LIFE IS TOO GREAT TO BE UNDERSTOOD: EXPLORING THE LIMITS OF HUMAN UNDERSTANDING
Today’s reflection for our philosophical journey of learning and self-knowledge comes from the words of Rainer Maria Rilke: “Life is too great to be understood, but what we can understand is what we can live.”
Have you ever stopped to think about how relentlessly we seek to understand life? Since the dawn of humanity, we have been driven by the need for explanation, for control, to find definitive answers to the most complex questions that arise before our eyes. We seek meaning in theories, philosophy, sciences, and even beliefs, hoping that we will finally understand the purpose of existence. But, as Rilke reminds us, life is greater than any concept or explanation we could conceive.
Life, in its essence, is too vast to be confined by the limits of human understanding. We are finite, and the magnitude of the reality we experience exceeds our cognitive capacities. However, Rilke offers us a key to understanding: “What we can understand is what we can live.” The secret lies not in the relentless pursuit of definitive answers but in living each experience, in the process of learning that occurs not only through intellect but primarily through the body, emotion, and interaction with the world around us.
Living as a Source of Understanding
Often, we try to rationalize the moments of life, seeking to fit them into models and theories we already know. However, it is important to remember Kierkegaard’s proposition, which teaches us that “truth is a lie you feel,” meaning there are aspects of life that transcend reason and cannot be reduced to mere explanations. True understanding emerges when we allow ourselves to experience life without the need to explain it immediately. Like a musician who feels each note without getting lost in the rules of musical theory, or a painter who immerses themselves in colors and shapes without searching for meaning or explanations in the artwork. What I mean is that experience not only teaches but transforms understanding, revealing layers of wisdom that unfold as we live.
Not by chance, instead of seeking a logic that gives us control over the uncontrollable, we should care about the time we have left in life. What truly matters is living the moment with intensity, with the awareness that meaning unfolds in the process of being present. See: “…not following the path traced by others, but creating your own.” This reflection was made by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the creator of the “transcendentalist” school of philosophy. What he teaches us is that true wisdom arises from the vital impulse of being in the world, without being bound to interpretations or preconceived expectations. In other words, you may not believe it, but if you live life, you live it. It seems so obvious that it borders on the ridiculous, and perhaps it is, but many forget this. The contrast between logic and experience, the simple yet powerful idea of being present, is something many fear or neglect. The fact is, life unfolds in small everyday actions, in the simple gestures of those who throw themselves into life with an open and receptive heart.
Another point that may sound paradoxical but is rarely truly understood is that it is in the absence of absolute explanations that life becomes richer and more meaningful. Contrary to the frantic search for answers, true wisdom lies in the acceptance of mystery and the willingness to live the present without the need for total understanding. A well-lived life is not one in which answers are collected, but one where questions ground our own values.
In this sense, I find a profound connection with the thought of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the 13th-century Persian Sufi poet and theologian, whose view of life transcends the limits of reason and offers a unique understanding of reality. Rumi saw life as a constant flow, a dance that cannot be confined by fixed concepts or rigid logic. He believed that true understanding arises from surrendering to the flow of experience, without the desire for control. In one of his magnificent passages, he said: “I am not the one who guides you, but life itself that leads you.”
Rumi is not inviting us to a senseless adventure, as the superficial view of “throwing oneself into life” might suggest. He seeks to teach us that the fullness of life is found in its authentic experience, in the acceptance of what is, without obsession over understanding every detail or controlling the process. He reminds us that true freedom lies in the ability to let life guide us, without resistance, without the weight of the need for explanation. Life, then, is not something to be understood, but something to be lived—and it is in this full living, in surrendering to what we do not know, that we find our true connection with the mystery of existence.
This invitation from Rumi also made me remember the lessons of Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher who, in his extraordinary and unique wisdom, teaches us the acceptance of chance. He reminds us that there are forces beyond our control and that trying to understand everything or impose explanations on what happens to us is an endless path that only generates frustration. For Epictetus, true control lies in our ability to discern between what we can change and what we must accept. Excellence, then, is not in understanding or controlling the uncontrollable, but in doing our best with what is within our reach, seizing every moment as an opportunity for growth.
When we are connected with true excellence and act with virtue within the reality of life, we are better prepared to deal with chance. Instead of fighting against it, we find peace that comes from inner freedom. In this flow of life, by accepting what is given to us and doing our best, we find the true meaning of life—not in the final result, but in the journey of a sincere effort to live according to what is available to us, aligning with our true purpose in life. In this way, just as Rumi instructs us, Epictetus teaches us that by surrendering to life, doing our best according to it, we connect with a profound sense of being, beyond the limiting explanations we so often seek, which are often just justifications for our own choices.
