05/22/2025
I have long struggled to explain the concept of “True Self.” Maybe this is because it’s really more of an experience of something, or of nothing, than it is a “thing” that can be described verbally and concretely. I didn’t even know enough about it to call it True Self when I first began this work. Back then we called it “being present in the here-and-now,” but that wasn’t even an adequate description.
Back then, the late Steve Armstrong referred to the experience as being “centered,” and the knowing that came with that experience as “a feeling thing.” It’s an awareness that is both conscious and unconscious at the same time. When you are in it or you experience it, you just know it; you know everything you need to know in that moment, and you are oddly settled and okay with what is.
The experience is beautiful, but not in the way sunsets or mountains are beautiful. It’s exciting, but not in the way surprises or adventures are exciting. It’s calm even in chaos; connected, but not affected. When you’re in it, everything makes sense even when nothing makes sense.
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan (Catholic) Priest, attempts to describe the True Self in his book, Immortal Diamond. He says, “Within us there is an inner, natural dignity. (You often see it in older folks.) An inherent worthiness that already knows and enjoys. (You see it in children.)”
Richard Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems Therapy describes it by saying, “However we get there, we suddenly encounter a feeling of inner plenitude and open heartedness to the world that wasn’t there the moment before.”
This concept is not new, new-age, metaphysical, woo-woo, or the stuff of any one religious or political affiliation, though many would argue that it is. (Richard Rohr has a theory about that, by the way). No, the concept of Self/Self-energy/True Self, or whatever you choose to call it, is present in some form worldwide across many cultures and within a variety of belief systems. The experience of it is described similarly across the board.
If inner peace is what you desire (and who doesn’t desire inner peace?), begin to explore this concept of True Self. Everything you need already resides within you.
