REPRESENTATION
 

 

Awakening entails a breakthrough that displaces the separate self-sense—dissolving, through acclimation, into a unitive center. However, for those not drawn beyond the threshold, opportunity is available throughout life to align with clarity, wholeness, connection, and peace—metabolized through the processes of differentiation, integration, emanation, and attunement to the ever-present permeance of spirit. 

Whether such purification gives rise to illumination or does cross the threshold into unification, here we explore linear, cyclical, radial, and centrepoint representations—templates that correspond, respectively, to reflective structuring, purificatory process, illuminative alignment, and unifying dissolution, irrespective of which dimension—mind, psyche, soul, or spirit—being rendered.

 

Introduction

​​​

Guided by patterns we seldom name, certain images of life—of upward progress, of cyclical return, of luminous continuity, of silent vastness beyond the self—echo throughout our sensemaking. These latent motifs—however dimly intuited—arise from psychological needs and soulful yearnings that press toward articulation. Depending on the individual, one such tendency may exert stronger influence than the rest, or several may intertwine, coexisting in harmony or vying for primacy. 

 

As the differentiated mind reflects on these recurring patterns, it may begin to discern that they arise not merely from imagination, but from distinct registers of experience. Soul, psyche, and mind emerge, each in stratified articulation from the living field of spirit, each finding its characteristic mode of participation. The soul resonates with the subtle current of the field (1P), the psyche navigates relation and value (2P), and the specialized mind reflects through structured representation (3P).

​

With this differentiated capacity for reflection comes impartial distance—affording perspective, but also risking dissociation from the sources that nourish it. Representation

thus bears an inherent tension: it crystallizes fleeting apprehensions into forms that can be reviewed, yet necessarily imposes structures foreign to the living nature of the register it seeks to frame—except where the mind's structural orientation in representation mirrors its own register.

​​

​

Overview 

​

To this end, appealing to the mind's inclination for clarity, we employ four distinct schematic templates—third-person representations of  3P mind, 2P psyche, 1P soul, and 0P spirit—to make visible the latent motifs discerned through each register's mode of apprehension. These patterns are rendered in four representative forms: linear, cyclical, radial, and centrepoint—each offering a distinct lens on human unfolding: 

 

• Linear Representation: Frames the cognitive structuring of the 3P mind as progressive differentiation, tracing perspectival selfhood through objectified stages of development.

• Cyclical Representation: Attends the conative dynamism of the 2P psyche through rhythmic transitions and recursive return, depicting its alchemical transmutations. 

• Radial Representation: Highlights the affective resonance of the 1P soul, radiating luminous continuity throughout life.  

• Centrepoint Representation: Reveals the existential unity of 0P spirit, dissolving distinctions into seamless transparency. 

 

These templates—tracing the stark differentiation of linear growth, the dynamic interplay of cyclical renewal, the luminous resonance of radial connection, and the seamless unification of centrepoint dissolution—reflect a spectrum of human experience refracting perspectival-ward from spirit as causal ground—differentiating across subtle (1P), psychic (2P), and gross-mental (3P) emergent registers—even as deeper origins continue to relate with, attune to, and permeate that unfolding. 

​

Viewed from a fourth-person vantage—one that reflects not only on perspectives but on registers from which they arise—these templates reveal the mind's effort to render experience intelligible by discerning and articulating its differentiated patterns. Each formalizes a distinct mode of contact with reality—relational through the psyche, resonant through the soul, and permeating through spirit—all framed by the mind's own structural gaze.

​

What follows, then, is not an effort to fix living reality into rigid schemes, but an invitation to sense more deeply the contours of unfolding coherence—whether glimpsed through clarity of mind, wholeness of psyche, resonance of soul, or unity in spirit.

​

Each lens is explored in turn—beginning with the linear, where the structuring impulse of the mind comes most fully into view. 

