The Process of Becoming True Self

8/14/2019 The Process of Becoming True Self

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(C) Rodney H. Clarken 1

The Process of BecomingYour True Self Dr. Rodney H. ClarkenNorthern Michigan University


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The process of becoming your

true self is

a model of human development based on

an integration of knowledge from psychology, philosophy and religion.


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It identifies knowing, loving and

willing as the three basic human capacities and

describes how they are developed through the body, mind and soul.


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It views the body, mind and

soul as the three basic natures of human

beings, that develop in hierarchical stages in an individual from embryo toadult (ontogeny) just as they did in theevolutionary development of human life(phylogeny) through the stages of mineral, vegetable, animal ( body ), human( mind ) and beyond ( soul ).


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SoulSpirit

Mind

BodyKnow

Love Will

self True Self

MineralVegetable


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Your true self: the beginning

You are here

.

We all start of as a one-celled microscopicorganism, invisible to the human eye. Thatis your true self at the initial stage of your development, containing all your future

potentialities.


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The process of becoming

How do weget from here .

To here


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From the humble beginning

of a one-celled being, we progresshierarchically through all the kingdoms andstages of development that we did in evolution:

Mineral

Vegetable

Animal

Human


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Human (Brain/Mind)Animal (Body)

VegetableMineral

Stages of MaterialDevelopment

Matter


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These are the same stages

that the world has gone through

evolutionarily over millions of years First, there was matter that formed into

minerals, that over time created the right

conditions for the evolution of plants, thatwere followed by animals, which set thestage for humans.


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Hierarchy of material creation

Human

Animal

Vegetable

MineralMatter

Relative abundance of realm

Time


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The human being is the latest

and highest realm of creation,incorporating in itself the qualities andattributes of the earlier and lower creations: mineral, vegetable & animal

These physical developments that tookbillions of years to accomplish inevolution, we pass through in ninemonths within the womb


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Human nature

The human being combines all the lower levels of creation of mineral, vegetableand animal in its body, and shares their qualities.

Humans add the element of mind , basedin a more evolved brain, and have thecapacity to transcend them all with itssoul .


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Soul Divine SpiritualMind Human Mental

Body Animal Physical

VegetableHuman Nature Mineral

Each higher level encompassesand transcends the lower


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Stages of human development

The body, mind and soul each go through amineral, vegetable, animal and human stage of development in the process of your realizingtheir full potential.

The true self is your soul endowed with full

spiritual powers. We will briefly explore each of these.


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The stages of the body: 1. mineral

We start off as one-celled organisms made up of atoms and molecules held together like the atoms

and molecules of a mineral. Our one-cell divides into two, each successive

cell follows a similar pattern, then the cells begindifferentiating into different body parts and

integrating into patterns, like a mineral crystal. We do not lose the mineral qualities of cohesion

of our body until we die, when the atoms andmolecules break apart returning again to simple

matter.


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The vegetable stage of body

The fetus implants itself on the wall of theuterus and draws nourishment from the host

mother through an umbilical cord. If uprooted,we die.

We grow from the one-celled seed, augmentingin size, qualities and development until at birthwe have billions of cells and the organs tomove to the animal stage. This vegetativequality cause us physical growth throughout our lives.


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The animal stage of body

Adds the animal qualities of sensation andmovement.

In the womb, the senses and capacitiescommon to animals are being developed, butnot yet actively used.

At birth the physical body, which humans sharein common with animals, is able to begindeveloping its sensorimotor capacities.


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The human stage of the body

What distinguishes humans from animals

is reason, which physically depends onthe developed brain which has evolvedover eons.

Understanding the physical brain canhelp us to understand the more abstractand higher mind and its role in the body.


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Man finds himself in the

predicament that Nature has endowed him essentially with three brains

which, despite great differences in structure,

must function together and communicate withone another. The oldest of these brains isbasically reptilian. The second has beeninherited from lower mammals, and the third isa later mammalian development, which, in itsculmination in primates, has made manpeculiarly man. (MacLean, quoted in Koestler, Ghost in the machine , pp. 277-78)


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The Triune Brain

Reptilian brain(brain stem) oldest

Paleomammalian brain(limbic system) later Neomammalian brain

(neocortex) latestBased on MacLeanhttp://www.ezls.fb12.uni-siegen.de/mkroedel/paul_maclean.html
http://www.ezls.fb12.uni-siegen.de/mkroedel/paul_maclean.htmlhttp://www.ezls.fb12.uni-siegen.de/mkroedel/paul_maclean.html


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The reptilian brain

As infants, we operate primarily from the oldestpart of our triune brains, the brain stem, whichroughly corresponds to the reptilian brain. Itcontrols internal functions, instinctive drives,reflexes, sleep, arousal and impulses

As we master and transcend some of theseinternal primitive activities and forces, weadvance to higher animal functions


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The paleomammalian brain

We move to the higher more evolved limbicsystem, the second oldest part of the brain, which

processes information in such a way that itbecomes experienced as feelings and emotions,which become the guiding force for behavior.(Jantsch, Self-organizing universe , p. 167)

Very similar in organization, chemistry andfunction to the paleomammalian brain of horses,dogs and cats, and intimately connected to thebrain stems visceral and emotional functions


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The neomammalian brain

The neocortex constitutes the latest andhighest stage in evolution of the brain. It

encompasses the limbic system and the brainstem.

