Life Definition?

A life definition from a dictionary is a good place to start if we want to get to grips with the meaning of life.

The dictionary meaning of life.

look up "life" in a dictionary and you can find several different definitions, ranging from the scientific and philosophical versions through to the historical and everyday.

For example, here are four different kinds of definition:

A Science life definition starts with the observable characteristics that all living things have in common.
A Philosophy definition might try to relate individual life to a more general understanding of existence; it might also try to relate existence with knowledge through a treatment of consciousness.
A History definition would deal with a sequence of events or experiences, involving the life story of a particular individual (or species or nation, etc).
An everyday life definition would relate to a general quality of experience (such as a full life, a miserable life, the life and soul of the party, etc).

Which kind of life definition are we interested in?

Well, since we are interested in the meaning of life, we need an inclusive definition - a life definition that conveys the full meaning of life by bringing all four different definitions together.

As described on the home page, the full meaning of life encompasses all the different specific aspects of life, such as: inner and outer; subjective and objective; physical and mental; individual and social; instinctive and cultural.

For a full appreciation of life we need also to enliven the connection between our own individual self and the cosmic Self underpinning the life of the whole universe. Whilst we can appreciate this link on the level of theory, religious faith or understanding, the connection is made real on the level of our own pure consciousness.

Thus, methods to open our awareness to pure consciousness are necessary as well as a shift in our collective understanding of the structure of life, if we are to engage with a full life definition.

What we need is an holistic life definition.

An holistic life definition

Spirituality is closely related to wholeness. Indeed we could define spirituality in terms of connectivity and wholeness on the level of personal experience. Spirituality defined in that way can be developed through certain kinds of education and training.

An holistic life definition is necessarily a spiritual life definition - one that connects together all the more specific aspects of life into a coherent whole, underpinned by knowledge and experience of the cosmic basis of all life.

Let's have a closer look at each of the four kinds of life definition listed above before we attempt a full spiritual definition.

The Scientific Life Definition

Science describes life in terms of organisms and their environments. An organism is an individual life unit and is made of cells. There are single-celled organisms (such as bacteria) and multi-celled organisms (such as trees, fish and apes). Organisms display certain characteristics which can be observed and these characteristics can be used to define life scientifically.

Actually, there are two different ways in which scientists have tried to define life: one in terms of a set of common characteristics and the other in terms of entropy (a combination of energy and order). Here's a quick look at both:-

The 7 Characteristics of Living Things

All living things have these characteristics in common:

Movement
Excretion
Respiration
Reproduction
Irritability (or Sensitivity, or Response to the environment)
Nutrition
Growth

Living Things and Entropy

Entropy is a measure of disorder. If a non-living thing, such as a car, is left to itself, its parts naturally get more disordered as time goes by. For example, bits corrode and fall off! In scientific words, the entropy of the neglected car increases as time goes by.

Living things, however, naturally work to maintain order between their parts. That is, they tend to keep themselves alive and in working order without any attention from outside.

Living things are said to be "self-organising". They feed, use energy and get rid of waste products. They heal, grow, reproduce and evolve. They maintain their own inner order through these internal life mechanisms and through their interactions with the environment. In this way, the entropy of each organism is maintained at a low level.

An important thing to note about organisms is that not only do the parts work together to create the whole organism but the whole organism influences and regulates the behaviour of the parts (this is the meaning of "self-organising").

This distinguishes the notion of an organism (as used in Biology) from notions about the basis of the universe in terms of fundamental particles and energy (as used in physics and chemistry).

The Philosophical Life Definition

Philosophy describes life in terms of the nature of existence. For example, we can ask the question: Is there a common basis to all life, a universal essence or state of Being that underpins individual existence, or is what we see and perceive of the world through our senses all that there is to it?

Or we can ask other questions such as: Does life (as a whole) have a purpose? Or: What do we mean by "meaning"?

There are many different philosophies of life, from both Western and Eastern cultural traditions. They range from Nihilism (the idea that life has no real meaning or purpose) to Vedanta (the idea that every aspect of life is full of meaning as part of a single undivided whole).

Since there are many different points of view about life and its meaning, there are many different philosophical life definitions.

Some philosophies emphasise morality or right behaviour as important for the meaning of life whilst others emphasise achievements or relationships. Yet others, particularly from the Eastern tradition such as Yoga or Vedanta, emphasise the need to develop human experience beyond the current norm in order to find the right perspective.

And philosophies associated with religious belief may well take the revelations of saints, divine persons or scriptures as important starting points.

