What I think is that it does seem odd that we do seem obsesed with three's? A triad of selves seems far too restricted to fully encompass the self. Having said that however Molly's inclusion of the word faceted shows that he has placed the multitude of what things that make up the self into three broad catogories.
Personaly I take a rather more holistic view, but ahhhh that just makes the head hurt, Molly is certianly onto something by simplifiying and suggesting a triade, but enough with the hijack and onto the answers. I think that ultiamatly we are in responsible for our 'selves', for how we interact and change both us and those around us, are we like scaletric cars and stuck in the slot of life? Naaa we have the ability to do exaclty that what it is we wish to do. Time then to change slots? Perhaps, let me just travel this one for a while and see what lies around that next corner. On Dec 27, 1:25 pm, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > The beginning of the New Year is traditionally a time of renewal and > reassessment. For some of us that goes deeper than boxing up old > things to make way for the new, or wrapping up financial figures to > prepare our taxes and budget the upcoming year. Taking a step back to > witness ourselves, who we are, and how we relate, is also in order. > From the position of the witness, I can see a faceted triad of self - > my self-image: my mental self portrait; my identity: the part of self > formed in relation to others; and my presence: the dynamic, infinite > self connecting the internal and external, beyond form yet recognizing > forms such as thought and feeling as they arise and all other > complexities of self that identity and self image assign. All parts > of the triad are developmentally important to me, all integral to who > I am. > > As I contemplate this triad, I consider that self image and identity > can, but don’t always, give way to doubt. Presence does not. > Presence unifies. It does not hold me in separation of anyone or any > event or any time because there is a flow in presence that unites the > many and One. When I view myself from the position of presence, there > is no need to place a value on one aspect over another because all is > experienced as constant, unified flow. From the position of my self- > image or identity, I find myself assigning values of good, bad, true, > untrue, self, not self…and in a reassessment, doubt may arise – did > “I” make a mistake? > > Another observation is that the relationship between cause and effect > changes when I witness myself from the position of presence. Internal > cause from the dynamic presence takes precedence, and external cause, > like that from my worldly experience, others or even my own mental > constructs of self image, become the effect. My world does not change > me, I change my world by changing my view to that of presence. My DNA > does not define me from birth, but changes as my consciousness > changes. > > It must be said that this is nothing new. Mystics as old as written > history have relayed these ideas to us. They can be found it all the > sacred texts. But as I enter the New Year 2011, I feel an infinite > gratitude, for entering in presence, surrounded by people that read > what I write here, and enter with me, a large part of my smile. > > What do YOU think?
