How to Know Thyself?

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Does anyone wish to share how they come to know themselves?

I'd find it helpful if I could try out other techniques.

My usual one used to be observing what brought me joy, finding What that infers or means about me, and going from there.

But since I'm not to overwhelmed with anything that brings me Joy now a days in even the mildest sense for whatever reasons...I look to other I's now for potential clues.

What better way than to just honestly ask?

[zvonimir]

if no one else knows wiki does

http://m.wikihow.com/Know-Thyself

[zvonimir]

i have asked the same question myself lately and have received an answer:

Through intense self-inquiry-for example, questioning "What is enlightenment "-the mind gradually becomes denuded of its delusive ideas, which in the beginning hamper its effort to become one with the all. As these abstract notions fall away, concentration on the inquiry strengthens.
Now, it may be asked: "How can one question oneself devotedly about an inquiry and simultaneously focus the mind on work of an exact­ ing nature?" In practice what actually happens is that once the inquiry grips the heart and mind-and its power to take hold is in proportion to the strength of the urge toward liberation-the inquiry goes on ceaselessly in the subconsciousness. So long as the mind is occupied with a particular task, the question fades from consciousness, surfacing naturally as soon as the action is over, not unlike a moving stream which now and again disappears underground only to reappear and resume its open course without interrupting its onward flow.

[Jade]

One way I've interpreted the "know thyself" mantra is to learn to recognize what thoughts in my monkey brain actually belong to me and which ones are only there because someone else put them there. It's a long process removing societal conditioning.

[upensmoke]

what jade wrote is very important. All of people have certain cultural beliefs that were put into their minds at a young age, and they don't realize that what their thinking isn't their idea, but their parents or brothers or familys, and so on. One example for me was i always believed i wanted to go to college and get a good job. the problem was thats what my parents wanted, and what society wanted for me, not what i wanted. it wasn't until my third year of college did i realize that i've been brainwashed to some extent. After realizing this i couldn't think of a legit reason of why i wanted to be in college for myself.

Aside from that the Two best methods of getting to know ones self is through "meditation/contemplation" I consider them the same, and experience. A lot of spiritualist and a lot of philosophers and thinkers get caught in the trap of thinking to much. I feel so many perhaps too many people forget that you need to experience things as well. If you don't have enough experience, your pondering or self inquiry will be limited, and will eventually hit a point of stagnation where no gains or improvement may be notice. When i tend to hit this point for myself i understand that i need to think less and do more. after experience more things will i be able to ponder more things more deeply. To know thy self. The gaining of experience is equally fundamental to the contemplation of the experience

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Thank you o:

Uh.  How do you distinguish yourself from everything happening in the mind?

I tried to meditate today in work and ended up getting angry for no reason.  I didn't have time to make sense of why right away so I still need to.get on that today.

As far as societal goes...I am literally a loner.  I grew up alone basically without really more than one friend or two at a time until middle school.  Dad moved out in middle school, so things got rough going into puberty.  I didn't maintain more than two friends until high school.

Though that was like.  7 people, the group.  Then it was weird for a while.  Society was pretty dumb to me, I was also oblivious and stubborn, i don't really have a fashion sense hence.

I'm pretty.much the opposite, I'm dying to go back to school to understand metaphysics better in.the long term.

But how do you notice your own thoughts versus another you's thoughts placed there, when they're all your own voice?

I...I mean to discern them, to figure out which thought processes are what you want, versus what another has made you want? How do you know for yourself or find out?

[Jade]

Sometimes it's easier than others to trace a thoughtform back to its source. And really, if a thought makes you angry, it's likely not your own. The process is fluid, as in, your preferences and opinions are always in flux and will change, but it's important to recognize when they actually belong to you. I don't know how else to describe it, it's really a trust thing, and an instinct thing. That feeling when something resonates with you, even if it's different from everything else you've heard. You have to let go of the old thoughts that are holding you down. This is also known as releasing the ego. We build up all these thoughts of what the self has to do or be to be "successful" - we need to let go of ALL of those ideas and just be.

