Man's Search For Meaning

Celebrated Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, was born on March 26, 1905 and remains best-known for his uplifting 1946 psychological memoir “Man’s Search for Meaning”— a meditation on what the gruesome experience of Auschwitz taught him about the primary purpose of life: the quest for meaning.  His wife died in the camp and he endured the unimaginable but managed somehow to convey magical moments in the midst of pain and loss that speak to the heart. 

Where can you run to?

With whom can you take refuge?

To whom will you look?

What country shall you live in?

In what direction shall you go?

At what hour shall you find rest?

What will become of you in the end?

To what will you be faithful?

If you find the truth will you be obedient to it?

“Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on. He was soon lost. The typical reply with which such a man rejected all encouraging arguments was, “I have nothing to expect from life any more.” What sort of answer can one give to that?

What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

Viktor Frankl

If the fire of the love of God is ignited in your heart

You would neither rest nor relax,

Nor be distracted or held back from divine nearness, sanctity and beauty.

Your longing soul would weep as one bereaved

Longing to determine the truth you would find no peace

Until, God lays bare the divine path before you.

“We were at work in a trench. The dawn was grey around us; grey was the sky above; grey the snow in the pale light of dawn; grey the rags in which my fellow prisoners were clad, and grey their faces. I was again conversing silently with my wife, or perhaps I was struggling to find the reason for my sufferings, my slow dying. In a last violent protest against the hopelessness of imminent death, I sensed my spirit piercing through the enveloping gloom. I felt it transcend that hopeless, meaningless world, and from somewhere I heard a victorious “Yes” in answer to my question of the existence of an ultimate purpose. At that moment a light was lit in a distant farmhouse, which stood on the horizon as if painted there, in the midst of the miserable grey of a dawning morning in Bavaria. 

“The light shineth in the darkness.”

For hours I stood hacking at the icy ground. The guard passed by, insulting me, and once again I communed with my beloved. More and more I felt that she was present, that she was with me; I had the feeling that I was able to touch her, able to stretch out my hand and grasp hers. The feeling was very strong: she was there. Then, at that very moment, a bird flew down silently and perched just in front of me, on the heap of soil which I had dug up from the ditch, and looked steadily at me.”

Viktor Frankl

PS Words in itallics are paraphrased from the Baha'i Writings

Let each morn be better than its eve

"Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday."

You get up and hope that the day ahead is better than the one before.  Not in some vague wishing good things for the next day for yourself, but more in the desire that whatever the next day brings (good or bad) you will find something within to face it with grace and dignity.  It is not about what comes to us, it is all in how we deal with what comes that matters.  That is the nature of this game of life we all play.

"Man's merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches."

It helps to realize the purpose of our lives and what it is not about.  If life is about service to humanity then the acquisition and display of wealth becomes rather a distraction to the main goal of being here.

"Take heed that your words be purged from idle fancies and worldly desires and your deeds be cleansed from craftiness and suspicion."

When I think about words, how they can hurt others, be fuelled with all kinds of desires, no wonder our deeds inevitably reflect our ulterior motives and doubts.  So we need to choose our words with care and make our deeds worthy.

"Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection,"

Time is so precious and how easy to waste it on passing fancies that make a mockery of the reality that the only real wealth we have is our allotted span of time on earth and what we choose to do with it.

"nor let your endeavours be spent in promoting your personal interest."

If we focus only on what we want, what we feel, who we are, then we fail to see the horizon out there and lose our way on a comfortable circular path of selfishness.

 "Be generous in your days of plenty, and be patient in the hour of loss."

Perhaps the only real measure of a character is not what we do in good times but how we cope with the really bad periods.

"Adversity is followed by success and rejoicings follow woe."

It is the nature of our lives that, like our landscape around us, there are hills and hollows.  It is a truth that sometimes the hollows are more like deep dark endless ravines.  But they give us a valuable perspective on life and when you emerge from a deep dark valley the sunlight feels so good!

"Guard against idleness and sloth, and cling unto that which profiteth mankind, whether young or old, whether high or low. "

There is a strange lethargy that can steal from you, your rightful birthright.  This is not something you must guard within that others may take from you.  It is the strange ability in all of us to lose our sense of purpose and direction.  No one can take it away from us or give it to us, it is within each one of us and only we can and must find it for ourselves.  


Quotes taken from Baha'i Writings (Words of Wisdom)

What is the source of all Good and the essence of wisdom?

Trusting in God is hard especially when times are really hard, when it seems as if not just one aspect of life goes wrong but many.  Work, family, health problems can come together in a perfect storm and when nothing is going your way you still have to trust, submit and be content with God’s will.  Such acquiescence is not easy, but it does, in the midst of great suffering, mould special strengthened souls.  Plutarch (46 – 120 AD) was Greek historian, biographer and essayist knew this when he wrote these two statements.

“Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.” 

 

“To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.”

To be really wise is to tread carefully understanding God’s commands and His love of justice.  To live one’s life not only loving God but fearing Him also.  This fear is a sturdy shield from wrong doing and the love a constant call to do what is right and just.  I love the work of C S Lewis and this quote of his demonstrates his wisdom and insights in understanding what path to walk and how to walk it.

“Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After
all, you find out the strength of the army by fighting against
it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to
walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation
after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like
an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little
about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.
We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we
try to fight it.”

But if we are to be truly wise we must be sure we are not sheep following blindly the path others have worn down before us.  This Welsh proverb cuts to the chase and indicates the importance of reason and rational in guiding us. 

“Reason is the wise man's guide, example the fool's. “

So I wish you strength, wisdom and reason in working out a good path for yourself.