Experience, therefore, is the key that opens the door to real knowledge. We cannot force experience to fit our mental model, but rather we must allow ourselves to be transformed by it. Like water that shapes stone not by force, but by the persistence of its constant presence, life teaches us every day, with every step taken in its direction. Instead of seeking an explanation that closes the matter, life invites us to a deeper acceptance, an immersion in the currents of the unknown, where what is true is only what we can live, without the chains of absolute understanding.
Psychology and Human Behavior: Life Is Not Explained, It Is Lived
Within the field of behavioral and social psychology, we can understand that many of our actions are driven by the attempt to make sense of what we experience. Social psychology, for example, examines how our experiences are shaped by interactions with others and how we seek meaning in the norms, rules, and shared values of a society. This attempt for external explanation is natural, as we live in an interconnected world where social understanding is essential for our survival and well-being.
On the other hand, behavioral psychology reveals to us that often the process of adapting and changing behaviors does not occur through deep rational understanding, but through changes in emotions and responses to stimuli. This leads us to understand that, many times, our behavior is an attempt to adjust to a world that cannot be fully explained or controlled. Adaptation does not come through logical reasoning, but through the experience of living it and learning how to respond to it.
Sociability, then, should not be seen as a prison, but as the true source of freedom and human growth. As Aristotle reminds us, “Man is by nature a social animal,” and it is through social interaction that we find our place in the world, learning from one another, sharing experiences, perspectives, and ideas. Civility, therefore, is not an imposition or a mechanism of control, but a practice of freedom, because it is in the exchange of ideas and the collective construction of meaning that we cease to be imperfect and begin to seek eternal perfectibility. After all, life is not a quest for definitive answers, but a journey of constant evolution and improvement. It is in coexistence, in the acceptance of the other, and in the sincere exchange of experiences that we can improve ourselves and find, in imperfections, the possibility of continuous growth.
Neuroscience and Perception: How Our Brain Constructs the World
From the perspective of neuroscience, the human brain is, in itself, a meaning-making machine. The way we perceive the world is not a faithful copy of reality, but rather an interpretation, a construction based on our past experiences, our emotions, and the stimuli of the environment. Neurologist Oliver Sacks once said that the human mind is a dynamic “puzzle,” where the pieces of understanding fit together as we experience more and more.
Our perception of life is not static, but changes as we live and relate. What we understand from a situation today is different from how we would view it tomorrow, and thus, with every second, we learn, and with that, we change our thoughts, just as the world we wanted to build a second ago changes. The human mind is like this: it feeds on experiences, and it is these experiences that dictate our life and give us the chance to make it rich with meaning and achievements. This brain plasticity is one of the greatest wonders of neuroscience because it reveals that the understanding of the world and of ourselves is a continuous and dynamic process. There is no definitive answer, but rather a constant evolution of our perception. It is this flexibility, this ability to adapt, that allows us not only to react to the world but to transform it according to our journey of learning and growth.
The Paradox of Understanding: Embracing the Mystery of Life
But then, if you’ve made it this far, have you ever wondered: what does it really mean to understand life? What is the true understanding of our existence? Perhaps the answer lies in the very paradox of understanding: knowing that, in order to comprehend it, we must accept that, at its core, life is a great mystery.
In the relentless search for control and answers, we often forget that life unfolds amidst uncertainties, discomforts, and moments of fulfillment. Every moment is an opportunity to live what goes beyond what we can plan or control. The paradox of life is that, to move forward, we must accept the absence of total control over our destiny. And it is in this surrender, in this yielding to the natural flow of existence, that true freedom is revealed: the freedom to be, to live what comes without resistance, but with wisdom.
Life, in its complexity, is like a sine wave, a continuous curve oscillating between extremes. Joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, are not opposing forces but partners in the dance of existence, complementing each other, teaching us the true depth of the human experience. These opposites are not traps that life imposes on us to confuse us, but silent masters that guide us, through their contrasts, to a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world.
Pain, with its intensity, teaches us the importance of pleasure. Without pain, pleasure would be a mirage, an empty void with no depth. Similarly, sorrow prepares the ground where joy can blossom – it teaches us to appreciate the lightness of moments, the beauty that emerges when the light of joy finds fertile ground in the recognition of the weight of loss or absence. And, finally, loss, by taking something precious from us, invites us to look at what remains, at what is yet to come, at what life still offers us, revealing the intrinsic value of every lived moment.
These movements between extremes are not interruptions but natural pulses of an existence that expands and contracts, like the breathing of a conscious mind. Change is the only constant that propels us forward, and by accepting that the cycle of opposites is inescapable, we become more capable of navigating it with wisdom. With each step, we learn more about the truth of being human: we are simultaneously fragile and resilient, lost and whole, finite and infinite.
