Codex of the Self

A manual of inner observation: divided attention, the three centres and the work of being present. Twenty-five chapters, seven plates and a year of observation.

What it contains

• The four things we do not know about ourselves, and where this kind of work comes from.
• Divided attention and the three centres: the two tools everything else rests on.
• The loop of identification and the practice of naming, with its rule of observation.
• The six recollections of the day, the written record and paced breathing.
• The four difficult ones and the nightly inventory.
• What depends on me, the roles, the unfinished business and unnecessary suffering.
• The three classical disciplines and the view from above.
• The beginner's errors and a year of observation with quarterly review.

Format

A5 PDF, 81 pages. Includes all three editions —English (81 pp.), Spanish (77 pp.) and French (82 pp.)— with navigation bookmarks and a glossary.

How to read it

It is a book of inner work, written in a symbolic language. It is not clinical psychology or therapy. Nothing in it diagnoses or treats any disorder, and it does not replace the care of a registered psychologist or psychiatrist. If you are going through a crisis, seek professional help: this book can accompany that road, not replace it.

The material it starts from belongs to the common tradition: the classical exercises of self-examination, attention and inner record have been transmitted in writing for centuries and are nobody's property. The writing, the structure, the practices, the entries and the illustrations are original work.

Digital download. An original work by VILLUMINATIONS · First edition, 2026.