Know Thyself

Know thyself. A precept inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Its authorship has been ascribed to Pythagoras, several of the wise men of Greece, including Socrates, and to Phemonoe, a mythical Greek poetess. According to Juvenal, this precept descended de caelo . . . from heaven.

Two interpretations of this ancient saying have been studied and discussed by many learned scholars and researchers. One refers to principles, morals, thought and behavior of humans; the other possessing a more mystical meaning. Many guides and schools of thought exist today as to efficient evaluation and modification of human behavior. It is optimistic, and even reassuring, to believe that we have choices . . . that we can and should change behaviors which do not serve us well. In the well-known Matrix film series, the saying is written on a plaque above the Oracle’s door, in non-traditional Latin . . . temet nosce . . . (thine own self thou must know), which is translated in the film series as ‘know thyself.’

We do struggle daily with probabilities of enslavement . . . to habit, circular thinking patterns, ‘old tapes’ which we replay over and over, whether they are currently useful or not; to people or organizations to whom we commit, whether work, play or personal; to our own anger, addictions, or simple inability to comprehend the best for ourselves. Of late, we are admonished frequently in regard to serving our tendencies toward egotism, and instructed to be very aware of that pitfall of human functioning. The ancient Greek philosophers believed that no human can ever hope to understand the human spirit and thought completely. We may have success, therefore, in carefully examining our behavior and how it impacts on the world at large. That is, introspection and resulting self-knowledge reveals who we are and what truly motivates us.

Further distinction must be made as to egotism of the human mind and the ego which exists within the self, or what is frequently termed the I AM consciousness. In this sense, ‘know thyself’ is the path of each soul’s journey toward the question of life’s meaning.

Our realities necessarily contain much which pertains to others who are part of or who have entered our life spheres; significant others, children, parents, sisters and brothers, friends, careers, organizations and communities of which we are a part and toward whom we have assumed responsibilities. If a break occurs in this chain of reality in which we find ourselves, frequently we have difficulty accepting the challenge to move on and create a different framework of reality. Divorce or death of a companion, loss of a child, loss of parents, a career position . . . can ‘set us on our ears’ and torpedo our forward motion, not to mention our mental stability and physical health. It is amazingly simple to carefully note the occurrence, feel deep respect and love for what it was to us, and move on, realizing that one reality will melt into another and we will change along with the status now existing in our lives. Self-knowledge does give us insight toward accepting our own lives . . . and the understanding that we cannot effectively transfer meaning which enhances our own souls onto another person or persons, to accept this fact completely, and sever our dependence on human approval unless we know ourselves to be in full accordance with it.

To know ourselves is to fully accept, to love, to refrain from judgments and regrets, and to remain serene in our minds and hearts as we fulfill the lives we have chosen.