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The Big Question

There is one question that all children keep asking that drives some parents to the point of exasperation. “Why?” they keep asking. And when given an answer, they again ask, “Why?” – Why is the sky blue? Why do dogs bark? Why am I sick? Why do mommy and daddy not live together?

As children, we sometimes got satisfying answers to some of our questions. But more often than not, we probably got answers that were really no answers at all – responses like: “Because that’s the way it is,” or “I don’t know.” Sometimes we maybe received religious answers, like: “Because God made it that way,” or “It’s a mystery,” or “It’s a miracle.”

Not finding answers, many of us stopped asking the most basic question of life that, as children, we knew to ask.

But not asking the question did not make it go away. The question was repressed, but the need to find answers to ‘Why?’ keeps haunting us, and unconsciously pushing us to find the answers we need in order to live a meaningful life.

‘Why?’ is a search for meaning, an attempt to see the significance of things that are not obvious. Some of the answers are objective and impersonal. Then the question is about facts, like why the sky is blue. The blueness can be explained through physical facts, and that is the end of it.

But the big ‘WHY?’ is about life and its puzzling dramas. It is about pain and suffering, and their meaning. It is about separation and death. But more than anything, it is ultimately about ME – Why do I exist and what is the meaning of my experiences? These questions are soul searches, and can only be answered by developing soul consciousness.

Finding meaning does not eliminate pain and suffering, but removes the necessity for it. Understanding death does not endow us with physical immortality, but enables us to approach it with equanimity and peace. The meaning of a painful relationship does not heal the pain, but opens us to love again.

As far as we know, humans are the only species that feels driven to find meaning. We cannot help but seek it. Not responding to this deep inner urge is to attempt to function without soul.

Taking the Soul Journey develops soul consciousness and gives meaning to our lives.

Exercises: 1. Each evening take an inventory of your motives throughout the day. 2. Identify a recent important or emotional experience and explore the deeper meaning of it. Why did it happen TO YOU? 3. Seek silence and explore your deepest inner urges – the calling the you do not give enough attention.

This is one of 99 Soul Perspectives. Click here or your BACK button to go back to the Soul Perspectives Index.