Biblioteca Esoterica Esonet.ORG http://www.esonet.ORG 1

Biblioteca Esoterica Esonet.ORG
http://www.esonet.ORG
Transpersonal Activity versus Mediumship - 3
Who is the "self" in "self-expression"?
It is difficult to define the nature of both the creative process (in terms of cultural
products) and the "spiritual" transfer of knowledge, healing energies, or transformative
power able to produce basic changes in consciousness and the quality of the will. This is
largely due to the fundamental ambiguity inherent in the word self. What does the prefix
self refer to in the word self-expression? What does the word form mean in any process
inducing transformation?
Most students of Oriental philosophy, theosophy, mysticism, or even of today's
popular psychology and "metaphysics" believe in the existence of a "higher" and a "lower"
self. Some psychologists and philosophers nevertheless point out the incongruity of a
person having two selves; for the term self implies identity or individuality, the latter
literally meaning not-divided or indivisible and refers to the exclusivistic feeling of being
"I" and no one else. Philosophically, the problem posed by the concept of two selves
results from confusing the inner feeling-realization of wholeness with the nature and
quality of the contents of the realizing whole. These contents may originate from two
different sources and also may be interpreted in relation to two different frames of
reference; yet this does not mean that one can legitimately speak of two "selves." The word
self should have no plural, no more than one should speak of two "wholenesses."
A human being is a whole, the contents of which (energies, impulses and unselfconscious
realizations) initially belong to the level of "life." These contents are
progressively modified and partially transformed; they are also interpreted in terms of a
new frame of reference — the level at which cultures and societies operate. Only when the
societal stage of evolution is reached do philosophers and psychologists usually begin to
speak of "self." Culture-man is said to be "self-conscious," a term which often is defined as
"conscious of being conscious" or objectively conscious (implying a separation between
subject and object). Still, a large portion of the contents of self-conscious personhood (in
either a primitive tribe or a complex modern society) remains the product of biological
functions and drives and continues to be influenced by health and disease, vitality or
weakness.
Another portion of the contents of personality nevertheless results from the
interpersonal relationships and functional (or dysfunctional) activities of a social
community. A sociocultural frame of reference tends to be at least partially substituted for
the basic pattern of biological drives, including the will to survival. In some cases of
extreme religious asceticism or patriotic fervor, the sociocultural frame of reference may
even overpower the biological drives. The experience of selfhood — that is, the
centralizing feeling-realization of being "I" — and the quality of the human being's actions
and "radiations" change with alterations of the balance of forces in his or her personhood
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