 

 

Representative Models

 

Linear Model of Formative Growth 

 

Consider the following representative example of a linear model. While a linear framework is commonly employed by developmental stage theorists to characterize growth as an accumulative, hierarchical progression, segmented into stages based on overarching psychological, behavioral, and physiological patterns, they often prioritize cognitive development as the central organizing principle. This model follows that broad structure, explicitly emphasizing perspectival shifts as the key trajectory of growth.

 

From this formulation, development appears as a process of self-formation, where awareness emerges through progressive differentiation from embeddedness in experience—allowing for greater detachment and reflection. Each stage reorganizes awareness, advancing perspectival complexity as the self becomes increasingly distinct from the world.​

 

​
 

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This model traces the progressive differentiation of subject from object, culminating in identity with the purified subject, which can no longer be made an object of awareness or deconstructed. From here, a 5th-person Supra-(Ob)jectivity (Transcendental Consciousness), we could theoretically go on to postulate a 6th-person Supra-Immanence (Immanent Being), 7th-person Supra-Radiance (Radiant Heart), and 8th-person Supra-Permeance (Permeant Beyond). 

 

As with all rational reconstructions, this representational pattern serves to simplify human life and unfolding, not account for every aspect of it. The linear framework specifically renders explicit the structuring tendencies of the mind itself, particularly as they become evident from a later, fourth-person perspective—where one begins to recognize developmental trajectories, both in the progressive unfolding of perspective itself, and in the underlying structures that shape cognition.

 

However, for every window of insight, a shadow is cast. To illuminate what lies obscured by privileging linear frameworks, we turn to complementary representations—each emphasizing a dimension of human experience—bringing into relief modes of knowing that might otherwise remain underappreciated.

​

 

​Cyclical Model of Recursive Integration 

 

Emphasizing participative cycles of lateral and dynamic integration over mere upward expansion and the disembedded trajectory of gain as conceived by the mind, the psyche’s romantic sensibility intuits a lost wholeness—one that, like the return of the seasons, whispers of renewal. The following representative model offers one possible mental representation of unfolding as experienced by the psyche, distilling its lived transitions into a structured framework.

 

In the words of Lao Tse, "Reaching out in space implies far reaching. Far reaching implies reversion to the original point." In the context of development, far-reaching symbolizes the differentiation that leads to the breakthrough of supra-differentiated consciousness, constituting a pivotal inflection point. Reversion signifies acclimation, prompting a cyclical process of integration, emanation, and, finally, permeation back to the original point, thereby balancing cognitive, conative, affective, and existential dimensions. The hallmark of this journey is reclamation—previously differentiated planes, at times partially dissociated from, are now reclaimed in supra-conscious awareness. Hence, the adage: "The way forward is the way back."

​​

 

 

​​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​

 

As the Delta cycle outlined in the table above completes its full circuit, integrating and extending beyond the shorter cycles, it culminates in the clarity of supra-consciousness, permeating and reclaiming the peaceful serenity of infancy—depicting the strength of clarity able to withstand re-entry into deep sleep without unconscious regression. This cyclical journey returns to its origin, allowing us, as T.S. Eliot writes, to know the place for the first time.

 

These structural arcs only gesture toward the deeper rhythms of life itself—woven into daily habits, seasonal returns, generational patterns, and the mythic cycles of descent and renewal. Psychological accounts, such as Jordan Peterson’s emphasis on the voluntary transformation of chaos into habitable order, highlight the conative demand of embodied engagement: to bear responsibility, navigate meaning, and act in the world. While linear abstraction may provide distance and insight, it is the psyche that carries us through, responding not only to complexity but to crisis, forging integration through lived encounter. The Hero’s Journey meta-narrative offers an archetypal template of how this rhythm plays out with a call to adventure—followed by departure, initiation, and return—the soul’s vision echoed in the psyche’s striving. Yet, something more than return compels us forward: a sensed resonance with what could be, as if shaped by a future—an energetic signature or promise—that draws us toward it. This intimation of continuity, more affective than structural, calls us to the next horizon—the radial. 

