Know Thyself

The best of the East (albeit relegated to second fiddle by the powers that were over the centuries) and Best of the West (or whom the West adopted as its savior from the Middle East, at least nominally) agree.

It is essential to straighten out one’s self, one’s identity, one’s ego in order to transcend them toward higher ground. This conclusion was also arrived at in modern times by philosopher Ken Wilber by attempting to correlate a variety of paths into an integrated holistic approach to mind and spirit. 

In the field of psychology, Abraham Maslow (a major influence on Wilber) articulated it in the 1960s.

But, it was more directly and definitively stated more than 2,500 years ago in China and 2,000 years ago in the Levant.

2500 years ago:

Knowing others is intelligence;

knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength;

mastering yourself is true power.

Laozi, verse 38 Tao Te Ching

2000 years ago:

Yeshua said:

The Kingdom is inside you,

and it is outside you.

When you know yourself, then you will be known,

and you will know that are the child of the Living Father,

but if you do not know yourself,

you will live in vain

and you will be vanity.

-Logion 3, and

Yeshua said:

…Whoever has self-knowledge,

The world cannot contain them.

-Logion 111, and

Yeshua said:

Those who know the All

yet do not know themselves

are deprived of everything.

-Logion 67, The Gospel of Thomas

So, how does one come about knowing oneself?  See The Hereafter (11.14.23 on this substack channel).  If you encounter difficultly, stay the course. And, stay tuned.