You can't know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.
--Bodhidharma
"Know Thyself’ was written on the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Legend tells that the seven sages of ancient Greece, philosophers, statesmen and law-givers who laid the foundation for western culture, gathered in Delphi to inscribed ‘know thyself’ at the entry to its scared oracle. The adage subsequently became a touch-stone for western philosophers, and extended its reach as the influence of Greek philosophy expanded.
The Greek Philosopher Thales of Miletu (regarded by Aristotle as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition) said that of the most difficult things is to know thyself.
Do you think you know yourself?
“Can one know oneself” wondered the French poetess George Sand. “Is one ever somebody?” “When will I ever see that Am that I Am?” lamented the poet Rumi. Scores of poets and philosophers dedicated their lives to inquiring about the Self, seeking its elusive mysteries, digging deep to unearth that hidden stone without which all construction would be in vain. Some attained remarkable results, attested to by the legacy of their works. Others never found an end to their quest. “I have an inner self of which I was ignorant,” confesses the Bohemian–Austrian poet Rilke in his diary. Despite the passage of millennia, man’s struggles have essentially remained the same: man is, and always has been, a being in search of truth and identity.
--courtesy, the internet
