“Tell us about life”,

said somebody in the crowd:

“tell us what’s it’s meaning”

 

And the old man smiled quietly

and did not say a word for a long while.

And then he smiled again,

with a twinkling in his eyes.

 

Life, he said, making long deliberate pauses between his words,

is beyond everything i could possibly say.

It is too big for even the most scientific and inquisitive mind of man to fully comprehend.

 

All i can say actually, is that for me, life is the ultimate mystery.

Something to approach with an attitude of reverence and awe.

And gratitude.

 

We don’t know where it came from.

We don’t know what it is good for.

We don’t know where it aims.

Or even if it aims somewhere at all.

 

And we don’t actually know
what our own significance is in relation to it.

 

We can endlessly theorize about it

and make up one philosophy after the other,

but in the end we are left only with one option:

to live it.

 

Life can only be lived well – and i suggest that it should be lived like that – when you live it to the fullest of your abilities, to the fullest level of your aliveness.

 

Because then – when you immerse yourself fully in it,

it will reveal to you your meaning, your own individual meaning and purpose.

And if you are lucky, if you are so blessed, you may also get a glimpse of the meaning of life itself.

 

Life is a mystery, i can only say this over and over again.

Don’t fool yourself by simply repeating the word!

You have to feel it, the mystery!

 

You have to stand in the night, in the pitch dark night

and look up to the sky,

the trillion stars.

 

You have to stand on the ocean shore

and gaze into the horizon,

this slightly curved line

saying: endless!

 

You have to dive into tropical waters

and witness the fish-y colorful abundance there

and you will feel that you know … nothing

 

You have to gather all your courage to love one other human being,

intimately, with all you have and can give,

totally open yourself up to to love,

totally make yourself

available.

 

Only then, when you make yourself available to the highest degree,

when you let down all your guards and reservations,

when you leave your fears behind gladly,

will you experience meaning,

will you know life.

 

And with that, the old wise man fell silent, as did the crowd.

And he did not smile anymore with his mouth.

But he kept on smiling forever.

 

With his heart.