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VOL. 1, ISSUE 2 (2025)
Man’s search for meaning: A Buddhist perspective on existential anxiety, mindfulness and the art of being
Authors
Dr. Dheeraj Pratap Mitra
Abstract
Modern life pushes many people into a restless
search for meaning yet the chase keeps slipping away the moment they think they
have caught it. This paper turns toward Buddhist thought to examine why this
happens and how a different way of seeing as quiet, steady, a little radical can
open space for a gentler relation with one’s own mind. Much of today’s anxiety
comes from the habit of assuming that meaning has to be built somewhere outside
through success, attachment, speed or the endless fear of falling behind. That
habit is strong. It keeps tightening the mind. One short moment of tension
becomes a pattern. A pattern becomes a story. And soon the story feels like
fate. Buddhist philosophy approaches this problem from another angle. It
suggests that meaning appears when the mind stops chasing itself, when
attention meets experience without forcing it into fixed shapes and when a
person gradually learns that stability grows from seeing impermanence clearly
rather than escaping it. This is not an idea meant only for monks. It is something
that can happen while standing in a bus queue or while drinking tea alone in a
room or while watching anger rise and soften without acting on it. Small
shifts, but powerful. A simple breath taken with awareness can change the
direction of an entire hour. It matters. The article brings together core
Buddhist insights on suffering, craving and insight next to psychological
reflections on modern existential fear. It also explores mindfulness as a
practical discipline that trains the mind to stay with the rawness of life
without being drowned by it. The aim is not to offer a formula but to show how
the art of being fragile, unpolished, alive may allow meaning to unfold on its
own.
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Pages:73-81
How to cite this article:
Dr. Dheeraj Pratap Mitra "Man’s search for meaning: A Buddhist perspective on existential anxiety, mindfulness and the art of being". International Journal of Applied Review
, Vol 1, Issue 2, 2025, Pages 73-81
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