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note: Alex Green is an enlightened renaissance man who follows no particular tradition. Tao cosmology would substitute “finding your ming, true destiny” or your xing (original nature) for Alex’s quest for “meaning” of life. But basically, they are the same. -Michael
Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
by Alexander Green
It is an ironic fact of modern life. We in the materially prosperous West enjoy the highest standard of living of any people in history.
Yet according to The New York Times, more than 30 million Americans take antidepressants. That’s almost 10% of the population. Virtually no family is untouched by this malady.
According to the National Library of Medicine, depression is 10 times as prevalent today as it was 50 years ago.
Much of today’s treatment is little more than a pharmacological crapshoot. Doctors prescribe a pill, and if that doesn’t work… well, heck, let’s try this one. (Many insurance providers actually prefer this approach because it’s cheaper than therapy.) Yet studies show that roughly one-third of patients fail to respond to any kind of drug treatment.
Is it possible that some of these patients have a problem that a prescription – or even traditional therapy – can’t solve?
After all, there are different types of depression…
Some people are experiencing a kind of reactive depression that is triggered by a serious reversal of some kind, an unexpected layoff, for example, or the sudden loss of a loved one. This form of depression can be severe but ordinarily fades with time.
Psychologists estimate that roughly a quarter of Americans with symptoms of depression suffer from a chemical imbalance that, like diabetes, is most effectively treated with medication. These are the ones who respond well to the right antidepressant.
Yet, according to Dr. James Hollis of the C.G. Jung Educational Center in Houston, millions more suffer from a chronic melancholy that emanates from an entirely different source: a lack of meaning in their lives.
This problem is particularly acute in retirement. In the workforce, we are accustomed to having a place to be and a time to be there, with deadlines and projects to complete. Many of us draw our identity, at least in part, from our work.
So it can be a shock if retirement arrives and we discover that the days of rest and relaxation we so anticipated instead feel boring or tedious.
Of course, you don’t have to retire to experience a profound ennui. Millions of workers search in vain for meaning and fulfillment as well.
Many of them are haunted by the vague notion that something is missing in their lives. Often they can’t put their finger on it. But it gnaws at them, creating fear, anxiety and, in more severe cases, depression.
In his memoir Memories, Dreams, Reflections, the pioneering psychologist Carl Jung wrote, “I have frequently seen people become neurotic when they content themselves with inadequate or wrong answers to the questions of life. They seek position, marriage, reputation, outward success or money, and remain unhappy and neurotic even when they have attained what they were seeking. Such people are usually contained within too narrow a spiritual horizon. Their life has not sufficient meaning.”
But if meaning is missing, where can it be found? Some find the answer in their religious tradition. Others discover it by studying the world’s wisdom literature, the great writings by history’s most enlightened men and women. Still others are fortunate enough to see it modeled by a parent, friend or teacher, someone who is not merely living up to someone else’s expectations but is instead busy living “an authentic life.”
These individuals are too rare. And when they appear, society has a tendency to label them eccentric. As the poet T.S. Eliot observed, in a world of fugitives, the person who is headed in the right direction appears to be running away.
Ironically, it is popular culture itself that sends many people down the wrong path, bombarding them with dubious notions of satisfaction and success.
“Western society has lost its way, producing material goods in impressive superfluity but also generating so much stress and pressure that people cannot enjoy what they attain,” Gregg Easterbrook writes in The Progress Paradox. “Perhaps men and women must reexamine their priorities – demanding less, caring more about each other, appreciating what they have instead of grousing about what they do not have, giving more than lip service to the wisdom that money cannot buy happiness.”
It’s tragic when someone sacrifices years of his life, his friendships, his family – sometimes even his health – pursuing goals that are ultimately unfulfilling. Mythologist Joseph Campbell once quipped that midlife is when you reach the top of the ladder and find it’s leaning against the wrong wall.
That’s why it cannot be said too often: Money. Possessions. Luxury. Status. These are not the hallmarks of a life well-lived. At best, they are merely by-products.
Despite the blandishments of Madison Avenue, the goal of life is not happiness, but meaning. To determine whether you’re on the right track, you need only ask yourself a simple question: “Does the path I’m on enlarge me or diminish me?” Your answer should be immediate and instinctive.
In today’s hyperconnected world, we’re all busy. We’re all a little stressed. But can we really be too busy to get our priorities straight?
The poet e.e. cummings said, “To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
So expect some resistance. But finding creative solutions to this challenge fuels the mind with positive energy. It gives you the opportunity to show yourself – and those around you – what is really worthwhile.
