The Power of Meaning
Better a poor old man than an young wealthy king
There are only a few notions that we humans can gather around universally that nearly all find common to the experience of living. Almost anywhere you go in the world and just about anyone you speak to will share a common sense of significance concerning human activities such as love, eating, work, family & child rearing, finances and learning. Some individuals, may feel compelled, to place greater emphasis on these features of the human experience as a result of their world view, religious beliefs or values, particularly if they dominate in the culture they grew up in. Eating, working & learning are all fundamental features of living and why we live with a sense of purpose or autonomy, individually as well as collectively. As we engage in purpose driven goals and activities concerning these features of living we do so, very often unaware, of gifts we possess both as individuals and as humans as well. The ability to choose how we engage, and to what degree we engage in the pursuit of these purposes is a gift of free-will. How we go about living with purpose is a process that we all engage uniquely. Some are very successful in their pursuit of exercising great control over their own lives, destinies or even others. Many have managed to gain such control through hard work, others through sheer luck. We often take note of those who are successful, influential, wealthy and popular all of which in modern Western thinking is generically referred to as power. However, when we consider power in the context of living with purpose in the pursuit of meaning, the role, importance and character of power is fundamentally transformed.
There are many words that describe how we humans exercise influence over our inner and outer worlds. When we think of personal mastery, will, desire, passion, influence over others, success/prosperity, we are really referring to what may be best described as power. Power on a personal level is in part how we relate to ourselves, our life story and ultimately how we come to reconcile our sense of what we have achieved and what we could have achieved. All our history both in success and failure, could be described in terms of our desire and ability to exercise power. Power permeates all of human experience and can be used for good or evil. For certain and as history testifies, power and its abuse can lead to enormous suffering. However, when we come to understand the role of power, it may become a significant part in living with purpose in the pursuit of meaning.
Power or influence are words that can be used interchangeably in the context of the pursuit of meaning. True power begins with mastery over our own thoughts, desires, ambitions as well as the will and the body. Because meaning has a personality and is qualitatively tethered to principles of hierarchy, this implies that power likewise has principles. The ancient wisdom of the books of Ecclesiastes & Proverbs of King Solomon declare that true power can be found with a poor young man, and absent from an old rich king! Those who are very wealthy and exert influence may in the end be bankrupt of meaning while a life lived out for others on the edge of poverty may be rich in meaning. Such is the basic premise when Jesus Christ declared; “he who gains his life will lose it, he who loses his life will gain it”. The accumulation of wealth, influence over others and even a life of pleasure (avoidance of pain) do not in the final assessment add up to very much. Yet, when we think of powerful people this is exactly what most think of. We often think they purposeful, even powerful lives of meaning.
There are many words that describe how we humans exercise influence over our inner and outer worlds. When we think of personal mastery, will, desire, passion, influence over others, success/prosperity, we are really referring to what may be best described as power. Power on a personal level is in part how we relate to ourselves, our life story and ultimately how we come to reconcile our sense of what we have achieved and what we could have achieved. All our history both in success and failure, could be described in terms of our desire and ability to exercise power. Power permeates all of human experience and can be used for good or evil. For certain and as history testifies, power and its abuse can lead to enormous suffering. However, when we come to understand the role of power, it may become a significant part in living with purpose in the pursuit of meaning.
Power or influence are words that can be used interchangeably in the context of the pursuit of meaning. True power begins with mastery over our own thoughts, desires, ambitions as well as the will and the body. Because meaning has a personality and is qualitatively tethered to principles of hierarchy, this implies that power likewise has principles. The ancient wisdom of the books of Ecclesiastes & Proverbs of King Solomon declare that true power can be found with a poor young man, and absent from an old rich king! Those who are very wealthy and exert influence may in the end be bankrupt of meaning while a life lived out for others on the edge of poverty may be rich in meaning. Such is the basic premise when Jesus Christ declared; “he who gains his life will lose it, he who loses his life will gain it”. The accumulation of wealth, influence over others and even a life of pleasure (avoidance of pain) do not in the final assessment add up to very much. Yet, when we think of powerful people this is exactly what most think of. We often think they purposeful, even powerful lives of meaning.
