True Self: Summary & Clarification

This article aims to provide clarification on the ideas presented thus far.

Throughout my previous articles (you can find here), there has been a recurring theme that can be summarized as follows:

• The objective is to achieve one’s “true self”
• The “true self” is that which you desire to become
• The “true self” is your unfragmented soul
• The “false self” is that which you think you are, aka “ego”
• The “false self” is an artificial character/identity imposed on you
• The “false self” is a set of suppressive beliefs about yourself
• These suppressive beliefs must be removed
• To do so means having the courage to look within those places you don’t want to looks, i.e. your fears and suppressed desires

Clarity on the slaying of the false self

Slaying the “false self” or ego, does not mean that you should be humble or think lowly things about yourself. To remove a belief does not mean replacing it with another. You do not kill the ego by holding the meek position that you are only a human and fallible, that’s just a different version of the same ego. To kill the ego, you don’t hold any belief about it, good or bad.

After dismantling the “false self,” you then construct a new identity that reflects the “true self”. Your true self is whatever you most desire to be, if you could be anything. In practice that means choosing to believe you are inside already the best possible you, and then building a new ego that looks on the outside how you are on the inside.

An ego is both a set of beliefs about yourself, and also a literal spirit body. You emanate the same energy that your ego portrays. Others will respond accordingly to this energy. For instance, if an individual has developed an ego that believes they are intelligent, they will perceive themselves as intelligent and others will perceive them in the same light. This may or may not reflect the reality; it is solely based on their projected image.

The state of “true self” is when the spirit mirrors the soul. Your spirit is malleable and can transform. The way you feel corresponds to the appearance of your spirit. Therefore, the objective is to shape your spirit to mirror your soul.

Your “soul” is your ideal. That’s not a definition, rather it’s that you desire to feel and look in spirit how your soul already is.

Hence I’m not saying to have no ego. If you had no ego you would have no identity or defenses and you’d dissipate into the environment like air let out of a balloon. That gives you the “ego death” experience of being one with everything and no longer having any identity. You’ll likely experience that along the way, but it’s not an objective, in fact it’s a death of your spirit. To think that oneness is a goal is like thinking that death is the purpose of living. You can die anytime, it’s the living that’s the interesting part.

This is why I use the terminology “false self” and “true self” in lieu of “ego.” After eliminating the false self, you then construct and defend a new ego identity (a new spirit), but one that is authentic to you and in the image of your soul, rather than one imposed upon you. You do not stay dead.

Clarity on already being the object of your desire

You want to be what your soul looks like, and you feel what your spirit looks like. To want something is the feeling of moving towards the object of your desire.

You can’t see what your soul looks like, but you know without thinking. You don’t need to see it, because you know it intuitively.

It does require a redefining of what you are, from your spirit, to your soul. You can only say you are already the object of your desire, if you identify with your soul instead of your spirit. This is important, because your soul cannot be harmed whereas your spirit can. Once you’ve lost your spirit and built it up again with a completely different identity, you drop the identification with spirit because it’s provably not you, seeing as you’re the same and it’s changed.

Knowing that you are your soul, is the acceptance that you are already your desire. At that point it’s less important how you feel about yourself, because you understand that your feeling is within your spirit, whereas your identity is within your soul. To feel how you are is then just a matter of building a spirit-body that looks how you like it. Analogously, we may wear clothes that symbolize our personalities, but not doing so does not change the personality.

When I say you are already what you desire, I mean in the specific context of intuitively knowing it, where the desire is the other side of the fear of not believing it. I don’t mean that if you want to learn play the piano that you can already play the piano and need only to believe it. Rather, what you intuitively know without judgement or fear, is true. In my case, without judgement or fear, I’m still rubbish at piano.

Your soul cannot be harmed but your spirit can

One who has discovered their true self, does not become impervious in spirit. Rather you become impervious by knowing that you are not your spirit, hence it can be hurt and you are not hurt, because you are not it.

To know your true self, is to know that you are not your spirit. Hence no longer is it necessary to freak out when your spirit is attacked. Your entire spirit can be murdered and you’ll be just fine. But just because you are not your spirit, doesn’t mean you don’t defend your spirit. Likewise, I am not my car but I will still be pissed off if you scratch my car, because it’s useful to me and it costs me time and money to fix it.

