Why Self Knowledge?

Why do we need to have Self-knowledge? One of the lessons of life is the meanings we place on what we regard as "the facts of life", which has a greater effect on the quality of our experience than the facts themselves, whatever they are.

From this there follows a simple conclusion, that these so called facts we have at any given time of objective reality, while important, have only a relative and not an absolute significance.

We have discovered that our thinking and feelings about meaning do not come entirely from the external facts, but are derived mostly, from within ourselves. Understanding this, we need to look inward and ask who and what are we, what it means to be fully human? And why do we shape our thoughts about ourselves and the world in the way we do?

It is becoming obvious that what we think of ourselves largely determines what we think about our world around us, and the society we live in.

The ancient motivation for Self inquiry is perhaps much deeper, more philosophical and spiritual. It was seeking a fulfillment as well as an intuitive understanding of a greater inner and outer world and its relationship to the whole. The modern quest is more psychological based. However, blending both will provide us with a better understanding of ourselves and of our role in life. We need to focus on spirit, mind and body integration.

We have become involved in the world and we need to raise ourselves to the height of spiritual certainty (or Self-knowledge) without carrying the burden of the world with us.