A Cacophony Of Voices

This is a good time to cover the topic of what I mean by "Voices" and "Hearing."

Most of the time, our minds are full of activity. When you begin to focus on listening inside, you will quickly find that there seems to be an endless variety of sources that vie for your attention.

As we "mature," our internal landscape naturally becomes increasingly complex. We have experiences, learn, meet people and encounter new ideas and so on. None of this information is lost to us. Everything is stored somewhere. All feelings, sensations, experiences … literally everything is accessible.

Yet beyond this storage of vast volumes of information, we also have access to other sources of information. Some of these are clearly internal while others seem to be external. I emphasize "seem to be" because, in many cases, the information is actually drawn from within and are presented as external to us.

Remember the original assertion: "You are Wise. You have an inner source of wisdom that far exceeds what you think of as your limits." This inner source presents your own wisdom to you in a variety of ways specific to you and your own resources and development.

In this section, I will outline some of the various "voices" you may encounter. In reality, what you will find is that there is only ONE source that presents itself throughout the process. However, you will find - hopefully with some humor and curiosity - that this ONE source comes disguised in many different ways.

As a point of clarification, I often refer to these different sources as voices, since words are usually involved for me. This particular style does focus on an internal "vocal" structure. However, as often pointed out, the dialogs are not always in words. The artistically inclined may see visions or pictures - or "hear" songs rather than words. Others may receive sensations that feel like touch. In every case, it is the feeling that is crucial and should be the focus of experimentation and learning.

Now. Here's a very key question:
Who is communicating with ... whom?

This dialog process requires a minimum of two communicators. At its simplest, one communicator may ask questions or make statements, while the other answers or responds. You may create the dialog setting in any way you wish - a one-to-one dialog or an entire community conference, if you wish! - but for the sake of clarity, let us begin simply.

Obviously, one of them must be "you" ...
but which one?
Let us begin with the "questioner," the part of you that actually poses the questions, and let's name that part "Ego-identity" to expand the idea of what we usually refer to as "Ego" into a broader context. It is the function of this Ego-identity to think, plan, reflect, experience and so on. Ego-identity is reading these words and working with this workbook in an effort to better understand or expand itself.

If you think about it for a moment, you can see Ego-identity as "your" way of interacting with both your external and internal worlds. It is not the half-conscious "Ego" postulated by Sigmund Freud, not just responding reflexively to stimuli. It is a fully-functioning, fully-aware and fully-creative aspect of the whole of "you." It is clearly intelligent and resourceful, curious and robust ... and aware.

It is easy to identify with Ego-identity, and we often do think of it as being "I" or "me," since its most basic function is completely engaged with everyday life. This view is not far from right, but is fairly limiting, as we will see. So, for the purpose of this Internal Dialog process, view Ego-identity as a separate, but fully aware and functioning aspect of yourself, rather than the "whole of you."

Who (or What) Is The Responder?
This is a very good and extremely interesting question. Are you talking to yourself? Is Ego-identity entertaining itself by creating these interesting, but ultimately useless internal musings?

I wrestled with this question for many years, and you may find that you will do the same in the course of learning your way through the process. I eventually settled on the title of "Inner Voice" or sometimes "Source" to define the "responder" role in the dialog. You may find a term that fits better for you, and of course you are free to substitute your word for mine!

What I found, again over the course of many years of skeptical curiosity, was that the messages I received from this "source" were very consistent and valuable in helping me to understand myself and my spiritual world. As I developed an ability to access this Source, I learned that I could, in fact, trust it's messages and its wisdom. I am certain that, with patience and persistence, you will find this to be correct.

However - and this is a very BIG however - I also found many hurdles in the path to clarifying the messages and wisdom I received. As it turns out, the process is not easy. But it is not the nature of the responder or Inner Voice that creates the challenge. It is the nature and function of the Ego-identity.