Gaining an understanding of the Self – what it is and how to use its innate gifts – is the entire point of Self Awareness.  

The psychological community has its definition of the Self.  In this post I’ll be discussing the Spiritual perspective, which is similar in some respects, but also very different.  The Spiritual perspective is more likely to lead one to Wisdom, Inner Peace, and feelings of Contentment and real, unending Happiness.

I’ve spent many hours looking within for answers about the Self.  As Ramana Marharshi suggests in his teachings, I asked the question, ‘Who am I?’.  I still do.

Using this technique, I did get answers and learned much about the Self, about who we really are and what we’re truly made of.

I learned that the answer to this fundamental question is very simple, yet also extremely complex.

There’s so much more to who we are than people realize and understanding the components of Self, and how they work together, is the key to success, Happiness and, ultimately, increased Consciousness.

It’s that important.  In fact, it’s the most important thing to know… for everyone.  Read on and you’ll discover why.

What the Self is Not

Contrary to the way most people view themselves, the Self has several components.

Now, I realize that this statement itself brings up many questions, and I haven’t even described the components yet.

Some people think that they are their body, or their brain.  Then, there are others who identify themselves by what they do: I’m a businessperson; I’m a pilot; I’m a mother; I’m in show-business; I’m a musician; I’m a skier; etc…

These all have one thing in common: they are things we might do.  But they are not who we are.

Innately, no one is any of these things.  These things do not describe the Self.  They are nothing more than things – activities – we may or may not do.  There is a very big difference between activities and the Self – who we really are.

When we use these things to create our identities, we are feeding an illusion, a representation of our existence that is false, which keeps us ‘asleep’ or unconscious. 

This type of outlook supports only one aspect of who we actually are and, unfortunately, it’s the one aspect of ourselves that is responsible for creating all our problems and unhappiness and for all the hate and chaos we see in the world.

The time has come to take a deeper look.  Collectively, we are ready for a better way.

The Components of Self

If we’re not our job’s, or our hobby’s, or some version of our family life – a husband, a parent, etc… – then who are we, really?

Here’s the answer.  Each of us, even you, has 3 aspects within.  These are the components of the Self:

So, even though there are only 3 main headings, as you can see, the Individualized Self has 2 powerful aspects: The True Self and the Ego self.

So, this really brings the total number components of the Self to 4: True Self, Ego self, Communicator, and God Self.  But there are only 3 main components.

The Individualized Self

On the surface, the components of the Self seem simple enough.  But there’s so much more to each of them.  The confusion many suffer is in the details, in the way each of these components works and influences the others.

The Individualized Self is the most complex.  It is the arena where the Duality within takes form.  This is where the struggle between our True Self and Ego self plays out every moment of every day.

The Individualized Self contains components of our Godliness, of our God Self, and it is the aspect of you which experiences the world as an individual.  It is the reason that my experience is different from yours.

This is how each of us contributes to the Greater God, to the collective Consciousness, and this is how Consciousness expands and grows, which is its goal. 

Consciousness, or God, is always expanding – learning, growing, experiencing.

But… We all have free will.  We all are free to choose how we want to live and what we want to experience.  How we make these choices is a more complex discussion but goes directly to the Duality within.

The Duality within is the foundation of the choices we make, of our tastes and preferences.  And these choices are not a one-time thing.  We choose continually. 

It is the basis for these choices that is most important, and this is the struggle, the internal battle, the Duality within.

When we choose to listen to, and react from the True Self aspect, we are in alignment with Love.

When we listen to and react from the Ego self, which almost everybody does 100% of the time, we are in alignment with Fear.

Acting and reacting from Fear is the real definition of what has been termed the ‘Fall from Grace’ and is the source of all hate, and evil in our world.

This is the struggle of Duality, the internal battle between the voices of Love and Fear.  The Ego self is based in fear.  The True Self is based in Love.

Now, both the True Self and Ego self are off-shoots of the God Self.  Both are innately good.

