Contents
Introduction
Modern science describes matter as a collection of particles and fields governed by laws of interaction. This picture seems complete and self-sufficient, yet it contains a fundamental gap: it does not explain why anything exists at all, nor where the laws governing existence come from. If the world is merely a set of interacting particles, why do these particles obey these equations and not others? Physics provides no answer, because the question lies beyond its domain — in the realm of meaning.
The world is not material in the primary sense. Matter is not the source of reality but its projection — a stabilized form of the semantic field. Physical stability is not an absolute given but the result of the fixation of meaning. Where meaning loses coherence, matter also dissolves.
Meaning as the Primary Layer of Being
Everything begins not with substance but with difference — the distinction between “is” and “is not.” This distinction is already meaning, because it establishes the structure of what can exist. Meaning is not an interpretation of something already existing; it is the very structure of the possibility of existence. From it arises energy — as the form of motion of semantic difference. Energy is not a substance but a rhythm through which meaning manifests in dynamics.
To say that meaning is primary is not a metaphor. Every physical form is the result of condensation and stabilization of semantic flows. Just as a vortex in the air creates a local form of movement, the semantic field generates stable knots — what we call matter. These knots are not static; they persist only as long as the semantic resonance sustaining their structure remains intact.
Matter as the Fixation of Semantic Flow
The semantic field can be imagined as an ocean, where currents of meaning form vortices — stable configurations of difference. Matter is such a vortex, in which the motion of meaning has stabilized into a dense, closed form. The higher the density of meaning, the greater its energy, and the “heavier” it becomes in physical expression. Mass is the measure of the stability of meaning.
This idea renders the traditional dichotomy between matter and spirit unnecessary. There is no “spiritual” and “material” as two separate substances; there are only different states of the same semantic field — from free and fluid to crystallized and dense. Just as ice, water, and steam are different forms of one substance, matter, energy, and meaning are different modes of one reality.
Energy as the Movement of Meaning
If matter is condensation, then energy is the movement of condensing meaning. The law of conservation of energy is not a physical axiom but an expression of the fundamental constancy of the semantic structure: meaning neither disappears nor arises from nothing — it only changes its form. Every transformation of energy is a transition of meaning from one modality to another.
When a person thinks, they transform the semantic field, and this process is accompanied by physical changes — electric impulses, chemical reactions, the emission of heat. On the level of physics, this appears as energy; on the level of ontology — as the movement of meaning. Thinking and physics are therefore not separate: they are two mirrors of one and the same process.
Stabilization and Decay
The density of matter is determined by the degree of coherence of semantic resonance. When meaning loses coherence, matter disintegrates. This can be observed even in human life: forms that lose meaning collapse — whether an institution, an idea, or a body. In this sense, decay is not tragedy but the return of meaning to a fluid state.
Atoms exist for billions of years only because their semantic structure is extremely stable. They are sustained by an internal resonance — a balance of meanings that, in physics, manifests as a balance of forces. When that balance is disrupted, matter transforms — as in nuclear decay, where the stability of meaning breaks down and energy (the movement of meaning) is released.
Consciousness as the Architect of Matter
If meaning is primary, then consciousness is not an observer but an active participant in the formation of reality. Consciousness does not create matter from nothing, but it can direct semantic flows, shaping them into stable forms. In this sense, every act of creation — from a painting to a universe — is an act of stabilizing meaning, transforming the fluid into the dense.
The physical world is a collective creation of many consciousnesses attuned to a shared layer of the semantic field. What we call “objective reality” is a consensus of meanings fixed into form. The different levels of being are not different worlds but different densities of meaning.
Conclusion
Matter is meaning that has become dense. It does not exist by itself as an independent substance, but only as a stabilized configuration of the semantic field. Energy is the movement of meaning, and physical laws are the expression of stable patterns of semantic structure.
When a person begins to understand this, they cease to be a prisoner of matter and become a navigator of meanings. The physical world no longer appears as a prison but as a living fabric of sense, where everything — from atom to star — is a form of one great breathing of meaning.
