Tuesday, September 18, 2007

You Were Born For A Reason



Are you a blog-reader who totally ignores all adverts? Or are you one who never fails to click on an interesting ad? Me? I'm the latter and look what I found the other day.

It's an item on the English version of the runaway best-selling book on Buddhism, You Were Born For A Reason. The book has already sold more than half a million copies in its publication in Japanese as Naze ikiru, and is still going strong. It promises that "You will not be the same after reading this book". So, if you are one who constantly wonders why you are here, this could be the book for you.

While we are on this subject, here's a meaningful quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about the Purpose of Life.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm ...
    Something to ponder on, isn't it?
    Be well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mmm... not sure if I could agree with Ralph Emerson.

    We are not born to be happy, but we strive to be happy. If we are happy, we can share our experience and stories with others. This is where usefulness and compassion come into picture. And if we are successful in helping others, we will be even happier.

    happiness -> compassion -> happiness (imagine a closed circle)

    Bill Gates can't be a great philanthropist if he has little money...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:33 PM

    We make our reasons for living.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, from a strictly biological standpoint, we were born for a reason, all right:

    to procreate.

    That's true of all life forms.

    ReplyDelete