The meaning of life

what is it?

in the eternal teachings, sanatana dharma, aka hinduism, the most basic thing needed by a conscious being is to realize that it's not separate from the whole, which is called moksha, liberation

buddhism, which is also an indian philosophy and thus sorta just a branch of hinduism depending on if you're a splitter or lumper, proposes the very subtly different & in some ways more complete liberation of nirvana, snuffing out, becoming extinguished like a burnt out fire, that is, knowing by direct perception that there was never any separate or whole, that all such perceptions are illusions caused by longing