Clarifying Concepts Of Self-actualization

[Subconscious94]

Hi all,

So i've come across a lot of concepts in self-development and i have here a list of common concepts that i feel all link together in some way, but i am confused on exactly how they all link and make sense with each other.

Heres the list:

• Higher Self - Lower Self
• High Consciousness - Low Consciousness
• Ego
• Authentic Self
• Conscious, Subconscious and Unconscious mind
• High - Low Self-Esteem
• Enlightenment
• Emotions (Joy,Peace - Apathy, Depression) (Different scales of emotion depending on your state of consciousness)
• Mind, Thought, Consciousness (Three Principles) (Sydney Banks Concepts)
• Paradigms
• Trauma
• Conditioning
• Abundance - Scarcity
• Spirit, Soul, Body, Mind
• Happiness
• Engagement
• Attachment

Aim

I basically want to be able to match them together and make sense of the madness, distill them into the root principles to have a clear line of what effects what moving forward in my/our personal development journey.

My Current Understanding 

So i'll start with what i currently know and make sense of (May not be accurate but just what i have experienced and can make sense of)

From my humble experience ive noticed whenever i become lost in ego i operate at a very 'low conscious' head-space and thus give in to bad habits like watching TV all day or even playing video games when i know i should be exercising for example. So from this experience i concluded the following correlation:

'The Higher your Consciousness - The Lower the grip of Ego'
'The Higher the Ego - The lower your state of Consciousness.' (And thus you are asleep as they say)

 

If i was to piece everything together from the list above (With my current understanding) it would be this:

The goal is to reach higher states of consciousness, through higher states of consciousness you will be more aligned to your high self/being, your higher self/being is your authentic self?

To raise consciousness you have to be aware of the ego within, the nutter that tries to run the show and so you need to create space between the thoughts as not to identify with them, by this you simply become aware, be the watcher. Presence work, meditation etc can develop this awareness and raise consciousness. Also raising consciousness can be in evolving new paradigms of thought and achieving those 'epiphanies' or 'breakthroughs' you've experienced.

Your lower self is where your ego is in control, somehow you've let your ego take over, if left uncontrolled you will go in a downward spiral of your mind and your life as the ego will bring you towards engaging with negative habits like video games, excessive alcohol, binge watching TV or even TV in general as this causes you to fall 'unconscious' where your ego thrives, getting angry, engaging in negative emotions etc. (Although negative emotions is fine and sometimes necessary, just not to constantly be in that place.)

Enlightenment is where your ego is dissolved or at least at 0% in terms of influence, where your mind is now 100% clear.

Abundance and scarcity is the conditioning of your subconscious mind,  the way you view yourself and the world, it is the foundation for your thoughts and beliefs, where you are aligned to your higher self and thus an abundant mind can be achieved in raising your consciousness. Scarcity is where a lack mindset its where the ego thrives in, nothings is ever enough and things can become 'hard' etc.

Summary

To summarize:

• Higher Self/Being is the state you're in when operating at a higher consciousness
• Lower Self/Being is the state you're in when Ego is in control or in other words you've identified with your mind/thoughts/story-line etc.
• Higher consciousness is the process where your raising your awareness of your experience in life.
• Lower consciousness is where your under the guise or influence of your ego.

 

Goal

Theres things i dont understand for example:

• Subconscious mind - Is this the fuel that your ego uses to keep you trapped, so for example if in your subconscious you have a belief where girls are hard to get, your ego will keep you in resistance to changing that belief?
• Unconscious Mind - Is this your ego? Hence why when you see 'Unconscious' people, really they are just on auto-pilot or living within the paradigms of there ego?
• Authentic Self - Is this where you have dissolved the fronts that your have put up caused by your ego? (To protect you from past traumas, experiences)
• Self-esteem - High and low self-esteem is this just the different facets of your ego because if we are born whole and then we derive our sense of self from thought and thus ego, so for example if you have a very good looking guy he will feel he has high self-esteem but only because he is good looking, however if you throw acid in his face he will begin to have low self-esteem as he has lost his 'identity' so this links with your ego?
• Engagement - This is where you have aligned your ego and are pushing forwards towards your goals and values in life, you are engaging with the process, your purpose, you are satisfying your ego, for example you fully engaging in your goals and you are wanting a result, this is an ego thing because if you are enlightened then you have no reason for goals or engagement in anything as you are in enlightenment which links with the fact there is no ego?
• Happiness - Theres two parts on one end you can be happy by achieving your goals and thus your ego (which is a temporary happiness) and the other end you can just be happy by just being, so where you are your authentic self?
• Spirit, Soul, Body and Mind - where does that make sense in regards to consciousness or authentic self for example.

