Ways of Meaning-Making
Deriving significance in stardust. Practicing within the First and Second Rumination Circles
Why is there something rather than nothing? This is one of the most fundamental questions about the nature of reality. While there is no simple answer, those who have sought to answer this question appear to have created meaning, ex nihilo—out of nothing. We must acknowledge, at least, that we are beings capable of inquiry.
That must count for something.
When a mother nurses her baby, she derives meaning from a single moment of connection made possible by oxytocin her body produces. Even if that moment is similar to a million other such moments experienced by mothers in a cycle that stretches back 10,000 generations, it is still meaningful. And even if the woman, her baby, and the oxytocin are but complex configurations of stardust that can be traced back in time and space to a single geometric point before the Big Bang, they are something. Does it matter whether there had been nothing before that geometric point became an Unmoved Mover or a Big Bag?
So it is not that this particular meaningful moment between mother and child is more significant than a similar moment experienced by some maternal forebear 200,000 years ago. It is that she and the forebear are part of this reality, which means part of something rather than nothing. Indeed, she, the forebear, and 9,998 generations of mothers in between, emerged from the stardust and evolved to derive meaning from configurations of energy emanating from a geometric point.
And that is enough.
We are beings that exist and are capable of deriving meaning from the mundane. The purpose of this passage is to help members of our order derive their own meaning.
The ways of meaning-making should unfold across two great tiers, each containing six modalities of rumination. Once you have read this codicil, you may take six stones and place them in a perfect circle around yourself. Each stone marks one of these six modalities—or ways—of the First Rumination Circle. Let each stone be equidistant from its neighbors. Initiates may use question cues to assist them.
The First Rumination Circle
Begin only after you have found a state of equipoise. Then, spend five minutes contemplating each way—thirty minutes in all. Skip none. This ensures you drink enough from each reservoir. The ritual may be performed in solitude or with fellow siblings.
The Way of Authorship (Who?) Within each of us dwells an aspirational self—the person we long to become. Authored meaning flows from the sacred act of imagining our own lives in the future and taking up the stylus of intention. With it, we will our aspirational selves into being. So, when you first ask, Who am I? then, Who shall I become?, you draw from this first wellspring.
The Way of Context (What?) No person is an island unto himself. We exist within families, communities, and concentric circles of belonging. Contextual meaning emerges from understanding our functional place within these relationships. Ask yourself: What am I to my community? What role do I play in the great drama of my people?
The Way of Time (When?) We are children of our epoch, marked by the patterns and rhythms of our age. Temporal meaning reveals both the immediacy of the present age and our relationship to the past. The seeker who would find such meaning reckons with their moment in a great historical unfolding. When am I? is a simple way of situating oneself between tradition and progress, where the former is past-looking, the latter is future-looking, and the current era can become salient. In the networked age, siblings in our order find meaning in recognizing that they have been called to serve, and must ask: Is this our moment?
The Way of Place (Where?) As time shapes us, so too does place. The cultural mists in which we breathe infuse us with the essence of place. Situational meaning comes from understanding where we stand—not merely in geography, but in the currents of cultural and of proximity to others who might share our commitments, perhaps even our accents. Where am I? Is this a place of distinct culture or cosmopolitan pluralism? Do I belong here, or am I a stranger among strangers?
The Way of Purpose (Why?) Within each of us lies a fundamental drive toward purpose, often buried beneath layers of daily concerns and superficial desires. The search for telos emerges from something in our makeup—a restlessness that will not be satisfied by pleasures of the mouth, gut, or loins. Teleological meaning is rewarded through the patient work of uncovering why we have been called to this existence. " Why am I?" seems like an odd question, but the answer should inspire discipline and goal-directed action.
The Way of Excellence (How?) Not all actions carry equal weight. Qualitative meaning flows from the pursuit of excellence—not perfection, but the wholehearted engagement with how well we might act, live, or practice. It asks not merely ‘How?’ but also ‘How well might this be done?’ This is perhaps the most arduous way of the first circle.
Initiates are advised to experience the ritual of the First Rumination Circle at least three times, but never more than two times on the same day. Eventually, one should discover how the answers start to interlink. Better still, one should conduct the ritual as many times as she needs to ascend, which is to say, to be ready to practice within the Second Rumination Circle. The initiate knows she is prepared when meaningfulness starts to flow. She will gain a sense of self-possession.
The Second Rumination Circle
As with the first tier of meaning-making, arrange six stones in a perfect circle and spend five minutes contemplating each of the six higher ways. Let this Second Rumination Circle be as powerful in solitude as it is when shared with siblings, but an initiate should consult a hierophant if he is not sure he is ready.
The Way of Being (Am I?) The most fundamental questions concern existence, not just what we do functionally, but what it means to be, in order to become. Ontological meaning differs from authored meaning in an important sense: It arises from wrestling with questions to understand our nature as part of an ever-unfolding cosmos. These explorations cannot be reduced to physics, nor to first-tier functional questions. Answers are often paradoxical and involve making contact with the entheos.
The Way of Becoming (Whither?) Unless something has gone awry in ourselves, we change as we age. But the man of wisdom does not change passively—he develops in discipline, as well as in the recognition that time is his master, and change is inevitable. Developmental meaning emerges when we consciously expand our self-sovereignty, within and without, which means growing into the fullness of our natures—perhaps impelled by the All. The question "Whither am I bound?" guides his ascent.
The Way of Right Action (Ought we?) A meaningful life requires us to grapple with questions of virtue and vice, and to understand what it means to be good. Normative meaning arises from the practice of thought, speech, and action that fosters life, fulfillment, and flourishing within our chosen community. For those called to our order, this often means practicing the Twelve Virtues that sustain our fellowship.
The Way of Story (What happened?) We are creatures of narrative, always crafting the stories of ourselves and others. Narratological meaning emerges when we employ the persuasive arts to tell tales of who we were, who we are, and who we shall become. Through mythos—the deep stories that carry truth beyond mere facts—we create meaning that transcends our individual, physical, or literal accounts.
The Way of Wholeness (What in all?) The final way recognizes that human systems and the webs of intersubjective meaning they create are woven together in patterns larger than any individual can grasp. Holistic meaning begins with ‘weaving shared reality,’ where two or more perspectives are reconciled as a sustainable, intersubjective belief system. Through such weaving, our order forms and strengthens. While we’re alive, building for posterity, our shared reality can develop its own animating spirit—a Geist that begins with communication among a couple of souls, then grows into an entity capable of aligning the actions of countless individuals. As we integrate more ways of meaning-making from the circles, we begin to appreciate the richness of our fleeting time here. Strangely, we can also come to appreciate what might, in nonduality, lie beyond this, your current configuration of stardust.
The Way of Wonder (What the—?) There are moments when language is inadequate to experience—when we encounter something so fascinating or sublime that we can only respond with wordless awe. Transcendent meaning is revealed in these peak experiences. These can change the very course of our lives. This way captures what can only be described as sacred, transformative bewilderment that calls the Hierophant to lead our order and relish in its rewards.
Glimpses of the Eternal
Just as fulfillment is revealed through living, meaning is created in contemplation, practice, and reflection. When we cross into The Rumination Circles, we pass from the profane into the sacred. In this, the Twelve Ways of Meaning-Making are not merely categories of ritual practice, but living dimensions of the All.
At the very least, they are a preparation for death.