[upensmoke]

In my opinion the best thing you can go do is experience new things. For example i didn't know that the idea of going to college wasn't my own until i actually experienced college. I was able to be aware that i'm only here because other people said i should be here. I recommend you Think of an action you haven't done then do it. You say your a loner right ? well start experiencing what its like to not be a loner. for example make it a goal to talk to two new people everyday. just a simple hello or go as far as trying to be friends. With every action you take you gain experience, which when "contemplated/meditated" on will yeild new info about yourself.

I feel your problem is not in the thinking part because it seems like you have that down, but you just need new experiences to think about. A good example is someone who traveled the world would have more experience than someone who only sat in their own backyard. From that, the person who traveled the world would more than likely have a better understanding of themselves as opposed to the person who never left their back yard.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Well. Okay I get that but if I drop it all... what do I use to guide me forward? Myself?

How does being upset with myself constitute as not a thought of my own when I think it is though?

Sorry for the questions. I'm really curious here.

[Minyatur]

I think something of importance is awareness that some distortions do not originate from these planes.

I felt most anger when unveiling the roots of some distortions that did not have anything to do with earth, as a human I pretty much never feel emotions of the sort.

[Minyatur]

In short, some create distortions here to experience them while others come here to heal already existing distortions.

To go back to OP, I used magic mushrooms to know myself mainly as it opens nicely the crown and raise intensely your vibration. That alone is surely not enough, the most important thing is to seek to know/remember yourself and I have also done much work sober or with just weed.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

In my opinion the best thing you can go do is experience new things. For example i didn't know that the idea of going to college wasn't my own until i actually experienced college. I was able to be aware that i'm only here because other people said i should be here. I recommend you Think of an action you haven't done then do it. You say your a loner right ? well start experiencing what its like to not be a loner. for example make it a goal to talk  to two new people everyday. just a simple hello or go as far as trying to be friends. With every action you take you gain experience, which when "contemplated/meditated" on will yeild new info about yourself.

I feel your problem is not in the thinking part because it seems like you have that down, but you just need new experiences to think about. A good example is someone who traveled the world would have more experience than someone who only sat in their own backyard. From that, the person who traveled the world would more than likely have a better understanding of themselves as opposed to the person who never left their back yard.

But . . . I, I don't like people in general. Most everyone is okay but I just don't feel comfortable around people unless its like a party where I can just relax with some friends. Rather I am scared of how people will think of me as well. I don't really want to go through the rounds of social etiquette anymore. Of feeling like I'm constructed of learned behaviors and professionally followed ones...

When I really just want to be in my comfy clothes, quietly in the night enjoying the world devoid of people. Or trying.to.instead of not looking forward to seeing a lot of people. Or enjoying sunrises and stargazing, thinking about things of the metaphysical nature. I know I love metaphysics, they're just fun in my brain.

So. Its why I'm confused on how to go about just being. You guys are telling me to sort of stop being who I am in order to be who I actually am which is apparently not who I am right now but who I actually am. So, how would I go about shedding these not me biases and preferences?

I don't like society. Its cruel.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

In short, some create distortions here to experience them while others come here to heal already existing distortions.

To go back to OP, I used magic mushrooms to know myself mainly as it opens nicely the crown and raise intensely your vibration. That alone is surely not enough, the most important thing is to seek to know/remember yourself and I have also done much work sober or with just weed.

I wish I could afford a past life regression hypnotist so badly.  I don't want to force open my chakras anymore than I already have in this chicken-chase of a search for Truth.

[AnthroHeart]

I've only read about 1/3 of this thread so far. It reminds me that when I used to work and would get to work and sat in the parking lot, I'd feel tired, and noticed I was tuning into everyone's tiredness. It was thick there.

[Jade]

I think, in short, it's about what YOU want. What makes YOU happy. Not trying to fulfill the obligations of others, but going about being oneself and fulfilled deeply. Only you, as an individiated spark of the Creator, can decide what, how, when, why, and where you are more fulfilled.

