I
have always struggled with the notions of False Self and True Self, as
explained by Richard Rohr (and before him, Thomas Merton). Struggled to
understand what they mean for me.
Today
my spiritual director explained them in another way, and it’s all come clear.
He spoke of the Relative Self, which is the sum of our experiences, and the
Absolute Self, that of God in us.
The
Relative Self reacts and compares and likes things and people. It is subject to
change. The Absolute Self is able to rise above this reactionary state. It observes
and assesses. It is awake. It has compassion for all, including its own small,
wounded, Relative Self. It loves things and people just the way they are.
The
purpose of contemplative prayer, of meditation, is to quiet the chattering
monkeys so that the Absolute Self can be heard. So that we learn to live
mindfully, with awareness, and don’t just blunder through life reacting to
whatever we see and hear and think and feel.
I feel like a door has opened in my mind, and am so very grateful.
