The Meaning of “The Essence of Who We Are”
The word essence invokes many debates. Defined by dictionaries as “the basic nature of a thing: the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is” (Webster), simply put, it means the heart, the crux, the core. When we ask about the essence of who we are, the answer couldn’t be so simple. In fact, science may never come to fully explain it. What we can do is come up with our own definition from our multiple understanding of the universe in general, our own explanation based on the partial truths we know of. Seth used to describe the consciousness as pure essence from which springs all there is in the universe here and beyond. A concept called gestalt of consciousness supports Seth’s claim. In Divine Principles, we define a gestalt as “an organized whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.” From this gestalt are bubbles of consciousness that come together to make new forms. These bubbles form new gestalts and make even more forms and so on and so forth. As each gestalt is eternal and inviolate, the process continues infinitely, without pause or stop. The process is responsible for the universe around us and for the universe within us and our body. Hence, the body will never be the essence of who we are. It is a product, a result of the consciousness. Our essence then is not dependent on the body. Rather, consciousness formed the body, and the body’s functions are achieved through conscious awareness. Since the essence of who we are is independently of our current body, it has to exist before the body was formed. Its existence precedes that of the body, and it will continue to exist after the body expires because of its independent nature. Once it is without a body, perhaps will return to the Great Gestalt or perhaps it will make another form, and the process continues. Where then did this essence come from? Perhaps from the Divine Source, the Higher Self, the I, the Goddess. This part of the equation will largely be dependent on a person’s beliefs, but one thing remains certain, it comes from something or someone greater than all of us, greater than all gestalts combined. Read the full article
