{"id":721,"date":"2006-07-05T02:53:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-05T02:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of\/"},"modified":"2006-07-05T02:53:00","modified_gmt":"2006-07-05T02:53:00","slug":"life-the-meaning-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html","title":{"rendered":"Life: The meaning of .."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can put it into words. This afternoon, sitting on my front porch, watching neighbors ride by in pairs on bicycles and overhearing a nearby barbeque, I wondered if I weren\u2019t missing out on the most important things in life, namely those rich relationships with dozens of acquaintances that I imagine most people my age enjoy.<\/p>\n

I am an introvert, you see. My greatest joys and accomplishments in life have mostly been solo experiences. I spend 90% of my time in the company of only myself; on the phone I speak for more than two minutes with only three people: my mother, my sister, and my girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Is there something wrong with all of this? Am I morally or otherwise deficient for preferring the company of raw wilderness, cool breezes and a book, or even my laptop to that of my contemporaries? Somehow recently I\u2019ve come to understand that, no, there is nothing wrong with this, that this is who I am and how I\u2019ve come to where I\u2019m at. I like myself, and I like where I stand in life.<\/p>\n

That returns me to the front porch, and my discovery of the meaning of life. Simply put, it is \u201cConnectedness,\u201d or the realization that we\u2019re never truly alone or separate from the whole of existence. For many this means connecting with friends, often, and developing lasting friendships. But there are countless other ways to realize our connectedness. Those who care for the elderly connect with our past, and with their own eventual futures; those working with children connect with our future, their own pasts. Many will work in social services, connecting with society: the poor, the abused, the underrepresented. Some may seek connections in the economy or politics: Wall Street, Washington, accounting, marketing, and so on. \u201cFollow your bliss,\u201d said Joseph Campbell, and I would add that we ought not chase it, but let our bliss arise as we instead seek deeper connectedness.<\/p>\n

In my own case, the connections I could forge over beers at an afternoon barbeque are limited in comparison with my ambitious goal of a far broader connectedness. For, to truly understand philosophy and religion is, I believe, to connect with humanity in full. \u201cIn my end is my beginning,\u201d Eliot wrote. For me, my end and my beginning are those of humanity itself, far beyond the holiday barbeque, the capitalist rat race, or even the beautiful Montana people and landscapes that have shaped me so much in life.<\/p>\n

So I sit, alone but connected, seeking to unravel the riddles of all humankind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can put it into words. This afternoon, sitting on my front porch, watching neighbors ride by in pairs on bicycles and overhearing a nearby barbeque, I wondered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLife: The meaning of ..<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life: The meaning of ..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Buddhist Perspectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-07-05T02:53:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-115206445373473568?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html\",\"name\":\"Life: The meaning of ..\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-07-05T02:53:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-07-05T02:53:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\"},\"description\":\"It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Life: The meaning of ..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\",\"name\":\"American Buddhist Perspectives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\",\"name\":\"Justin Whitaker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Justin Whitaker\"},\"description\":\"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. I have a BA and almost an MA in (Western) Philosophy from the University of Montana-Missoula, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University, UK, and I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Ethics at the U of London. My main academic foci are early Buddhist ethics and Kant (odd combination, I know). I also study Western ethics, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Comparative philosophy, and Environmental ethics. I also like photography, running, drinking wine, and eating peanut butter (often in that order).\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/author\/justinwhitaker\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life: The meaning of ..","description":"It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Life: The meaning of ..","og_description":"It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html","og_site_name":"American Buddhist Perspectives","article_published_time":"2006-07-05T02:53:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-115206445373473568?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com"}],"author":"Justin Whitaker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Justin Whitaker","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html","name":"Life: The meaning of ..","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-07-05T02:53:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-07-05T02:53:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9"},"description":"It\u2019s not often one discovers the meaning of life, but it\u2019s even rarer that one understands it and holds on to that discovery. Rarer yet is that one can","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/07\/life-the-meaning-of.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Life: The meaning of .."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/","name":"American Buddhist Perspectives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9","name":"Justin Whitaker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Justin Whitaker"},"description":"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. I have a BA and almost an MA in (Western) Philosophy from the University of Montana-Missoula, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University, UK, and I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Ethics at the U of London. My main academic foci are early Buddhist ethics and Kant (odd combination, I know). I also study Western ethics, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Comparative philosophy, and Environmental ethics. I also like photography, running, drinking wine, and eating peanut butter (often in that order).","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/author\/justinwhitaker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}