‘Every human being, whoever they may be—and whether they know it or not—seeks to give meaning to their life. They need to have a reason for existing, and they look for this reason among all their different experiences and the different aspects of their family, social and professional life. But in reality, neither personal success nor material possessions can ever reveal to them the meaning of life, precisely because a meaning is not material; it can only be found on a much higher level, on the subtlest planes of existence.

Here on the physical plane we can only find forms. Forms can, of course, be filled with content, the content that comes from the feelings and sensations born of a great love for an object, a being or an activity. But feelings are transitory, and sooner or later, they disappear and leave us to suffer from the void that remains within. So we need to go and look for something that is beyond content. We need to look for meaning. Once you have found meaning you have found fulfilment.

Our spirit rises to a higher plane and perceives meaning
An example will, perhaps, help you to understand what I am trying to explain. Yesterday you ate a very good meal, but that meal was for yesterday and today you need to eat again. The memory of yesterday’s meal cannot satisfy today’s hunger. But if, when reading a book, looking at a painting or listening to some music, for example, you suddenly sense that you have discovered a truth that transforms your vision of reality, that revelation will still be with you tomorrow and the day after.

This is because that book, painting or piece of music is a medium through which your spirit rises to a higher plane and perceives a meaning. And that meaning is an eternal element that enters into your being and never leaves you again.

Learn to make such moments last so that they become a permanent state of consciousness
Once you have found the meaning of things it is yours for ever, but in order to find it you have to rise to a great height and eat, think, love and act on the higher planes. It is no good looking for meaning on too low a level, for you will never find it; material things cannot reveal it to you.

Obviously, an occasional moment of inspiration or illumination is not enough to give meaning to your life. You also have to learn to make such moments last so that they become a permanent state of consciousness capable of purifying and restoring order and harmony to your whole being. Unfortunately, you are often so heedless and superficial that you switch, in a matter of moments, from the divine world to the most mundane and foolish concerns, and it is as though you wiped out all that had gone before.’

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
Izvor Book 231 The Seeds of Happiness
Chapter 6. The Meaning of Life