 

 

Radial Model of Resonant Illumination

 

While linear and, to a lesser extent, cyclical models have found formal expression, the radial remains elusive—rarely mapped, more often felt. Perhaps this is not an oversight but a reflection of the subtlety of its nature: where the linear unfolds in clear structural sequence and the cyclical in a pattern of return, the radial shines from a subtle center—suffusive rather than structured or dynamic. Still, antecedents exist. In metaphysical traditions such as Neoplatonism and the vision of Sri Aurobindo, we find emanative frameworks wherein divine light descends into being. These describe not an ascent toward transcendence, but an alignment with it—drawn forth by the magnetism of a higher attractor field. In more recent spiritual literature, thinkers such as Wayne Dyer (The Power of Intention) and the Law of Attraction teachings describe reality as shaped by vibrational alignment with a source energy—unsystematized, yet radial in tone.

 

Rather than striving toward a clearer horizon or retracing our steps toward a lost wholeness, the radial opens us to the luminous continuity of the soul—connecting past and future from an illuminated present. If linear models emphasize formative growth, and cyclical models articulate recursive integration, then radial models reflect an emanative structure, whose felt mode of access is resonant illumination. These represent the structural character of each model thus far. Yet just as their structures differ, so too do their modes of experiential access: linear models are approached through reflective cognition, cyclical models through participatory meaning, and the radial reveals itself through resonance—an illumination felt in the heart, the seat of the soul.

 

Rather than emphasizing differentiated structures (perspectivity) or inter-dynamic relationship (perspicacity), the radial highlights alignment with emotional tones and frequencies—what we might call proximity. Attuning to the quality of subjectivity, this approach reveals how the emotional, energetic, or vibrational charge of our state imbues the breadth of experience. When aligned, this resonance brings forth clarity, wholeness, connection, and peace—qualities that serve as guiding touchstones throughout life. Yet as differentiation unfolds, this passive attunement often recedes, calling for active cultivation to sustain alignment. This cultivation is not a matter of striving, but of softening—an openness, sensitivity, and receptivity to the light already shining.

 

Still, access to this resonance may fade over time. As layers of selfhood accumulate through the course of self-formation, we may lose touch with the subtle alignment that was once passively given. The light does not waver—we do. It is not the source that fades, but our sensitivity that dulls, our attention that drifts, our tuning that slips. As the complexities of mind and psyche deepen, we can fall out of rapport with the soul. Misalignment then manifests: clarity may blur, wholeness fragment, connection fade, and peace give way to restless seeking. And yet, even in dissonance, the potential for realignment endures. Beneath the noise, a subtle pull remains—traces of resonance that draw us back toward the light. Over the course of self-formation, four core touchstones of illumination naturally emerge: liberation as the resting ground of spirit, beauty as the radiance of soul, goodness as the compass of psyche, and truth as the guiding light of mind. These orient us when resonance wanes, drawing us back into subtle alignment.

​

 

 
 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

 

 

 

 

Like a flower before the fruit, illumination precedes deeper realization. It invites attunement, allowing the self to align with truth, goodness, beauty, and peace. Sustaining a luminous thread of resonance throughout life, this approach draws us inward—toward our core—preparing the ground for unification. Just as courtship precedes consummation, illumination serves as an intimation of what lies beyond resonance: unification itself. Unlike the centrepoint model, which represents the dissolution of the separate self, the radial model depicts a mode of alignment within experience. Rather than dissolving into light, the self orients toward it, allowing its radiance to suffuse awareness without effacing individuality.

 

 

Centrepoint Model and Degrees of Unification

 

Beyond intimate communion with subtle qualities of the field, our individuated subjectivity—the limited sense of self we once identified with—distills into transparent unity, revealing an identity at one with the field. Whereas the radial approach invites us to draw near the fire, the centrepoint lens reveals what becomes of the self once it steps into the flame.

