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The Pure True Self
By gartenfische | December 4, 2007
The pure self. There is such a thing (Thomas Keating calls it the true self, as opposed to the false self) and when we live from it, we are freer—open to life and love and creation. We are then closer to ourselves. And when we are closer to our pure true selves, we are closer to God (I don’t think we can be apart from God, but we can feel apart).
Fr. Keating writes:
The spiritual journey involves an inner change of attitude beginning with the recognition of being out of contact with our spiritual nature and our true self, and taking means to return. Only then can our true self and the potentiality that God has given us to live the divine life be manifested.
I love Eric Schiffman’s description of meditation (meditation is a sure way to take steps to return to the true self):
You consciously experience yourself as you actually are. In this way you open yourself to a new, truer, less distorted experience of you and the world.
When you are about to relax and quietly suspend all your firmly held false ideas and limiting beliefs about who and what you are, only what is true will remain. You will then experience your ever-existing truth for yourself. This is like polishing a mirror—removing the grime—and seeing yourself clearly for the very first time.
When we get beyond the ideas of ourselves that have been formed over the years, that often come from misconceptions—our own and others’—we come in touch with the purest, untainted self. How beautiful is that? I like his description very much, and since I read it, when I sit in meditation, I am aware that the false has fallen away and I am present to my true self. At those moments, I am not a facade that is behaving this way or that way or being thought of as this sort of person or that. I just am, pure and true. He also says that we can take that out of our meditation time and into daily life—which is the key to transformation. I love this:
When you let go of everything you think you know about yourself and stay with what’s left, when you willingly abandon the contradictory evaluations of who you are and courageously reach deeply into yourself in order to experience yourself directly, you will come upon a new experience of who you are. You will sense the creative energy that is the life of you, and you will then define and think about yourself in a new and expanded way.
We get trapped in ideas of ourselves—others’ and our own, and coming to our true selves means freedom from that. Freedom: Isn’t that what we want? I do. I want what Keating and Schiffman are talking about.
I love that Schiffman brings up creative energy, because where does that come from, if not the true self inside of us where the Divine breathes?
Which, of course, brings to mind: art. And Painterofblue, who writes beautifully, so beautifully, on spirituality and art.
Her insights into the artist’s process remind me of Schiffman’s views on meditation:
If an artist struggles with their work, they are really confronting the blocks they have to connecting to the Divine flow, the source of all creativity. When an artist sticks with it and is present to the block for long enough, no matter how difficult or painful that might be, that block will crumble and the artist will undergo a spiritual transformation. The energy from that transformation becomes embedded in their art. This energy then has the potential to resonate with and heal others.
I love her description of her own creative vision:
I seek to tread what is called the via negativa. I wish to release my will completely, not even to will God’s will. I wish to be an empty vessel, a womb, open to be filled by the Divine. Every thing, thought, and idea I can release makes more space for the Divine creative flow to fill and perhaps birth forth as something completely new.
Releasing the false, returning to the true self, to God. That is where the Divine flows, where creativity is born—where God is taking us, if we pay attention and follow. We can trust God more than we know.
May we all come to know, and live from, our true selves.
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Thanks to Owl, a NYT article on art in which a scholar links artistic creation to the mother-child relationship: “You are using the tools that mothers everywhere have used for hundreds of thousands of generations.” Interesting.
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Please please check out my wyrdbyrd post on the beautiful Salt of the Earth, a powerful and controversial movie. I say please please because I love this movie and the story behind it and I really really want to share it with you.
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As usual, I’m behind on my reading, so just discovered that Painter had bestowed upon me an Amazing Blogger Award. Thanks! Coming from Painter, that means a lot. She also tagged me for a seven random facts meme, but not too long ago (before we met, Painter!), I did a similar one, so I’ll link to that.
Topics: contemplative living, God, Christianity |
December 4th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
uh…watch out, garten…I wouldn’t be paying attention to Eric Schiffman if I were you….yoga is spooky…Eric is going to make you chant prayers to Vishnu and Krishna….
Really! Pat Robertson tells me so!
December 4th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
You’re not one of those yoga freaks are you? It could be dangerous for me to talk to you. ;)
So you’ve been listening to Pat again? It’s not good for your health, you know?
December 4th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I’m rushing to a meeting, but I wanted to let you know that I’ve been here, and I’ll be back again…to read some more
December 4th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
gartenfische, it’s a proven fact that I am only 37% evil….;)….let’s rate THIS blog, shall we….:)
December 4th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Eeeek. No, no rating. Please. I’m sure I’m way eviler than you.
December 28th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
I am so glad that I found your site today of all days when I just finished _Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the True Self from Thomas Merton and Other Saints_ by James Martin (a sweet little read). The bliss of synchronicity…
I too am on a yoga infused spiritual journey and look forward into delving deeper into your writing.
Blessings
December 29th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Epiphany, welcome! I’m so glad you found your way here. And what a serendipitous way to do it!
That book sounds interesting—I just requested it from the library.
Looking forward to perusing your blog, too.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
[…] and Other Saints, by James Martin. EpiphanyGirl mentioned the book in a comment for the post The Pure True Self and I was intrigued by the title. How could I resist? Naturally, I […]