For any philosophy to work, we have to start somewhere - with a perspective or experience or idea (or a complete set of them) that is considered of primary importance. Descartes, for example, started with his famous statement: "I think, therefore I am" and went on to develop a philosophy of life (Cartesian Dualism) that influenced the scientific revolution.

Once we have our starting points, philosophical analysis reveals the implications. As an example, we might decide to take the physical existence of "matter" as our sole starting point. We might think (as many neuroscientists seem to do) that "mind" depends only on the physical organisation and behaviour of nerves in a brain.

If so, then we will have to try and develop a theory of mind that is entirely physical in nature. In that case, philosophy will reveal the Mind/Body problem as a long-standing central difficulty in trying to develop a purely physical theory of the mind.

Mind is not the same kind of thing at all as matter and if we want to explain one with the other there are some severe difficulties to be overcome. Difficulties which may force us to change our understanding of matter itself (e.g. do atoms have minds?)

Philosophical analysis is helpful in guiding our thinking and correcting errors in understanding as we try to develop our ideas. If one starting point ends up mired in difficulties then perhaps we need to change our starting position and try a different approach.

Philosophy and the Vedic Masters

Guru Dev, Maharishi's teacher, a Vedic Master

A photo of Guru Dev, Maharishi's teacher, Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math 1941-1953

Maharishi's Guru Dev was a sage in the line of Shankara which Maharishi took as the central core of the Vedic tradition. Shankara restored an ancient knowledge of Vedanta to India, creating centres of spiritual learning around the country. Since then, each Head of one of the four main monasteries, established in the North, South, East and West is called Shankaracharya.

Since this website is based on the teachings of the Vedic Masters (as expounded by Maharishi), our prime philosophy is Vedanta, though other philosophies such as Sankhya or Yoga are also important. The philosophical starting points are the key experiences developed through Yoga practice and the process of Self-realisation. We can summarise those experiences as:

Transcendental Consciousness (Samadhi)
The unforced experience of Non-Attachment in action
The Light of God
Wholeness, the Unity of all existence

Since these experiences require a process of development of human consciousness over time, it is inevitable that the practitioner will go through different stages. Consequently, the philosophical life definition that makes most sense is also likely to change in line with the experience. Therefore, the emphasis and the language used to describe the nature of life is going to evolve with experience.

So we might well find that we need several apparently different life definitions and life philosophies - to cover the whole range of human experience.

It was Maharishi's genius that he was able to use language which seems simple at the outset and which matches very well with experience at the early stages of development - but which also prepares the ground and carries through to a much deeper understanding and more sophisticated use of language as the experience evolves. In doing so, he moved effortlessly between each of the six systems of Indian philosophy covered in the Vedic Tradition.

The Historical Life Definition

History deals with events and characters of the past, using records to discover what happened and why. An historical life definition is constructed from a record of important events in the life of the main subject (which can be a person, a tribe, a family or a nation, etc). Each historical definition will be unique in its details, relating to a particular person or social group over a particular period of time.

The Everyday Life Definition

This life definition involves a broad description in everyday terms of the quality of a particular life, either in overview at the end, or at the present time, or perhaps comparing the current period with an earlier one. For example: "She led a good life, active to the last", or: "His life has improved since he changed his job."

The Spiritual Life Definition

A spiritual life definition must be holistic. It must include somehow all the definitions described above and yet take the understanding deeper and further to reveal the interconnectedness of all things.

Notice that the scientific definition makes a distinction between living things (organisms) and other things in the environment that are deemed to be non-living (rocks, rivers, oceans, clouds etc). Since science considers the very stuff of which the universe is made to be non-living, including the material of the bodies of living organisms, it is not surprising to find that science has a difficulty in understanding where life itself comes from. Especially when considering those inner, more subjective aspects of human life that are important to human culture and human consciousness.

The spiritual life definition considers that everything, mind and matter included, is a part of a bigger totality of life. Each specific aspect of the universe is part of a complete and living wholeness of existence. A wholeness within which each individual entity plays its own unique role.

