The highest most ultimate truth, the answer to the question of “life, the universe and everything” is…it depends.

It depends on where we are we are in our worldview in this current unfolding of our own life.

Whatever this worldview of ours is, it is the ultimate truth for us, and only us in this moment and only this moment. It’s all correct—and none of it is (or maybe that is me just enjoying the paradoxical manifestation of my own version of truth). My point is that no one; not you, not me, not our gurus, not some book, no scientist or anyone else out there gets to be the authority on how we ascribe meaning to our own existence.

I think in some ways we all want to know the ultimate truth. We all want to discover the meaning of life so that we may live a life filled with meaning. We all have our own ideas about what this ultimate truth is or might be.

We may have read them in holy or spiritual books, been taught them by spiritual teachers, instructed at school, adopted them subconsciously through culture and upbringing or any other of a myriad of ways for our minds to coalesce around ideas.

For some of us life may be meaningless and the aim is to just enjoy this day, every day as much as we can. For others, life may be a magical and mystical unfolding of the dance of divine Gods and Goddesses, nature spirits, charms and hexes.

Life could be a very distinct relationship created by a single God that instructs us to live in line with the outline he presented to us, and the rewards we will receive by following the instructions. Or perhaps life is just about getting as much security as we can and living the good life right now.

It could also just be a single chance, a tiny possibility within a universe of infinite possibility and nothing more than a blip of probability on an otherwise clean canvas of nothingness.

Life may be full of meaning. It may be about love, friendship and community. It may be a complex series of patterns and paradoxes that we can grow ourselves to encompass and understand at some deep level of awareness.

It may be, as I like to think, a brief moment stretched and teased right out before it all implodes into a singular giant cosmic orgasm encompassing all of space, time and consciousness into infinite oneness!

Regardless of what we think is the ultimate truth of existence, and the circumstances that led us to forming these ideas, we can cultivate an attitude that encompasses the space for others to have their own, and differing, interpretations of existence.

From this perspective I believe we can begin to experience genuine compassion, to let others be as they are and drop our righteousness that says “no, my way is the true way!” even when we think it really is. In my opinion we have had enough wars about this already.

A toast to not-knowing!

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Assistant Ed: Meagan Edmondson/Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photo: elephant archives