A place to be OneSelf

The philosophical backbone of the Saibhang Institute is based on understanding the Five Aspects of the Self.

The True Self is the pure awareness, essence, consciousness and presence in a person, uncoloured and unaffected by thoughts, sensations and emotions. It is not limited by time, space or the body. It inhabits the living body but is not identified with it. It is inherently wise, unconditionally loving, unattached, omniscient, connected and formless.

The Embodied Self is our present moment experience of sensations and emotions perceived in the body through the faculty of attentional awareness

The Integrated Self is a dynamic, coherent sense of identity and agency that emerges when cognitive, emotional, and bodily processes are harmonized across both hemispheres of the brain, and when conscious awareness is in open communication with unconscious processes. There is harmony between the True Self, Embodied Self and Identified Self.

The Whole Self is a way of being in which different modes of consciousness are integrated in a harmonious, reciprocal relationship, where perception is open, embodied, and attuned to other beings and the living patterns of the Earth. It nurtures caring relationships with self and others and values connection and collaboration. The Whole Self understands itself not as an isolated entity, but as part of a greater, interconnected whole, with compassion, motivation and agency to improve the well-being of the Whole.