ESSAYS

Meaning

Meaning comes from connecting our internal drives (motivations, curiosity) to the external world. There is meaning to be created or discovered in every Gestalt/whole or connection. We make sense of what we encounter through what occurs. By ascribing limited causation or function, we learn how to create ranges of opportunities for agentic action-in-context. We train our body–including perceptions–to our world as we simultaneously train our discursive minds to purpose.

Emotions, stimuli, meaning, and purpose shape relationship.

The more comprehensive the meaning-heuristics, the greater our ability to remember. The more accurate and subtle the meaning-heuristics, the greater the ability to act as intended. Meaning, then, is an aid to both memory and agency. Memory that is untroubled by discursive wavering and conflicting emotions is an aid to individual agency.

When meaning wholly supercedes appreciation, attention is applied to memory, functions, externals, purpose (and reflexively to the “self”), separation, dissatisfaction, problem-making and perhaps problem-solving, competence, and achievement instead of being applied to eternal peace or equanimity and simple joys.

Altering methods of deploying attention alters the effects of agentic choices. It is possible to be more competent in one’s decisions and more integrated in one’s experience if one does not wholly identify with the discursive level of thinking. It is also possible to think discursively with full equanimity when one develops awareness of equanimity. Developing awareness of equanimity comes through altering the proportion of volitional attention purposefully–but often also habitually–invested in discursive thinking. It may be necessary to separate learned, enculturated purpose from conscious intention.

When one’s actions are experienced as being in accord with universal processes, then consciousness or unconsciousness, and intentionality or lack of intentionality, are not seen as problematic. When one focuses only on one’s intentions or one’s habituated purposes, acting in accord is de-emphasized. When one’s intentions work against universal or even unavoidable processes, frustration results. For all that, purpose, discursive thinking, and intention–fully developed or otherwise–should not be identified with frustration and the results of acting from out of a sense of frustration.

Aligning one’s purpose with reality both releases constrictions and opens channels for free exchange between what is felt to be internal and what is felt to be external. This has been called equanimity when viewed as stable, flow when contrasted to feeling constricted, inspiration when contrasted to feeling blocked, release when contrasted to frustration, and freedom when contrasted to feeling imprisoned. It could also be called accordance when one recognizes that the world remains and that there are others in it. When viewed as accordance, neither repression is necessary nor is an exaggerated response to a sudden opening or release. When viewed as accordance, neither is any particular individual blamed for experiencing frustration nor is the world-as-it-is avoided. The suggestion is to place more emphasis on observation and less on premature opinions, suppositions, and expectations.

Meaning that is out of accord with reality may be seen as initially comforting but inevitably creates cognitive distortions and the unhappiness which follows. Maintaining cognitive distortions is difficult and disorienting. One option is to put down false beliefs. Putting down false beliefs may raise doubt about one’s ability to perceive and know accurately, but if one pursues the process of questioning to the end, then doubt calls for observation and observation opens the door to accuracy. With this understanding, it is possible in any given moment to pursue the equanimity which feels like joy in relation to the world and love in relation to other beings OR to pursue accuracy in one’s purpose, intention, and action. If one does not recognize relation to the world and other beings, one eventually finds that isolation is not only impossible but also that the attempts are eventually dissatisfactory. Accuracy in one’s decisions does not work against equanimity and joy, but it is not sufficient on its own for creating or discovering consistent happiness.

By developing one’s integrity of experience, it is possible to achieve both accuracy and equanimity. Without developing accuracy in dealing with the world and others in it, one must rely wholly on whatever one considers to be internal resources. When one develops in accordance with one’s surroundings, one simultaneously creates/discovers and enjoys an environment where generosity is experienced as the nature of relationships.

Discursive thinking is like getting a new tool as a birthday present. The excitement may wear off but the functionality remains. When we recognize that joy is not found in things but rather appreciated in relationship or process, joy remains in awareness whether it is loud and excited or quiet and more humble. But one must ask and retain one’s intention around the question: HOW do I want to experience life? Just wishing is not enough. But it is not impossible to apply the methods for removing obstacles between one’s current awareness and one’s sense of joy, openness, and equanimity. In applying those methods, it makes sense to use each tool in its rightful place and manner.

Meaning will help us with agency, individuality, and communicating in discursive thought-systems, but it has very little to do with inherent joy and clarity. Relying on discursive thinking alone habituates one to paying attention largely to what is explicit. Then, all of one’s methods involve looking outside. Where do you feel your joy?