FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
IN SEARCH OF MEANING
THE AUSTRIAN neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Emil Frankl (1905–1997) authored a book in 1946, called Man’s Search for Meaning. Many authors over the years have written books with similar titles. During more than three hundred years of the printing press, millions of books have been published in different languages. If a common title were to be suggested for these books, it would, without doubt, be: In Search of Meaning.
A human being, by nature, is a seeker of meaning. Everyone is born with an enquiring mind. Everyone tries to find the answer to the quest of finding the truth and meaning behind their existence. And, it is this quest which has resulted in the writing of so many books, both fiction and non-fiction. All are directly or indirectly related to the subject of the quest for truth.
When a person reaches the age of maturity, his first concern is earning his livelihood. He opts for various kinds of jobs or engages in different types of economic activity. When he becomes engaged in some work, he goes through a period of satisfaction. Then, gradually, a time comes when he realizes that his job is not giving him what he had been in search of. Certainly, he gets his “bread”, but as Jesus Christ rightly said: “Man does not live by bread alone.” (Matthew 4: 4) To earn one’s “bread” is everyone’s first need. But bread can satisfy only one’s physical requirements; it fails to give any intellectual satisfaction, or add meaning to one’s life. This is the main cause of frustration and despair experienced by almost everyone today.
Every person, consciously or unconsciously, yearns to know how he came into existence. Everyone tries to understand the meaning of his existence in this world. There are few who have not frequently reflected on existence. When a person is born, he immediately finds himself in a world with a life-support system which he did not bring into existence. He then thinks that nature potentially had an entire technology hidden in it. Man later discovered and developed this technology to create the civilization we see around us.
Thus, man questions himself: Who is behind this living drama? What is the relationship between me and that super-artist? Then, there is the question of death, the most enigmatic question of all: Why does man die and what lies beyond?
Man’s search for meaning and truth, questions about death and beyond can find fulfilment under a single phenomenon that in religious terms may be called “God”.
Man’s search for meaning and truth, questions about death and beyond can find fulfilment under a single phenomenon that in religious terms may be called “God”. If we accept this term, we can say that, in fact, everyone is in search of God. It is God who gives meaning to all phenomena, because, after finding God, everything falls into place. Everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, is in search of God. During this search he runs towards various things, but when they come within his reach, he very soon realizes that he has not found the answer to his search.
‘God’ is not something which one finds from external sources. It is a matter of self-discovery. God can only be discovered by an individual himself. It is only the self-discovered God that can give you conviction. If you want to make your life meaningful, you have to take up this question on a priority basis. It is your own study and contemplation through which you can discover God. The sign of truly discovering God is that when you find Him, you will feel at peace with yourself and with the universe, like a little boy in the arms of his mother.
The process of search has only one condition to it, and that is, sincerity. Jesus Christ has said: “The one who seeks finds.” (Matthew 7: 8) This is not a religious saying; rather it describes a law of nature. One who is truly sincere in his search will certainly reach his goal.
Prof. Farida Khanam
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