But, because of the energies behind each – Love or Fear – they operate differently.  They behave in different ways.

The True Self

The True Self is a Love-based aspect of the Individualized Self.  As such, it is allowing, trusting.  It is very content to sit back and watch.

Yes, it does offer guidance and will provide answers to questions, including those that involve the everyday choices we make, like what to eat and which job to take.

But, and this is critical, because it is Love and trusts and allows, it is very quiet.  It is content to be in the background and not force itself and its ideas upon you.

The Ego self

On the other hand, we all have the Ego self.  It has a completely different demeanor.

The Ego self is loud and bellicose.  It seeks to get its way all the time and at all cost and will insert itself into the decision-making process every step of the way.

Why?  Simple… It lives and acts from the energy of Fear.  It just wants to feel Happy and ‘secure’ because it is afraid, of everything.

But, unfortunately, the reality is: it cannot ever find real Happiness in the places it looks.  So, to fill the inner hole in its existence, it seeks to artificially create joy in outer world things and circumstances.

Please Note: There’s a huge difference between joy and Happiness.  The main difference is that joy is externally generated and is very temporary.  One example: a good hardy laugh at a joke told among friends.

Real Happiness is internally generated and is eternal.

The God Self

The next component of the Self, of our ‘inner world’, is the God Self.  It is the energy that gives the body life and keeps it alive and going and also is the direct connection to the Greater God, or Consciousness itself.

This part of you has all the answers.  When you hear the saying: all the answers are within, this is the aspect of yourself that you need to learn to tap into to get those answers.

Hearing the voice of the God Self is natural but for most, it must be re-learned.  And, a major part of this re-learning process is clearing away the many Ego fears that have been layered upon it over years of life and all your lifetimes.

Once this has been completed, though, that voice is apparent, just as the sun appears when the clouds clear, and can be consulted and heard on-demand.  It is there to serve you and has unlimited power.

Use this power wisely and correctly and you can create anything you desire.

The Communicator

This aspect of self is interesting.  It is a 2-way bridge between the God Self and the Individualized Self.  Communications go both ways, back-and-forth, from one to the other.

There is a caveat, though.  The God Self will never tell the Individualized Self what to do.  It will never give a yes or no answer to the question, ‘Should I do this or that?’

If directly asked, it may offer guidance to help one make a decision, but that guidance will never include information about what is the best choice or the right thing to do.

The God Self stays out of all that and the reason for this is simple: Free Will and Choice.

The God Self will support and manifest anything and everything that is asked of it.  And yes… For those who are familiar with the Law of Attraction, this is part of that.

But, it leaves the choice of what one wants, one’s desires, completely up to the Individualized Self.  Free Will would not be real if one were told by the God Self what to do, what to choose.

That is left completely up to the Individualized Self to work out and is often a battle between the fear-based needs of the Ego self, attempting to fill its pit of emptiness, and the True Self, who knows what is best, but is very quiet in the way it communicates this to us.

And, there is no judgement made by the God Self.  No judgement at all.

This is why and how evil can exist in the world.  Evil is a manifestation of the Ego self being out-of-control, being unchecked by the True Self, which always knows better and is of Love.  The True Self would never do anything to harm another.

So, communications about what we desire, what we want, are formulated by the Individualized Self and are transmitted to the God Self for implementation through the Communicator.

Communications which the God Self will offer, guidance, confirmations, and wisdom go the other way, through the Communicator and to the Individualized Self.

To hear the communications from the God Self, though, one must be listening with their inner ears.  Most people are not doing this.  A good place to start, is to become aware of the feelings within, especially the very subtle ones.

Conclusions

So, to sum up, if you want to become Self Aware, it is essential that you first understand all the living parts within of which you’ll need to become aware.  As you’ve seen, there are many and their relationship to one another is complex.

The way to begin becoming aware is to focus your thoughts and inquiries about yourself inside.  Let yourself feel and let them be your guide.