Think it Over
Meaning: Meaning?
Abstract
Our earthly existence, our day-to-day living, is filled with and formed of, hugely, the pursuit of Meaning — of what not, meaning of words, meaning of happenings, etc. Perhaps, this search has manifested and is still manifesting as various branches of ‘academic disciplines.’ And all this search for meanings, leading perhaps invariably to the search for the meaning of one’s own being, now finds Meaning in search of its own meaning: Meaning seeks itself, seeks the meaning of its continuance as an eternal ‘present continuous’.
Perhaps, one of the most used words is Meaning. And perhaps so, now Meaning seeks its own meaning….
We are, and have been almost perpetually, in search of meaning: of something, of an event…. of anything…. and eventually led we are to search for the meaning of life, of our very own self (meaning of this earthly existence, and perhaps towards it only is all this search intended). And this meaning, that we look for, takes at time the form and name of ‘reason’, ‘purpose’: to name only two. It is seemingly a quest of and for an endless ‘why’.
As kids (though, how grown-up we are, it is even now, a point to ponder upon!), we look for the meaning of words, and we are even given as tasks to look up the meanings. In ‘our’ days, it used to be the Dictionary: “Find out from the dictionary.” This used to be the suggestion, command and guidance. We were taught too, how to search for the meaning of the words. Now, though, the mode and means have changed, and perhaps also in a less interesting way: we ask Google! Nevertheless, Meaning is much sought after!
Journey of and journey with Meaning
And this search for meaning and meanings has led to some intriguing and brow-raising meanings: thought-provoking and inspiration-invoking!
Meaning, in itself, now bears a different meaning: Meaning is (of anything….), what it means to us. As we perceive, so we give meaning to what encounters us and what we happen to stumble upon. And the encounters and the stumbling change in their effect and impact on us. A given incident, a given inner movement…. anything and everything, down the line of ‘years’, each and all are found to mean differently: Meaning is not static, but verily dynamic.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we do away with, completely, the foundation of meanings.
“Break the moulds of the past, but keep safe its gains and its spirit, or else thou hast no future (1).”
The dictionary cannot be and shall not be dispensed with, nor demolished: it promotes and provokes us to find out the hidden essence, infinite perhaps, in its recorded meanings of each word and thereby also increase the bounty of meanings!
Thus, to Meaning it has led… Or rather, has led to Itself the Infinite One Source of all and everything, the All-inclusive, the All-exceeding, the Divine, in the very word Meaning.
Words too, from the Divine
Words too are from the Divine and, are one of infinite means through which the Divine reveals Itself-Herself-Himself. Although none of the means are capable of fully expressing the Infinite, yet, perhaps each is a means of giving a sense of the meaning of earthly existence, each a means of experiencing the Divine, the Indefinable… each carrying in itself the Healing Touch of Grace.
“The Divine is lived, but cannot be defined (2).”
The Divine, the Playful Creator (though oftentimes it seems otherwise), creating each and everything uniquely, on purpose, the meanings and ways of seeking, finding, reaching, realising, relishing the Divine is unique to and for all….
“…. although the path is common to all, each man has his own way of following it (3).”
As is the creation unique, so is the creation’s way to the Creator unique, knowing the Creator how and when to reveal Itself to Itself in a particular creation.
“O supreme and only Friend, Thou who acceptest, Thou who lovest, Thou who understandest us just as we are, because it is Thyself who hast so made us (4)!”
The meaning is thus what we awake to.… as we awake, gradually, in keeping with our progressive receptivity to the Divine, and awake thus to the Divine’s multitude of creations and instruments through which the Divine leads us to Itself.… within and without — through which and whom It makes us to seek and find It in all and everything.
Divine, the Meaning, the Eternal Present Continuous
As the Scribe writes within us, so we ascribe the meaning — as to It, so to the happenings, and so to the words too.… and so to Meaning too! The Scribe, Indefinable, The Meaning of all and everything, can we deny, is the Eternal Presence, the Constant, the Continuous: The Eternal Present Continuous? Likewise, this word, Meaning, while we search for the meaning of words and while the very meanings keep changing subject to our evolving experiences and perceptions, this too, in itself: Is it not in itself a present continuous, Mean-ing what it means? Whenever we seek and find and state that the “meaning is this.…” do we not proclaim: It means and continues to mean what it means, and thus the recorded meanings in the dictionary? Albeit a preview and glimpse and promise of many more meanings that they can be, that they hold in their bosom, that the Divine holds back to unfold when the Time is deemed ready to redeem the new meaning?
It seems that this too is a part of the Play, the Lila, of the Omnipresent, the Eternal Present Continuous, hiding in the word Meaning.… rendering the word too an eternal present continuous: Mean-ing, Its Own Meaning eternally found anew, eternally renewed, meaning everything and transcending every meaning, progressively unfurling.…
“All kneels in mute devotion before this ever-renewed miracle (5).”
Meaning thus is never complete, each a new find enabled by the One Who-That can never be defined, can never be confined to a meaning.… each valid even in its incompleteness, each a reflection of It and yet and hence Meaning in itself ever dynamic, like a flowing river that touches the many banks of meanings but belongs to none…: the Divine and Meaning rendered One, Meaning finding Itself in the Infinite One, ever Present, ever Continuous… ever Meaningful, beyond every Meaning, the Divine the Meaning of being… for ever Mean-ing.…
“His human portion, we must grow Divine (6).”
To the All-Meaning, All-Exceeding, All-Fulfilling, is offered the very Meaning of Meaning, the Meaning of being… Meaning finds itself finally, finally finds its own meaning…
“O Supreme and only Guide, Thou who never gainsayest our highest will because it is Thou Thyself who willest in it (7)!”
References
1. Sri Aurobindo. The Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo, Volume 12. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1997, p. 456.
2. The Mother. The Collected Works of the Mother, Volume 11. 2nd ed, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 2002, p. 64.
3. Sri Aurobindo. Complete Works, Volume 30; 2014, p. 94.
4. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 1. 3rd ed, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 2003, pp. 374-75.
5. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 1, p. 362.
6. Sri Aurobindo. Complete Works, Volume 33-34. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1993, p. 67.
7. The Mother. Collected Works, Volume 1, p. 375.
Sushmita Mukherjee is an author and freelance editor, residing in Kolkata.
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