The Spirit Within — A Conversation on the True Self
Posted: May 30, 2025 Filed under: AI-Powered Essays | Tags: identity, philosophy, religion, self Leave a commentHave Polkinghorne, Ó Murchú, and Schwartz develop a formal model of the idea that the Holy Spirit dwelling within us is the “true self” we access during inner healing
ChatGPT Prompt
Participants:
- John Polkinghorne (JP) – Theoretical physicist and Anglican priest
- Diarmuid Ó Murchú (DOM) – Quantum theologian and spiritual writer
- Richard Schwartz (RS) – Founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Moderator (MOD) – A neutral facilitator guiding the conversation
Scene
A roundtable discussion at a quiet retreat center, surrounded by tall trees. A fire crackles softly in the background. The mood is contemplative yet animated.
1.0 Opening Exchange
MOD:
Thank you all for coming. Our question today is simple but rich: Is the Holy Spirit the True Self we encounter in deep inner healing? John, would you like to begin?
2.0 Foundations: Spirit and Openness
JP:
Certainly. In quantum theory, we know the universe isn’t deterministic. There’s openness at the fundamental level. I believe that God, and particularly the Holy Spirit, acts within that openness—not as an external puppeteer, but as an indwelling presence that coaxes creation forward. This divine action is subtle, not violating our freedom.
(See: Exploring Reality)
RS:
That sounds remarkably familiar. In IFS, we speak of the Self as an indwelling presence as well. It’s not something we generate—it’s something we uncover. It’s calm, compassionate, connected. When people unblend from their protective parts, this Self just shows up. We don’t create it; we discover it.
DOM:
That’s precisely the shift I argue for in Quantum Theology. The Spirit isn’t an external force intervening in occasional miracles. The Spirit is the relational field of love and wholeness in which all beings live and move. I would say your “Self,” Richard, is how the Spirit manifests in the human psyche.
3.0 The Self as Spirit: Metaphor or Identity?
MOD:
So, are we speaking metaphorically? Or are you all suggesting a more ontological equivalence between the Holy Spirit and the True Self?
JP:
I hesitate to equate them fully. The Spirit is not reducible to our inner life. But in the context of healing and presence, I believe the Spirit may act through the Self. It’s a window, if you will.
RS:
That resonates. I wouldn’t claim the Self is the Holy Spirit in a dogmatic sense. But I’ve seen people who’ve never stepped into a church radiate what I can only describe as holy energy when they’re in Self. Maybe it’s like the Spirit is always present, but we only experience it through Self-leadership.
DOM:
I would go further. The Spirit is the ground of the Self. When we experience the True Self, we’re participating in what Christian mystics have long called the divine indwelling. Meister Eckhart would be right at home here.
4.0 Healing as Spiritual Practice
MOD:
How does this model affect how we understand healing—emotionally, spiritually?
RS:
In IFS, healing happens when the Self engages wounded Parts with compassion. No force, no fixing—just presence. I wonder if the Spirit, in your terms, is what does the healing, not by changing things externally, but by holding them in love.
([Watch: Schwartz’s IFS Talk at Harvard])
JP:
Yes. God’s action is not magic but invitation. Healing is a cooperative resonance between the Spirit and our freedom.
DOM:
Or as I might put it: Healing is the Spirit re-membering us into wholeness. The fragmented self returns to the sacred field. And perhaps our “Parts” are just misaligned energies longing for reunion with the divine center.
5.0 Theological Boundaries and Mystical Horizons
MOD:
Is there a theological risk in equating the Self with the Spirit?
JP:
There’s always a risk of collapsing Creator and creature. But if we maintain a relational distinction, not a spatial one, we’re safe. The Spirit indwells us without being us.
RS:
That’s how I see it too. The Self isn’t God, but it’s the clearest image of God within us.
DOM:
And as Teilhard de Chardin would say, the whole cosmos is evolving toward that image. Perhaps the Self is a seed of divinity, awakening into full communion through healing and love.
6.0 Closing Reflections
MOD:
Final thoughts: If someone asks you, “Is the Holy Spirit the True Self?” — what do you say?
JP:
I say: The Holy Spirit meets us in the True Self.
RS:
I say: The True Self expresses the Holy Spirit in us.
DOM:
And I say: The Holy Spirit is the ground from which the True Self arises.
The fire burns low. Silence settles over the group. Each is thinking not only with their mind, but from that deeper space—their Self.
Radical Centrism 