 

i really want you guys to challenge this as i need to clarify these concepts, its confusing because sometimes different websites or videos talk about these concepts but don't link it with other things like lower-self being a direct influence of your ego etc etc.

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by Subconscious94

[Bodhi123]

16 hours ago, Subconscious94 said:

'The Higher your Consciousness - The Lower the grip of Ego'
'The Higher the Ego - The lower your state of Consciousness.' (And thus you are asleep as they say)

I would agree with this. The more identified you are with the body-mind the more unconscious you are.

16 hours ago, Subconscious94 said:

The goal is to reach higher states of consciousness, through higher states of consciousness you will be more aligned to your high self/being, your higher self/being is your authentic self?

The goal is to become more aware and less identified with your ego. As you begin to see through the illusion of being a separate self you will be more aligned with your "higher-self".

BUT... the thing is you are already your higher-self (i.e. Spirit, God, Truth). This is why they call it self-realization.

Good job for working to understand all of these concepts. But spirituality is not about conceptualization.

I think an important word for you is Integration.

Integration means moving beyond intellectual conceptualization and embodying this wisdom.

Integration is the challenge for all us

 

[Subconscious94]

@Bodhi123 Thank you so, so much for giving your response, im very grateful! 

Yes i do know that spirituality is in integration, but its just to help make sense of it when people like leo talk about it in his videos of which he has many ranging from different subjects.

For example when he talks about self-esteem, but then isnt self-esteem reinforcing the ego which then contradicts the whole enlightenment journey? Ect

Thanks Again!  

 

[Bodhi123]

@Subconscious94 It's true that concepts can be useful for a shared understanding of a topic.

To address your question, how to reconcile self-esteem and enlightenment?

It is a little paradoxical, but your ego needs to be strong enough so that you can transcend it.

For example, if you have low self-esteem and suffer from depression then you are not going to have the will and fortitude it takes to be on the spiritual path.

However, if your self-esteem is healthy then you will have the focus and determination needed to pursue enlightenment AND you will have the confidence needed to let it all go when the time is right.

[Subconscious94]

Got it! 

Just to add to that is your authentic self your higher self? I confuse the two.

To finish is your subconscious mind your ego or is that your unconscious mind? Or completely separate context.

[eskwire]

On 4/20/2017 at 4:09 PM, Subconscious94 said:

• Engagement - This is where you have aligned your ego and are pushing forwards towards your goals and values in life, you are engaging with the process, your purpose, you are satisfying your ego, for example you fully engaging in your goals and you are wanting a result, this is an ego thing because if you are enlightened then you have no reason for goals or engagement in anything as you are in enlightenment which links with the fact there is no ego?
• Happiness - Theres two parts on one end you can be happy by achieving your goals and thus your ego (which is a temporary happiness) and the other end you can just be happy by just being, so where you are your authentic self?

Engagement, goals, and results are not only a product of ego. This is a mistake many people make. Imagine being enlightened and living with full presence. You also see something that can be created or fixed. You make a goal to create or fix it. You know it doesn't matter unless it's created or fixed - so you pursue the result.

This has the same results as someone who neurotically pushes themselves to create or fix something so they feel like they are somebody of importance. It is a drastically different  way to live, however. 

The results are the results. They don't have to come from a neurotic place of the ego.

My take on the authentic self is...it's you, your character, when your ego is out of the way. Not all enlightened people act the same. They have a character about them. And they are authentic in that character or use affects merely as tools for work (such as public speaking or teaching). In the peace of not living fakery and neurosis, there is "happiness."

[Subconscious94]

@eskwire Ah yes good point and thank you for that clarification on goals.

Yes when it comes down to engagement and taking on your goals you want to do it from a place of inspiration (Authentic self) not Desperation (Ego).