It is what distinguishes humans from animalsphysiologically.

It is the seat of thought and most voluntarymovements: mother of invention and father of abstract thought.


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Three brains in one

Reptilian brain stem: controls muscles, balanceand autonomic functions, such as breathing

and heartbeat; is active, even in deep sleep Paleomammalian limbic system: concerned

with emotions and instincts, feeding, fighting,fleeing, and sexual behavior

Neomammalian neocortex: comprises higher cognitive functions which distinguish humansfrom animals


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The triune brain as body, heart

and mind Body, brain stem , part of ourselves the regulates

systems in our body. Perceives itself in the lower belly, the area of its major biological functioning

(i.e., hunger, sex) Heart, limbic system , the part of ourselves that

feels emotions. Perceives itself in the chest, thearea of its primary responsibility and sensory

awareness. Mind, neocortex , the part of ourselves we most

often think of as who we are. Perceives itself inthe head, the are that forms judgments, handles

short term memory and does abstractions


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Triune brain and the three basic

human capacities Body: to will, centered in brain stem

Heart: to love, centered in limbic system

Mind: to know, centered in neocortex


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The knowing, loving and willing

process of becoming true self

LovingHeart

WillingBody

KnowingMind


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Each of the triune brains thinks

differently Body thinks in gestalt sequences of body

sensations; body consciousness

Heart thinks in sequences of feelings;emotional consciousness

Mind thinks in sequences of words,concepts, thoughts, logic, etc.; mentalconsciousness


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Soul Divine SpiritualMind Human Mental

(Heart Mammal Emotional)Body Animal Physical

Human Nature &Triune Brain


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The brain-mind connection

The brain is the physical organ that is the seat of the subjective mind, but the conscious mind is

different and distinct from the objective brain. First person (I) subjective mind (conscious

experience) reciprocally interacts with thirdperson (it) objective brain (neurological systems).

The brain is in the body and the body is in themind.

Next, we will look briefly at one aspect of the stagesof the mind using Piagets cognitive model.


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Stages of the mind: 1. mineral

The initial mineral stage of the mind is thebonding in simple patterns of the elements of sensations, perceptions, impulses, images, etc.into a coherent mental representation.

The mind is primarily sensorimotor and takes

as its object the sensorimotor realm. Its generalself-sense is material and physical.


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Animal stage of the mind

The animal stage of mind can sense and movewith and within the mind without the need of material senses and movement. Here the mindcan see and hear for itself, without physicaleyes or ears. This is the concrete operationalstage where the mind can conserve and canlogically and systematically manipulate symbolsrelated to concrete objects.


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Human stage of the mind

The mental mind, where the mind can thinkabout itself and reflect upon and represent nonmaterial (abstract) reality. This stage isrepresented by formal operations: logicalmanipulation of symbols related to abstractconcepts. It takes as it object the world of thought and is creative, constructive andsystematic.


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Soul stage of the mind

When the mind reaches the soul stage,the mind transcends itself and isillumined by the soul which lead to higher authentic, autonomous, unified, visionaryand intuitive thinking. The mind becomespost logical, rational, personal, verbal,etc., no longer limited by those mentalconstructs.


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What is the soul?

\Soul\ The animating and vital principle

in humankind credited with the facultiesof thought, action and emotion andconceived as forming an immaterial entitydistinguished from but temporallycoexistent with the body. Dictionary


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an animating and vital

principle Energy; courage; spirit; fervor; affection,

or any other noble manifestation of theheart or moral nature; inherent power or goodness. Definition 4 of soul from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

The soul is like the sun which illumines,sustains and is reflected in the body andmind.


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faculties of thought, action

and emotion Thought (Mind) : Knowing , Thinking

Understanding TRUTH

Action (Body) : Willing , Doing Justice GOOD

Emotion (Heart) : Loving , Feeling Unity BEAUTY


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an immaterial entity

\Im`ma*te"ri*al\ 1. Not consisting of matter;incorporeal; spiritual;

\Spir"it*u*al\ 1. Consisting of spirit; not material;incorporeal; 2. Of or pertaining to the intellectualand higher endowments of the mind; mental;intellectual. 3. Of or pertaining to the moral

feelings or states of the soul, as distinguishedfrom the external actions; reaching and affectingthe spirits. 4. Of or pertaining to the soul or itsaffections as influenced by the Spirit;


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distinguished from buttemporally coexistent with thebody The soul is different and distinct from the body,

but associated with the body for the limited timeof its life

The body is like a horse and the soul is like therider. At one level we identify with and care for

the body as it is the vehicle for the soul, our true identity, which exists after the body dies.


