Trans - formation...what?!!!

The lines** that follow caught my eye, and my attention:
"...important tools at every stage of the transformation process...are...prayer and meditation, positive affirmation, and invoking the energies of the higher self."
"...As much as we can accomplish with the best intentions in the world, we - the little ego - cannot accomplish transformation alone."
"We must invoke the spontaneous energies of our higher self (note - spontaneous...!), AND the guidance and grace of God...AND God's spirit world, to effect the transformation."

And here comes the kicker. Those mentioned are like, ehem, "of course". I was taught those things within my Catholic background, no? So, they are deep within the "library shelves" in my "upstairs (head) library". But this one really pushes the envelope! Here it goes:
"We could not possibly face the depths of the lower self without ...the constant reassurance, support, forgiveness and guidance...of the higher self".

**pp. 253, 282-3

(Let it sink in...).

Let's take this "higher self" out of the conversation for a moment. The higher self is, think of it as:
- in the stage of the child self: "the spontaneous, loving, creative child, in touch with spirit; open, undefended child, able to feel and to be vulnerable; open to spiritual reality". The task at this stage is to re-educate the inner child to become the autonomous adult.
- in the stage of the adult ego: good qualities of the personality; positive ego will, makes positive choices; observes and accepts all aspects of the self, and pursues spiritual discipline and follows thru on guidance received; personal strength (focus on) either love, power or serenity (or a combination of these). The work in this stage is to strengthen the positive ego mind, and align with the spiritual self.
- in human relationships: they are both autonomous and mutually loving - me AND the other. The task and work here is to integrate self with others.

And there's more, but for now, these are good to have an idea of what we are talking about here. So, the higher self is a pretty neat "entity" we all, someway, somehow, aspire to become, and thus, to be: an autonomous adult, of positive ego aligned with its spirit's self, and integrated with others. 
Bingo!!! 

So, going back to where we started, "we could not face the depths of the lower self without ... (the active presence)... of the higher self". That is, we could not face our brokenness, our pain/s, our masks (idealized self-image), our patterns of dependency and/or separateness, our blaming and projecting of our own issues onto others, our dark side's impulses of all kinds - anger, jealousy, neediness, perfectionisms, shame, etc., without that "higher self". But whatever that is, is me, myself, I, evolved, no? Grown up. Developed.  And it developed in tandem with  those parts of me that need "growth". So that a part of me changes, morphs, 'grows'. And what happened to that "skin carcass" that was grown out of, or partially grown out of? Does it stay around? Is it memories, habits, vices, tendencies? 

Maybe that is why yoga speaks of "union", "joining", "to see reality":i.e., to unify us; to be able to "see" thru the eyes, the lenses of the 'developed I", and less thru the "mask" or the "lower self child". Wow, neat!

But my insight, the one that took me to write up all of this, is that, that "higher self" - its "...constant reassurance, support, forgiveness and guidance...needed for accomplishing transformation" is ...tadáá´! - YOU!. Yes! The experience of reassurance is learned thru "the other". Someone outside of me, and of you, no? Support - comes from the "other". And how about forgiveness? Idem. Yes - I "co-operate" in the healing of my guilt, and my shame, but I need YOU, the other, to listen, to acknowledge to say "it's ok", "I understand", "I forgive you", "I love you". The same applies to  guidance.

If it were not for those experiences from the outside, I would not know what they are, and thus, would not have been able to "reproduce" them within me. So, I thank "you". Thanks to all those that have come forth in my life and granted those experiences. AND, to the others that have provided the hurts, the wounds, the situations that prompted the processes that culminated in the healing thru your ...constant reassurance, support, forgiveness and guidance...interventions...Thank you! (!@#$%^&*())

So the take away is?

I need you. You, plural, that is. Both sides.
And, take two: we are interdependent. What I do affects you, and so do your actions or inactions, affect me. 

Any other take away...?

Trans - Formation...what???