Apart from the divine beings Christ and Sophia, there is a single principle or concept which is foundational to everything you will find in this website. And the word which best characterises this concept is:
THREEFOLD
The threefold concept can be applied in all kinds of ways to gain true knowledge. It originates from the ancient wisdom-teaching of mankind in which the law of three, or the triad, was regarded as the most significant factor in the development of human life on Earth. The ancient wisdom taught that the triad can be found everywhere.
All knowledge is based on self-knowledge the acquisition of which begins with an understanding of the human being as consisting not only of three separate but integrated parts or members, namely body, soul and spirit, but also that these three parts relate directly to the one we ordinarily call or name our self.
Based on the concept of the Threefold Self, this website is concerned with the method of gaining true self-knowledge in the modern world. Self-knowledge, in the best sense of the term, is not just physical knowledge, or knowledge of physical bodies (human or otherwise) in the physical world, but includes soul and spiritual knowledge as well. And as was also taught in the ancient wisdom, this kind of knowledge can only be gained through the diligent and dedicated practise of meditation.
As a dedicated practitioner of meditation for many decades, I can confirm the truth of the ancient threefold concept of the SELF in that I absolutely know myself as 1) an Ordinary Self which I relate to what I know and fully understand as my body; 2) as a Higher Self which I relate to what I know and fully understand as my soul; and 3) as a True Self which I can relate wholeheartedly to what I know and absolutely feel as the immortal core my human being: my eternal spirit.
I also believe that, given a sufficient degree of commitment to the path of meditation, everyone can aspire to, and acquire, this same level of self-knowledge. Moreover, I also firmly believe that in the new age dawning this kind and degree of self-knowledge, will be as important to the cultivation and spreading of true Christianity in the world as faith in Christ was in the past. In other words, I believe that for Christian Faith to be strong and resilient in the modern age, it needs to be supplemented and reinforced by this kind of soul and spiritual knowledge. This, in fact, is the reason why I set up this website: to spread this knowledge.
FAITH V KNOWLEDGE
There is a clear distinction to be made between faith and knowledge, or between believing and knowing. Faith and belief is developed and deepened through prayer, religious study, devotion, etc. Pure self-knowledge on the other hand, or knowledge in the deepest and truest spiritual sense, can only be gained through meditation. To put it into relatively simple terms: we practise prayer to deepen our faith, but we practise meditation to gain self-knowledge.
Our ordinary or work-a-day sense of self (ego) is based on our physical body. However, through the dedicated and diligent practise of meditation we become more and more conscious of our psychic or soul being, or a part of our self which is qualitatively different to our purely bodily part, or parts, where appetites, instincts and drives etc. dominate. For through the dedicated and diligent practise of meditation we discover in a very visceral manner that we are also moral beings.
What actually happens in pure meditation is that the ordinary consciousness of self, or self-consciousness, expands from its bodily base. This expansion will invariably take the form of various psychic or ‘spiritual’ type experiences. These experiences are very hard to describe, because for each person they will be different. But they always harbour a sense of crossing over into new ‘ethereal territory’, or of going out from our ordinary, familiar mental world, which is based on thought and perception, to a relatively body-free, more imaginative or purely visual world. This is why I always call such experiences ‘threshold experiences’.
Now, a careful study and appraisal of the various experiences we can have at this ‘threshold’ shows us that behind the apparent world of our normal everyday perception, there is a hidden world of fluctuating, objectively real and living pictures.
Of course when we first begin to have such experiences they can evoke many reactions in us when reflected upon after meditation. But a very important point to remember about meditation generally is that we never practise it simply to have such spiritual type experiences, but to understand them when we do have them. Pure meditation, which is based on a development of concentration, always strengthens our capacity to think clearly. And such sound thinking will never allow us to jump to false, fanciful or illusory conclusions regarding these threshold experiences.
But one thing we can always say for certain about them is that they will awaken in us a newer and larger sense of our self, which is ordinarily based on our physical body. We become fully convinced from these kinds of experiences that we really are more than our physical body.