Now it turns out that not freaking out is prerequisite to proper defense. In this case, by knowing you are not your spirit, you can defend your spirit much more effectively, repair it quicker, and also use it in ways that are less likely to injure it. You will also be willing to sacrifice it for something more important to you. All of this gives you an advantage and has the effect of making your spirit appear stronger, and your “ego” bigger, to other people.

Stereotypes, Enlightenment and Gurus

The goal is not to eradicate fear or folly. Rather the goal is to make peace with it. Having your true self does not mean you now walk around like a boss and speak in riddles. You can do that if you want, but it’s not the goal.

There is a perpetuated stereotype of an enlightened / buddha / guru / ascended-master. This stereotype serves as another barrier because most people believe to become whole they need to act like the stereotype. Millions of people are pretending to be that stereotype thinking it’s the way. However, it’s a “false self” group-identity stereotype. Specifically it’s a variation on a “mafia boss” stereotype, which is a combination of “philosopher King” and “tyrant King” archetypes.

In the context of the true self, there are no rules for how one should act. If there were, that would take you away from your true self. You can do and say anything you want, including things everyone else knows to be petty.

In fact, I recommend being petty, you might find some treasure hidden there. Personally I find that by embracing pettiness it pulls at a thread which unravels a façade. Often pettiness is not pettiness at all, but intuition that something which appears unimportant is a guise covering something that needs to be addressed.

There will still be embarrassment and there will still be fear. However, you will not be scared of being embarrassed nor fearful of fear. As long as you feel that you’d rather not be embarrassed or scared at all, then you’re still trying to become the “mafia boss” leader of the group rather than your true self.

Likewise knowing that you are not the “ego” does not mean that you should, like the stereotype of a wise master, never get angry or offended and no longer care to defend your ego. On the contrary, knowing you are not the “ego” means there is no longer any reason why you should control it. Personally, I am continuously accused of letting my “guru” status down and showing my true colors, by entering into mundane arguments and telling people they are stupid. I see no issue with this.

Trying to win

The goal is to get to your true self, not to “win”.

Boundaries in spirit are made of fear. Some of them are separating you from pieces of yourself, whilst others are separating you from pieces of other people. If you go around smashing down any and all boundaries of fear you will begin on the path of assimilating the entire universe. Not only is it not possible, because the universe is infinite, but it’s also not what you want, because what you want is what is yours but lost — pieces of other people will never satisfy you.

There is no greater power than being one’s true self, because from that position one cannot be manipulated, as one knows themselves as the objective of their desire. Whereas, if you were to win all the battles forever, all you would do is get a bigger and bigger spirit. It would be like having a really big house that never feels like home.

You can gain true power by winning and by losing. Winning gives an appearance of power, and fear takes power away. If you were to insist on winning, you’d get only the appearance of power. Whereas if you conquer your fear of losing, then you can lose a battle without losing any of your self. If you are scared of losing, and accept loss, you will increase your power.

In practice, all battles then become games. Other people are like starving children fighting over candy. They believe it to be life or death. If you have your true self, you already have a healthy meal, 3 times per day. It doesn’t matter then, whether you win or lose. And yet the game now becomes much more interesting, and the candy much more enjoyable, whilst the loss is no longer painful in the same way. If I lose at Monopoly, I’m not upset, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win nor that it’s not worthwhile to play.

Clarity on godhood

Having individual sovereignty makes you a god. When you realize your true self, and have your own soul, you will be a god.

A god is an entity that is not a part of another entity. That’s it really. There is no requirement for a god to be a great and powerful being that rules and judges, that’s the slave’s view of their master.

Godhood has nothing to do with power, except personal power, and the necessity of self-defense. However, neither evil-entities nor group-entities have any power over a god, because these types of entities only know power as manipulation. Manipulation doesn’t work on beings that are whole, therefore the ‘god’ will appear incredibly powerful to them. It is, however, lack of weakness rather than active power.

Becoming a god is the beginning of the journey. It’s the birth of the soul.

Learn more at Sorcery.org

If you enjoyed this article, you’d like my book “Pan’s Labyrinth”.

Pan’s Labyrinth deftly blends fantasy and philosophy, crafting a thought-provoking narrative that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned. It invites readers to question the nature of reality and explore the profound ideas woven throughout the story. Engaging and intellectually stimulating, this book promises a reading experience that is both entertaining and deeply meaningful.