Most of us have heard of the terms "True Self, False self, separate self". In this forum we will explore these terms and discover practices that can help us to use the concepts to become better at living. I hope that it will produce an in depth and practical discussion from which we can all learn.
Joe de Swardt posted this in a recent blogpost: [1]
“I (We) have many masks, personas, or facets - but we have one face. The face, true self, acts as the director and pivot, the unifying centre, for the other parts to congregate and integrate.
Events, experiences, covenants, words, and decisions split parts off this self, like an axe splits a log. The splitting is a sacrificial offering of a part, so that in that moment, I can cope. It becomes the I for that occasion, commeth the hour commeth the I.
If those types of occasions frequent, these splits can mature into a fully formed alter ego persona. The persona is there to shield, protect, cope, and help the deeper me. It acts to protect me.
So, after years, me becomes a legion of ‘I’".
I commented on his post from my own personal experience that confirmed his own:
"I think waking up to the “Real Self” provides the safe environment where we can handle the fact that we have been living from various identities most of our lives and that it was okay".
I was introduced to the concept by an article by Beatrice Bruteau. Here are some small extracts:
“…we think we know who “we” are, and on the basis of this secure knowledge, we debate whether we are weak or strong, good or evil, capable of changing ourselves or not, and many similar topics. … in the course of a developing prayer life, we realize that we have been making certain assumptions about our identity that are not true, not deep enough, not dynamic enough, or otherwise too limited….
We take on … a set of artificial faces. We present ourselves to the world under our various titles, our roles, our functions, our relations …
The question is whether the spiritual self should settle its identity-location in any of them, whether the very heart of selfhood should find itself there. The suggestion is that when it does so settle, locate, and identify itself, it mistakes one of its functional or artificial faces for its natural face. The business of the spiritual life is to remember and return to identifying with our natural face.”[2]
I have asked Andy Lyde, Joe’s spiritual director (mentioned in his blog post) to introduce us to the principles of Psychosynthesis. He kindly agreed to participate and will respond on the forum.
Here is a short bio for Andy from his website www.forimpactcoaching.com:
“Andy has spent his career leading organizations and helping people who impact the world through their work to lead out of an authentic self. He understands the isolation and loneliness that can come with the mantle of leadership, especially during times of crisis and transition. As a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by the International Coach Federation and Psychosynthesis Life Coach, he has spent hundreds of hours walking with leaders from around the world in their own times of transformational learning.”
[1] Blog post by Joe de Swardt; The Great unification October 21; www.contemplatively.org [2] Article by Beatrice Bruteau Prayer and Identity; From The Sewanee Theological Review; article by Cynthia Bourgeault 2007.