People generally do not know why they want to live longer. Therefore, I encourage first stopping to ask “Why do we need to live longer?”
Let’s say that I have an elixir of life. You can take one drop and will live for another hundred years. Then what? How will that help you?
We have a very strong instinct for life. If we could choose to live another round of life, then most would go for it, solely out of the fear of dying. In other words, our impetus to keep living does not stem from a positive motivation, but from a negative one—our fear of death.
We fear death and try to escape it when we lack a clear purpose in life. Alternatively, there are also a lot of elderly people who agree with death, who have a willingness to lie down and to never get up. They have simply grown tired of life and see it pointless to endure the same motions day after day.
On the other hand, if we find life’s purpose and see that reaching it justifies prolonging our lives, then we can feel free to request a longer life: to go to the cashier, write our statements, and order the elixir. However, if I had such an elixir to give, then I personally would not give it to anyone. Instead, we should fit our movements toward our life’s purpose into the natural time frame that we have been given.
While people chase various goals in life, the ultimate purpose of life that we will all eventually reach is an eternal sensation of the force of nature that created and sustains us, which is a force of love and giving. As I have previously mentioned, the meaning and purpose of life cannot be a true one if it does not involve reaching an eternal sensation, and it involves aiming to benefit others and nature.
I understand that it is quite complicated to reach a decision to aim for such a goal, and it is even more complex to implement it. However, if we aim ourselves in such a direction, and use the method, the tools and the social environments at our disposal in order to strengthen ourselves toward that goal, then we would eventually discover a newfound balance with nature. Likewise, questions about living longer would disappear from our scope.
Based on the video “Why Do So Many People Try to Live Longer?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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