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The soul is like an embryo

As an immaterial entity it is hard tocomprehend. We can use material metaphors

to help us understand what it is and how itworks

The development of the embryo is analogous tothe development of the soul. As the embryodevelops all the physical attributes for thisworld, the soul develops spiritual attributes for the next.


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The womb of this world

Just as the body develops all of it physicalcapacities while in the womb of its mother, thesoul develops its spiritual capacities while in thewomb of this world. The human body serves asthe placenta to the soul, taking in and filteringthe nourishment of the world so that the soulcan develop the spiritual qualities andcharacteristics needed in the next realm.


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Mineral stage of the soul

At conception, the soul comes into being. Itmight be compared to the simple one-celledorganism of the body. It has all of the capacitiesinherent in it, but they have yet to bedeveloped. Initially the soul in the mineral stagecan be conceived of as the cohesion of atomsand molecules of spirit and virtues bindingtogether to make a new entity, a uniquespiritual identity, just as the body is a uniquephysical identity.


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Vegetable stage of soul

As interpreted by the Scholastics, thevegetative soul was common to plants,animals, and humans; the sensitive soulwas common to animals and humans;and the rational soul was found only inhumans. Vegetable love is thus a lovethat grows, takes nourishment, andreproduces, although slowly. The American HeritageDictionary


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Animal stage of soul

At this stage the human soul adds thecapacity of sensation to the earlier mineral spirit of cohesion and thevegetable spirit of growth andreproduction: we see, hear and feel withour soul, in a similar way that we can firstsee, hear and feel with our physicalsenses, then later with our mental.


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Spirit stage of the soul

The soul can transcended itself mergingwith the Great Holy Spirit, freeing itself of all physical, mental and spiritualattachments, such as attachment to thevirtues and names of the Divine Creator,rather than to the Ultimate InfiniteEssence that transcends all limitationsand divisions.


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How do negotiate these stages?

Using our knowing, loving and willingcapacities through our body, minds andsouls.

The following figures and charts willpresent some correlates of these to help

us understand how we might use them tofurther the process of becoming our trueselves.


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SoulSpirit

Mind

BodyKnow

Love Will

self True Self

MineralVegetable

Knowing


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Thinking

WillingDoingGood

HandJusticeMorals

LovingFeelingBeauty

HeartUnityArts

mind

soul body

Knowing

ScienceUnderstanding

HeadTruth


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Table 2. Some correlates of knowing, loving and willing

WillLoveKnow

GoodBeautyTruth

AutonomyAltruismAuthenticity

DoFeelThink

Creation/

Construction

Compassion/

Caring

Consultation/

Investigation


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CourageCompassionReason

BodySoulMind

ConativeAffectiveCognitive

HandHeartHead

JusticeUnityUnderstanding


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Practical ReasonAestheticJudgment

Pure Reason

TranscendIntegrateDifferentiate

Communion-adaptation

Eros-transcendence

Agency-preservation

MoralsArtsScience

Intersubjective(We)Subjective (I)Objective (It)

Ethics/ OntologyAesthetics/Axiology

Logic/Epistemology


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Table 2: Some correlates of body,mind and soul

VirtuesKnowledgeNutritionFood

DivineHumanAnimalKingdom/Realm

SpiritualMentalPhysicalWorld

SoulMindBodyNature


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Post Rational(certitude)

Rational(empirical)

Pre Rational(drives)

Reason

Trans Logical(inspiration)

Logical(reason)

Pre Logical(magic)

Logic

Post Verbal-Deeds

Verbal-Words

Pre Verbal-Body, Cries

Language

TranscendentalSubjectiveObjectiveReality/Spirit

HeartHeadHandSymbol


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4 th and onpostconventional

2 -3 rd person,

conventional

1 st , person,Preconventional

Perspective

ReligionScienceNatureSource

Theo centricEgo World

centric

Bio centricSelf Center

TheosphereNoosphereBiosphereSphere

Super-Conscious

Self-Conscious

Sub-Conscious

Conscious-ness

Transpersona(universal,transcendent

Personal(ego, ethnic)

Pre Personal(physical,emotional)

Identity


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Soul

Mind

BodyKnow

Love Will

self True Self


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References

This presentation has drawn from theworks of Bahaullah, Abdul-Baha andKen Wilber. I refer you to their writings for more breadth, depth and clarity on thesetopics.


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The Process of Becoming True Self