The Meaning Crisis (with Dave Smith) | Secular Dharma Foundation
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Current understandings of the meaning crisis argues that contemporary Western society is facing a deepening and pervasive psychological distress. This is not merely an issue of individual failings but a widespread cultural phenomenon, manifested by an increasing sense of loneliness, incoherence, and insignificance, which directly fuels the rise in mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
This crisis traces this crisis back to a historical and cultural rupture: the erosion of the traditional “worldview” that once provided a deep, communal sense of connection, purpose, and wisdom. The ascent of the modern scientific, secular perspective has effectively undermined these traditional sources—such as religion and community—without successfully establishing systematic, communal, and scientifically grounded alternatives for the cultivation of meaning, wisdom, and self-transcendence.
In this conversation, dharma teachers Dave Smith and Jay Michaelson explore the relationship between contemplative practice and the meaning crisis. The teaching is offered freely by the Secular Dharma Foundation, with donations welcomed.
