ADVANCED POSE VII: MEANING MAKING

***Take a full two weeks for this lesson and its exercises.

We are meaning making machines. Yes we are. It’s a function of our brain. It’s a useful tool that motivates our living. But what happens when we become passive in what we make things mean? What happens when we become attached to what we make things mean? This, and the two magic questions of discernment which I borrow from the poet Rumi, are what we’ll explore in this lesson.

Meaning is interpretive, subjective, and takes place in the mind. We attach meaning to everything. And it’s important to then, do so consciously and soberly whenever possible. Think about all of the different ways that our social agreements (laws, rules of engagement, customs) dictate meaning. Think about all of the conflicts right now going on in our society because of the differences of interpreted meaning placed on things such as race, economics, symbols such as a flag or a monument.

Things don’t actually mean anything at all on their own. We give them meaning. And meaning is a mental construct. This is not to be confused with the principle of Cause and Effect. Often the meaning we attach to things has nothing to do with actual and factual cause and effect at all. Let’s look at some situations in which attaching meaning can be useful.

There is a idea which I practice. It’s a thought technology in which I choose to see every circumstance that crosses my path as Love from the Universe in the form of some sort of gift. So, for example, I might interpret someone who criticizes my teachings as Love from the Universe in the form of testing the integrity and voracity of my work and/or my commitment, confidence, and skills of influence and communication. I can choose to make it mean this... something positive and useful.

But in the same circumstance I could also choose to make it mean this person is attacking me, that I am in danger of some sort, that they will make me look “bad.” I could make it mean an absence of Love. And because this particular choice of meaning is reactionary, and not based on actual factual truth, but rather based on fear, it doesn’t serve the greater good. Along these lines, I would encourage you to look at your conflicts, resentments, and strained relationships with the world around you. Think about relationships in your life that feel out of integrity, that you have negative feelings about, relationships that feel disconnected. Have a look at those relationships. Think about the story you hold about why that relationship is the way it is. Think about how when the other person in the relationship does things you don’t like, you hold beliefs in your head about what their actions mean, about what those actions represent, about what they were thinking, about whether or not they care, respect you, etc... Think about the beliefs you hold about that person’s behavior despite the actual lack of real harm. And then consider the impact of the attached meaning itself. It’s often the inference of the meaning that causes you pain and suffering rather than the actual behavior itself.

Look at our current societal conditions. Notice how some people see all of what’s going on as meaning the world is coming to an end. Notice how that has people sink into depression or destructive behaviors. Think about how challenging some careers are when the job requires you to face repeated rejections and/or failures before a person achieves success. Think about why that’s challenging. Mostly it’s challenging because we make the failure mean something that it doesn’t actually mean.

So the trick here isn’t to reject the practice of attaching meaning. The trick here is to attach meaning that is generative, creative, positive, useful, and constructive, rather than depressing, disintegrated, negative, and destructive. And this brings me to the ideas behind discerning the difference between a thought/idea, a belief, a principle, knowledge, and philosophy.

• A thought is simply an idea that comes to mind. You don’t have to attach it to anything. It doesn’t represent anything. And your thoughts are not who you are.

• A belief is an attachment to a thought or idea that has no requirement of actual basis in fact or truth. A belief is held regardless of proof or lack of proof.

• A principle an element of a scientific school of thought. It differs from a belief in that it is not passive acceptance of an idea. A principle is meant to be applied and tested using scientific methods. It is something to put into practice, which may or may not be immutable.

• Philosophy is a school of thought, it is a set of ideas or an idea that expresses a perspective or view point on a particular subject.

• Knowledge is experiential proof of an idea. You don’t know something because someone else told you. You don’t know something because you believe it. You know something because you have tested it and verified it to be truth.

There are no right or wrong meanings as long as you’re honest and introspective of what the source is for the meaning you’re attaching. I like to use my magic questions to determine whether or not I will choose to attach a meaning to something.

Rev. Brig’s 2 Magic Questions

• Is it true? (Is it in alignment with what I know to be true? Is it in integrity with who I say that I am? Does it resonate as real?

• Does it serve? (Does it serve my purpose for existing? Does it serve my highest good? Does it serve the greater good?)

The key here is to be able to understand the difference so that you can make clearer choices around what something means, and then subsequently better choices of how to respond. For example, if you think of a spiritual principle as religious dogma then it has a different connotation than if you think of the same principle as a philosophy. One allows for empowered mental agility, and the other is a fixated attachment to an idea, a rule, and usually without any personal experiential application. I encourage you to be agile and flexible and dynamic in your spiritual practices whatever they may be, remembering that whatever it is, meaning has been attached, by you or another, and the only rule about meaning is to observe if it is true, and whether or not it is serving you or the greater good. Got it? We should be willing to do what gets us the desired outcomes of the higher self, without being obligated to preference, aversions, attachments, and/or ego based habituations such as fear, self doubt, or perception of lack. We should be willing to entertain meaning that actually matters in a measurable way, and simply let the rest pass. And lastly, to not create rigidity based on what worked or didn’t work in the past. To be present in the moment, unencumbered.