Part One — Who am I?
A short note before we start
author: Matthijs Cornelissen
last revision: January 2018

Part One deals with the old question "Who am I?" In its first chapter this question is pursued in a simple experiential manner, moving gradually from the surface to the depths. In the second chapter, you will find a much more detailed overview of the model Sri Aurobindo uses to describe the Self and the structure of the personality. The third chapter discusses the main factors that play a role in making us the way we are. The fourth and last chapter of Part One discusses natural individual development, both within one life and over many lives.

If you started reading this book with this chapter and are plagued by an increasing doubt about the scientific soundness of the perhaps now and then rather far-out claims you encounter, you might do well by reading the "Introduction" first, as it is there that I have tried to give a justification for the philosophical foundations and the methods of enquiry that have led to whatever is given in the other Parts of this book. In Part II, titled "How do we know?", I have given a more detailed explanation of the epistemology, cognitive theories and research methods that have given rise to the understanding of the Self and the Structure of the Personality given in this Part.