Such experiences can of course be ecstatic or blissful. However they can also be the opposite of blissful. And this is precisely because they are essentially moral in nature.
THE EXPANDED SELF
As the sense of self expands through the sustained and dedicated practise of meditation, aspects of our being which up to this point we were not ordinarily aware of will inevitably try to force their way into our consciousness from the depths of our memory or our subconscious; for instance, feelings and emotions such as shame, guilt, remorse, etc. which for various reasons we may have repressed for a long time past. But at the same time a growing, higher, or purely moral sense of self evokes in us the need for a ‘cleansing’ or ‘exorcising’ process of all such negativity to take place. And such inner work can be painful. If then, at such critical junctures of our journey, we are not to lose hope, and genuinely wish to continue on our journey of self-discovery and development, we need help; we need a guide. And this is where Sophia steps in.
By cultivating love and knowledge of wise Sophia in our life generally we are also cultivating knowledge of our own soul. For Sophia is not only the Guardian of our soul, she is its very maker, its heavenly archetype.
Sophia is actually always present in us, but for most of time before we take up the path of meditation she is asleep. But the diligent practitioner of meditation will always awaken to the reality of her beautiful virginal being at some stage. And once awakened, she becomes the perfect guide on the wonderful journey of soul discovery and spiritual self-development. For no matter what kind of a person we presently are, or have been in the past, each time we meet her she evokes an ever softer, more forgiving, yet deeply moral part of our being. Truly she teaches us and helps us not only to bravely ‘face our demons,’ but to eradicate them. In short, she guides us to a better, purer, or higher sense of our self.
Now it is this second soul-sense of self which I call the Higher Self.
The Higher Self however is not the True Self. To real-ise the True Self one more step has to be taken.
Having met Sophia and with her help and guidance gained real knowledge of, and especially power over, the lower or more animal-like aspects of our soul-being, the next step is to gain true spirit-awareness. For spirit is qualitatively different to soul.
As we develop our moral being and grow in soul-discipline and self-power and knowledge, our ‘threshold experiences’ will inevitably become more varied, frequent, intense and elevated. And precisely because of this an ever-deepening quality of discernment will also be needed in order to properly evaluate and understand these experiences. As already stated, the real purpose of meditation is not simply to have spiritual experiences but to understand them when we do have them.
As our disciplined devotion to the path of meditation grows and with it our love and knowledge of Sophia, our ability to correctly discern all our ‘threshold experiences’ also grows. Eventually we reach a point where Sophia evokes in us, or even proves to us something of a most extraordinary and even miraculous nature.
THE TRUE SELF
When we have really come to recognise Sophia we know that we are not a body alone but that we also possess a soul. But the deeper we enter into Sophia, into the knowledge of her being, and learn to love her and her Wisdom ever more purely and chastely, the more we realise that she is giving birth in us to an even higher being than herself. We feel in fact that there is something qualitatively different coming to life in us, something different than that which up to this we have rightfully regarded as our soul. We become increasingly aware of an indwelling, transcendent, individuated and totally free being which we can understand and describe by no other word or name than spirit.
Thus does Sophia give birth in our soul to a pure and immortal spirit–child.
Although recognising this ‘child’ may be faint at first, the thought and the being of it becomes more and more real, and by its very nature increases our devotion to the path of self-knowledge.
Such is how our moral and spiritual development can reach a point where we can clearly recognise and confidently affirm a highest or third sense of self which is purely spiritual in nature. This is our True Self.
THE CHRIST SELF
Every dedicated practitioner of meditation can learn to experience the True Self. To have this experience is the most wonderful spiritual blessing imaginable for a human being. It not only reinforces our belief and faith in the Incarnation, but is a complete confirmation of the truth of the transcendent, yet indwelling Spirit of God.
If we are true Christians we will know through experiencing the True Self that it is also our Christ-self. It is the very same Self which St. Paul tells us he experienced when in Galatians 2:20 he says that ‘Christ is in me.’ It is the same Self which he also taught the early Christian congregations to experience. See for instance Colossians 1:27 where he emphasises that ‘Christ is in you.’
