ONLINE Wed, Feb 25: "What is my Intrinsic Value?"

In a TAT Forum article dated Sept 2011, there is a transcribed segment of a presentation by Tess Hughes titled "Beyond Self-esteem". Tess quotes Saint Teresa of Avila, a Spanish mystic from about 500 years ago, who was a spiritual director in her convent for many years. Tess continues:

There were lots of nuns, so she had a lot of experience with this. And towards the end of her life somebody said to her, “What was the biggest problem you encountered as a spiritual director?” And what she said was, “Trying to get people past their self-esteem.” That self-esteem was the problem; getting them out of the mode of self-esteem.
I remember reading that, and then thinking about self-esteem. “So, what is self-esteem?” “Where do I get my self-esteem from?” And I came up with a list of 100 characteristics. [I thought], “Tess is high on the list for this one, and low on the list for that one, or medium on that list.” So I'm looking at that and I'm thinking, “Well, that's all in the relative world. That's all to do with, you know, judgment and comparison and so on.” And I thought, “Okay, so Teresa is saying that this is the sticking point ... well there must be some alternative ... [how] else can I judge myself?”

Tess goes on to develop her sense that the first part of a "spiritual" path is psychological, and the second is "intrinsic":

So I started thinking about the intrinsic value of a person. My first question had been, “On what authority do I have my self-esteem?” And I would also notice that if I'm in one set of company I might feel pretty high self-esteem. And in another company, low self-esteem. But we all operate like that. So then I started to think, “What is the intrinsic value of a person?”

The question is one of identity. Is my identity one by comparison, or is there an intrinsic less relative value or merit to my existence?
Some may refer to Essence, Soul, Truth, the Real, that which is genuine . . .

Is it a perspective or can it serve as a valuable point of reference for all else?
How could one know what is intrinsic?
Can intrinsic be just a belief? Is that which is "intrinsic" a final identity?

Can the essential be discovered or created?
Can one's essential value change over a lifetime?

(Tess's complete presentation and the short article is here: https://tatfoundation.org/tat-forum-archives/forum2021-09.htm#4d