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Our ultimate reality: excerpt 3 of a lecture by Bahram Elahi, MD

Nested in the cocoon of our ego like silkworms, we are unaware of what we really are. Bahram Elahi develops the metaphysical as well as ethical implications of this striking image. The reality of the self consists in a plurality of functions and levels of consciousness in dynamic interaction, as illustrated—in figures—by the polarity between “surface conscious self” and “deep conscious self” (“inner guide”). Some key-ideas to help us break the cocoon…

This video is the third excerpt of a lecture given at the Sorbonne in november 2011.

Further readings:

In vivo spirituality Excerpt No. 1 – In vivo spirituality

As far as spirituality goes, a purely theoretical approach to principles, detached from actual practice, will not do. Not only is it inefficient, it constitues a genuine impediment to spiritual progress: that of smugness or spiritual “superioritism”. [read more]

Searching for the divine Excerpt No. 2 – Searching for the divine

Natural spirituality gives a central role to reason, but it also recognises the full value of positive emotions in the process of perfection. In this question and answer session concluding a lecture he gave at the Sorbonne (Paris) in November 2011, Professor Elahi discusses this subjective or lived dimension of self-knowledge. [read more]


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10 comments

  1. NNF Mar 23, 2015 5:22 am 1

    Thank you for this video! This was a great explanation.

  2. Elsa Mar 23, 2015 2:40 pm 2

    Excerpt of a lecture by B Elahi, MD: Our ultimate reality
    A lecture by Prof. Bahram Elahi
    La Sorbonne, November 2011
    Excerpt 3
    Our ultimate reality
    We are psychologically similar to silkworms, living naturally or habitually in the cocoon of our ego. And silkworms, to undergo their evolution or metamorphosis, they must instinctively emerge from their cocoon and move on, whereas we, human beings, on account of our reason and free will, we have to emerge from the cocoon ourselves to discover our ultimate reality. And if we become aware of our reality, then we are able to know what we need to do.
    Now, our reality is our soul, and the body serves as its matrix, allowing the soul, during its stay on Earth, to interact with this matrix and to cognitively feed on terrestrial life.
    The human soul or psychospiritual organism
    Here, you see … There are two parts in this organism. First there is the psyche, the mind. This here is the conscious self – surface layer and deep layer – and the psychological veil. And here, the unconscious psyche.
    The unconscious psyche in turn is divided into two functional parts. All this is functional. There isn’t anything here that can be actually touched. It isn’t like the anatomy of the body, where the different regions can be shown. No, it is functional, all of this is functional.
    We have the terrestrial part, which is dominated and governed by the id and the imperious self; it is our nature as primates that expresses itself. And the celestial part, where our celestial nature expresses itself – the celestial nature that comes from our celestial soul. And above it is the conscious self. The conscious self is separated from almost all of its Self – the Self being the whole – by the psychological veil that you can see here. Consequently we are unconscious of almost all of our Self because of the psychological veil and so, naturally, we identify ourselves with our body, thinking that we are our body.
    ego and inner guide
    The conscious self is comprised of two functional layers, a superficial layer that we call “the ego” or the “surface conscious self”, and a deep layer that we call the “deep conscious self” or “inner guide”. The inner guide is governed by the duo of sound reason and moral conscience. Sound reason functions as the judge, and moral conscience as its police, using willpower as their means of implementation. Now, the inner guide drives us towards ethics and the divine, whereas the ego drives us towards terrestrial pleasures.
    consciousness and conscious self
    The entire soul is consciousness, but when I say conscious self, I am referring to the tip of the iceberg that emerges from the unconscious and constitutes our conscious self. The rest is separated from the conscious self and remains in the unconscious; it is separated by the psychological veil. Once we have left this world, there is no longer any psychological veil, the unconscious no longer exists, and everything is consciousness.

    1. Nn Mar 25, 2015 8:23 pm 2.1

      Thank you so much! Your script from the lecture is soo useful and valuable especially when you want to watch the lecture again and you don’t have a good wifi connection and that’s exactly what happened to me. Thanks again!

  3. Coco Mar 23, 2015 7:18 pm 3

    What a powerful analogy. To think of myself as comparable to a silkworm, which even after it succeeds in escaping its cocoon, must still transform itself into a creature capable of flying if it is to fully benefit from its much vaster new environment.

    And so I find myself wondering, when I finally leave this “cocoon” and my psychological veil is lifted, will I find myself to still be a worm or will I have transformed into a butterfly?

    1. shany Mar 25, 2015 9:34 pm 3.1

      When we leave our body and go to other word we are pure consciousness and so our reality when we leave this cocoon depends on how much we are aware of that and how close we are to source. We could still be worm or could have transformed into a butterfly.

  4. David Mar 23, 2015 8:14 pm 4

    These excerpts seem to be a an infinite water well of truth, the more we drink from it, the more we watch them and apply their truths, the more fresh water comes up in its place. What great analogies: the metamorphosis of the silkworm, the cocoon of the ego, the judge, the police, and their means of implementation…

    Thank you e-OstadElahi

  5. HSH Mar 24, 2015 9:05 am 5

    Thanks Elsa for your valuable well-done job.

  6. shany Mar 25, 2015 10:35 pm 6

    I think this video is great for those who are searching for answers to their questions about our conscious, our mind, and its role and position in our body and our personality. What I find very important in this lecture is that we realize the role of our conscious in our beliefs about other world. It is a revolutionary idea that relates science (psychology) to ethics and to epistemology and makes us free from all of the beliefs that have bothered us for many years without any use. Thank you.

  7. yocto Mar 29, 2015 5:28 pm 7

    Beautiful analogy! I am wondering how big is this cocoon that I am so lost in it?!

  8. Ali Jun 19, 2022 12:59 pm 8

    Thank you. Very beautiful and valuable.

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