Still My Mind Personal Growth

Defining The Sense of Self

by Adrian Newington © 1991

Understanding the ways in which personal identity forms, and the influence it exerts on our lives by Adrian Newington

Introduction
What is The Self?
What Influences and Shapes the Sense of Self?
The Levels Making Up the Psyche

1. Physical
2. Mental
3. Emotional
4. Spiritual

Introduction

"Who am I?"
"Why am I me ?"
"Why aren't I that other person?"

These questions I would often ponder as a young child, but would dismiss them as silly, un-answerable and definitely not as much fun as fishing for crabs at the local jetty.

Now that I look back with an adult and refined spiritual viewpoint, I can see that those questions were indeed quite profound for a little boy. From this reflection, I make no claim or desire to call myself an enlightened master or such? it is simply an acknowledgment that such questions can only come from a pure space. That space being a ?spiritual space? and is common in uncomplicated childhood.

Such questions are fundamental philosophical inquiries, which have been asked time and time again by countless individuals, all expressing the strange need to find an answer to the seemingly unanswerable mysteries of life.

Having now developed a spiritual and philosophical approach to living my life, I can see that my efforts have returned me to that childhood space, but with an ability to see that those questions are not silly by any means. In fact, the pursuit of these sorts of answers does indeed have great purpose.

It is my belief that to ask, "Who Am I?", would have to be one of the most profound questions a person could ask, and carrying great merit. The merit lies in the potential for an individual to raise their consciousness above mundane levels thereby allowing a new spiritual maturity to unfold.

What is The Self?

"The self" is a term meant to describe the essential or true identity of a person. But what is further identified as the "True-Self" is generally not the self or identity that is revealed to the world in everyday life. Often, the person we see is hidden by the many masks we wear as we interact among people in our daily lives. Through this, we see an illusive or superficial image of people. Even if we think we know someone quite well, there are still aspects of one's true identity that is not known to us.

In fact, a person's "True Self" can even be hidden from themselves leaving the individual caught in an illusive view of themselves and the world. Unfortunately, this is more common than we'd like to believe. This is where the attainment of the permanent experience of the "True Self" is so valuable. The love that emanates from the enlivened true self is a love full of compassion and only wants to give so that all others can live the experience that it has.

What Influences and Shapes the Sense of Self?

Through the various stages of a persons human ? social ? spiritual development, the sense of WHO a person is (that is? the inner identification where self-fulfilment, and the recognition of self worth emanate from), should progress to new meanings as the individual experiences life more completely. I purposefully use the word "should" to indicate that many people do not necessarily progress to a more refined view of their existence beyond a basic sense of self identification aligned with the physical or mental levels.

Table 1: Exploring the Sense of Self.

From the table above, we can examine each level of being and see how the human psyche matures in life. Each level of existence re-defines and matures the sense of self through relative experiences, associations, comparisons and other qualifications. This can all serve us by ultimately allowing a revelation, that one day we can cast aside the need for external qualifications and rest in the knowledge that we exist because we exist. Such an attitude is devoid of comparisons and analogies, since we can then see ourselves as forever being complete. Our true self is a spiritual being and to paraphrase: "We are spiritual beings on physical journey."