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KNOW THYSELF
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; Mastering yourself is true power.” Lao Tzu.
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.” Marcus Aurelius.
The words upon the ancient Temple of Apollo, ‘Know Thyself,’ have been attributed to Socrates by some philosophers. Others have attributed these words to Luxor in very ancient Egypt.
The meaning that was meant to be invoked with this concept is conceptualized through the pictures I’ve placed with this post. Within the outer shell resides a brilliant crystallized maze of beauty and light. When you find this ‘state,’ you carry it to the outside world.
I’ve often been in places where someone has remarked to me, ‘look at that person over there with that multitude of tattoos, they are really expressing themselves.’ That may be so, but is expressing oneself the same as knowing oneself?
Please don’t take me wrong in using tattoos as an example. There are many ways that people are ‘expressing’; from hair colors, clothing, cars, homes, walk, talk and more. But again I would ask, does expressing oneself really mean that someone knows who they are and what their highest capabilities might be?
We seem to be living at a time when people are actually moving further away from discovering what resides within their shell. At a time when we see and hear so many people tossing around the words spiritual, philosophical, love, tolerance, religious and more, their actions bespeak something different taking place within them.
The ancient philosophers considered philosophy a way of life and someone was not a philosopher just because he or she named themselves by one of the philosophical titles. Following a philosophy meant there was an integrity to all of their actions. My use of the word integrity is not meant to be comparing one person to another. It is an integrity that your belief, your actions, your words and thoughts are all congruent.
Some examples might be pertinent. Going to church on Sunday and reading and listening to the teachings of your Revelator, does not make you a practitioner in that religion, according to the ancient teachings…and according to your Revelator, unless you are following in the same footsteps.
Sharing love with your friends, spending money on your friends and forgiving your friends, but not others that don’t belong to your ‘circle,’ does not mean that you a loving person. It means that you are a person who is loving at particular times. Now I’ve counseled many women who have told me stories of the abuse that a partner has done to them, and then in the next breath, they have told me that their partner is a good and loving person. I have to stop them and say, I don’t agree with you.
Your partner is an abusive person who has some loving and good moments. If one accepts that this person is a good and loving person, then what term do we use to describe a person, who is in virtually all of their actions, a good and loving person?
Although there are many things going on in our world where individuals are saying one thing and doing another. Saying they are religious and acting as if they don’t believe that a higher aspect might exist overseeing their actions. Although there are people who can look you in the face saying, they are your friend and going to help you, and perhaps they do the contrary…remember they are responsible only for their own self. You are responsible for yourself as I am responsible for my own self and actions. The phrase was, Know Thyself.
You might want to consider looking deeper within and aligning with something that is more beautiful and more loving than anything you have experienced in the without. This inner brilliance IS YOU. Writing on the outside of the shell, might be therapeutic, but it does not mean that someone truly knows thyself. You don’t have to give something to others for something YOU ALREADY ARE.
To find this inner brilliance and beauty is accomplished through an integrity within yourself. A consistency in thought, action and word. If you are loving then show love always. If you are kind then be kind in all situation. If you are giving, then give in all situations. Don’t just give to members of your own political party, your own religion or those who ‘kiss up to you.’ Think less, heart more!!
In actuality you don’t find this brilliance, you become this brilliance and loving essence. Try being a beautiful heart, an open mind and a humble spirit.
With love, in love and through love to you.
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; Mastering yourself is true power.” Lao Tzu.
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.” Marcus Aurelius.
The words upon the ancient Temple of Apollo, ‘Know Thyself,’ have been attributed to Socrates by some philosophers. Others have attributed these words to Luxor in very ancient Egypt.
The meaning that was meant to be invoked with this concept is conceptualized through the pictures I’ve placed with this post. Within the outer shell resides a brilliant crystallized maze of beauty and light. When you find this ‘state,’ you carry it to the outside world.
I’ve often been in places where someone has remarked to me, ‘look at that person over there with that multitude of tattoos, they are really expressing themselves.’ That may be so, but is expressing oneself the same as knowing oneself?
Please don’t take me wrong in using tattoos as an example. There are many ways that people are ‘expressing’; from hair colors, clothing, cars, homes, walk, talk and more. But again I would ask, does expressing oneself really mean that someone knows who they are and what their highest capabilities might be?
We seem to be living at a time when people are actually moving further away from discovering what resides within their shell. At a time when we see and hear so many people tossing around the words spiritual, philosophical, love, tolerance, religious and more, their actions bespeak something different taking place within them.
The ancient philosophers considered philosophy a way of life and someone was not a philosopher just because he or she named themselves by one of the philosophical titles. Following a philosophy meant there was an integrity to all of their actions. My use of the word integrity is not meant to be comparing one person to another. It is an integrity that your belief, your actions, your words and thoughts are all congruent.
Some examples might be pertinent. Going to church on Sunday and reading and listening to the teachings of your Revelator, does not make you a practitioner in that religion, according to the ancient teachings…and according to your Revelator, unless you are following in the same footsteps.
Sharing love with your friends, spending money on your friends and forgiving your friends, but not others that don’t belong to your ‘circle,’ does not mean that you a loving person. It means that you are a person who is loving at particular times. Now I’ve counseled many women who have told me stories of the abuse that a partner has done to them, and then in the next breath, they have told me that their partner is a good and loving person. I have to stop them and say, I don’t agree with you.
Your partner is an abusive person who has some loving and good moments. If one accepts that this person is a good and loving person, then what term do we use to describe a person, who is in virtually all of their actions, a good and loving person?
Although there are many things going on in our world where individuals are saying one thing and doing another. Saying they are religious and acting as if they don’t believe that a higher aspect might exist overseeing their actions. Although there are people who can look you in the face saying, they are your friend and going to help you, and perhaps they do the contrary…remember they are responsible only for their own self. You are responsible for yourself as I am responsible for my own self and actions. The phrase was, Know Thyself.
You might want to consider looking deeper within and aligning with something that is more beautiful and more loving than anything you have experienced in the without. This inner brilliance IS YOU. Writing on the outside of the shell, might be therapeutic, but it does not mean that someone truly knows thyself. You don’t have to give something to others for something YOU ALREADY ARE.
To find this inner brilliance and beauty is accomplished through an integrity within yourself. A consistency in thought, action and word. If you are loving then show love always. If you are kind then be kind in all situation. If you are giving, then give in all situations. Don’t just give to members of your own political party, your own religion or those who ‘kiss up to you.’ Think less, heart more!!
In actuality you don’t find this brilliance, you become this brilliance and loving essence. Try being a beautiful heart, an open mind and a humble spirit.
With love, in love and through love to you.
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