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Know Thyself

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Disclaimer: the sage refers to men and women equally.



From the writings of the Sage.



Man, know thyself. Very few men have ever understood the true meaning of this formula that was once inscribed over the entrance to the temple of Delphi. Who or what is this ‘self’ that we must know? ‘Why, that’s easy,’ you will say, ‘We have to know our own character, our own strengths and weaknesses.’

But that is not what this maxim is about. True, a knowledge of our own strengths and weaknesses is necessary but it is not enough. To know oneself is to know the different bodies of which one is constituted (physical, etheric, astral, mental, causal, buddhic and atmic) and the needs of each of these bodies. But human beings know nothing about all this. They all realize that they have certain virtues and vices. They say, ‘I know myself only too well!’ But they are deluding themselves; they know nothing of the being who lives deep within them. They know nothing of his desires, his needs or his aspirations or of what makes him suffer. They don’t know who their ‘self’ is; they think that it is their physical body and spend their time giving that body food, clothes, jewellery, comfort and pleasures without realizing that their true self is asking for something quite different. The satisfaction of their purely physical, material needs has never made human beings any happier or more contented. It is only when they begin to know themselves as they are on a higher plane that they become capable of living in true splendour.

Self-knowledge is the key

If the initiates of old laid so much emphasis on the necessity for man to know himself it was because this knowledge is the key that opens up great possibilities for making progress and achieving success. As long as we are ignorant of the needs of our higher self we continue to give everything to our physical body which becomes glutted and overfed whereas our soul and spirit suffocate and die of hunger and thirst.

But how can you expect people who don’t even believe in the existence of their other, subtler bodies to do anything about nourishing or strengthening them? It is amazing to see the situation of so many people – even those who are highly cultivated: they take great pride in their university degrees and all their culture and erudition, and yet they are constantly in a state of inner torment and anxiety. Isn’t this proof enough that something has gone very wrong with their lives? When someone is as ignorant as that he would do better not to be so pleased with himself.

The serpent with its tail in its mouth‘Know thyself’.

All science and all wisdom lie in knowing oneself, in finding oneself, in the fusion of one’s lower self with one’s higher self. The symbol of the initiate who has succeeded in finding himself is the serpent with its tail in its mouth. In the ordinary way a serpent forms a straight or wavy line, and a line is finite, limited. But the serpent with its tail in its mouth forms a circle and a circle represents the infinite, the limitless, the eternal. He who succeeds in becoming a circle enters a world without limitations where ‘above’ and ‘below’ are no longer separated, because all the powers and all the riches and virtues of the true, higher self have been infused into the lower self. The higher and the lower become one and man becomes a divinity.

Reconnecting with the higher Self

Since our physical body – and even our astral and mental bodies – represent only a very small part of ourselves, we must try to get to know the other, far greater part, which is so far away, so far above us. This higher part of ourselves has its own life, which is quite different and often in direct contradiction to the life we live on earth. Suppose you do something really wrong; why does that other pole of your being let you do it? It may be far away but it is still attached to you; it knew that you would regret your actions and have to suffer for them, and yet it did nothing to intervene or prevent you from making a fool of yourself. Why not? Sometimes in fact it seems that it is that other pole of your being that drives you to do wrong. What a mystery this is! It has allowed you to stray and make mistakes – for nothing ever happens without its knowledge and consent – and now that you are suffering the consequences and up to your neck in boiling oil it is away somewhere, on a cloud of beatitude without a thought for your distress!

to be continued