本文探討人的生命意義在身體、社會、靈修三個層面中的發展。現象學和中國哲學皆重視身體，然現象學區分體驗的身體和機體的身體，而中國哲學卻重視兩者的統一，這點在晚近發展心理學從幼兒到少年時期的論述可以得到證實。本文將以身體中的欲望作為人的意義的根本動力，區分為「能欲」、「可欲」與「所欲」三層疏導之，並認為欲望獲取表象是意義的初步，首先是非語言的，進而是語言的，更因此進入社會溝通的層次。我將社會中人們對於價值理想的信念稱為「人文信仰」，是將生命意義投注在像仁愛、正義、真、善、美、和諧…等這些出自人性的要求，且人性可予以實現的價值。對於人的社會參與而言，這些都非常重要。最後，我將探問：到底在靈修生活與密契經驗中，身體有沒有任何正面的、積極的地位？如果只將身體的刻苦(克己)視為方法，該也是可以積極看待的靈修方式。在這點上，我舉聖十字若望和道家「以身觀身」的例子來說明。我從身體中的「能欲」說起，以及能欲之邁向「可欲」之善，到實現於「所欲」，落實在各種表象與社會活動的建構及其限定之中，然而又趨向於超越所有限定的實現，這點更切合於心的發展。心的作用始自慷慨自我走出的能欲，再發展為「意識都是先意識到甚麼」的意向性，再發展為能意志與所意志的辯證互動，成熟於社會中的倫理生活，而完成於靈修與宗教生活。其實，這些都是同一生命的不斷外推、超越，乃至朝向止於至善的過程。

This paper discusses the issue of the meaningfulness of human life on three levels: the body, social commitment and spirituality. The concept of the body is highlighted in both phenomenology and Chinese philosophy. While phenomenology makes a distinction between the corps vécu (lived body) and the corps organique (organic body), Chinese philosophy sees them as unified, and this point is corroborated by recent developmental psychology of infants up to teenagers. I take desire to be the original energy in the human search for further meaningfulness. Starting as ＂desiring desire,＂ then oriented to ＂desirable desire,＂ and finally concretized as ＂desired desire,＂ the development of desire takes various forms of representation, first nonverbal, then verbal, and thereby enters into the process of communication in society. In social commitment, it is most important to have what I call ＂humanist beliefs＂ in values such as love, justice, truth, good, beauty, harmony …etc. All these are from human nature as human and can be realized as human values. At the end, I ask: does the body play any positive role in human spiritual life or even mystical experience? I take St. John of the Cross and Laozi's ＂to see the nature of the body in letting the body be itself＂ to illustrate the idea that the body does play a positive role in mystical experience. Thus, starting from desirable desire, I discuss its further destiny in the construction of representations and societies, transcending all their limits. This process goes well with the development of the human mind/heart. Although it begins with the original generosity of the desiring desire, nevertheless it develops into all kinds of intentionality, which means ＂to be conscious is to be conscious of,＂ and then develops again into the dialectics of what Maurice Blondel calls ＂volonté voulante＂ and ＂volonté voulue＂, and then matures in the ethical life of society, and finally completes itself in spirituality and religious life, even in being united with the ultimate reality in mystic experience. This whole process indeed belongs to the same life that always strangifies and transcends itself in order to come up to the level of perfection.