12 December 2014 - QA 4

Dear Gurudev, my life appears meaningless to me. What should I do?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Life appears to be meaningless when you are focused only on yourself. If you constantly keep thinking, 'What would happen to me? What do I want? I want this and I want that. When will I get it?' Then life will appear meaningless. But when you know that you are here to give something to the people around you, to give something back to society, and to discover a higher truth, then life becomes meaningful.

Both saturation of pleasure and deprivation of pleasure can cause you to feel that life is meaningless. When you take your eyes off that and reflect upon 'What can I do for others? Who am I?' Then suddenly you see that a fountain of love and joy springs from within, and all values naturally start flowing in life. This is a good transition period for you.