Know Thy Self

PREVIEW from 100 spells book

Know

thy

self

What does it mean to know the self? The self must be defined. The self is the life force and life mean “remaining” and “continuing.” The etymological meaning of life is to be aware of mortality (remaining) and to understanding what it means to overcome (continuing.) This core understanding of self must be connected to the definition of life which means that to know self is to know life is a time challenge. Life is a puzzle and a man’s understanding of himself is to solve the puzzle.

There is only change and ignorance of change. Remember, permanence is an illusion and each moment of a man’s existence is a process of change. The moment cannot truly be grasp because it is always slipping into death. What is here is now gone and what will be is now here. Self-knowledge is an awareness of time and the act of becoming towards a future that ends in the moment before falling into the past.

What we call “the moment” is an illusion as a man is either projecting himself into the future or is imprisoned by the past. When a man becomes imprisoned by the past, he becomes paralyzed by what has already been. But when a man projects himself into the future, he alters what has been for what can possibly be. Life means to recognize what is remaining and to continue with what is remaining. This means that if life is like sand falling in an hourglass, life is what is yet to fall and an understanding of what remains, it is not the falling sand or what is piled below but the potential of what remains above. The past becomes like a grave stone over how potential was used and can only serve as a reminder to how the future was used in the moment.

A man who has a “mid life crisis” is a man who becomes hyper aware of the remaining sand above the hourglass of himself. He becomes aware of what is remaining and alters himself to continue based on that overwhelming sense of the finite. To know thy self is to understand life which is to know death. A knowledge of what remains and a motivation to continue with what remains.

The body and the mind serve each other. As above, so below. This is self-knowledge. If a man is content in his mind, his body will be content just as when a man’s mind is suffering, his body will be suffering too. The key to building optimism in mind is to build it in body and the key to building optimism in body is to build it in mind. Our bodies must be led by our minds and then our bodies lead our minds. It is as if the mind is the initial spark that starts the engine of our bodies and then the bodily engines give energy back to the mind. For example, if a man is sitting around all day, eating junk food and abusing his body with drugs, his mind becomes a poor caretaker for his body and so his body rebels against his mind. The great majority of what we call depression, anxiety and despair comes not completely from the mind but rather are products from the body.

If life is about utilization of time for problem solving (remaining, continuing), this means that ignorance of mortality and whatever stagnates the self from moving forward becomes ignorance of the life we carry. Those who are depressed are overwhelmed by feeling that “time never ends” as they are burded by their own remaining time which they view as frozen in eternity. This is why those who become depressed rely on sleep to portal themselves into the future which allows them to skip their remaining time which is too much for them. They are not motivated by death but rather depressed by life which means that they feel that life takes too long and that becomes the ultimate burden to their own perception. They do not appreciate their own mortality (what remains) because they do not know how to continue towards the end.

The basis for knowing thy self is to appreciate the finite time allotted to that self and to appreciate the opportunity to continue towards the end. This is body and mind as the body is a physical and symbolic reminder of our own mortality while the mind is the continuation between our body replacements. The appreciation of mortality becomes the song the body sings to the mind and the mind helps the body overcome challenges or continue with what is remaining. This is why a man who never exercises will have to rely on the strength of mental fortitude and willpower to push his body into a state where it takes over the burden and relieves the challenge by giving back to the mind the fruits of discipline. The body (remaining) wars against the mind (continuing) when the mind forsakes the body. For example, a man who is depressed, will not feel motivated to discipline his body and this keeps him depressed as the body never gets opportunity to comfort the mind.

If a man wants to “know thy self,” he must become aware of how the body influences the mind and how the mind influences the body. Many aspects of what we call depression, anxiety and despair are fruits of a lack of appreciation of the marriage between mind and body. There can only be self-knowledge when a man pays close attention to how his body influences his mind and how his mind influences his body.

The fundamental problem with depression, anxiety and despair in men is that men often believe these negative feelings are purely an aspect of the mind. They become imprisoned by the mind only because they remain ignorant over the power the body has over the mind. Men who understand how the body influences the mind will discipline the body as a means to strengthen the mind. They lift weights and perform cardio as a means to relieve the negative thoughts in their mind. They are sensitive to how the body influences the mind through sloth and activity and how the mind motivates the body into movement. Men exercise and eat healthy not because they feel good but rather, they want to feel good. See? This is a projection of their mind into the future for a reward that will eventually fall into their moment. There sense of mortality or time remaining causes them to become future focused in working towards goals and objectives. A relief to depression, anxiety and despair. The road blocks to appreciating life. Pushing the body and mind towards goals and objectives pushes them into future focus which is appreciation for remaining time and that allows them to continue from the moment towards the future by solving past memories and current sufferings.

Another aspect of knowing thy self is to know how the self fits into others and how the self, differs from others. This means that a man become aware of how others continue or fail to continue with their understanding of their finite potential. Remember, what we call self is a way of specifying the individual from the many. The separation from others and the harmony with others becomes self-knowledge. If a man is not fitting in with winners but only fits in with losers becomes a knowledge of self. How a man fits in or stands apart is self-knowledge. The man who fits in with others who do not appreciate their own mortality and who do not appreciate how to overcome obstacles in their finite time are losers while the opposite are winners. The loser is depressed, anxious and in despair towards his own existence and seeks to surround himself with others like him to reassure his own stagnation and paralysis.

What we call “life” is just another way of saying “continue with what is remaining.” How we appreciate what remains and appreciate how to continue with what remains is life. To appreciate life is to appreciate death and the journey towards death. What we call “self” is an individuation from the world and others in holding that definition of life. Life moves forward regardless if it is appreciated or not. It moves from womb to grave regardless if the opportunity of life is seized. Self-knowledge is awareness of body and mind and an awareness of how that single duality blends or clashes with the surrounding environment. The mind that disciplines the body into strength and the body that strengthens the mind with the fruits of discipline strengthens the self within an environment. This is like a soft hand that feels the pain of grasping a rough object and suffers only because it has not toughened itself into callous acceptance. When the self-hardens, the world softens. A world that makes a man suffer is a hardened world in the hands of a softened man. To know thy self means to know that our own perception of the world is a perception of self. The weaker we become in the world, the more we will suffer inside of it. An understanding of the individual and the many.

First a man must regulate his body by regulating his mind and then regulate his mind by regulating his body. This allows him the optimism needed to continue with what remains. Then he must become aware of his own individual self from the many (remains) and understanding how he leads or follows the many (continues.) A choice in joining or separating in objective to the will of himself or others. The man who follows others will often be a follow of his own body and mind. But when a man learns to lead his own body and mind, he shapes himself into a leader of others from the certainty of self he accumulated through self-discipline.