Why are We Here? Nonviolence and the Meaning of Life

The practice of principled nonviolence, rooted in the unity of life, requires that one plunges into the depths of introspection and to the heights of extroversion for a cause that is greater than oneself, a cause for which one is willing even to sacrifice one’s own life before ever taking another’s. Does life have a meaning? What would be the meaning of our own life within that larger picture? What does all of this say about who we are? The search for the meaning of life is not relegated to the philosophers or the sages of ancient traditions; it is a question every one of us must grapple with, and at least provisionally answer, for it will have an effect on our most quotidian concerns–from our diet to our reading choices to our means for settling conflicts and for peacetime activities.