It pictures us as being a conscious I or self with a number of personality
functions which the self relates to through the agency of Will. I use
this model to help people realise that they are more than their thoughts
feelings, bodies and so forth – and that they have a centre from
which they can orchestrate and direct these various functions of their
personality.
For example my mind often runs off on its own thinking about upcoming
meetings, imagining what to say and what might go wrong – and
this in turns evokes worry and even indigestion! In situations like
this my mind is effectively out of control – it is determining
my experience and not serving me well. When I recognise this is happening
and, critically, when I recognise that can choose not to listen to my
mind, I start to choose my experience and my reality.
Any of these different functions can take control –our fears, by
our pursuit of physical pleasure, or by our need to be loved can all
control us. I know one person who is controlled by their intuition. When
faced with a choice, his intuition often ‘tells’ him what
to do - and though this is frequently something that he doesn’t
want to do and thinks is not the right thing to do, he still does it
- because he ‘knows’ that to not do it would be disastrous!
The challenge is to be master or mistress of our personality, not a
slave to it. We need to develop the skill to choose and act from
that central
place – to be able to exert our Will – rather than have our
choices and actions determined by functions such as our thoughts, feelings
and so on. And the first step is to recognise our own centre distinct
from our thoughts, feelings, and all the other aspects of our personality.
So that when I say, “I choose this” it really is me who is
choosing and not some rogue part of my personality! (More in any standard
Psychosynthesis book. Two excellent handbooks on liberating ourselves
from our feelings and thoughts are Susan Jeffers' Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