As we critique the role of power and its context in the pursuit of meaning it importance turns out to be quite much the opposite of what has been popularized in modern culture. When we consider power in the context of the importance of the pursuit of meaning the picture changes completely. Those features of our existence such as the accumulation of money, popularity all begin to fade in comparison to the significance of other much more significant components of life. Let us take a brief look at the significance of power and consider the role of personal mastery, interpersonal relationships and stewardship.
The Meaning of power
Ability to cause or prevent an action, make things happen; the discretion to act or not act. Opposite of disability, it differs from a right in that it has no accompanying duties.
Read more: www.businessdictionary.com/definition/power
In the broadest sense power in the context of human relationships and the inward psychological state of thoughts and emotions may be defined as both the motivation and consistent ability to reach a goal both short term and long term. In reaching a goal there is the implication of exerting influence and exercising control for a specific purpose.
“Our society is founded on a very limited definition of power namely wealth, professional success, fame, physical strength, military might, and political control. My dear friends, I suggest that there is another kind of power, a greater power the power to be happy right in the present moment , free from addiction, fear, despair, discrimination, anger, and ignorance. This power is the birthright of every human being, whether celebrated or unknown, rich or poor, strong or weak.”
Thich Nhat Hanh The Art of Power p-1
For sure it is a human characteristic, a natural component of being human, to pursue a sense of purpose through the use of power. Even the basics of life, choosing how we dress, what we eat, where we do or do not go, and perhaps most importantly what we choose to think and speak are rooted in the power of choice. The power of choice exercises an enormous influence over our sense of freedom. In turn, our freedom or lack of freedom plays an enormous role in how we live or do not live with purpose in the pursuit of meaning.
For many, love is inseparable from power. Romantic relationships, according to the belief of some, have no real substance unless it is contextualized by an individual’s ability to exercise power over their spouse or significant other. If you think about carefully, when we become infatuated with another human, we in a sense give them power over our thoughts and emotions. We allow that person to occupy a piece of our attention, thus giving them power over us to lift us or bring us down. Many possess a parental model that involves the constant exertion of power over their children’s choices, actions and even thoughts believing they are more loving by exercising authoritative control without restraint. Some parents believe their love is best expressed through exercising power over their children. Others pursue a sense of purpose through exercising power over others financially, politically or even spiritually as the history of religion testifies. Power is in many ways tethered to the emotional propensity to trust and the desire for leadership, the exercise of imposing order on what could otherwise be, the misdirected use of resources. Power is a necessary component in the human transmutation of knowledge that takes place, in the role of a teacher and a student. The distinctions between excessive and the necessary exercise of power is influenced by many factors, some cultural, some gender related, some religious and some even as a matter of personal choice. Put differently, power is a significant component in human relationships in purposeful living and the pursuit of meaning.
For many, love is inseparable from power. Romantic relationships, according to the belief of some, have no real substance unless it is contextualized by an individual’s ability to exercise power over their spouse or significant other. If you think about carefully, when we become infatuated with another human, we in a sense give them power over our thoughts and emotions. We allow that person to occupy a piece of our attention, thus giving them power over us to lift us or bring us down. Many possess a parental model that involves the constant exertion of power over their children’s choices, actions and even thoughts believing they are more loving by exercising authoritative control without restraint. Some parents believe their love is best expressed through exercising power over their children. Others pursue a sense of purpose through exercising power over others financially, politically or even spiritually as the history of religion testifies. Power is in many ways tethered to the emotional propensity to trust and the desire for leadership, the exercise of imposing order on what could otherwise be, the misdirected use of resources. Power is a necessary component in the human transmutation of knowledge that takes place, in the role of a teacher and a student. The distinctions between excessive and the necessary exercise of power is influenced by many factors, some cultural, some gender related, some religious and some even as a matter of personal choice. Put differently, power is a significant component in human relationships in purposeful living and the pursuit of meaning.
Personal mastery and the cultivation of power
“Living our life deeply and with happiness, having time to care for our loved ones-this is another kind of success, another kind of power, and it is much more important. There is only one kind of successs that really matters the success of transforming ourselves, transforming our afflictions, fear and anger. This is the kind of success, the kind of power, that will benefit us and others without causing any damage.”
