False Personality
An Avatar.Global Resource
False Personality
False Persaonality is a term used by Theosophist to refer to the Bodily Ego, paticularily as an illustory sense of "I."[1]
Syncretic Terms
Bodily Ego > Acquired Self, Antahkarana, Apparent Ego, Awkward Self, Earthly Self, Elusive Self, Empirical Self, False Personality, Illusory Self, King of the Body, Little Self, Normal Self, Not Self, Outer Self, Personality, Self, Sensual Ego, Subtle Body, Talking Self
Notes
"We distinguish between the simple fact of self-consciousness, the simple feeling that "I am I," and the complex thought that "I am Mr. Smith" or "Mrs. Brown." Believing as we do in a series of births for the same Ego, or re-incarnation, this distinction is the fundamental pivot of the whole idea. You see "Mr. Smith" really means a long series of daily experiences strung together by the thread of memory, and forming what Mr. Smith calls "himself." But none of these "experiences" are really the "I" or the Ego, nor do they give "Mr. Smith" the feeling that he is himself, for he forgets the greater part of his daily experiences, and they produce the feeling of Egoity in him only while they last. We Theosophists, therefore, distinguish between this bundle of "experiences," which we call the false (because so finite and evanescent) personality, and that element in man to which the feeling of "I am I" is due. It is this "I am I" which we call the true individuality; and we say that this "Ego" or individuality plays, like an actor, many parts on the stage of life."[2]
Citation and Legal
Treat the SpiritWiki as an open-access online monograph or structured textbook. You may freely use information in the SpiritWiki; however, attribution, citation, and/or direct linking are ethically required.