Meditation as a Way to Rebuild the Structure of Meaning
BY NICOLE LAU
Meditation is not just about calm or focus but about deconstructing old meaning structures and consciously rebuilding them. By revealing the constructed nature of meaning, meditation allows release of dysfunctional meanings and creates space for new meaning to emerge. Understanding meditation as meaning-engineering reveals its deepest purpose: not to escape meaning but to consciously create it, not to transcend the world but to rebuild our relationship with it. Meditation is the practice of conscious meaning-construction.
Meaning as Constructed
Meditation reveals that meaning is: Not inherent in things but constructed by consciousness. Not fixed but fluid and changeable. Not discovered but created. And not singular but multiple (the same thing can mean different things). This recognition is both liberating and challenging—if meaning is constructed, we're responsible for constructing it consciously.
The Deconstruction Phase
Meditation first deconstructs existing meanings: Old meanings are seen as constructions, not truths. Dysfunctional meanings lose their grip. The stories we tell ourselves are revealed as stories. And there's a period of meaninglessness or void. This can be disorienting but is necessary—old structures must dissolve before new ones can form.
The Void of No-Meaning
Between deconstruction and reconstruction is the void: Nothing means anything (temporarily). Old meanings are gone but new ones haven't formed. This is the dark night, the existential crisis, the groundlessness. But this void is not the end—it's the space where new meaning can emerge. The void is fertile, not empty.
The Reconstruction Phase
From the void, new meanings emerge: Not imposed but discovered through presence. Not inherited but chosen consciously. Not rigid but flexible and adaptive. And not singular but contextual. Meditation allows conscious participation in meaning-creation rather than passive acceptance of inherited meanings.
Why This Matters
Because meaning determines everything: What we value and pursue. How we interpret experience. What brings satisfaction or suffering. And what life is for. Unconscious meanings control us. Conscious meanings serve us. Meditation is the practice that makes meaning-construction conscious.
The Living Wisdom
Meditation is a way to rebuild the structure of meaning—deconstructing old, dysfunctional meanings, passing through the void of no-meaning, and consciously constructing new meanings that serve growth and awakening. This is not nihilism but liberation—recognizing that meaning is constructed allows us to construct it consciously. Meditate. Let old meanings dissolve. Don't fear the void. And participate consciously in the emergence of new meaning. You are not discovering meaning but creating it. Meditation is the practice that makes this conscious. Build your meanings deliberately. This is the deepest work.