[Minyatur]

In short, some create distortions here to experience them while others come here to heal already existing distortions.

To go back to OP, I used magic mushrooms to know myself mainly as it opens nicely the crown and raise intensely your vibration. That alone is surely not enough, the most important thing is to seek to know/remember yourself and I have also done much work sober or with just weed.

I wish I could afford a past life regression hypnotist so badly.  I don't want to force open my chakras anymore than I already have in this chicken-chase of a search for Truth.

I do believe Ra said that it is more important for your chakras to be balanced than overly-open.

I never felt like I was forcing things so much, sometimes it is simply diving into a distortion you are already feeling (anger for example). As you dive into it, the root of this emotion is found and unveiled and can have nothing to do with this earth. To do this you must not be scared of the emotion, the STO way is to accept and love it as part of self while the STS way is to control and repress it.

As something makes you angry, you can be channeling already existing anger from within your soul. As such your anger is not necessarily linked to the given situation altogether which simply becomes an entry point for you to channel it. There are some distortions that if you try to work on only as a human on earth, you're just skimming the surface of water with an hand hoping to change it's inner currents. (the water being the soul)

The trick to it is to stop using your mind as the answers lie in your unconscious.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

So, how do I access unconscious consciously?

But Jade, I want to know where I, as a Creator, come from. I feel like its what interests me, what I seek to know. I also am learning about myself slowly. It's somewhat scary. What happens if I don't like myself for very long? Like sometimes i do and sometimes i don't. Do I need to constantly be relearning who I am as I constantly change?

[Minyatur]

I usually go in a trance state, locate the distortion the emotion raises within my energy field. Then I "dive" into it, make it my sole focus until the causes become revealed to my concious mind. A mix of trying while not trying consciously as your only lead is the distortion in itself.

I did that very rarely, I usually am more of a lack of emotions. An incarnation of neutrality and passive love.

[AnthroHeart]

Elros, when you're in a trance state, do you recall what was covered?

[Minyatur]

Elros, when you're in a trance state, do you recall what was covered?

Well there are different levels of trance, usually meditation lead me to unconsciousness or some kind of a timeless state. 

This kind of work never took me long enough to go into an unconscious state. A trance state can simply be a clear mind free of thoughts. This kind of work could be seen as a contemplative meditation of your distortion.

[Parsons]

To know thyself is to recognize, celebrate and (conditionally) act upon what makes you uniquely you. Even things that you might consider to be 'negative' or societal beliefs that did not originate from you. I say conditionally act upon because certain aspects of yourself may want to directly interfere in other's lives or even cause physical harm. E.g. wanting to punch someone who cuts you off in traffic, etc.

It is crucial for you to fully experience and accept whatever negative emotion you are having. You can then balance out unhelpful distortions / emotions by finding and fully experiencing the opposite emotion. From that neutral balance point, you can much more easily handle unhelpful impules in the future.

I like to think of it as a purely mental form of aikido.

[Plenum]

Does anyone wish to share how they come to know themselves?

the best feedback, in my view, is the use of dreams.  Through dreams, those portions of the self that have been denied will find a means of expression.  I think that Seth offers some tremendously helpful advice when it comes to tackling the dream world, and devising interpretations etc.

What are typically regarded as 'nightmares' and 'bad dreams' are some of the most helpful experiences if they can be seen for what they are: a reliving of harsh emotional catalyst, so that it doesn't have to be experienced physically, in the real world through something that makes it more real than one can handle.  Nightmares and bad dreams act as a safety valve and opportunity to reprocess traumas in one's past.  It's an opportunity to self-heal in other words

My own spiritual path greatly accelerated about 8 years ago when I started making conscious, deliberate use of dream material.  It's invaluable.  I use it less these days, as those portions that have been suppressed are much less.  But, personally speaking, it's been the best way to 'know myself', or see the mirror of the complete self.

And it costs one nothing!  Just applied attention, and some faith that it actually has some value.  But no-one can convince another of the value of dreams.  It's something you are ready for (at a particular time in one's life) or not.