Thich Nhat Hanh The Art of Power p-2
“In every soul the battle is waged, and as a soldier cannot engage at once in two opposing armies,so every heart is enlisted in the ranks of self or truth. There is no half-and-half course: There is self and there is truth; where self is, truth is not, where truth is, self is not.” Thus spoke Buddha, the teacher of truth, and Jesus declared, “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”
As a man Thinketh James Allen p-146
“By cultivating our spiritual or true power and bringing mindfulness to our daily interactions, we can completely change the quality of our work as well as our lives.”
The Art of Power Thich Nhat Hanh p-
Thich Nhat Hanh The Art of Power p-2
“In every soul the battle is waged, and as a soldier cannot engage at once in two opposing armies,so every heart is enlisted in the ranks of self or truth. There is no half-and-half course: There is self and there is truth; where self is, truth is not, where truth is, self is not.” Thus spoke Buddha, the teacher of truth, and Jesus declared, “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”
As a man Thinketh James Allen p-146
“By cultivating our spiritual or true power and bringing mindfulness to our daily interactions, we can completely change the quality of our work as well as our lives.”
The Art of Power Thich Nhat Hanh p-
Great thinkers have for long identified the importance of personal mastery as the foundation of true power. A hypocrite is the soul who insists that others do what they themselves have not mastered, accomplished or even tried to do in their own living. Let’s be honest, those who are obese, addicted to smoking, gambling or pornography are probably not the best individuals to seek advice from concerning self-control. Why? For the simple reason that almost all of us recognize that real knowledge or wisdom in life grows out of personal mastery. Our ability to control ourselves, the deepest & unseen elements of our thoughts are directly related to our ability to influence the coarse of our own lives as well as others. Such influence is a form of true power. Individuals who have gained true personal mastery over a discipline academically or even artistically or experentially have earned something of a right to be examples in that pursuit. We know this as humans which is the reason we license doctors and teachers need to have themselves been educated. We look to others and very often model our lives after their success and live with the sense of purpose that comes in that pursuit. Often, particularly with the more difficult or challenging pursuit in life personal mastery is absolutely essential. However, even in light of personal mastery and success meaning is in no way guaranteed.
The power of wisdom & the wisdom of power
“If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.”
Proverbs 10:10
As we have already considered wisdom is in some senses mysterious in its nature like meaning. I have personally come to see the two being in some sense interrelated or rising out of one basic and fundamental characteristics of consciousness. Most of us are familiar with the commonly used mantra “knowledge is power” However, I am differentiating wisdom from knowledge and would like to add that wisdom is the power of knowledge that adds a further dimension (a transcendent one) of meaning. Real wisdom will always pursue a larger context in seeking out a solution or approach to a problem, it will see the inherent hierarchy in relationships. The power of wisdom is truly revealed when it is engaged in the evaluation of how time can change what seems like a good choice today to having terrible consequences in the future. I also believe that without wisdom it would probably be an enormous, if not impossible task, to come to a place in life in which meaning is understood. Wisdom gives us something of an ability to piece together the many disparate elements of our life and create a coherent story that has meaning, a discovery in life that is in no way simple but requires some wisdom.
Proverbs 10:10
As we have already considered wisdom is in some senses mysterious in its nature like meaning. I have personally come to see the two being in some sense interrelated or rising out of one basic and fundamental characteristics of consciousness. Most of us are familiar with the commonly used mantra “knowledge is power” However, I am differentiating wisdom from knowledge and would like to add that wisdom is the power of knowledge that adds a further dimension (a transcendent one) of meaning. Real wisdom will always pursue a larger context in seeking out a solution or approach to a problem, it will see the inherent hierarchy in relationships. The power of wisdom is truly revealed when it is engaged in the evaluation of how time can change what seems like a good choice today to having terrible consequences in the future. I also believe that without wisdom it would probably be an enormous, if not impossible task, to come to a place in life in which meaning is understood. Wisdom gives us something of an ability to piece together the many disparate elements of our life and create a coherent story that has meaning, a discovery in life that is in no way simple but requires some wisdom.