Maharishi gave a full account of the spiritual life definition using a number of analogies taken from the ancient Vedic literature. Three of those analogies are described in turn below. Meanwhile, the main points are these:

Life is a complete whole, it therefore has a cosmic dimension to it, described in terms of a Supreme Being, (in religious terms: God).
The whole is eternal, indestructible, invincible, yet expresses itself in the transitory forms and phenomena of creation as a variety of individual life-forms, which interact.
The nature of life (taken as a whole) is to grow; even though individual life goes through cycles such as birth and death, the expressions of life continue to evolve.
The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness; this purpose is built into the very nature of life as the fundamental purpose of all action. This purpose needs explaining since many aspects of life, such as death, appear to contradict this statement.
All expressions of the wholeness of life are governed by the creative intelligence of nature which emanates from the Supreme Being.
The ultimate value of wholeness can be approached at first in terms of an absolute aspect of life and a relative aspect; an absolute phase of Being and a relative phase of Being.
The absolute phase of Being hides within the relative phase as a transcendental state of existence underpinning all phenomenal states.
The transcendental state of existence can be found in human life, through deep meditation or prayer, as a state of Pure Consciousness, the cosmic foundation of one's own individual self.
Life is found in layers; there are three main layers: outer (material forms and physical organs); inner (the mind, the mental organs and the self), and transcendental (Being as Pure Consciousness).
Pure Consciousness illuminates the other layers and brings them to life.
The objective and subjective aspects of life are not separate from each other, they are linked via structures of knowledge held within individual (and collective) states of consciousness.
There are three modes of consciousness which interact: individual, collective and cosmic.
Consciousness originates with the Supreme Being in the cosmic mode.
The world is made of knowledge; knowledge is structured in consciousness; consciousness expresses itself through physiology and has subjective and objective components.
The individual human being can enter into a conscious relationship with the Supreme Being through deep meditation and prayer and can thereby come, in time, to a full appreciation of the wholeness of life.

The Ocean and The Waves

Life is an Ocean of Being, completely silent in its depths and completely dynamic on its surface. In between are different layers of temperature and density, linking the two extremes of silence and dynamism.

"Likewise, Being is the same and yet different at different levels of creation. It is composed of different levels of understanding, different levels of intelligence and creativity, and different levels of peace and happiness." (Quotes on this page are from: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Science of Being and Art of Living, 1963)

Each wave is like an individual expression of life, permanently connected at its base to the unbounded Ocean of Being, yet individual in its structure, power and relationship to other waves.

The Tree

Life is like a tree. The tree has three layers: outer; inner, and transcendental. The outer layer is formed by the trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. The inner layer is the root system. The transcendental layer is the field of nourishment that lies outside the root system and which is represented inside the tree by the sap. The sap "is the essence of the entire tree. It makes the root and, passing through the root, gives rise to the various aspects of the tree."

Thus, "the tree is nothing but the nourishment that comes from outside the boundary of the individual tree."

"Similarly, the life of man, or any individual life in creation, has three aspects: the outer, the inner and the transcendental. The outer aspect of life is the body; the inner is the subjective aspect of the personality which is concerned with the process of experience and action; and the transcendental aspect of life is Being."

The Coconut

The hard shell and husk of a coconut is the outer part, which can be compared to the gross physical aspect of life, the body. The kernel inside, the solidified layer of milk, is the inner aspect, representing the inner life, the subjective aspect of the life of the individual. The pure milk inside that represents the active phase of the transcendental aspect of life, the creative intelligence that structures and regulates the different layers of life.

The hollow space inside the coconut represents the silent absolute phase of the transcendental field, underpinning the relative phases of life and providing a stable basis of absolute orderliness for the whole of creation.

"The milk in its pure form has solidified into a firm inner layer and surrounds itself with the harder and more solidified layer of the shell in order to protect the precious inner aspect of the coconut."

"Similarly, in the life of the individual we find that inner Being is unmanifested absolute Being which manifests as the ego, intellect, mind, senses and prana. All these subtle states of life make up the inner man or the subject within, the subjective aspect of life. The subjective aspect of life differs from the objective aspect of life, which is the body in all its various attributes."

In summary

There are different life definitions depending on the context and on one's point of view. The most important definition, to help us in fulfilling the purpose of our life and to thereby find the greatest level of meaning, is the spiritual definition.

This is a definition which recognises the cosmic value of life. It points the way to a wholeness of awareness in which the inner divine aspect of life is consciously linked to activity in the shared world in which we live.

"Established in Being, perform action" is the yogic guideline for ideal behaviour (Bhagavad-Gita, Ch 2, v 47) based on the spiritual life definition.

Everyone knows how to act, therefore the primary focus for spiritual development is to become "established in Being". This means opening one's awareness to the absolute, transcendental phase of existence at the very core of one's own self and making time to repeat it on a daily basis until it is "established" in one's daily life.

We have to build into our life the daily practice of Transcendental Meditation or any other technique that leads the mind to the wakeful silence of transcendental consciousness.

Then comes the next stage of development as described in the Bhagavad-Gita. A stage in which thoughts leading to action are propelled quite naturally from one's own transcendental consciousness, like arrows from a bow.

Moreover, arrows which hit their target without effort.