“Know Thyself.”

Those words were engraved above the entrance of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi… over 2,500 years ago.
Immortal words… carried through time and space.

But what makes them so enduring, so mysterious, so magnetic — even today?

Socrates added a simple yet powerful continuation:

“Know thyself… and you will know the Universe and the Gods.” Socrates

Mmmh… quite a perspective, isn’t it?

Tempting for some — though most people can’t imagine how “knowing the universe or the gods” could possibly help them find a job, improve their health, or meet the partner of their dreams.

And yet… if only they knew.

If only they knew that this universe is governed by immutable laws —
not only in the physical realm, like gravity —
but also in the invisible realms of energy and spirit.

And that it is only through ignorance of these laws that we suffer…That ignorance alone is the root of every difficulty, without exception.

As long as we ignore this truth, we live in an illusion —what the Eastern traditions call Maya.

It’s this illusion that tricks our senses…that makes us believe everything that happens to us comes from the outside world: the bad economy that costs us our jobs, the partner who doesn’t understand us, the cold wind that gives us a sore throat…

But what Socrates was already teaching, 2,500 years ago, is that the universe we see outside us…is actually inside us.

Everything we perceive as “coming from the outside”… in truth, comes from within.

From ourselves.
We are the ones — the only ones — responsible for all circumstances of our life.

From the most tragic to the most beautiful.
All of them. Without exception.

Of course, that’s hard to understand at first — and even harder to accept since we’ve spent decades — 30, 40, 50 years — being conditioned to believe the opposite of how reality actually works. Just as Plato described in his allegory of the cave.

So… what do we do?
Well — nothing special, if you feel your life unfolds exactly as you wish.

With ups and downs, yes — but that’s life, and you think nothing really needs to change.
Otherwise… the first thing you’ll need is patience.

Because our inner world, at the beginning, looks like an abandoned house.
Windows left open for decades.

Filled with insects, overgrown weeds, little creatures nesting everywhere…
It takes time to restore such a place — unless a rescue team suddenly appears to clean it all in a day!

The trouble is — for our inner world, no such team exists.
No one else has access to it.
We must each do our own cleaning.

Hopefully we are not alone.
We can even accelerate the process by learning from those who’ve walked this path before us — those who’ve already faced that essential work of purification.

Then, as the cleaning unfolds, we must also close the windows and repair the broken glass — so the insects can’t come back in!

When both the cleaning and the protection are in place, the time comes for discovery — to find out who and what we truly are.

Something far greater than what we were ever told in school, or by our parents, or by society’s stories about the origins of humankind.

And that brings us back to Socrates — and his timeless motto: “Know thyself.”
The purpose is to know ourselves deeply.
Not just as a body and a mind with strengths and flaws.

All that belongs to our outer self, a mere reflection of what we truly are within.
But what’s inside?
What are we meant to find there?

Precisely — you don’t know.
And that’s exactly what Socrates meant:

“Know thyself… and you will know your inner world — the place where the universe and the gods reside.” Socrates

Because the moment you begin to glimpse what truly lies within you, you realize how right Socrates was to leave us this one and only teaching.

And when you’ve cleaned your inner house all the way to the garden door, the instant you open it — just a little — doubt and fear vanish.
They dissolve in wonder.

From that moment on, you’ll never wish to turn back.

Because the view before you is breathtaking — stretching infinitely across luminous landscapes, inhabited by beings of such beauty you might take them for gods and goddesses.

And as you dare to step among them — shyly, at first — you’re astonished to see them welcome you as one of their own.
Then you realize… this magnificent new world you are entering has been waiting for you all along.

And this is the real world — while the one you used to live in was nothing more than a vast illusion, a planetary Truman Show, a stage set designed to distract your consciousness from the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent being that you truly are.

Know thyself… and you will know the Universe and the Gods.

Make this your own living motto and the world will transform, forever and for the better for you and for all men and women of goodwill.

For learn more about Socrates, you can read about him on Wikipedia.

To learn more about yourself, take this QUIZ!