Probably the best aspect of living alone, is that it allows plenty of time to let me find out who I really am. Wisdom is rooted in the souls of human beings. One way to acquire it is to follow the simple advice of Socrates, to ‘Know thyself’. This is the starting point for the establishment of a sense of human dignity, preventing the degradation of human beings into anonymous, interchangeable cogs in a machine. The essence of true knowledge is self-knowledge.
Know Thyself
01 Oct 2011 1 Comment
in Buddhism Tags: Wisdom Courage and Compassion
The Search For Enlightenment 
Oct 04, 2011 @ 09:51:58
Great blog, Richard, and another invitation to your readers to do some thinking.
“Know Thyself”. A great dictum but is it only part of the equation? In Greek, the word “philosophy” means love of wisdom but is self-wisdom enough? I share your belief about knowing oneself and personally, I love being alone, even to the point of isolation. However, I have recognised beyond this sometimes dangerous desire is another requisite and that is to also know “The Way”. Human beings do not thrive when isolated from others. Even those who crave solitude for contemplation and realisation afterwards need dialogue and interaction with others. Self-knowledge without interaction with others is like an athlete exercising alone in an empty gymnasium. I love this famous quote by John Donne, a great Christian, whose thoughts seem remarkably Buddhist:-
“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness…. No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
I agree with you, self-knowledge is a good start. Following this, the recognition of the interconnectedness of everything is crucial and going further than just knowing thyself by having a means to influence and interact with the world around. This is the means to true happiness, the fusion of reality and wisdom. Maybe the dictum for today is “Know thyself and follow The Way.”