How To Be

There is one basic question that is at the heart of all religion and philosophy.  How should life be lived? 

Buddhists believe that life is to be lived in renunciation of needs and desires.
Hindus believe that life is to be lived over and over according to one’s karma.
Jews believe that life is to be lived making this world holy, according to Torah.
Moslems believe that life is to be lived in surrender to Allah, according to Koran.
And Christians believe that life is to be lived with faith and in hope for eternal salvation.


Socrates taught that life should be self-examined and lived in pursuit of Truth.
Aristotle counseled that life should be lived in moderation, finding the Golden Mean.
Kierkegaard thought that life should be lived not in reason, but in a leap of faith.
Nietzsche taught that God is dead and life should be lived becoming the best you can be, becoming the ‘ubermensch’.
And William James wrote that the human experience is far too complex to be defined by any one way of being.


From Amos, one should seek good and not evil.
From first Isaiah, one should relieve the oppressed, defend the fatherless, and plead for the widow.
From second Isaiah, one should be a light unto others.
And from Micah, one should seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly.


For 60’s psychologist Timothy Leary, life should be lived turning on, tuning in and dropping out.
For psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, life should be lived loving and working.
For existential psychologist Abraham Maslow, life should be lived self-actualizing.
And for concentration camp survivor and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, life should be lived meaningfully.


There are many paths from which to choose.   There is no one right way of being.  There is no one Truth.  There may be false paths, paths that lead astray.  But there are also many true and meaningful paths, many good ways to be.

How to be or how not to be, that is really the question.