Just as the dedicated practitioner of meditation will learn to relate the second or soul sense of self, i.e. the Higher Self to Sophia, they also learn to relate the third or spirit-self to Christ.
Sophia unites us like children in warm and filial soul-community with our fellow Christians, but we find our purely individuated, spirit, or our True Self through our being brothers and sisters in Christ.
SOPHIA UNITES – CHRIST INDIVIDUATES
Christ is the same for everyone, yet He will reveal Himself to each and every one of us in an intimately personal, unique and indescribably beautiful way. He famously says of Himself that He is ‘The way, the truth and the life.’ (John 14:6) This truth however will be unveiled to every individual person in an individual way. Christ’s truth will always adapt itself to the particular nature of any given personality. This is the gift of His unique character.
Christ can of course be experienced in the Eucharist, in the sacraments generally and in prayer, etc. But the way to come to a fully sustainable experience of the Christ-self, or the Pauline ‘Not I, but Christ in me,’ is through the practise of meditation.
A NOTE OF CAUTION
Now in concluding this blog I am obliged to mention a very important practical point about this mysterious, wonderful and miraculous process of awakening to the True Self. I refer to a kind of ‘golden motto’ that must be kept in mind by the practitioner of meditation, and it is this: awakening to the True Self is a gradual process. Although there may be exceptions to this rule, a newcomer to meditation cannot expect to experience the True Self quickly. The path to the True Self is not only a slow one but also one of ‘trial and error’. It is an inner journey one undertakes upon which one’s most valuable luggage is virtue. Especially the practitioner must learn to employ the great practical virtues of endurance and patience.
Christ is so powerful a being and yet so gentle at the same time, that awakening Him in our soul is always a gradual, truly a birthing process. There is ‘labour’ involved. But as with all newborns, the reward far outshines the ‘labour’. This is how the holy Spirit of Christ always works, and it is for our own general good, but especially for our good health, both mental and physical. His true Spirit is always a healing Spirit.
Awakening the Christ-child within is a joyful, not an emotional experience. On the way to it there can be no question of sudden ecstatic conversions, or the kinds of so-called ‘spiritual’ experiences that are highly emotional and turn out very often to be ephemeral. On the other hand once this awakening begins, it will grow; and the most amazing thing about it is that it will literally never end!
By cultivating love of the wise and holy Virgin Sophia in our life we can be sure that the Christ-birth will take place in us in a right, proper and healthy manner. Sophia is the midwife of the Christ-birth. For before we begin to have the Christ awakening, Sophia ensures that we will have looked in a clear-eyed moral manner at how we have lived our life up to the point of taking up the inner path of meditation. She thereby ensures that our spiritual awakening to the True Self happens in complete concord with our moral development, which is also dependent upon the degree of commitment, dedication and devotion we are able and willing to give to the path of acquiring pure and true self-knowledge. A proper moral development will always ensure that we cultivate sound judgement and pure thinking. And such sound thinking will never allow us to jump to false, fanciful or illusory conclusions once our awakening begins. But it is totally true to say that everyone can come to this beautiful Christ experience sooner or later, given sufficient commitment and patience.
The great and true value of meditation is that it multiplies and deepens the Pauline Christ-self experience to such a degree that one loses all doubts about one’s faith, and one’s belief in the Cross and the Incarnation is fully reinforced. Hatred and fear are banished from one’s life, a joyful ‘peace beyond all knowing’ (Philippians 4:7) descends regularly upon us, and bleak death becomes a Door or a rebirth into a higher world.
To sum up: The diligent and dedicated practitioner of meditation in the deeply Christian sense outlined in this website must base, and learn to develop all of his or her thinking and feeling about the SELF, on the following threefold concept:
1. BODY – ORDINARY SELF – EGO
2. SOUL – HIGHER SELF – SOPHIA
3. SPIRIT – TRUE SELF – CHRIST