In the end, meaning makes a great many things endurable. Perhaps everything.
how are you going to have meaning in life if you do not have any inspiration/aspiration to find the meaning of life?
the pH/barometric/fill in the black horror is that the capacity or lack of capacity to answer that question “proves” the pudding
any time someone says the “whole point is 10,000% all this way all the time”,
a red alarm should be firing beyond comprehensible magnitudethe really sick joke seems to be that the genuine point of the “soul” and genuine good will SHOULD be such an innate, instinctual knowledge (amidst the puzzle of life)
and even that is debauchery…
can you look at another homonid in the eyes and say, with any real conviction“this thing is ‘human’?”
WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE OF AN EXPERIMENT AND PLANET IS THAT?
hopefully ribosome777 will be homeland profiled for that one!(hint hint, it really has to do with the Ajna
…)IF YOU CANNOT LOOK ANOTHER HOMONID IN THE EYES AND KNOW IF IT IS GENUINELY “HUMAN”, moreso than say, a dog..
THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ANYTHING?PROVE IT.
TAUTOLOGY.
not healing dao, anyone,
any cult, any religionthe resounding evidence is that there is no such thing..
apes have hearts also..
they miss their childrenbeings which display no “soul”, no logic, complete self contradiction..
and general all encompassing futility of anything but breeding self replication of inanitycan you say evil?
nevertheless…
displaying all evidence of bacteriumpoint by point:
“It is an ironic fact of modern life. We in the materially prosperous West enjoy the highest standard of living of any people in history.”
the west has no higher standard of living than the east…
“Yet according to The New York Times, more than 30 million Americans take antidepressants. That’s almost 10% of the population. Virtually no family is untouched by this malady.”
there is no such thing as an anti-depressant.. it’s called a booze free no DWI buzz
“Is it possible that some of these patients have a problem that a prescription – or even traditional therapy – can’t solve?”
the only problem is how long the insurance companies can keep filling pharmaceutical pockets to maintain that dwi free buzz, and how and why
apparently the meaning of life is that buzz since no one could find the right point any way…
but money and power…
no not really
victory in battle
genuine breakthrough
empire of the sun
occasionally musicglory, emotion
money is just a transitory formTHERE IS NO ANSWER TO ANYTHING WITHOUT FINDING YOUR SOUL.
SO WHERE AND WHAT ARE THE SOUL?
THAT’S THE BIG GAME.
LIFE AND DEATH.how are you going to have meaning in life if you do not have any inspiration/aspiration to find the meaning of life?
the pH/barometric/fill in the blank* horror is that the capacity or lack of capacity to answer that question “proves” the pudding
any time someone says the “whole point is 10,000% all this way all the time”,
a red alarm should be firing beyond comprehensible magnitudethe really sick joke seems to be that the genuine point of the “soul” and genuine good will SHOULD be such an innate, instinctual knowledge (amidst the puzzle of life)
and even that is debauchery…
can you look at another homonid in the eyes and say, with any real conviction“this thing is ‘human’?”
WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE OF AN EXPERIMENT AND PLANET IS THAT?
hopefully ribosome777 will be homeland profiled for that one!(hint hint, it really has to do with the Ajna
…)IF YOU CANNOT LOOK ANOTHER HOMONID IN THE EYES AND KNOW IF IT IS GENUINELY “HUMAN”, moreso than say, a dog..
THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ANYTHING?PROVE IT.
TAUTOLOGY.
not healing dao, anyone,
any cult, any religionthe resounding evidence is that there is no such thing..
apes have hearts also..
they miss their childrenbeings which display no “soul”, no logic, complete self contradiction..
and general all encompassing futility of anything but breeding self replication of inanitycan you say evil?
nevertheless…
displaying all evidence of bacteriumpoint by point:
“It is an ironic fact of modern life. We in the materially prosperous West enjoy the highest standard of living of any people in history.”
the west has no higher standard of living than the east…
“Yet according to The New York Times, more than 30 million Americans take antidepressants. That’s almost 10% of the population. Virtually no family is untouched by this malady.”
there is no such thing as an anti-depressant.. it’s called a booze free no DWI buzz
“Is it possible that some of these patients have a problem that a prescription – or even traditional therapy – can’t solve?”
the only problem is how long the insurance companies can keep filling pharmaceutical pockets to maintain that dwi free buzz, and how and why
apparently the meaning of life is that buzz since no one could find the right point any way…
but money and power…
no not really
victory in battle
genuine breakthrough
empire of the sun
occasionally musicglory, emotion
money is just a transitory formTHERE IS NO ANSWER TO ANYTHING WITHOUT FINDING YOUR SOUL.
SO WHERE AND WHAT IS* THE SOUL?
THAT’S THE BIG GAME.
