Academy Articles

The Three Faces of 'I'
by Aaron Stern, Academy Founder

At the foundation of the Academy’s comprehensive curriculum is the perennial exploration Who am I? We approach this from three distinct, though interconnected, perspectives:

1. The constructed, or adapted self; sometimes called the personality or identity
2. The free, or what some might call authentic self; also known in Academy language as 'deepest voice'
3. No-Self – also known as the wui chi, the dharmakaya, non duality, etc.

In our view, none of these is more important than the other. Each has its rightful place and is a natural human experience.

Our intent and practice, then, is to come to know intimately all three of these ‘Faces of I’ – and to learn to move gracefully among them in the unfolding dance of our lives.

With practice we can learn, for example, how to loosen the grip of the constructed self and increasingly tap into free self as a way to transform and move beyond habitual responses, opening naturally into our authentic voices. And, we can learn to tap into the experience of no-self – a direct reminder of our true nature, our ground of being – beyond the illusion of duality into the direct experience of our inherent stillness, peace, and wonder.

Our full exploration, then, is meant to develop the capacity to move freely among these ‘Three Faces of I:’ freedom to come and go; to transform and grow; to shed our skins perpetually; moving closer to the experiences of true freedom as spoken by the mystics. However, we do this without having to negate our many ‘selves’ when they appear, or to remove ourselves from the world (such as by sitting in meditation, permanently). We can learn to grow our capacity in all of these dimensions concurrently. We begin where we are, with respect and appreciation, and include all that we are.

The result is a deep sense of integration, wholeness, and an overall increase in our capacity to be fully human. We learn together how to be good at being human beings – what the ancient Chinese called Shan Ren – which, in our view, ought to be a key intent of all learning and education.

Many of our Academy workshops and trainings explore these 'Three Faces of I.' We invite you to join with us in this deep and profound exploration of 'I' at our next Who Am I? workshop, October 16-18, 2009.

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