Prior to that point, I had made very little conscious use of my dreams.  Inefficiant use of catalyst, one might say

[Minyatur]

I believe I have remembered less than 5 minutes of dream this month.

Starting to give up on trying to dream more because of poor results.

[AnthroHeart]

The worst nightmare I had was seeing a blue metal chamber that had the words "what is the limit of pain?" on it. I tried to get away from it, but was pulled back to it by a mysterious force. As I walked it moved to follow me. When I bounced back I immediately woke.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Min, take a break on the mooshrooms my friend and you'll probably dream o:

My dreams are nice. I think I'll pay more attention to them, would be helpful not needing to wake up to an alarm every day.

Thank you everyone for the feedback!

[Minyatur]

Min, take a break on the mooshrooms my friend and you'll probably dream o:

They increased dream recall more than anything, altough they had less impact than I hoped for.

I didn't dream more before doing any kind of drugs either.

[zvonimir]

to know thyself you'll need this:

1. faith in believeing that "All is well"

2. seroius or deep doubt about it ( why is there greed or conflict etc..) strength of doubt is in proportion of your own fait (a measuring stick )

3. Determination (from doubt strong determination arises)

if no determination arises in us to resolve the obvious contradiction between what we believe as a matter of faith ( All is well) and what appears to us to be just the reverse (greed,conflicts..) thus we deprived ourselves of its prime source of power.

I am not a man of many words ,neither have i found yet what we all are looking for ,maybe just made a few steps for now..

[Spaced]

Be aware of what distractions you employ and what you are using them to distracting yourself from.

[Aion]

So, how do I access unconscious consciously?

But Jade, I want to know where I, as a Creator, come from.  I feel like its what interests me, what I seek to know.  I also am learning about myself slowly.  It's somewhat scary.  What happens if I don't like myself for very long?  Like sometimes i do and sometimes i don't.  Do I need to constantly be relearning who I am as I constantly change?

My general rule for being aware of my thoughts is that the only ones that are 'mine', as in the ones I identify as being 'mine' are those thoughts which I intentionally create. Everything else either comes from the Unmanifest Self (unconscious) or from other-selves. So if I'm sitting in meditation and letting thoughts arise, I don't view any of those thoughts as 'mine'. I am receiving them from some level. If I was, however, to do a visualization meditation and intentionally focus upon a thought, this thought would be mine.

So you could maybe differentiate it between 'called by the conscious self' and 'called by the unconscious self'. Those called by the unconscious self I do not view as 'mine' because they are, to me, a communication. Maybe the difference between choosing to buy a book for yourself as opposed to receiving it as a gift. Once it's in your possession they will both equally appear as 'yours' but one will be the doing of your conscious will, the other a result of unconscious attraction.

[Cyclops]

http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._0922.aspx
A very long transcript with this question, Quo describes what it means to know yourself.

Group question: The question tonight is: Ra says, “Know yourself. Accept yourself. Become the Creator.”[1] We would like to know what is the difference between knowing yourself on the one hand and accepting yourself on the other. Could you define these? Is there any significance in the placement of self-knowledge before self-acceptance in this statement?

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http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._0624.aspx

Thus, you do not get to know yourself by behaving, or doing well. You get to know yourself by observing yourself being precisely what you want to be, and what you feel to be. And then, when the day is done, asking yourself where the stress points are, where (inaudible) or the delightfulness of the day has occurred. So you begin to find out your own nature. And as you learn your own nature it becomes transparent.

One does not need to act out one’s own nature with anger and trauma, for one is quite aware, having done the work, of what is actualizing, or causing the entity, yourself, to be thus and so.

As always, the daily meditation is a great aid in this search for the universal and unique self that you really, deeply are.

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http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._1026.aspx

Become aware of each second of your existence. Know in fullest detail the motivations of each of your actions and each of your thoughts. Meditate and become aware. Use this awareness then, to act. It is not necessary to make complex plans for future activities. It is only necessary to meditate. In your meditation, the understanding that you seek will be easily revealed.

