“Old one,” spoke the youth, “Change says ‘I WILL BE,’ and Form says ‘I AM.’ What is it that TRUTH says?”
“Listen.”, whispered the old one.
And TRUTH spoke in the young one’s heart. His eyes met those of the old one. And they both were filled with joy.
From the Ascender, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1982
“Self-Image” – the perception of one’s “self” – has traditionally been viewed as either Form (“I AM …”) or Change (“I WILL BE …”). Although “self-image” is a common subject for consideration among educators and psychologists, the fundamental truth beyond such a concept is seldom confronted.
The “Positive” Self-Image
Many parents and teachers consider a “positive” self-image as the foremost essential for a child’s successful development in society. For example, it is commonly believed that a “positive” self-image (“I AM … worthy; powerful; socially acceptable”) is vital to instill in young children.
“I WILL BE …”
In Montessori education, “self-image” has typically been associated with a process of change (“I WILL BE . . .”). For example, Dr. Montessori spoke of the child “creating the man he will become” and the Montessori teacher as engaged in a process of “self-perfectionment”. However, Dr. Montessori clearly recognized a great truth even beyond the “self” as a process of change: .. one day as I looked upon the children with great respect and affection, I placed my hand upon my heart and asked ‘Who are you?”” (The Secret of Childhood, 1981 ed., p. 115).
“Who are You?”
Dr. Montessori’s discovery of a deep experience of awe and creative empowerment with children was a result of her superb ability to observe. Montessori teachers aim to re-create Dr. Montessori’s mysterious experience of the child’s true nature in the classroom by applying three specific principles: (1) “Observation”, (2) “Individual Liberty”, and (3) “Preparation of the Environment”. Notably, Montessori teachers aim to observe the children as their primary classroom function.
Observation
“Observation” – as a Montessori principle – aims to reveal those aspects in the child’s environment which deter the expression of the child’s true nature. Foremost among the detrimental influences which tend to persist in the child’s environment is the teacher’s “personality”; i.e., the teacher’s entire system of beliefs, thoughts, judgments, opinions and feelings. At the core of such “personality” lies the teacher’s own “self-image”; a perception of “self” hidden deeply within one’s belief system, covered by layers of unconsciousness. One’s attachment to such “self-image” readily persists within the massive detrimental conditions of adult society.
The Little Individual
In the face of atomic holocaust and massively destructive forces in society, the adult’s traditional “self-image” is that of a “little individual” – a relatively insignificant part of the total evolutionary functioning of mankind. Thus R. Buckminster Fuller views the fundamental dilemma of modern man as “the greatest of problems ever to confront humanity – What can the little individual human do about the supranational corporate power structures and their seemingly ungovernable capability to corrupt?” (The Review, Nov./Dec. 1982, p.4) Such a fundamental dilemma is not effectively engaged from the perspective of one’s “self-image”.
Resolving the Dilemma
Any “self-image” based on form, regardless of how praiseworthy and noble, presents the individual as a fixed part of the existing structure of society. Such a fixed position, in effect, creates the very opposing positions which one seeks to deter. “Self-image” based on change, forever in process towards a state of being which is never fully realized, fails to address the present moment where one’s true experiences occur. To effectively engage the fundamental dilemma of life, “self-image” must be transcended by the creative power uniquely within the individual.
The Creative Ability
A quality unique to the “little individual” is the ability to create – to allow something into existence, now, from nothing. Such creative power -e.g., to create an entirely “new reality” regardless of external circumstances -is normally hidden by one’s tendency to react to circumstances according to “conditioned reflexes”.
Conditioned Reflexes
From one’s individual perspective, the major barrier in society to realizing one’s creative power is one’s ” … uncoped-with, obsoletely conditioned reflexes.” (Fuller, The Review, Nov./Dec.,1982, p.5). One tends to react to circumstances, e.g., status, attitude, physical surroundings, without even considering that such circumstances per se have no power whatsoever. The apparent power of circumstances lies in our responses -our relationship – to such circumstances.
Relating to Circumstances
Circumstances per se have no inherent significance or value whatsoever. The value of a circumstance lies completely within one’s own individual power. Even the most apparently insignificant of events, e.g., picking up a piece of paper off the floor, becomes valuable as a result of one’s relation to that event. Realizing one’s inherent power, at every moment of time, regardless of circumstances, is an experience of one’s true, transcendent “self”
The Transcendent Self
The experience of one’s true “self” transcends time/space limitations and does not persist. Such an experience can only be created in the present moment. External circumstances, contrary to one’s “transcendent self” are necessary to enable one to experience this reality; e.g., “sadness” enables the experience of “joy”; knowledge of “pain” gives meaning and value to the experience of “pleasure”. Ultimately, one’s “self-image” enables the experience of one’s “transcendent self”.
Originally published in 1982 in Vol. 3, No. 8 issue of The Montessori Observer