The invisible war (The spiritual & the struggle in the pursuit of meaning)
Many become uncomfortable with the concept of realms and realities of psychological or spiritual influences that may possibly collude to influence the thinking of individuals and souls collectively. I have made an argument suggesting that science itself has indicated that there is justification in the notion of transcendence. I made this argument on the basis of the nature of light and the basic premise that it represents a clear and convincing example of how a phenomenon can be completely independent of time, matter and even mass yet, still be fundamentally and unavoidably essential to reality. I have also indicated that this may very well be true of other phenomenon that science is currently unable to explain, such as, and not limited to consciousness, gravity, the laws of physics, mathematics and the origin of the cosmos itself. I think we can safely, and perhaps tentatively, make a argument for the possibility that our conscious experience is knit into a much larger fabric of unseen psychological or spiritual relationships.
The pursuit of meaning as an inward war, a process or growth & struggle
Even if we are not able to admit that there is strong evidence of the relationship of the transcendent to our consciousness, we should be able to recognize that we share a very common inward experience of struggle emotionally as well as intellectually, in the depths of our thought life. This simple acknowledgement should lead us to the place in which, we at the very least, would desire to exercise some power or control over our internal state for the purpose of living a better life and helping others.
Perhaps, the most significant reason we have religion or a self-help industry is as a result of individuals seeing a need to impose order on their thoughts and their lives. For most it is not all that hard to acknowledge how destructive thoughts and patterned habits will wreak havoc on a life of purpose and sense of well-being. Earlier we identified how thinking and our emotional life are like any other feature of creation subject to a hierarchy. Science has come to recognize that the success of a life or a species may in part have to do with its ability to adapt. Some believe that adaptation is the result of a design within the DNA itself giving rise to the capability to change with its environment. That design involves a code of potentiality that not only benefits an individual feature within a species but works in harmony with a host of possibilities to benefit the entirety of the organism or individual life. Our minds can adapt, develop patterns and in some cases even alter brain chemistry. Yes, the unseen – unphysical process of mind can alter the seen – physical operatives of the brain a recent discovery called neuroplasticity. 1 Neuroplasticity as a recent breakthrough in the field of psychology is not entirely dissimilar to the long held beliefs and claims of spiritual disciplines. Let us consider the role of psychology and spirituality in describing the role, process, struggle and potential for growth in our quest for meaning.
At the heart of the issue is the entity within our deep personal psychological worlds we refer to as self or the ancients referred to as soul. Our self definitely comes to value a purpose – driven life and the many significant activities that surround those activities throughout life. However, beyond the significance of purpose lies, for many, a much deeper sense of longing. That longing is often described as the need for meaning. This universal need has been described as a longing of soul a kind of emptiness of the psyche that becomes evident when we are confronted by our insignificance on the one hand, and our unique improbability on the other. The question of meaning presses on the soul beseeching it to seek out an answer or at least in some deeply satisfying come to meet its enigma face to face.
Meaning leads us to contextualize all of our purpose-driven goals and activities in life within the undeniable complexity of the cosmos, its beginnings and its purpose. For certain answering the purpose or explaining the complexity of the cosmos would be an enormous task. Trying to piece together the mysteries of our personal meaning is likewise an daunting undertaking. However, it is a battle that causes growth through reflection and consideration of our role in the grand scheme of things as well as our own inward thought life.
At the heart of the issue is the entity within our deep personal psychological worlds we refer to as self or the ancients referred to as soul. Our self definitely comes to value a purpose – driven life and the many significant activities that surround those activities throughout life. However, beyond the significance of purpose lies, for many, a much deeper sense of longing. That longing is often described as the need for meaning. This universal need has been described as a longing of soul a kind of emptiness of the psyche that becomes evident when we are confronted by our insignificance on the one hand, and our unique improbability on the other. The question of meaning presses on the soul beseeching it to seek out an answer or at least in some deeply satisfying come to meet its enigma face to face.
Meaning leads us to contextualize all of our purpose-driven goals and activities in life within the undeniable complexity of the cosmos, its beginnings and its purpose. For certain answering the purpose or explaining the complexity of the cosmos would be an enormous task. Trying to piece together the mysteries of our personal meaning is likewise an daunting undertaking. However, it is a battle that causes growth through reflection and consideration of our role in the grand scheme of things as well as our own inward thought life.
Coming soon:
The power of love
The pursuit of power
Relationships & power
Romance/sexuality & power
Power & parenting
The pursuit of power
Relationships & power
Romance/sexuality & power
Power & parenting