Does Life Have Meaning?

Xuefeng

December 25, 2024

On the internet, many people claim that life has no meaning. Let us explore whether life truly has any meaning.

In a pigsty of ten pigs, an old pig said, “Life as a pig has no meaning. We spend our entire lives in this sty, doing nothing but eating, drinking, sleeping, and rolling in the mud. There’s no other purpose.” A boar replied, “There’s also mating. Mating is meaningful.” A piglet chimed in, “Drinking our mother’s milk and playing with my siblings in the sty makes life as a pig very meaningful.”

Hearing the pigs discuss the meaning of life, the pig farmer couldn’t help but laugh. He thought to himself, “What do you know about the meaning of your existence? Your purpose as pigs is to grow fat so that I can slaughter and eat you.”

A Buddha overheard the pig farmer’s thoughts and found them laughable. He thought, “Raising pigs is your duty, but slaughtering and eating them negates your merits. From then on, you’ll have to start over from zero.”

“What is the meaning of life as a pig?” All the pigs knelt before the Greatest Creator and pleaded for answers.

A deafening voice echoed from the heavens: “As pigs, your existence is to repay the debts of your past lives, where you lived recklessly and harmed other living beings. By living as pigs and settling your debts, you can be freed from this existence and reincarnate as humans. That is the entire meaning of your lives as pigs.”

If you ask pigs whether their lives have meaning, they won’t know—they cannot comprehend the purpose of their existence.

If you ask humans whether their lives have meaning, they won’t know either—humans cannot fully grasp the purpose of their existence.