Know Thyself   The essence of transformational teachings and the secrets of life can be summed up in the phrase chiseled over the portal of the ancient Greek temple in Delphi - Know Thyself.   It may seem strange that only by knowing our inner self can we come to know the great secrets and basic truths about the universe - but that is literally the way it is. We must come to know what is understood by the words - know thyself.   The challenge is that before we can really know ourself, we must accept the idea that at present we do not really know ourself. Most of the knowledge we have acquired is about the outer world and our outer self or personality, but much more knowledge is required.   True knowledge of our real self has been overlooked, or perhaps, in our evolutionary process, it's only now time for us to begin to discover our real self. The average human being takes it for granted that he does know himself and would therefore assume that any further reference to the subject is just a waste of time. He would take for granted that

psychology has revealed to us the whole working of the inner mechanism of man, what it is that makes him tick.   Dr. Carl Jung said that you can only understand yourself in terms of realizing that there is within you an undeveloped potential and that the real work of psychology, of the science of the mind, should be to uncover and develop that perfect self that already exists. You cannot create it, it is already there.   Dr. Jung said, "In my picture of the world there is a vast outer realm and an equally vast inner realm. Between these two stands man facing now one and now the other and according to his mood or disposition, taking the one for the absolute truth by denying or sacrificing the other."   When we begin to realize that at present we do not really know our true selves, we begin to see that there is a whole new world to discover. Up until now, our conditioned nature, with its fears, compulsions and doubts, has been directing our lives. But we don't

have to continue to live under the control of a limited consciousness. As we become aware of our inner self, we can learn to make conscious choices that will bring us desired experiences rather than continuing to live from our old thought patterns   Author Sharon Salzberg writes, "An awakened life demands a fundamental revisioning of the limited views we hold of our own potential. To say that we cultivate the good mans that we align ourselves with an expansive vision of what is possible for us, and we use the tools of spiritual practice to sustain our real, moment to moment experience of that vision."   This great vision is always available to us. It doesn't matter how long we have seen ourselves in a limited way. How does this transformation occur? By daily putting our spiritual ideas into practice. We make choices to engage in the practice of abandoning the unskillful ways of living and cultivating the good by making conscious choices that will bring us the consequences we desire.

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