Is life all that great?

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Robert_Sock

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Everybody’s playing the game; nobody’s asking: “Why are we here?”
 
You are Catholic; you know.

We are here on earth as fallen beings, and our goal is to learn to know, love, and serve God in order to attain Heaven.

The purpose of life on earth is to make our way to Heaven.
 
My life has been comparibly good so far. 🙂

Glad you asked.
 
dshix said:
You are Catholic; you know.

We are here on earth as fallen beings, and our goal is to learn to know, love, and serve God in order to attain Heaven.

The purpose of life on earth is to make our way to Heaven.
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But how do you get people to stop playing the game of secular life and seek God instead?
 
Robert_Sock said:
But how do you get people to stop playing the game of secular life and seek God instead?
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We don’t do it; God does it. We can help them along, but there is no way we can infringe on their will; it takes God’s grace to set them on the right road.
 
dshix said:
We don’t do it; God does it. We can help them along, but there is no way we can infringe on their will; it takes God’s grace to set them on the right road.
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I guess you’re right. It’s just that everyone I meet is so into “winning” the game of life without any regard for the Hereafter.
 
Robert_Sock said:
But how do you get people to stop playing the game of secular life and seek God instead?
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According to Judaism, secular life and spiritual or religious life are not incompatible. Indeed, we are told NOT to separate ourselves from the world but rather to attempt to “repair” it. The purpose of life here on Earth is to do G-d’s will, to learn, grow, cultivate our minds, enjoy earthly pleasures, give to others in any way we can. For Judaism, the purpose of this life is NOT to prepare for or speculate about the next life, but to be righteous in the present one and fully enjoy the magnificent experience of being alive, as G-d would want us to do.
 
meltzerboy said:
According to Judaism, secular life and spiritual or religious life are not incompatible. Indeed, we are told NOT to separate ourselves from the world but rather to attempt to “repair” it. The purpose of life here on Earth is to do G-d’s will, to learn, grow, cultivate our minds, enjoy earthly pleasures, give to others in any way we can. For Judaism, the purpose of this life is NOT to prepare for or speculate about the next life, but to be righteous in the present one and fully enjoy the magnificent experience of being alive, as G-d would want us to do.
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Would you say the same thing about the Tanya, which is a part of Hasidim.

Example:
“The soul of man is a lamp of G-d (Proverbs 20:27).
Just like the flame of the lamp strains upwards, seeking to tear free of the wick and rise heavenward - though this would spell its own demise - so, too, does the G-dly soul in man constantly strive to tear free of the body and the material existence and be nullified within its source in G-d.”
-Tanya
 
Robert_Sock said:
Would you say the same thing about the Tanya, which is a part of Hasidim.

Example:
“The soul of man is a lamp of G-d (Proverbs 20:27).
Just like the flame of the lamp strains upwards, seeking to tear free of the wick and rise heavenward - though this would spell its own demise - so, too, does the G-dly soul in man constantly strive to tear free of the body and the material existence and be nullified within its source in G-d.”
-Tanya
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According to Chabad Hasidism, the highest form of human expressing love of G-d is the Tzadik, who divorces themselves from earthly pleasures. But the Tanya indicates that not everyone can attain to this level. Anyhow, I’m not in accord with this idea since it is contrary to mainstream Orthodox (as well as Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist) Judaism. But you do have a good point about the spiritual nature of the Tzadik. However, even the Tzadik does not focus on the hereafter but rather the complete spirituality of their earthly life.
 
meltzerboy said:
According to Chabad Hasidism, the highest form of human expressing love of G-d is the Tzadik, who divorces themselves from earthly pleasures. But the Tanya indicates that not everyone can attain to this level. Anyhow, I’m not in accord with this idea since it is contrary to mainstream Orthodox (as well as Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist) Judaism. But you do have a good point about the spiritual nature of the Tzadik. However, even the Tzadik does not focus on the hereafter but rather the complete spirituality of their earthly life.
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I don’t think they are just talking about the Tzadik, but the Hasidim members as a whole.
 
Robert_Sock said:
But how do you get people to stop playing the game of secular life and seek God instead?
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You try to convince then that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Cut down on the good news and give ‘em some of that ol’ time religion!

More Doom and Gloom, Rob. That’s what brings people through the doors.
 
Bradski said:
You try to convince then that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Cut down on the good news and give ‘em some of that ol’ time religion!

More Doom and Gloom, Rob. That’s what brings people through the doors.
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Yeah, no gloom and doom for me. I have a great life overall even though sometimes life’s a b**ch. I don’t see why striving to go to heaven should prevent one from enjoying life on earth.
 
It hasn’t been great for me. There have been some good times, but there has been a lot of emotional anguish and mental disconnect. Sometimes I understand why Buddhism flourished so far. The thought of obliterating yourself as an individual and ceasing to be separate from anything else certainly has an appeal.

Life is very difficult. It is one obstacle after another. Sooner or later, you get too weak to climb over them anymore.
 
Life is suffering. You suffer because of your attachments. You can end the suffering if you stop having attachments and live without harming anything.
 
Tommm said:
Life is suffering. You suffer because of your attachments. You can end the suffering if you stop having attachments and live without harming anything.
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You can’t live without attachments. If you’re alive at all, you will have attachments.
 
Yeah, I’m kind of attached to having enough money to feed my family and myself, pay for medications to stay alive, a room over our heads… you know stuff like that. I try to keep my mind on God and the hereafter, but sometimes just getting through life here on earth is all-encompassing. Life is pretty hard and discouraging a lot of the time.

I surely don’t have much time to worry about other people being too much into “playing the game” as the OP stated. I try to help out others when I can, but honestly, my helping is more along the lines of how to deal with the troubles on earth (like food, medical care, taking care of the disabled and the elderly… stuff like that). The only evangelizing I can really do is my pro-life work (mostly with prenatal diagnoses, as that is my personal experience), and trying to model a Godly life for others. I probably stink at that, but I do try my best.
 
CaptBell800 said:
You can’t live without attachments. If you’re alive at all, you will have attachments.
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Your attachment to your life causes your fear of death fear is a form of suffering. It is like a mathematic law the cause of suffering is attachment.
 
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