7. The Meaning of Life

by Dick Rauscher

Abstract

This article discuss’ the idea that our essential self, which is best understood as a local wave of “i am” that exists in the ocean of “I AM”, is the basic creative energy of the universe called agape love. Unlike the conditional love of the primitive ego which always requires a “because”, agape love is an unconditional love that manifests in the world of form without a “because”; it simply exists.

Our essential self, is fully capable of manifesting this creative agape love energy, and because there can be no form without consciousness, and because we are reflexively conscious beings with free will, we can create form and participate in the ongoing creation of the universe. Using the agape love of our essential self we become a co-creator with God.

At the moment of our death our only prayer will be a question. Was my life the conscious prayer of a Co-Creator, or the meaningless ranting of an unconscious primitive ego?

I recently had a wonderful discussion with a close friend regarding our beliefs about heaven, reincarnation, our souls, and what happens to us after we die. What is the meaning of our life? Why do we exist? Why are we here?

We were sitting on the porch waiting for a night blooming cereus to blossom. The flower is known for its light fragrance and lacy beauty. Known as a Moon Cactus, its exotic flower blooms only after sundown and is gone by dawn. So talking about the meaning of life in the presence of this spectacular flower was not surprising.

The combination of this philosophic conversation, and the death of an old college friend last month to cancer have led me, over the last few weeks, to a deeper reflection about the meaning of my life. For example, what dies? My body and my ego certainly do, but what about my soul? Do I even have a soul, and does it continue to exist after I die? If I’m obedient and good will I get to go to heaven like Christian theology teaches, or will I get to come back and continue perfecting myself so as to eventually achieve enlightenment as Buddhism teaches? Or do I just die and that’s the end of it; a brilliant flash of conscious light and then darkness for eternity?

These questions are important to me right now because the cold breathe of death does indeed feel near. The passing of flowers and old friends are reminding me that reality is change. All forms in creation come to an end so as to make room for new forms. I too will die. Will my beliefs be comforting when I only have one night left to live? They bring meaning to my life today, but will they bring me a sense of peace when the moment of my own death arrives? I have to admit that going to heaven was a very compelling belief sitting with my friend that night when I thought consciously about actually dying before dawn.

The soft light of a new moon and the light of countless stars twinkling through the leaves of the forest overhead that night were a sobering reminder for me of the transitory reality of my life.

As my friend and I quietly talked together in the presence of the cereus flower that night, we agreed that God or Spirit is present in all of creation; that God is not an anthropomorphic person sitting in a place called heaven keeping personal notes on our behaviors. My friend said she believes that her soul will indeed come back again and again until she reaches enlightenment. Her Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation bring meaning to the existential questions in her life. She is a compassionate and caring friend to all who meet her and her presence in my life continues to remind me that there are many paths to the Creator.

The belief that my life and my consciousness is simply a brilliant flash of light and then it’s darkness for eternity was depressing to her even though I also shared my belief that even by death, we can never ultimately be separated from the creative energy we call God. When we die, the agape energy of our essential self will simply return to the agape energy of the universe. We are each simply a human wave and God is the ocean.

For me, this belief is not depressing; it is empowering. In fact, like my friend, this understanding of God brings a profound meaning to everything I do and it defines clearly who I am and why I exist. Let me explain.

I believe that God is the agape love energy that manifests in the universe as the never ending energy of creation through evolution. Agape love is the conscious, creative energy that works to create life and to increase the consciousness and the complexity of all created form.

Agape love is an unconditional energy that is not connected to a “because”, it simply exists. It is the ground of all being. It is God itself poured into all creation. It is the only energy in the universe that is conscious and negentropic. In other words, agape love, the God energy that is embedded in the very fabric of the universe is the only energy that can reverse the entropic process. Without this agape love energy infinitely creating and evolving form, the universe would eventually decay and cease to exist.

In contrast to this agape energy of creation and evolution, all other energies in the universe are bound by the physical law of entropy; the second law of thermodynamics which states that all energy in our universe goes from a higher state of energy to a lower state of energy. Through entropy all form moves from higher complexity to lower complexity, from life to death, from consciousness to unconscious, from light to darkness.

So how does this give my life meaning? Why do I feel empowered by this understanding of God? It empowers me because I believe that my essential self or soul, a local wave of “i am”that exists in the ocean of I AM, is fully capable of manifesting agape love.

Because there can be no form without consciousness, and because I am a reflexively conscious being with free will, I can create form and participate in the ongoing creation of the universe. My essential self can create and support evolution by enhancing life, the increase of consciousness, and the increase of complexity in all forms that I create. My essential self is a Co-Creator with God.

However, my essential self will not manifest unconditional agape love until I have learned to empty my individual ego of its judgmental beliefs and opinions. My individual ego can only love conditionally; it cannot love without a “because”. Thus the energy that comes from my individual ego is primitive and entropic. It is always a self centered energy. Others exist only in relationship to the needs of my individual ego-self.

Because consciousness creates form, I create form in every now; consciously or unconsciously. Through free will, I have the ability to consciously walk the middlepath of ego emptiness and not knowing so as to manifest agape love, or I can choose to unconsciously manifest the entropic energy of my individual ego. The choice to live my life conscious and awake, or unconscious and asleep is mine; it is a choice I must make in the now of every moment.

I do not believe I will get the opportunity to come back and try again. I believe that this is my one opportunity to be a co-creator in the conscious evolution of the human species and of the universe itself. Reflexive consciousness and free will are the most incredible gifts that any sentient life form could ever be given in that they enable that life form to be a Co-Creator with God.

It is now my responsibility and opportunity to create form; to create reality. I can no longer blame the Devil or God for pain and suffering, and I can not wait any longer for God to fix reality for me. Unfortunately, most prayer in the world today is nothing more than the primitive ego’s wish list for God, or a lament blaming Satan for the ills of the world.

I personally believe the choice is now mine. Form will manifest from the choices I personally make in each moment. My only valid prayer is for me have the courage to stay awake and participate out of my essential self so that the Creators will is done. Authentic prayer is the conscious mind of a Co-Creator manifesting agape love in the service of creation and the evolution of form.

To summarize, this moment to moment choice is always present in my life. I struggle each day to stay awake to the reality that in every moment I have the choice to either participate in the negentropic creation and evolution of the universe…..to love unconditionally without a because and increase complexity, consciousness and life, or to manifest the entropic energy of my primitive ego………to love conditionally and thus create pain, suffering and “otherness”through the life rejecting judgments that ooze out of my individual ego beliefs.

How could my life have more meaning than being a Co-Creator with God; a conscious participant in creation and evolution itself!

At the moment of my death my only prayer will be a question. Was my life the conscious prayer of a Co-Creator, or the meaningless ranting of an unconscious primitive ego?

What forms will you create with your consciousness and free will today? Conscious or unconscious, you will create form.