Discursive Meaning Making: How It Evolves During AwakeningBy Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
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Discursive meaning making isn’t just about the literal words we use. It includes the entire ecosystem of context, social norms, power dynamics, personal history, emotional state, and cognitive development that influences how we understand the world. It is both individual and collective. It is shaped by what we’ve been told, what we’ve learned, and what we unconsciously absorb.
Modern psychology, especially adult development research, shows that meaning making evolves through predictable developmental shifts. These shifts influence how we understand ourselves, how rigid or flexible we are with ideas, and how open we are to multiple perspectives. The work of Susanne Cook-Greuter, a pioneer in ego development theory, highlights how meaning becomes increasingly complex, subtle, and spacious as we grow. Meaning Making in Nondual Reality But a striking paradox appears at the far end of this developmental arc. In deep awakening—especially in nondual realization—discursive meaning making doesn’t simply become more sophisticated. It can dissolve entirely. The self-referencing, story-making mind that once shaped our entire reality can fall away, revealing an unfiltered isness that no longer interprets life through concepts, narratives, identity, or even awareness. This article explores this full arc—from the early stages of meaning making to its complete dissolution—and how understanding this evolution can illuminate both psychological growth and spiritual awakening. Get The FREE Awakening eBook✓ Discover what awakening is like
✓ Learn about the four stages between awakening & enlightenment ✓ Get exercises to progress Sign up below to get our FREE eBook. What Is Discursive Meaning Making?Discursive meaning making is the interpretive process that allows humans to make sense of the world through language, symbols, and mental constructs. Every experience we have is filtered through this interpretive layer. Two people may live through the same event but experience it completely differently because their discursive frameworks differ.
At its core, discursive meaning making involves:
This process is often unconscious. We don’t usually realize we’re “making” the world through interpretation. It feels like we’re simply seeing reality. But we are not. We are interpreting it through layers of meaning that our society—and our minds—have constructed. Developmental psychologists have found that these layers evolve over time. What feels real and meaningful at one stage of life may feel limiting or simplistic at another. Developmental Evolution of Meaning MakingAdult development research suggests that humans do not just grow in knowledge—they grow in how they construct meaning itself. Susanne Cook-Greuter’s research on ego development outlines a series of stages through which meaning making becomes more complex, more reflective, and more fluid.
Below is a high-level summary of these shifts, showing how discursive meaning making evolves over a lifetime. Early Stages: Meaning as External and Literal In the early stages of development, meaning making is concrete. Individuals rely heavily on external authority—parents, teachers, society—to define truth and meaning. Concepts are taken at face value. Rules are rigid, identities are fixed, and narratives are believed literally. At these stages:
Discursive meaning making is present, but it is narrow. There is little awareness that meaning is constructed. Conventional Stages: Meaning as Social and Stable As individuals mature, they develop the capacity to internalize social norms and values. They understand themselves as part of larger systems—families, communities, organizations—and they construct meaning in ways that maintain belonging and coherence. At these stages:
Most adults spend much of their lives in these meaning frameworks. Meaning making is fully discursive, but individuals remain unaware of how deeply they are embedded within inherited narratives. Post-Conventional Stages: Meaning as Constructed and Relative Moving into the post-conventional stages, individuals begin to see that meaning is not fixed. It is constructed. Contextual. Flexible. Humans start questioning their assumptions, examining their beliefs, and recognizing that others may hold equally valid, but different, interpretations. This shift includes:
Meaning making becomes more dynamic. Individuals recognize that narratives shape experience and that they can reshape their own narratives. Ego-Aware and Ego-Transcendent Stages: Meaning as Fluid and Self-Generated At the highest levels mapped by Cook-Greuter—stages such as Construct-Aware and Unitive—the sense of self becomes more spacious. Individuals recognize the limitations of conceptual thinking and begin experiencing the fluid, ever-changing nature of meaning. At these stages:
If a person has not already had an awakening through practices like meditation or psychedelics, these stages trigger awakening automatically because the person begins to see through the interpretive machinery of the mind. Meaning loses its solidity. The grip of the ego weakens. Reality becomes less conceptual and more experiential. This is the beginning of the dissolution of discursive meaning making—not through avoidance or collapse, but through insight into its constructed nature. How Meaning Making Dissolves in AwakeningDeep awakening—particularly nondual realization—represents a radical shift. In awakening, meaning making does not simply become more complex or subtle; it can stop altogether.
