Meaning -> Intention -> God

by Aryeh Siegel

It seems to me that just about everyone will at some time say there’s something meaningful in what is happening around him or her. The meaningfulness consists in there being some message that is being conveyed. In other words, there’s some intention behind what is taking place.

So the existence of meaning is, for all practical purposes, a universal claim. Some may try to insist that all meaning is subjective and/or relative, but this is much more counterintuitive than is usually realized. How can anyone be willing to invest in the belief that something has a certain meaning, if he or she believes that it is equally true for someone else to give it a different meaning (subjectivity)? And yet we do invest time and energy on the basis of perceived meaning.

Even the modest claim that what I perceive only has a certain meaning for me (relativity) – while allowing that is has a different meaning for another – still implies that there is an objective and absolute meaning which I see as relating this something to me. In other words, the meaning that it has for me is nonetheless a meaning.

As I initially stated, the recognition of meaning implies the existence of intention. And having recognized meaning and intention in a situation, we often see that there is some further meaning that frames and deepens our understanding of the intention behind it.

But then it’s only a small step to take that realization to its infinite ideal and attribute to the world deep intentionality. That is, there is always the possibility of revealing a layer of meaning that gives further intention to a previously discovered explanation. The limit of this revelation – that always lies beyond our grasp – is God.

In short, the existence of any meaning at all implies intention, which in turn implies the existence of God.

Modesty

by Aryeh Siegel

The title of my last blog (“I an Hashem, June 17) may have seemed “immodest”. How can anyone even think of uttering “I am God”, however sensitive and refined the intention may be?

The following story may indicate a direction for an answer:

A naked young woman entered an elevator with a gentleman, much to his shock. He didn’t look the other way, but said hello and asked why she was naked. On that basis alone, she accused him of sexual intimidation.

However, I think we can agree that the gentleman’s “immodest” remark was a natural response to an immodest environment.

When God said at Mount Sinai “I am God”, He came out of hiding and revealed Himself.
And by saying specifically that the “I” is God, He invited us to see Him by looking at ourselves. Many people just look the other way, but it’s not “immodest” to look for Godliness within; rather it’s the appropriate response to God’s immodest revelation.

Of course, so much of what we see within is “clothing”. The search to find the pure soul is a heroic endeavor. Shall we begin?

Opening up to Nature

By Avraham Friedman

On my most recent vacation, traveling in the 1000 Islands region of
Ontario Canada, I was struck by the fact that I was standing in a boat
and simply staring out at the different islands as we passed them. I
wondered – what am i staring at ? Why am i staring? What is drawing me
to continue staring?

Though I asked the question, and became aware of what I was doing I
continued to look at the incredible view before me – trees covering
hundreds of islands, sunshine sparkling in the clean water of the
river.

My mind was a blank as I tried to understand this phenomenon trying to
not force a meaning on to it artificially.

The thought that kept coming back to me was the word ‘opportunity’. So
much can be done to harness nature to our needs. It’s all right out
there for us to just start doing. There’s much to look forward to. On the one
hand the moment you touch nature, its beauty is ruined. – On the other
hand as we use it, we appreciate what it has to offer and we see its
beauty even more clearly.

I wonder now if we were to look at ourselves like that – as a land of
opportunity: What can we still do with the gifts that we have, with the
beautiful parts of us which are still – untapped sources of energy?

Alternatively do we decide to ‘save’ our energy for some distant time? Just as a
boat truly fulfills its purpose when we use it in water, so too our own
energies are there to be tapped and used for our own good and
advancement.

I am Hashem

by Aryeh Siegel

I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves (Exodus 20:1). The first two words of the Ten Commandments that God spoke on Mount Sinai are:

I [am] Hashem [the four-letter name of ineffable divinity].

Who am I? Hashem. The true Self is the true Reality.

Abraham was told to go “to himself” to the land I will show you. It was not essentially a journey to a piece of real estate in the Middle East, but a journey within; a journey to the Self that “I” will give you the experience of (“show you”). The Hebrew word for “land” is connected to the word for “will” – the intention here being the divine will to give without receiving. This is the will we seek to discover in the journey within.

The Self is of course not just this physical body that was born some years ago and will someday cease to be alive. It is not even this personality that grows and expresses itself throughout my life. Deep within my consciousness is the awareness that I am part of the single general soul. My life has meaning by virtue of it being part of this larger story. Beyond this story is the story of creation. So the journey within – very, very deep within – will lead to the divine – to the Creator. On the way there, and on the way back, I find the meaning in my life in this body and personality.

How can I fully know the meaning of my life without knowing the meaning of life? How can I fully know the meaning of life without knowing the purpose of creation? How can I know the purpose of creation without at least some appreciation of the nature of the Creator? This nature is to give selflessly. So as I increase humility and love, meaning becomes more apparent

New Blog

There are still more people reading this than themeaningseeker.com

Move on over, guys!

New logotherapy blog

This is a reminder to check out my new logotherapy blog called themeaningseeker.com

Instead of announcing that this blog is terminated and sending you to the new blog, I decided to continue this blog as a group blog (with weekly posts), to post articles and essays written by professional and lay logotherapists (and maybe yourself!).

So if you’ve enjoyed this blog in the past, please visit themeaningseeker.com

Right now I’m in the midst of posting a daily summary from a Jewish book about consciousness called Pirkei Kinyan Da’at. Once I finish that I’ll then discuss the relationship between the concept of consciousness there and the concept of consciousness and conscience in logotherapy.

I know I’m learning a lot from this book and I’m sure you will too.

Logotherapy elevator statement

by Batya Yaniger

One of the important marketing rules is imagining you’re on an elevator, the doors and soon closing and you’ve got half a minute to say something that captures the essence of what you do. Here is my logotherapy “elevator statement.”

The basis of logotherapy is that everything has a reason, and whether or not we know what the reason is, everything can be used for a good purpose.

We grow by getting in touch with what makes us human – our conscience, our love, our choice, our responsibility and our values.