There are times when we have a conflict between our desires and our convictions. If someone has built up a strong character then most times their convictions will lead their way rather than their desires. It is not a case of desires necessarily being bad, we are looking at the aspect of a conflict taking place within an individual.
For the ancient Greeks, they believed that beneath and behind the mind and intellect, there existed a very deep core existence, a spark, which they reasoned was god within the self. They believed it was very deep and so remote that an average person would never be aware of its existence. The Greeks believed that it existed because there had to be a spark of life that kept the inanimate body alive and functioning.
Now Socrates believed that under certain circumstances this inner knowing or spark could be reached through bridges built from the lower aspects of the personality through the use of symbols. Socrates created a symbol of a teacher existing within himself that represented ‘infinite wisdom.’ It would be difficult for anyone to grasp a specific symbol representing wisdom, but for some, the closest approximation would be a teacher.
For Socrates this wisdom teacher within him represented a symbol for ‘the inner instruction that flows into us from the deepest parts of self.’ Through very ancient practices coming through Asia, meditation exercises offered the experience of a mystical union with something that exists within the core of every individual. Therefore there was the ability to become in touch with a deeper part of self. Creating an image made it easier for some individuals to connect with this deeper aspect within.
There was a very old axiom that stated, ‘that which we are like we cannot be greatly separated from; that which we are unlike, we can never be too close to.’ In the course of living, Socrates looked to live a life of wisdom. That which you resonate with you eventually become. The more that an individual depends upon the guidance of their own inner teacher, a teacher that represents the highest and best ideals that they are capable of achieving, the more that all of a person’s actions become automatic as a part of their character. There is no conflict within the self between their desires and character.
In the very ancient Orphic philosophy it was believed that if an individual was able to establish himself as a teacher likeness in his daily activities, ‘as a being of nobility and insight, as a transcendent being over himself, he would then be creating a new nature and a new being.’ This meant that a person was being ruled from within, rather than by the pressure of any outward circumstance.
The more we resonate and align with the core within ourselves, the closer we are to communion with divine things. When we build and resonate with a better aspect of self within, we gradually change our outer self and become a true master of our personal life. The more we resonate with beauty, truth, love and wisdom without, the more our inner teacher becomes strengthened and we find that there is an ascendancy of a higher vibration that transcends our consciousness. Our being and our instructor will eventually become one, ‘and the individual becomes the transcendent teacher, the great one and the enlightened one.’
To inspire and empower.