The self and the structure of the personality — I
Matthijs Cornelissen
last revision: 08 November 2025
introduction
In the introductory chapter on the history of psychology as an academic discipline, we discussed that the research methods mainstream science has used with such magnificent success for the physical domain, have worked much less well for the inner domain, with as result that while the outer domain as perceived by us has grown in size, in complexity, and in importance, the inner one has actually shrunk. So much so, that within academics the inner domain is increasingly seen as consisting only of the culturally determined, subjective correlates and side-effects of what are actually physical processes happening inside our physical brains.
This physicalist worldview is not good enough to guide our human lives, but since science is the official knowledge system of our global civilisation it is near impossible to escape its influence in academics and public life in general. This forces those in whom the spiritual 'calling' is too strong, to connect, in parallel with their 'materialist' public life, with their own choice from the enormous variety of private knowledge systems that specialise in different aspects of the inner reality. This arrangement has its advantages. It prevents, for example, the imposition of a too simplistic, premature consensus which in the past has marred organised religion (and autocratic political systems). But it is possible only for those who are open and intelligent enough to handle the complexities of such a double life, and it stands in the way of the large scale collaboration that has played such a big supporting role role in the development of the hard sciences.
We also saw that this is a much more dangerous development than those who could do something about it seem to realise. Collectively, we have developed tremendous powers over the physical domain, but not the wisdom to use these powers well, and we have reached a stage where the many existential threats humanity is facing are almost all self-inflicted, and, ultimately, psychological in nature.
In the subsequent chapters I've tried to show that the Indian knowledge systems developed a sophisticated theoretical framework and an effective technology of consciousness that together make it possible to build powerful inner instruments of knowledge capable of studying the inner domain with a similar precision and reliability as the physical instruments mainstream science developed for the outer domain. And finally, in the chapters on research and education I've tried to indicate in very broad lines how these ideas and techniques could be integrated with the knowledge system of mainstream academics.
This chapter offers a simplified, generic map of the inner domain, a "topography of consciousness" if that term is not too self-contradictory for an aspect of reality that goes at least at its peaks way beyond space and time.
If we would compare psychology to geography, and our human consciousness to a mountainous landscape, then we could look at this chapter as an attempt at describing the basic elements mountains consist of: slopes, valleys, footpaths... and we'll draw a stylised "standard" mountain in the form of a cone, with forests at the bottom, rocks and grasslands in the middle and snow on the top. Real mountains in the real world hardly ever look like such an archetypal cone. Real mountains tend to be ragged, have several smaller tops, crevices, snow filled valleys descending far below the treeline, single trees standing out far above it. And yet, there is a place for a generic description of the various elements mountains consist of, so that we can see how they are related to each other, and of how they can be named and classified.
The fact that over time different people have made different distinctions and descriptions of the inner domain doesn't prove it is all purely subjective or culturally determined: In the physical world too, different regions have different types of mountains and the words with which these mountains are described are bound to differ according to the cultural background, aims and objectives of those who describe them. But still, with a bit of goodwill and focused collaboration, it is not that hard to establish the single reality of which all these different descriptions stress different, and complementary aspects. As communications improve, we can expect these different descriptions to convergence around a common core of well-defined terms while retaining specialised terms for aspects of reality which only a small number of specialists have studied, respecting the wealth of subtle differences and exceptions that nature shows in everything it does.
In order to facilitate comparison of Sri Aurobindo's terminology with those of other systems, I've presented it here in the form of a simple lists of terms, accompanied here and there by diagrams and tables to indicate how the realities these terms refer to are related to each other. As a result this chapter is not particularly reader-friendly. In the previous chapter, "Introducing first-person psychology at college level" you will find two sections that are more inviting. A more experiential and student-friendly introduction can be found in the section titled Who am I?. A simpler and shorter overview of the terminology is available here.
In the following chapter, "An overview of influences on our personality", I've compared five different ways of categorising the forces that shape our personality.
I hope that these two chapters, in spite of the obvious simplification of what are actually extremely complex aspects of reality, still convey something of the beauty, the love and the deep meaning and intrinsic harmony that are so typical for these inner worlds and that are so much more easily discernible in these deeper layers than in the pain and conflict that mar our lives on the surface. I also hope that the schemata presented here will encourage those who know as yet only part of the inner territory from their own direct experience, to continue their quest till they also recognise at the core of their own existence, the sublime infinities which others have seen. For in the end, absolutely everything and everybody is still the same One, and with that, the same infinite Love, Joy, Beauty, Power and Truth.