LIFE AND DEATH.http://aidchamber.blogspot.fi/2011/08/camel-milk-and-urine.html
Camels milk and urine is beneficial to mankind. With regard to the health benefits of drinking the milk and urine of camels, they are many, and they are well known to the earlier generations of medical science and they have been proven by modern scientific research. Camel milk has been claimed to cure or benefit patients with diabetes, tuberculosis, stomach ulcers, gastroenteritis, cancer, allergies, infections, parasites, autism, even AIDS. A handful of studies have suggested that camel milk improves control of blood sugar in diabetes, but they are preliminary studies that typically compare standard treatment to standard treatment plus camel milk rather than using a blinded control. There are also a few small, poor quality studies suggesting a possible benefit in allergies, in peptic ulcers, in infections such as hepatitis, and in schistosomiasis. Among other properties, camels milk is high in vitamin C, low in vitamin A, and low in fat compared to cows milk, and it is tolerated by those who are lactose intolerant. Dr Faten Khoorshid addressing the press conference recently in King Fahd medical Center in Jeddah said I have been studying the effectiveness of camel urine for the last seven years and am convinced of its role in fighting cancer. The medicine we have developed is a mixture of camels milk and camels urine, and the active ingredient is PM701. It has been tested successfully on active mice and is now being tested on human beings. Besides fighting cancer, it can treat vitiligo, eczema and psoriasis. Nano particles in the urine attack cancer cella with success and we can provide it in various forms like syprups, capsules, ointment, soap or even gel. He continued The new medicine has been registered with the U.K. patents office. You must be aware that the camels immune system is one of the strongest of all the animal immune systems he signed off smilingly with the pride of a man who has just delivered strong quarterly results in the corporate world. The urine has become fashionable recently among Yemen’s young people, who claim that it strengthens the scalp, slows hair loss and promotes healthy hair. Modern scientific research is still discovering for us many of the wonders of camel.
http://aidchamber.blogspot.fi/2011/08/camel-milk-and-urine.html
common “honey” is normally “produced” through regurgitation and anal excretions,
honey-like secretions are produced through the pituitary and glandular systems
honey exudates secrete through the organism itselfIT’S A REALLY BIG DEAL.
Kosher “land animals” regurgitate.
Honey is medicine. Urine facilitates the related secretion..why is honey golden?
Two Turkish men were hospitalized on arrival to Turkey after drinking camel’s milk and urine while on an umrah visit, daily Hürriyet reported.
The men believed the camel’s milk and urine to be good for health, claiming it was written in a hadith. An imam, according to the Turkish men, also drank the milk and urine with them.
The visitors were hospitalized due to high fever and unusual levels of liver enzymes. Further tests revealed that the two men had been infected with the “alkhurma” virus, reportedly catching the virus from the milk.
The alkhurma virus is very dangerous and highly contagious and has a fatality rate of 25 to 35 percent, daily Hürriyet reported.
Ýhsan Özkes, a retired religious cleric and current member of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), denied the existence of any hadith that would encourage people to drink camel’s milk and urine.
“Those who did drink it must have been ignorant,” he said.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uC4xyXvcTA
Anybody stupid enough to drink camel’s piss, deserves to get some of life’s direct education on their stupidity.
as if the urine had anything, by ANY known medical community to do with anything
or was in any way different from your wonderful “pork” water element swine flupea brains are as pea brains do
I wouldn’t base my life on a lineage that practiced urine based medicines for 8000 years if you have a problem with it…
it makes someone look like a nit-whit
Master Chia picked up that urine drinking business from David Verdesi, some 20 years ago, when David was staying at Tao Garden with Master Chia . . . before David and Chia had a falling out, and David moved on to other things. In any case, David had learned it from a different teacher, taught it to Chia, and then Chia added it to the many diverse topics in his self-promoted Healing Tao system.
In short, this was NOT something he got from the One Cloud lineage.
And, in fact, even if he had (which he didn’t), there is no requirement that someone who learns Healing Tao material has to accept and practice *everything* that is taught. Spirituality is individual. A person is free to pick what resonates personally and to discard the rest.Steven
A tapeworm lived in this man’s brain for years
-http://forum.healingdao.com/general/message/24871/http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/weird/2014/02/27/mans-parasites-tied-to-pig-blood-soup/5870821/
A man in Guangxi, China recently walked into a local hospital and complained that he was suffering from a loss of vision, nausea and weakness. Parasites had found their way into his brain after he consumed a soup derived from a pig’s blood.
A man in China who drank soup derived from pig’s blood was hospitalized after 19 parasites were found in his brain, according to video from geobeats.
Medical staff performed a CT scan on the unidentified man after he complaining about weakness, dizziness and loss of vision. They found Taenia solium, a type of tapeworm found in the flesh and blood of live pigs, geobeats says.
Any human who consumes improprely prepared and cooked pork may besusceptible to the parasites, which enter the body through the bloodsteam and venture toward the brain.
It is not known if the man will fully recover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IZl6iLJEgE (pigbloodparasite)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcAfClb-f4g (nationalgeographickicktest)
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