How the aspects respond to the Search for Meaning

Question 1

Rituals

Answer 1

• Communal aspect to the search for meaning
• Connecting the ordinary, actions and words, to the transcendent through the outward expression
• Help an adherent internalize the beliefs by physically expressing them, enhancing their understanding of their purpose in life
• Helping adherents to find meaning in life during the moments of great joy through connecting these events to the sacred

Question 2

Ethics

Answer 2

• Ways for adherents to live their lives…responding to ‘how am I meant to live my life’
• Prepares an adherent to participate in an afterlife, if it exists, thus helping adherents to seek meaning in death.
• Offer codes of appropriate behaviours which can comfort adherents through connecting an individual’s actions to their Ultimate Reality
• Draw the adherent to consider the connection between themselves and their Ultimate Reality

Question 3

Social Structures

Answer 3

• Offer like-minded adherents who act as a personal support network
• Offer authorial figures who can guide other adherents in their Search for Meaning
• May be a reflection of the Ultimate Reality
• Help adherents understand their purpose in life through promoting an egalitarian or hierarchical relationship between humans

Question 4

Spiritual Experiences

Answer 4

• Connect an adherent’s emotions to their Ultimate Reality, deepening their understanding of the UR
• Can affect an adherent’s understanding of their beliefs
• Can reinvigorate an adherent in their Search for Meaning, leading to a deeper understanding of their Ultimate Reality

Question 5

Symbols

Answer 5

• Help adherents understand complex abstract beliefs, deepening their understanding of their Ultimate Reality
• Can inspire the adherent to continually return to their Search for Meaning
• Connect adherents to their metanarrative

Question 6

Sacred Stories

Answer 6

• convey a moral or spiritual truth to adherents in a religious tradition which is directly intended to help them in the search for meaning
• allegorical nature that may contain deeper layers of meaning for an adherent as they mature.
• Offer exemplars who adherents can imitate in their Search for Meaning

Question 7

Spaces, Places, Times, Artefacts

Answer 7

• SPACES/PLACES: can help an adherent transcend the ordinary and connect with the sacred, often leading to a religious experience assisting in their search for meaning.
• TIMES: rhythmic component to the search for meaning by drawing adherents closer to their Ultimate Reality at predictable times of the year.
• ARTEFACTS: passed down from one generation to the next and can connect the lifelong journey on the Search for Meaning

Question 8

Texts

Answer 8

• provide direct written answers to the existential questions of life.
• Possess a ‘longevity’ that helps adherents in a religious tradition find the answers to the questions of life for multiple generations in the same tradition.
• ‘Immutability’ provides the confidence knowing that it won’t change.
• commentaries, song, and prayers may encourage and inspire adherents in their connection to the truths revealed