Awakening Often Begins with Seeing Through the Interpreter Every moment of life is filtered through a narrator—the mind that explains, interprets, labels, categorizes, and narrates. Awakening often begins when this narrator is finally seen as a function or arising, and not a self. This brings a profound recognition:
What once felt like “truth” is recognized as interpretation. The scaffolding of meaning begins to dissolve. The Collapse of Personal Meaning As the interpretive mind relaxes, personal meaning loses its weight. Aspirations, fears, self-stories, values, beliefs, and psychological narratives no longer define experience. This may feel destabilizing at first because the ego depends on meaning to maintain its sense of existence. When meaning collapses, so does the sense of a fixed personal identity. What remains is emptiness. But in this emptiness, fullness can be found. The Dissolution of Dualities and Opposites Discursive meaning making depends on dualities:
Awakening reveals that these conceptual opposites are constructed in the mind. They do not exist in direct experience. In their absence, meaning no longer makes sense because meaning depends on contrast. Without duality, meaning has no reality. Nondual Awareness: Life Without Interpretation In nondual awakening, experiences remain—but interpretation does not. Experiences arise and pass without being filtered through stories, categories, labels, or concepts. What remains is:
There is no longer a “me” making meaning out of events. Experience simply unfolds. Thoughts may continue to label experiences but the thoughts aren't believed or taken as truth. This is not nihilism. It is the recognition that meaning was never inherent in reality; it was always added by the interpreting mind. When the interpreter is seen through, it can start to get tired and stop offering its non-stop commentary. Although this may temporarily cause despair, it is ultimately freeing. Returning to the World: Using Meaning Without Believing It After the dissolution of meaning making, individuals often return to the functional use of language and concepts. They can make meaning for practical purposes, communicate easily, and navigate life. But they no longer believe meaning is ultimately real. They use meaning the way an artist uses paint—with creativity, flexibility, and freedom. Not as a cage. This is the gift of full awakening. How to Navigate the Dissolution of Discursive Meaning MakingThe dissolution of discursive meaning making can feel liberating, but it can also be disorienting. For most people, meaning has been the primary way they’ve organized identity, relationships, goals, and even emotional stability. When meaning begins to loosen—or fall away entirely—the nervous system, the psyche, and the habitual patterns of mind may go through a period of adjustment. This transitional phase is normal, and understanding it can help the process unfold with more grace and ease.
Recognize the Difference Between Collapse and Clarification It’s important to distinguish between two very different experiences:
Allow the Disorientation Without Making It a Problem As discursive meaning making dissolves, the mind may try to reassert itself by creating new narratives about what’s happening. It may interpret the dissolution as a failure, a regression, or a sign something is wrong. These interpretations are simply the old meaning-making machinery attempting to regain control. The most supportive stance is gentle neutrality. Instead of asking, “Why is this happening?” or “What does this mean?” try noticing:
The less the mind is fed with commentary, the more naturally it settles. Stay Oriented Through Direct Experience When conceptual frameworks loosen, life can feel unfamiliar. One of the most grounding ways to navigate this is to orient attention toward direct sensory experience:
These anchors are not conceptual; they are immediate, embodied, and stabilizing. They provide a kind of “home base” that does not depend on meaning. Engage in Life Functionally, Not Philosophically Even in deep awakening, life still requires functional engagement—paying bills, caring for loved ones, making choices. It’s helpful to treat these activities as functional activities, not statements about your identity, purpose, or meaning. For example:
This approach keeps life flowing without reactivating the old narrative machinery. Let Emotions Move Without Interpretation When meaning structures dissolve, latent emotions often rise to the surface. Grief, fear, or emptiness may emerge—not because something is wrong, but because the concepts, patterns, and beliefs were created to suppress unwanted experiences. The most supportive approach is to feel emotions directly:
Emotions metabolize quickly when they are not conceptualized. They become simple waves passing through, not messages requiring decoding. Trust the Intelligence of the Process The dissolution of discursive meaning making is not a failure of the psyche; it’s a natural unfolding when self-referential interpretation is no longer needed to organize experience. It reveals a deeper intelligence beneath the conceptual mind—an intelligence that doesn’t rely on narratives to function. This intelligence guides:
Trusting this deeper movement helps the transition feel less like losing something and more like being freed from something. Integrate Meaning Lightly, When Needed After awakening, many people re-engage with meaning making—but lightly, provisionally, and playfully. You can use concepts without being bound by them. You can communicate ideas without believing they are absolute. You can participate in culture without being shaped by it. It is like putting on a costume for a role you enjoy, knowing full well that you can take it off at any time. This flexible, intentional relationship with meaning allows you to live fully in the world while remaining free from the interpretive machinery that once defined your reality. Final Thoughts on Discursive Meaning MakingDiscursive meaning making is at the heart of human experience. It shapes how we understand ourselves, how we navigate culture, and how we relate to others. It evolves through developmental stages, becoming more complex, flexible, and reflective over time. The work of Susanne Cook-Greuter shows how meaning making can expand to include multiple perspectives, paradox, and self-awareness.
But awakening reveals something even deeper: meaning making is not permanent, not fundamental, and not necessary for reality to be experienced. The narratives we construct can fall away entirely. When they do, what remains is a direct, immediate experience of life that is not filtered through concepts or identity. Understanding this full arc—from early literal meaning making to the complete dissolution of meaning—helps bridge the worlds of psychology and awakening. It shows how development prepares the mind for awakening and how awakening transcends the mind entirely. Discursive meaning making organizes our world. Awakening frees us from believing that the organization is reality itself. |
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