This page will continuously be updated with changes to the nomenclature, including corrections, modifications, and style changes. The dates for older entries are approximated and require a detailed review of past journals to ascertain correctly.
It is arranged in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent changes appearing first.
May 30, 2022 – Replace “uniself” with “demiself”
The uniself state is intended to capture my reduced state in which I identify as a single person having a single experience among many other people having many other experiences. Though the prefix uni-, meaning “one”, captures that concept of being one among others, its contrast to “triself” makes it seem like a greater, rather than a lesser, state. Therefore I am changing the prefix from uni-, meaning one, to demi-, meaning lesser. My demiself is therefore my lesser self. This more clearly captures the essence of the concept as incomplete, half, or partial.
Note: I considered many other variations, including: pseudoself (false-), unself (not-), semiself (half-, partial-), demoself (people-), homoself (man-), but chose the prefix semi- meaning partial or half. This may change again.
May 30, 2022 – Expand the Selfist Model to include three states: uniself, triself, and omniself
I have recognized that there is a third, unaccounted state in the present Selfist Model that would theoretically enter after triself. That would render triself an intermediate state rather than the end-state. I would pass from a reduced self-identity (presently called “uniself”), into an expanded self-identity (triself), and into the final state of wholeness which I have introduced as “omniself”.
May 29, 2022 – Retiring ascent / descent pair, replacing with ingress / egress
The word pair ascent / descent imply moving up and down, a description that does not fit my actual directional movement. I sense that I am moving in and out. Or entering and exiting to and from my thirdself. This directionality is better captured with the word pair ingress / egress.
Though more technical and less familiar this word pair is more accurate. I will use the word pair ingress / egress to describe my orientation due to their accuracy. I will discontinue using the word pair ascent / descent.
May 29, 2022 – Re-invert ascent and descent
I have long used the word pair ascent / descent to describe my orientation either into the world or away from the world. In my earliest use of the word pair I used ascent to describe my move toward “god” or reunion, and descent to describe my move away from reunion and toward the world. I then reversed these to the familiar description I use now, in which I have proclaimed that I am a descentist because I am withdrawing from the world. But in meditation, I have once again realized and accepted that my firstself is actually above and outward, rather than down and inward. And to that end, it makes sense that I use the word “ascend” to describe my move toward reunion with my firstself and “descend” to describe my move outward toward my second and thirdselves.
May 1, 2022 – Invert “inward” and “outward”
I have been using inward to refer to the orientation toward my firstself, and outward to refer to the orientation toward my thirdself. These usages are inconsistent with what I already know; that my thirdself is within my secondself, and my firstself contains my secondself. Therefore, it is more appropriate to use inward to denote orientation toward my thirdself, and outward to denote orientation toward my firstself.
This may also influence and change the terms in use, ascent and descent.
March 17, 2022 – Replace Descentist Framework with Selfist Model
See post “Introducing the selfist model” for additional detail.
March 2022 – Replace ascent/descent dichotomy with emanate/deemanate
The dichotomy emanate / deemanate contains a directionality in reference to a source or starting point, whereas ascent / descent only reveals my direction. Therefore, I will use the emanate / deemanate word pair too forward as the preferred technical term.
…