The work "The Meaning and Value of Life" (excerpt)

Now let's look back at the path we have taken in the past and briefly describe the issues arising from the content and meaning of life.

First of all, the direction we have taken is unique. We don't start, as we usually do, with a concept of the world around us. We do not want to use this concept to explain life, but it is better to rely on the concept of life itself. We must first sort out the things that are born in our lives and then grasp them as a whole. We strive to understand the uniqueness of the whole, to gain clues to its place and meaning in the universe. In this way, the concept of life can acquire a clearer content than is usually achieved, and its unique reality can be elucidated in life itself. Only this effort can hope to make the meaning and value of life clear. Thinking about the world around us from many aspects is beneficial to our self-examination of life and will give birth to a condition. So it is beneficial and harmless because if you do this, the problem will suddenly approach everyone. In other words, not only scholars but also people who are not engaged in this endeavor can ask questions, and even must ask questions. In this way, human beings can stand in agreement with each other on the basis of common beliefs. Returning to the basic structure of life, self-examination and self-deepening movements give the closeness of the soul to the whole. The closeness of the soul must be closely connected with simplification, and simplification refers to the turn to simple human nature. The more civilization quarrels with progress, the more we need such things.

However, conditions also arise in response to this beneficial aspect. Only those who personally step into this movement will see life appear in this way. Only those who work tirelessly can be associated with the clarity and deepening of experience. This proves that people's opinions differ greatly on all fundamental issues of life. Some people regard self-evidence as the driving force of life, others regard it as phantom. As far as this question of life is concerned, doubts and anxieties abound, the inevitable result of the fact that truth does not unfold itself and must be worked hard to obtain. The measure of deepening life is here the measure of knowledge. If the mind is dull, everything will become dull. For these reasons, perceptions of reality vary, but this in no way treats the whole as a subjective and arbitrary phenomenon, nor does it undermine the superior monopoly of truth. "It is not the sun's fault that bats cannot see during the day." This adage is true.

Specifically, the fact that two phases of reality come into conflict in human nature is noteworthy when life is grasped as a whole. First of all, man is subordinate to nature, and he is also firmly bound by nature in his subsequent efforts. Nature forms the basis of human life, and people cannot escape from this in their subsequent efforts; they must always be combined with it. But at the same time, essential new tendencies will appear in human nature. This new tendency cannot be said to be a simple rise in nature, but can be said to be a spiritual tendency. The emergence of new tendencies can turn life into a big problem. Spirituality considers itself superior and automatically demands guidance in life. However, spirituality currently exists only in individual phenomena, which are scattered and have neither a clear image nor a power of their own. If spirituality is not unified, cannot move as a whole, and at the same time cannot display certain content, life will be trapped in unbearable contradictions. Once this happens, or even actually happens, it means a big change. It requires a new life stance, and can even be said to completely overthrow the original state. This inversion gives human life exquisiteness, clarity of meaning and sublime value, for with this inversion the creative depth of reality is revealed in spiritual life, thereby revealing that the entire infinity is ours. All our special ideal states will be included here in obedience to the world life unfolding in front of us. However, this turn is not given by fate, so it requires our decision and behavior. Our lives are therefore not ordinary natural processes. It must be free and constantly supported by freedom. The most important thing in our lives is not to do this or that on the basis of the present, but to transcend the existing state and obtain a new position to build the integrity of a new life.

It is obviously difficult to determine this issue in modern times. The world expands infinitely in space and time, so this problem has been placed in a completely different light from the era when the earth was still at the center of the universe and the entire world process was completed in a short time; moreover, the dependence of all mental activities on physical conditions has also It's becoming more and more obvious. If a spiritual life is what counts as a human being, then we would be greatly surprised by the fact that spiritual initiation is weak in many aspects. Even if the spiritual life has considerable power due to education and occupation, it often enters a state of almost complete sleep during the course of life. Moreover, all spiritual activation will be destroyed in the desolate worldly roots and employee temperament. Although the body is still alive, the mind and soul appear to be dead. For these dead souls, does it seem to have any meaning whether there is life on the other side of "dasein"? Finally, the expanded concept of spiritual life makes us deeply aware of the existence of our "existing existence". Narrowness and restraint. We cannot think, as we once thought, of this particular form of "being" as narrow and accidental; it is infinite happiness to be forever adrift. There are many among us who think complete annihilation is better than this stubborn certainty.

However, in modern times, there have been many difficulties with affirmation. Even those who admit the picture of life we ??describe cannot cleverly deny it, because life, in its spiritual content, is not only for individuals, but also for people. It has not yet been completed for the entire human race, it is just the beginning of a journey. There is currently almost no hope of turning the world in front of us into a country of reason. Rather, all progress will only increase chaos in vain. If so, the end of this situation will be All movements towards spirituality have to be rendered meaningless. If the development of spiritual life cannot escape this bondage in some way, and cannot free the individual from this bondage in some way, all the hard work will be in vain. Therefore, if there is a demand for eternal continuity, this continuity will affect the spiritual core that exists in us. Moreover, if the process of life does not reveal its qualities in its own activities, it is inevitable to doubt: Will it permanently assert itself? Wouldn’t its abilities be used in different directions?

Comparison with the future Thinking about it, what is more important is that the life that is now beyond time under us can be established, that people can participate in an eternal and infinite order, and - and this is the key point - can not only use individual activities, such as the ability to think, It is also possible to participate in this eternal and infinite order with spiritual power, the summary essence of the world, and with the whole being. At this time, provable and expandable super-temporal things will not disappear in the flow of time. We don't wait for eternity. We stand in eternity. When Goethe said this, he also had this intention:

So, the big question of what is our second motherland

has also been solved.

Immortality

promises us eternal existence during our days on earth.

It is still too dark for this issue to become the premise of our lives. Only dogmatic negation must be rejected. There is also an advantage in that darkness, which connects our efforts to a life in this world worthy of our full labor, and at the same time makes us abandon the base idea of ??expecting rewards for our actions. This is stated in the form of a confession by Kant in his Critique of Practical Reason. After delving into the problem and elucidating it, Kant concluded: “What may be called truth here is, therefore, the incomprehensible wisdom that enables us to exist, both within the limits of our understanding and beyond our ability to understand. All are equally worthy of respect."