by Bob Trowbridge

Created on: January 15, 2009

One of the reasons we exist is to question our existence. We exist to seek out the truth of who we are and determine the meaning of our life. We exist in order to find our role in existence, our role in this life and our part in all of life. We exist in order to discover the heart of Life itself.

The philosophies of life and existence run on a continuum from the fundamentalist scientific approach at one extreme to the fundamentalist religious approach at the other. There is great variety of belief and theory between those two extremes.

The fundamentalist scientific approach is simple. Existence is an accident. Life itself, wherever it may exist in this universe or any other universe or dimension, is an accident. It is the creation of the Big Bang, a chemistry experiment that accidentally created living organisms. On earth, evolution eventually turned those primitive organisms into all of the life we experience today. The same accident could have happened on other planets, in other galaxies, in other universes.

The fundamentalist religious approach is the opposite. The idea espoused here is that a deity of some sort (usually male) created everything that exists, whether seen or unseen. Furthermore, this deity has a purpose for all of creation and takes a very hands-on approach in guiding us toward that purpose. Existence is not an accident but is very carefully planned and micro-managed.

Between these two extremes are many scientists who believe in God. There are even scientists who are religious fundamentalists. There are those who do not believe in God who might nevertheless be skeptical about science. You can try to find your place somewhere on this continuum. Some of you have moved on this continuum in one way or another since your younger days.

All of these philosophies for existence have one thing in common. They are based on belief. Even the scientific fundamentalists must call upon belief to support their contentions. Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of a deity or some kind of Mind behind existence. Religious fundamentalists cannot prove any of their assertions. We are left with belief or faith. It takes faith to believe in God. It takes faith to believe there is no God.

Rene Descartes said, "Je pense; donc je suis." That's because he was French. It means, "I think; therefore I am." In other words, we exist because we think. This would suggest that mind creates existence rather than simply responding to it.

Nothing can be said about existence,

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