We spend so much time assigning meaning to things that go on in life. Some of what we assign meaning to is really just a description of phenomena. For instance, you watch a leaf drop from a tree, and you say that means gravity is acting on the leaf to cause it to drop. You may say that is a sign that the leaf is dead. This is a useful way to describe life.
However, there are many other meanings that we create that have nothing to do with actual phenomena or are incorrect assignments. A common wrong assignment of meaning is to say that a black cat crossing your path is going to bring you bad luck. This little bit of superstition is laughable to most of you, but human beings are constantly assigning meaning like this to all kinds of things. People assign meaning to actions of others in regards to if the person likes them or not. They assign meaning to different physical sensations and outcomes in life. Half-truths and lies get mixed in to the point that most of the meaning people create is sheer nonsense, which is why there is so much freedom in a meaningless life.
At the center of this craziness is the ego. The more you let go of your ego, the less you will attempt to make meaning out of life. This kind of mental game becomes less and less interesting to you as you rest in the beauty and purity of the present moment. As the categorizing and evaluating ego dissolves, you lose even the will to create meaning. It doesn’t mean you can’t think or notice actual phenomena like gravity. But the desire to say that certain actions or events have any specific meaning goes away unless it is useful. There’s also less and less impulse to see any of the external world’s events as being personal. So much of life is not personal, and in the space of clarity within you, it’s so much easier to see that when you aren’t projecting your ideas onto things. Thus, the mind becomes more and more uninhibited and free when it is no longer creating all this meaning and tripping you up in your ability to see and interact with life.
Please enjoy the recording of the talk on this subject.
Recording: The Freedom of a Meaningless Life
Date of Spiritual Talk Recording:
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Time:
10:30 AM to 11:30 AM Pacific Time
Place:
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