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Explorations in Life, Death and

the Afterlife

Fiona Bowie
St. Lukes Church, Tutshill, 2015

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3. Finding
lifes purpose
and plan

Fiona Bowie
19th May 2015

The meaning of
life

According to Douglas Adams

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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Why are we here?

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Co-creation according to
quantum mechanics

Acquiring knowledge an
essential act:

Creates the fact

And knowledge of the fact

Influences by its probing

that which it probes

Knowledge and the

acquisition of knowledge
are integral parts of the
process of creating the
evolving universe (Stapp,
2011).

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We are part of the universe
The mind-bending laws of quantum
mechanics say we can't observe the
smallest particles without affecting
them. Physicists have now caused the
smallest-ever disturbance while
making a quantum measurement - in
fact, almost the minimum thought to
be possible. This disturbance is called
back-action, and it is one of the
hallmarks of quantum mechanics,
which governs the actions of the very
small. It arises from the supposition
that before a measurement is made,
particles exist in a sort of limbo state,
being neither here nor there while
retaining the possibility of either.

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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ
(1881-1955)

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The cognitive revolution

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The Legend of Peugeot

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Scholarly approaches to the
meaning of life

Life is essentially
teleological (has a purpose
and end point) religious
views.

Life is random and

meaningless, determined
by our evolutionary past
and brains (classical
mechanics).

We cant know what life is

about but try to make sense
of it by attributing meaning
to things that dont exist
(intellectualist position).

We are subject to psychological

processes, fears and obsessions
and our attempts at meaning
are a way to rationalise or
express these (psychological
and psychoanalytic views).

We are making sense of

ontological realities, relating to
the world as it is (experiential
view).

We are projecting our ideas

onto the world in order to
create meaning (Durkheimian
sociology).

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Religious views
Eastern

Life and time are circular

and we need to think in
very large time-scales.
The world as we see it is
essentially illusory;
enlightenment is about
seeing it as it is and
realising our true nature as
non-physical beings.

Our thoughts and actions

are part of the cycle of life.

We suffer the consequences

of these thoughts and
actions.

Western, Abrahamic

Life and time are linear,

with a beginning and end.

It is a school or test, if we
pass we go to heaven, if we
fail we go to hell.

We have help from

supernatural beings, but
need to beware negative
forces (angels and devils).

God intervenes in history

on behalf of humanity.

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Life Planning
Michael Newton

Robert Schwartz

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Key life events planned or
random?

Think of the people in your life.

Are there moments that you met or that were significant

that could have been pre-agreed?

Have you had a sense of something being just right, of

everything falling into place as it should?

Have you felt you met someone before, or know them from
somewhere (who you have never actually met before in
this life)?

Do you become agitated if you feel that life is not going as

it should, that you are missing something?

What do you do to get back on track?

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Life as a lesson

What can I learn from a situation?

What is it teaching me?

Whether planned or not, what value can I take from this

situation?

I am not a victim, I have chosen this for a purpose.

If it was not meant to be like this, I am still able to

learn, and always have support.

My higher self knows and loves me.

What seems momentous is not so great in the overall

scheme of things.