Do You See It Too?

One aspects of self-exploration has prompted me to ask – "how often do people perceive meaning where there is none?" and "when there is meaning in our lives how often do we miss it?" I'd like to share some of the realizations that I've made over the last few months about hidden meanings and jumping to false conclusions and the thin but important line between the two.

There are three elements of hidden meanings that active spiritual development can help us become aware of -

Hidden Patterns and Meanings
Coincidences that are part of a greater meaning
Understandings of the "whole" process of life rather than each part interacting on its own

The interesting chasm in understanding I've faced is where I've had a moment of insight and being aware of this deeper pattern to life but when it comes to sharing that insight it's a different case altogether. I don't think there is an implied need to 'get' people to see hidden patterns of meaning, for instance, but I do think that this process is intrinsic to how people function as human beings.

Consider Love – Social Conventions – Implied Ethics

"Love" "conventions" and "ethics" are all aspects of the human experience that share one common ground – there is a unique pattern of meaning that each one of us can share and confirm: Yes I understand and feel this connection.

But what is it that gives us a sense of deeper awareness about whether we feel a connection with another person? How about whether or not we acknowledge a sense of moral obligation towards how we live our lives? It's this recognition of a deeper pattern and calling to action that implies a greater meaning which allows us to recognize the same understanding reflected in others.

If there is no anchor to contrast meaning with action within us, then in consequence, how can we have the motivation to act as we do? The reason that this premise is important is due to the hidden patterns and meanings that are contrived in our societies.

For example, oftentimes the contrived response when we break a social convention or fail to complete a task someone else has imposed on us is – guilt. If someone wrongs us then the contrived response is anger. This is how we are often expected to act. If we act following these norms and structure our relationships and life around them then what we are doing is following a pattern of what the common consciousness believes life "should be" like.

This is the hidden pattern that we are all confronted with at one stage or another in life.

But there is another. The other pattern I speak of is a more genuine sense of meaning and understanding. The form of understanding that cannot be imposed or made-up. The understanding I speak of is that which each of us has within.

This is the deeper part of us that recognizes hidden meanings and patterns for their true nature – their role in being just a smaller part of a greater whole.

False Patterns

The patterns that are often engrained in understanding gravitate towards certain core beliefs that we have as human beings -

Happiness is a product of receiving acceptance from others.
Success correlates with how much a person is paid.
Personal goals should match up to the same sorts of goals that others have in the context or societal framework at the present time.

Beliefs like this drive us towards certain actions to fit into a pattern of existence that makes sense.

"Does the life I am living make sense to me?" we could ask. It might make sense when contrast to the context of what is acceptable 'out there' in the world of social conventions. But not often does a person proclaim "Yes – this experience makes sense to me" because it is in alignment with their true self.

So I wonder more often than ever now. Do You See It Too?

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