To Do Better?

”Self cannot improve upon itself.” ~ Ronald Chapman

“Why can't the self improve upon itself?” ~ Jay C.

**********

A fine question from my friend, Jay, and worthy of discussion. In short, the self has only its own viewpoint as a reference. Everything self sees or does comes through that viewpoint.

It's why we need something, apparently from beyond us, in order to be changed: the epiphany that transformed Saul into Paul and brought forth mighty effects through Christianity, the dream that brought Einstein an understanding of relativity which forever altered our comprehension of physics and the universe, the awareness Viktor Frankl had that meaning and purpose could be forged amid the deprivation of concentration camps which laid a foundation for positive psychology, or Leo Tolstoy’s uncanny insights which launched Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. down the paths of non-violence which changed the world.

I say "apparently from beyond us" because an argument may be made that these things are from our Highest Self. However, they come from outside the usual bound of the "ego" because the ego, aka "self," can't get there because it is bound by its viewpoint.

Many people might call such things serendipity or grace.

Seeing True in Reality and In Practice™

Abraham Maslow brought forth the idea of “Self-actualization,” which commentators have noted makes a distinction between “self” and “Self.” Some would then reflect that actualization or realization is unbounded.

Since that time, masters in the realm of depth psychology have proposed that our greatest potential lies in “individuation,” finding our own unique individual path. And that in order to become our fullest, wholest, truest selves, we must transcend and include all of the imprinting upon the ego: the norms of family and culture, the teachings of religion and education, and our own ideas about ourselves. We might even need to re-interpret lived experiences in order to more fully understand our lives and ourselves.

If I am not who I think or believe I am, who am I?