Symbolic Thinking
Definition
The structural-discipline of cognition operating through symbol-pattern recognition rather than through literal-and-propositional articulation alone. Symbolic Thinking names the contemplative-discipline that engages the broader structural-features of consciousness-and-meaning through symbol-articulation; the discipline is foundational to all advanced contemplative-work.
Literal meaning
The structural-discipline of symbol-mediated cognition. Symbolic Thinking operates when the practitioner engages structural-features through symbol-articulation rather than only through literal-propositional articulation.
Esoteric meaning
Symbolic Thinking articulates the structural-feature that the broader contemplative-tradition has recognized as *the language of the deeper-self*. The structural-recognition is that the deeper-layers of consciousness articulate through symbol rather than through propositional-language; symbol carries multiple-layers of meaning simultaneously and operates through the resonance-features of the broader Net's structural-articulation. The Pillar *Lakhar* (Inner Wisdom) operates through Symbolic Thinking at the contemplative-articulation: the inner-wisdom that the Pillar names articulates through symbol in many specific-articulations.
Allegorical meaning
A poem that carries more meaning than its specific-words alone could carry: the words operate through their literal-articulations, the poem's broader-meaning operates through the resonance-features of the words' arrangement, and the structural-recognition is that the symbolic-articulation carries layers the literal-articulation cannot reach.
Extended meaning
Symbolic Thinking articulates several structural-features: (1) The discipline operates through dream-work, contemplative-vision, ritual-symbol engagement, and the broader articulation of symbol-mediated cognition; (2) The discipline is structurally-distinct from literal-thinking; the literal-thinking operates through propositional-articulation, the symbolic-thinking operates through symbol-articulation that carries multiple-layers of meaning; (3) The discipline is cultivable through specific contemplative-practices; the broader contemplative-tradition includes meditation-on-symbols, ritual-engagement-with-symbols, and the broader articulation of symbol-cultivation. The relationship to *Mandala* and *Yantra* (the geometric-symbol-articulations of Hindu contemplative-tradition) is structural: these are specific-articulations of symbol-mediated cognition. The relationship to the *Kēlūn* (the Third Bridge of Hekā, Guiding Form) is structural: Kēlūn articulates the form-feature at the bridge-articulation, Symbolic Thinking articulates the cognitive-articulation that engages the form.
*Symbolic Thinking* articulates the contemplative-cognition discipline. The article complements *Lakhar*, *Kēlūn*, and the broader articulation of symbol-mediated practice.
Usage
A practitioner encounters Symbolic Thinking in advanced contemplative-development and in specific contexts of dream-work, ritual-engagement, and contemplative-vision work.
Ritual usage
All ritual-articulations engage Symbolic Thinking directly; the practitioner's structural-engagement with ritual-symbols operates through this discipline.
Comparative tradition
Jungian articulation of *symbolic-thinking* and the *active-imagination* discipline in depth-psychology. Hindu articulation of *yantra*-and-*mandala* meditation. Sufi articulation of *taʾwīl* (symbolic-interpretation). The various tradition-specific articulations of symbol-mediated cognition.
Science correspondence
The depth-psychology research on symbol-mediated cognition (the Jungian and post-Jungian articulations). The contemporary research on dream-symbolism and contemplative-vision phenomenology. The cognitive-science research on metaphorical-thinking (Lakoff and Johnson's *Metaphors We Live By*).