 

Initially, a breakthrough is experienced transcendentally around the head, where the separate self-sense begins to give way. As the process deepens, unification becomes immanent within the psychic realm, rendering our inner being wholly unified. With further refinement, the subtle tier exhibits a radiant unification, transforming the self into a translucent medium in which self and other—one and many—radially connect as light diffuses through thinning boundaries. At this stage, the self is still present, though increasingly luminous and diaphanous. Ultimately, as the separate self is fully absorbed into the field, our identity is revealed to be at one with its permeance.

 

As the separate self becomes increasingly transparent, each phase of unification dissolves lingering dualities and deepens our oneness with the field. The table below outlines a representative framework of this unfolding, tracing the process of unification—from transcendent to immanent, then radiant, and ultimately to permeant unification, in which all duality between self and field falls away.

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 
 

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

​​​​​​​​​

 

 

 

Rather than a hierarchical higher-over-lower ranking of objective, independent structures (as reflected upon by the mind), or the ecological interdependence of parts-to-whole (as sustained by the psyche), or even the harmonic suffusion of one-and-many (as felt by the soul), Spirit is that which permeates unconditionally. Precipitating through all levels of existence, the “higher,” or “whole,” or “one” serves the “lower,” or “part,” or “many,” as emptiness pervades form. Not a being alongside other beings, but the ungraspable ground through which all coherence unfolds, Spirit may be conceived by the mind as that which is most impartial, perceived by the psyche as that which is most whole, and felt by the soul as that which most lovingly connects. Thus, Spirit becomes the terminal clarity toward which the mind ascends, the sustaining condition from which the psyche draws, and the radiant source from which the soul emanates its all-uniting love.

​

Everything is a perfect expression of the unified field, the essence of which all things partake. The radical equity of this suchness (tathatā) pervades all that is—realized or not—in a rock as much as in an enlightened being. It is a peace that saturates reality, even when the surface appears turbulent. Whatever the experience, Spirit—as existence itself—is not something particular that arises within it, but that through which all experience unfolds—throughout all particularity.

 

 

Conclusion

 

As third-person reconstructions, linear, cyclical, radial, and centrepoint models reflect the cognitive (3P), relational (2P), affective (1P), and existential (0P) registers that undergird and are enacted within human experience. Linear models render the formative structuring of mind, approached through reflective cognition. Cyclical models capture the value-laded, relational dynamics of the psyche, engaged through participatory meaning and the integrative movement of the will. Radial models trace the vibrational resonance of the soul, oriented by affective states and subtle alignment. And centrepoint models gesture toward existential unification with spirit—through transparent surrender into the all-pervading field.

​

Until now, we've traced 3P representations of 3P mind, 2P psyche, and 0P spirit—each organized according to its structural mode: linear, cyclical, radial, or centrepoint. In the table that follows, we continue within a representational frame, yet seek to invite these domains into fuller modes of enactment—purification, illumination, and unification—offering a broader view not just of what these dimensions are, but how they come to life.

​

Just as a sentence is set with subject, verb, and object, so too do these modes of enactment find their place. Representation plays the role of object—what is seen or known. Purification enacts the verb—the dynamic movement, the shift or refinement. Illumination corresponds to the subject—or perhaps more subtly, to the tone or resonance of the subject, revealing the quality of our state. And unification, like the setting, abides as the background field in which all unfolds—quietly bearing the moment, even as we obscure it with the noise of ourselves. 

