The Greeks had a word for it. Actually, the Greeks had a word for everything, but in this case it was actually two words, "Gnothi seauton." These two words are perhaps two of the most important two words that anyone on a higher spiritual path can be aware of. They mean, in English, "Know thyself."
You can say to almost anyone, "Know thyself" and their immediate reaction would be, "I do know myself." And I would be willing to bet my next month's income on it that 99.99% of them would be wrong. At least they would be wrong in the true context of the original meaning of what was being said to them. To the best of my knowledge, these two words were inscribed in gold over the portico of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
I think that it was about 1968 or 1969 that I first saw these two words. I had really just started on my real spiritual search. And like everyone else, my immediate reaction to them was that I did know myself. But as I started thinking about them, I was fortunately honest enough with myself to realize that maybe I didn't truly know myself. And that was one of the luckiest things that has ever happened to me. Why do I say that? Well, it caused some introspection, I started looking more closely at myself. When I would do something stupid, I would ask myself why I had done that instead of taking some wiser course. I would also question what the wiser course would have been. This was not always easy to do, it fact it was often very difficult. And sometimes it resulted in my finding something that I really did not like about myself. At these times I could have simply decided to not like myself, but I chose instead to change the things that I did not like.
All of this did not take place overnight. Nor even in a year or two. I have spent many long hours in self study. And many more in correcting deficiencies in my makeup. I am not telling you this as braggadocio. Rather I am trying to outline a method for you to know thyself.
Gnothi seauton, it is impossible without really taking the time to look deeply into yourself. And it does require that you be completely honest with yourself. And this at times can be very difficult to do. You do not have to tell others what you are finding buried within yourself. But you do have to tell yourself. And when you do find something that you don’t like, and it will happen, then you have to have the courage to change those things that you don’t like into things that you do like. It is really very easy to make excuses for your actions. But excuses will never allow you to get to know thyself. How can you tell an excuse from the real thing? Well, for one thing, an excuse will very likely pop up right away, the real answer may take hours of soul searching to discover. And it is the soul searching that is required.
I heartily recommend that everyone set themselves on this path. Learn to really know thyself. But be prepared to take a long time to do it. It is not a short journey. But the rewards are far greater than the effort required. The rewards cannot be measured in the coin of the land or in other material riches. But the sense of inner peace that you will gain will make the effort more than worthwhile. And when you can find that you can look at yourself in a mirror and really like the person that you see there, that too is worthwhile. But there are some other rewards that you may not expect. For instance, you will find that you will become much more tolerant of others. You will discover that you can see the beauty in even that rotten, no good, low down dingbat. And you will find that you can feel unqualified love for others without expecting anything in return.
Gnothi seauton, it is not just important, it is vital.
Joyce Chandler
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