My friends, it is very, very important to know yourself. This is your first mission upon this planet, to know your own thinking. There is only one way for you to do this and that is through meditation. Through meditation, you will be able to know yourself. It is impossible to analyze in a conscious manner your own thinking. It is necessary that you become aware of yourself in meditation. For this reason, meditate each day. This is of prime importance. It is difficult sometimes. Your busy activities (inaudible). However, if you are to accomplish what you have set out to accomplish, it is necessary that you do this.

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http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._1017.aspx

At first, knowing the self is often largely a matter of finding out what you are not and allowing those things that you are not to fall away from you so that you can be yourself. As you rest within yourself and start to get to know yourself, perhaps the quickest way to discover who you are is to rest in meditation at the end of each day and to go over your day, experience by experience, emotion by emotion, catalyst by catalyst. And when you see that emotion that has pulled you off balance you look at that emotion and ask, “How did I come to feel that? What trigger is there under the surface that was triggered that caused this emotion to flare up?”

And as you look at these things that have troubled you, you discover that hidden beneath your emotional reactions have been crystals of pain that have been buried. And as you move these crystals of pain up into the daylight where you can look at them, in the process of seeing this origin of pain, usually from early childhood, you begin to see how you have been wounded. And as you release this wound and forgive it, you recover a part of your whole self.

As you continue in your examination, day after day and year after year, you become aware that there are things in your life that repeatedly have troubled you. And that gives you the hint as to why you are here.

Naturally, any class will have occasional tests. And those are the times when difficulties occur and you must undergo that feeling of chaos and isolation that comes when you know not what is happening or how to respond. Let those occasions teach you who you are, as you observe and cooperate with this chaos, this isolation, this dark night of the soul. Move into it as if it were a gift and give thanks for it. For such gifts come to you with great blessings in their hands. Later, as you look back on moments in your life which have been full of chaos and transformation, you see the brilliance of the plan. You see how much you learned and how much you took away, how much you gained in the gifts of the spirit.

Therefore, we ask you [who are] in this process of getting to know yourself to trust the process. It is not always comfortable. You did not come here actually to be comfortable.

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http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._0306.aspx

For most entities, the first thing that occurs when you move into the silence is that all of the things at which you have not wanted to look or which you have put aside because there was no time come up and are viewed by you. Do not resist these forays into seeming thoughts, for they are the material about which the very highest part of your subconscious being has been concerned. Welcome each of them as a guest without any attachment to how long that guest will stay. Sit with that guest. Listen and observe. This is something that has been stuck in your energy body. Let it get unstuck, but do not follow it. Allow it to express, allow it to rise, and allow it to fall again. This process may be all you can do for months if you are simply a beginner to silent meditation, and that is fully acceptable. That is progress of the greatest kind.

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http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._0219.aspx

And we encourage those efforts to know the self by working with the memory and with the dreams which may offer memories which have been forgotten.

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http://www.llresearch.org/transcripts/is..._1109.aspx

My friends, we say to you that if you do not know yourself and of your abilities, then you shall remain in ignorance until you do so. You may attempt in many ways to gain intellectual knowledge. You can earn many degrees, as you would call it. You may be accepted by the greater peers of your society, you may be recognized as what you may term a genius, but yet we say, you remain in ignorance in spite of all these things if you know not yourself.

We of the Confederation have attempted to tell your peoples throughout many, many of your years the importance of this simple knowledge of the inner being that sustains and ordains your existence. We of the Confederation have mentioned to our contacts, time and time again, the method which we feel most beneficial by which to gain this knowledge of self and of the universe. And as you are aware, that method is what we term as meditation.

Meditation, my friends, brings us the key to the universe. It is the key to the inner being that you are. It is the key to the door of the Creator’s house. It is the key to the door of all truth and understanding.

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http://www.lawofone.info/results.php?s=60#25

Ra:

for a social memory complex to speak ad infinitum about the need to meditate is a waste of the considerable abilities of such social memory complexes.

lol.