Is it not the most profound question of all? The cosmic question mark that the mystics and philosophers so desperately desire. People, usually, resort to two extremes on this topic. On one side of the camp, you have the fundamentalist theists who claim that the meaning of life is to know God. And on the other side, you have the atheistic/materialists who claim that there is no universal purpose to life - that everything is meaningless - that the universe is just some freak accident, etc.
But both of these camps are wrong. I will give my honest viewpoint on the matter without trying to sound overly simplistic on such a profound topic.
Let me just clarify that I am neither a theist nor a conventional atheist ( materialistic ).
I am an atheist, but I don’t subscribe to materialism or pure physicalism. I will go into depth on my position in this regard in another posting.
To stay more on point, I will make the claim that there is, indeed, a universal or fundamental purpose or telos of existence. This telos does NOT emanate from some other worldly, magical realm of angels and unicorns. This telos is one with this world - this universe. You ask: " So what is the purpose? Tell me already!". I know, I know. Enough with the foreplay…
My answer is in no shape or form original to me, but to spell it out simply, the purpose of existence is the will to power.
If you are familiar with Friedrich Nietzsche, then you should know what the nature of this will to power is, but if not, I will try to sum it up for you. The will to power is seen in everything. Starting from the inorganic, it is seen via gravity; systems of energy/matter use force ( gravity ) to attract other forces ( weaker ones ) to their own systems so that it may become a part of them. In time, these systems become more massive, transcending their former state. In the organic ( life ), the will to power becomes special, more complex. In plants, the will to power is seen in how it extracts energy from the soil and sunlight so that it may grow - so that it may develop and become more grand. In animals, the will to power is seen in dominance hierarchies and ruthless combat in order to dominate the territory. In humans, the will to power is seen in social hierarchies. Most people strive to obtain this power through work in exchange for money. This money, if accumulated and invested in wisely, will assists in their ascent of the social ladder. It’s safe to say that most people want to be rich, yes? This is because richness will give them power - power for attracting mates, power to survive ( food- water ), power to manipulate others, power to give their offspring a greater survival edge, etc. Even in the act of consumption ( eating and drinking ) the will to power is seen. When you consume sustenance, you are extracting energy from other sources ( like the tree ). This energy is subsumed in your organic system ( body ) and it gives power to your system ( vitality ). Everything is seeking to grow, expand, develop, and dominate.
I’m not sure how people have managed to overlook this. It’s right in our faces on a daily basis, yet people are so blind to it. Maybe it is due to the theist vs atheist dichotomies muddling up people’s minds.