On our path, we encounter many kinds of structures, delusions, and impressions that constrain and pattern our experience and that ultimately limit the freedom possible for us in our lives. The structures that first manifest in our work are what we call “representational.” For example, the superego, self-images, and object relations all involve representations—that is, models or structures that the mind puts together. Working with representational structures requires that we recognize, at some point, that they are constructs, that they are memories that are woven together to create a structure of identity, or a sense of being an individual, or a sense of being a particular individual. This means that the representational structures we work with in the first stages of inner work require a certain degree of cognitive development. Usually these structures begin to cohere when we are two or three years old, when our mind has developed enough that it can represent, which means we can retain an impression and create an image or a memory of it. At that point, instead of being limited to the immediate experience, we can also form a mental representation of it, which is a memory or an impression of the experience that can be recalled. – A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery, Ch. 14