Each time we go through sorrow, we find a new form of joy, more mature, deeper. Every time we face pain, it teaches us true resilience, the ability to rise, to embrace the present moment, no matter how difficult it may be. The cycle is not a struggle but a continuous dance between being and non-being, between light and shadow, where the only thing we can control is our ability to learn and grow from the experience of these extremes.
The great paradox, then, is that the more we try to understand or control life, the more it challenges us to relinquish that control and accept the mystery it brings. Life is not an enigma to be solved, but an invitation to live in its entirety. As the ancient philosophers say: “The more we know, the more we know that we know nothing.” And it is in this emptiness of certainties that the true expansion of being occurs.
Therefore, instead of despairing over trying to control what is uncontrollable, perhaps we should ask ourselves: what, then, would it mean to live fully? Living is, first and foremost, accepting the paradoxical complexity of existence and, by doing so, finding in the mystery of life our greatest chance for transformation. Because life, in its essence, does not require us to fully comprehend it; it simply asks us to live it with full presence, courage, and openness.
Living is, after all, a dance of acceptance and resistance, of questions without definitive answers, of leaps and falls, of progress and setbacks. In each movement, we find more about who we are, and by accepting the beauty and pain of the mystery, we discover the freedom to simply be human.
Life as a Path to Be Lived, Not Understood
Whether in the fields of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, or personal experience, all great thinkers, at some point, have come to the same conclusion: life cannot be fully understood. But, contrary to what many think, this is not a burden. On the contrary, it is a liberation. Liberation to live, to feel, to experience without the pressure of fitting everything into a logical explanation.
Life is a journey of expansion. Perhaps true control is not that which binds us, but that which allows us to let go, to flow, and to adapt to what comes without fear. The depth of life is only reached when we understand that not knowing is as vital as knowing. And in the end, what matters is how we become along the way.
Therefore, I invite you to reflect: in what aspect of your life have you been seeking more understanding than living? Has your quest for answers been preventing you from embracing the experiences that the present has to offer? Are you allowing the mystery of life to guide you, or are you trying to unravel it with your mind?
And when questions like these begin to torment you and everything seems to dissipate, when the last echo of our journey starts to fade, believe me, an eternal flame will awaken in each one of us. It is not a common flame, but the very essence of the universe itself, forged in the stars and nourished by the winds of time, space, and our experience.
I hope that by the time you’ve reached here, you understand what I am trying to say: that the statement that life is too grand to be fully understood is not the end of ideas, thoughts, or perceptions, but a rebirth. We are not here to end something, but to loosen the bonds of the invisible, to free ourselves from the chains that bind us to the mundane and, with a simple breath, reach the impossible. We are more than bodies, more than minds; we are the divine spark in every act, in every thought, in every word. And when we become aware of this, the cosmos bows before our strength, as if the very gods, those who have always been dormant in their eternal waiting, are now awakening with one purpose: to behold the beauty of our existence.
Because, in the end, there is no greater achievement than living with the power to transform, to create, and to transcend. There is no greater victory than the courage to be whole, to be present, and to be human. And by doing this, we become immortal — not in the shadows of what we were, but in the light of what we can still be.
May the sleeping gods, if they ever existed, envy us. For what we have achieved is not a common victory. It is the victory of the human soul in its purest form, in its most sublime expression. There is no greater reward, no honor that compares to this. And if one day a single star remains in the sky, it will be watching over us, knowing that true power lies in living with the fullness that only humans can achieve.
This is our legacy. This is our cry for freedom, transformation, and eternity. Not for what we do, but for what we are. And by doing this, we awaken the infinite within us.
The Flame of the Infinite
Life, like wind in dance,
Does not ask for answers, but to breathe.
Each breath is a mystery to be lived,
Where knowing is lost, and feeling is gained.
The gods, in their deep sleep,
Look at the world as if they do not understand its depth.
But we, made of stars and of pain,
Live, and in that, we find our love.
The search for clarity, for certainty,
Ties us to the shallow, to the uncertain.
But truth is not in knowing,
It is in being, in flowing, in simply perceiving.
And when the last echo fades,
What remains in us is the awakening of love.
An eternal flame, shining in the abyss,
Challenging the heavens, conquering the infinite.
We are not made of answers, but of paths,
Of falls and ascensions, of dreams and thorns.
And by living with courage, by being who we are,
We awaken the cosmos, and in every act, we become.
May the gods, in their eternity, bow in reverence,
For the true victory is our existence.
Not in the relentless search for explanations,
But in the power of becoming possible
To live in all directions.
(Marcello de Souza)
Share your thoughts in the comments. How have you experienced the complexity of life? I would love to know how this reflection resonated with you.
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