Thoughts on Self-Perception

Simply stop for a moment, and picture yourself the way you usually perceive yourself as a person. Then ask yourself, “to whom does this image arise”?... stay with wherever this question takes you.

Many people derive their sense of self through others. That is, by means of identification with someone they look up to or would like to become. This can be a momentary idol or an actual role model people aspire to. 

Every culture, profession, religion, majority, minority, or field of expertise has developed their own unique role models, and usually try to encourage as many people as possible to model themselves into this respective role. 

So the perception of oneself will be more or less in alignment with a particular model we have at our disposal. Each role has been re-modelled throughout the different centuries by its respective society, to meet the requirements of its particular time, as well as to give us a strong sense of self and belonging in our social environment and personal lives. 

This does not only count for ourselves, it is true for many people around us that are trying to aspire to become the same role model as we do.

From a universal teaching point of view this is recognised as a psychological state called ‘external sense of self’, and many people live their whole life through it, without ever realising or acknowledging its external centre of gravitas and illusionary nature. 

As we can observe in life, lots of people go to great lengths to become someone else. They gradually mould themselves into their role model or idol, which is not always conducive to their very own physical and psychological wellbeing.

This might give rise to the question, how far ‘external sense of self’ has been removed from the truth of what we are in essence?

Only your ‘self’ can answer this question.

Pause once more for a moment and be attentive to what kind of sound and image the constant voice in your head is projecting. Then ask yourself “to whom does this inner voice arise”?...  Stay with wherever this question takes you.

Countless systems of philosophy and their underlying applied psychology had been developed to teach us how to tame this on-going inner chatter, this inner voice which is one, out of many ways, by which this mind finds its expression. 

This inner voice derives its momentum from the influx of uninterrupted external impressions and events that enter our body/mind unit by means of our five senses, as well as from their accompanying feelings, thoughts and emotions that are automatically activated somewhere within our psychological body.

Unlike ‘external sense of self’ that springs into life by means of identification with an external object or human being, the sense of self that is derived from our inner voice, is based on mechanical responses to external impressions. To most recurring impressions and events that take place throughout our life, we respond with a matching inner song, without even realising what has triggered the on/off button to the respective tape. 

That is, by continuously responding to specific situations in the same way again and again, we accumulate a countless series of response patterns that randomly alternate with each other. Each response pattern is accompanied by an inner voice that, due to its repetitive nature has such a hypnotising effect on us that it makes us fall asleep. 

And of course, we are not talking about that kind of falling asleep that takes place when we are mentally and physically tired, this kind of falling asleep takes place whilst we interact with life.

We are so used to listening to this inner voice that we start believing that it is us who is talking, which is magnified by the fact that this continuous inner voice sounds exactly like our physical voice when we communicate with others. 

From here it does not take very long until we start associating an image with this inner voice that has taken on the same form and shape as our physical body. Hence from then onwards we derive our full sense of self through our inner voice and inner songs.

From a universal teaching point of view this is recognised as a psychological state called ‘mechanical sense of self’ we take as real self and rarely question. Many people live their whole life through it, without ever realising or acknowledging its hypnotic and sleep producing nature.

Now take your attention towards the rising and falling away of your natural breath for a moment, and let yourself be absorbed within the spaciousness of the pause after the exhalation, accompanied by a sigh like sense of relief. Then ask yourself “out of whom does this spacious stillness arise”?... Stay with wherever this stillness will take you.

The one that has realised the illusionary nature of ‘external sense of self’, as well as the sleep producing nature of ‘mechanical sense of self’, will repeatedly channel their focus by means of conscious effort towards the objectless nature of stillness-memory within, that has been accumulated by means of self-remembering and meditative practice.

This in due course can be consciously accessed, and will manifest as a more prolonged state of ‘true sense of self’ that only very few people recognise as the truth of what they are in essence.

Copyright © November 2013 Alexander Filmer-Lorch -  All Rights reserved