Know Thyself

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

As the soul makes its journey through the physical realm, it longs to reconnect to its source: the Divine. Our task as humans is to align ourselves with our true nature and the truth of the universe. Disconnection from the Divine is at the root of all the suffering we experience during our lifetime. By learning to reconnect with and surrender to the Divine, we give ourselves the gift of true happiness and well-being. We begin this journey by skillfully harnessing our innate curiosity in order to understand our individual and collective plight as human selves. In this chapter, we'll explore the nature of the self, the self 's quest for Source, and the importance of truth, consciousness, and self-awareness throughout the journey.

The Human Struggle to Understand the Self

The self is one of the Divine's mysteries. People have spent millennia trying to figure it out. From the time of the great Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato to modern-day psychiatrists and psychologists such as Carl Jung, the self has been a fascinating subject. Such fascination has inspired decades of literature and research on the subject. The effort has been driven by the natural human need to learn and understand, and through that exploration we did indeed learn much about ourselves that we didn't know before.

However, the search has at times been deeply misguided. It has stemmed from the belief that if only we could figure ourselves out, we would be able to control our lives. We tend to feel that once something comes into our awareness and understanding, it is within our power to manipulate and control it. Our hope in understanding the self is that by grasping its boundaries, we will be able to work with it. We will achieve happiness and realize our own heartfelt desires. We may even find peace of mind and live happily ever after.

Truly, though, the self does not need to be defined. It is too vast to be fully defined and understood by any of us, including philosophers, psychiatrists, and psychologists. Our duty lies not in controlling our lives but in being able to sit within ourselves and develop a deeper understanding of the self 's desires, its vision, and its ability to create good in the world. There is a future story that wants to be told through your life. This story needs to be listened to, and when you do listen, life takes on a different meaning. You begin to move in unity with your purpose. The one song that you sing touches other lives as they hear i