Understanding the Role of Self-Reflection in Ego’s Reality
Exploring “Self-Reflection” propels us into the intricate and seemingly impenetrable castle of one-way mirrors, a metaphorical construct representing our ego-self. Within this castle, we find ourselves ensnared in a labyrinth of reflections, each presenting a version of reality centered around the ego, offering a view that is inherently self-referential and limiting.
In its quest for survival and dominance, the self-centered ego constructs thick walls, drawbridges, and moats, fortifying its castle and reinforcing the reflections that confine our understanding of self and the world. However, the concept of “Self-Reflection” is not just about understanding the limitations and defenses of the ego; it is also about delving into the realm of awareness.
Unlike the ego, awareness can see through, penetrate, and ground the reflective world. It transcends the reflective surfaces and the self-centered realities, providing a glimpse into a world that is real, more profound, and more encompassing than the ego can imagine or perceive.
By engaging in open-ended self-inquiry and studying our perceptions and realities, we can begin to unravel the reflections, dissolve the ego-centric identifications, and embark on a transformative journey toward realizing our true nature beyond the castle of one-way mirrors. This exploration is a step toward liberating ourselves from the constraints of self-centered reflections and moving toward a state of being that is in harmony with our true essence.
One of the many understandings and threads of wisdom that A. H. Almaas has helped elucidate is the distinction between self (individual consciousness) and ego-self (constructed identity), as well as the differences between the two. This fulcrum of self tips one’s experience into this visible world or the invisible, the world of spirit or essence.
The puzzle of the self lies in the capacity of self-reflection.
Awareness is not dependent on self-reflection, but self-reflection is dependent on awareness. Self-reflection equals self-centeredness. This is the house of mirrors of the ego-self. Since the ego is fundamentally a defensive coping mechanism for survival (Freud), the house of mirrors is a castle of mirrors for the ego, complete with thick walls, a drawbridge, a moat, reinforced doors, and more. The ego has it all in play.
Self-centeredness is a basic quality of the ego self, which becomes increasingly obvious as the ego identifications, which are the building blocks of the self, begin to dissolve. – A. H. Almaas, The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach
How is ego’s self-centeredness (self-reflection) a castle of mirrors?
The ego self sees and experiences everything through self-centeredness; meaning and significance are determined based on this perspective. Think of standing in a hall of mirrors. Everywhere you look, you’re reflected.
This is how it is for the ego-self. It’s in every view, AND it can’t see what lies beyond the reflective surface. Its reality and imagination are limited to the world of reflection.
When reports or stories of a world or reality exist beyond the reflection, the ego-self can only imagine that within the limits/laws of self-reflection.
One-way self-reflective mirrors
Awareness, however, can see through the mirrors into the reflective world. Awareness not only sees through but penetrates and is the ground of the reflective world. The issue that arises is that what we are gets lost in the reflection – it takes itself to be the reflection.
One way of saying this is, “What we are gets lost in who we are.”
The sense of self is the center or foundation of the ego view—“I am here, and I am in the world, and I perceive things from here, and I act according to my preferences.” – A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery
Another fly in the ointment is that the sense of what we are seeps into the experience of who we are. Who we are has intimations of being more than meets the eye, the reflection. There are vague feelings and ideas of something more, something deeper, something more real in a way different than what is known.
How can knowing this help?
The ego-self, rather than trying to look through and beyond self-reflection, can study and understand itself and inquire into its perception and reality. Primary awareness underlies this self-inquiry into self—what we are, and what we can see that we are not. However, it’s not as we imagine; what we are is the seeing, not the seer or the seen.
John Harper is a Diamond Approach® teacher, Enneagram guide, and human development student whose work bridges psychology, spirituality, and deep experiential inquiry. He is the author of The Enneagram World of the Child: Nurturing Resilience and Self-Compassion in Early Life and Good Vibrations: Primordial Sounds of Existence, available on Amazon.