​​

The table crosses each dimension with a mode of enactment: for instance, the mind may be represented (as in linear models tracking cognitive development), purified (through perspectival differentiation), illuminated (via clarity in alignment with truth), and unified (in Transcendental Consciousness). Among these crossings, four diagonally aligned cells stand out—where domain and mode share the same perspectival register. These offer intuitive shorthand, but also invite conflation: illumination, for instance, may be mistaken for the dimension of soul. Yet consider how clarity—a subtle illumination—operates within the mind, drawing it perspectival-ward through differentiation and reflection, and potentially as far as its own terminus in the transcendent. In this light, the table becomes not merely a structural grid, but a prismatic manifold—multidimensional and multi-modal, with each cell a portal refracting the field in its own way.​​​

​

​​​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

​Taken together, these crossings may be understood as various forms of coherence: cognitive coherence—more pronounced at later stages of self-formation, and in some temperaments more than others; psychological coherence, or coherence of action oriented toward an aim—whether in what Ken Wilber has called "growing up" (differentiation), "cleaning up" (integration), "opening up" (emanation), or "waking up" (permeation). There is also coherence with truth, known through clarity; with goodness, known through integrity, balance, or stability; with beauty, known through loveliness and connection; and with liberation, known through peace beyond the self. Ultimately, these converge toward deeper unities—coherence with the transcendent, the immanent, the radiant, and the permeant. 

 

Many live integrated, soulful lives without interrogating their frameworks—guided by a resilient temperament, a steady faith, or an open heart. But for those more headlong in their path of self-formation—who have over identified with the mind—the scaffolding of self becomes dislocated. Frameworks show their seams. Meaning slips. Complexity no longer restores coherence. At this turning point, what's called for is not further elaboration, but a re-centering.

​

Some reorient—reaching back to prior templates, whether modern-universal (rights-based), traditional (faith-based), or indigenous (earth-based), for the familiar solidity they once knew. Still others dream of a world to come, not yet drawn from firm foundation (utopian-based). To some, these may seem nostalgic or idealistic evasions. Yet each path addresses something real. None is a cop out per se—but each carries its own risk: of incompletion, imbalance, or bypass. Some simply attune—not to a past template or future ideal—but to a core realignment: the grounding of stability, the warmth of connection, and the quiet of peace. Others push through—toward transcendence, releasing identification with the mind's constructions. Whatever the path, the mind is humbled. It cannot do the work of the psyche, soul, and spirit.

​

Perhaps in mapping these dimensions—how they are represented, refined, felt, and ultimately unified—we become less opaque to ourselves, even as the mystery of existence grows no less mysterious. Yet over time, we may find ourselves on the side of that mystery: not estranged from being, but in some way drawn into coherence with it. 

Selfhood, up to a point, reflects perspective: the sharper and more solid the self, the more perspectives it can hold—but also the more it must defend. Enlightenment marks the post-formation, supra-conscious dissolution of this separate self-sense into zero-person unicity, from which all perspectives remain available—not as positions to be maintained, but as a transparent unfolding of being. What once appeared as upward progress, cyclical return, luminous continuity, or silent vastness beyond the self are no longer seen as external arcs to follow, but as radiant inflections of the same undivided field. The self does not need to become extraordinary to resolve this; it need only to be resolved—into no-self, into Self.​​

​

​

Postscript: On Representation

This review of representation comes with a quiet warning. All too often, in our cleverness, we make the narcissistic—or Luciferic—move of confusing the light-bearer for the light-source. Glomming onto idols, rag-babies, or golden calves of our own making, we champion ideologies or cling to emotional narratives, mistaking them for truth. Dazzled by derivative constructions, we get caught up in the head—flat-footed and ham-fisted—and forget to return our attention to the source of light itself.

These models, though illuminating, are just that: models. They are reflections derived from native apprehensions—ways of seeing shaped by the perspectives through which we live. But they are not life itself. They are meant to guide, not to enthrone; to clarify, not to calcify. For every window of insight casts a shadow—and the very leverage we grasp may yet turn against us, hoisting us by our own petard.

To see this is not to reject the scaffolding of understanding, but to hold it lightly. For if we ultimately endure, surely it is not by mental construction, but by that which is all-enduring; if we are connected, it is from that which is all-connecting; if we are permeated, it is through that which is all-permeating.