglessness passes the time, too. Love your wife, find what originally brought you together. It's helpful to also find something larger in your life to give it more personal meaning. But really, answers are vague. Sorry for cliched advice: "This too shall pass" is what my father often told me, and that sorta helps to keep things down. My own moods tend to be dark weather systems passing through, then they get brighter again, then darker. Meditation is helpful because it provides opportunity to watch these moods come and go, then loop back all over again.

But ultimately is there any meaning to our tired, small lives? Our galaxy is orbiting Andromeda's, and we're on a direct path of collision in the next seven billion years. That was a joke, but it's sometimes helpful to get really baked, lay in the woods in a hammock at night, alone, and stare at the stars and cry. You're not alone.