An ancient Greek philosopher - usually attributed to Socrates - advised, "Know thyself."
The Bible quotes God commanding, "Be still, and know that I am God."
A bit of context might actually prove very practical:
“The term 'perennial philosophy' was coined by Agostino Steuco (1497-1548) and refers to a fourfold realization:
(1) there is only one Reality (call it, among other names, God, Mother, Tao, Allah, Dharmakaya, Brahman, or Great Spirit) that is the source & substance of all creation;
(2) that while each of us is a manifestation of this Reality, most of us identify with something much smaller, that is, our culturally conditioned individual ego;
(3) that this identification with the smaller self gives rise to needless anxiety, unnecessary suffering, and cross-cultural competition and violence; and
(4) that peace, compassion, & justice naturally replace anxiety, needless suffering, competition, and violence when we realize our true nature as a manifestation of this singular Reality.
The great sages & mystics of every civilization throughout human history have taught these truths in the language of their time and culture. It is the universality and timelessness of this wisdom that makes it the perfect focus for the spiritually independent seeker."
Rami Shapiro. “Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent.” SkyLight Paths, 2013.
“Plotinus (204-270CE) was one of the most profound ancient Greek philosophers. He was not engaged in thinking about the deepest questions, he had deep spiritual realizations. He was an awakened being, and that determined what realizations he came up with on the conceptual level.
Plotinus said that at the root of all life, of the universe, is the One. The One is the transcendent reality.
He didn’t call it ‘God’ he said ‘the One,’ and the One is transcendent to space and time. So the One does not exist in space and time, it is transcendent. And this One, which would be God but not in a traditional sense, the One emanates, there’s an outflow from the One.
The One emanates, and it emanates first of all, what is called in ancient Greek, Nous. Nous … is Spirit or Consciousness. So there’s an outflow from the One, which has no location in space or time. At first this outflow is Nous, Consciousness, Pure Consciousness, or Spirit.
Then in the next stage, the first forms arise. The form that arises out of Consciousness is the Soul (Psyche in Greek) – not only the soul of human beings, but the soul of different life forms. So the One emanates Consciousness, and then Consciousness takes on a form.
Then the next stage of emanation after that is Mind – the human mind, the ability to think. We’re getting further and further away from the One.
Then the next stage is the Body – physical bodies. And it is the farthest away from the Source.
So the entire reality is an outflow from the One, which at first is Pure Consciousness, then it assumes form as Souls, then it assumes Mind – human beings come in but also other minds, and then it becomes the physicality of the world which is the furthest Consciousness can get away from itself is the Material World, but ultimately, it is still one with, all emanates, flows out from the One. And Plotinus came to this realization not through thinking, but his own self-realization.
So it means that you are an emanation! Your consciousness, even your body is an emanation of the One. If you are able to realize yourself, the essence of you as Consciousness itself, by being still, awareness replaces thinking, then you move back on your journey to the Source. Thinking subsides, so you’ve already gone beyond the level of thinking, then you move deeper towards the Source. You sense your connectedness to the One, or at least to the first emanation of the One which is Consciousness itself. And that is God realization, not through any concept.
All you have to do is become still, and realize that stillness within you is Presence itself, the primordial emanation, in the same way that the Sun emanates light, the One emanates ultimately Consciousness and transmutations of Consciousness. So the first emanation is Consciousness itself.
Perhaps you can never reach the One directly, but you can reach the first emanation of the One which is Consciousness itself, as your own essence. That’s an amazing thing. I’m talking about it, but the words are there to point you beyond words & concepts.
So the world is an emanation. The forms that arise here go through continuous transformations & transmutations, but the important thing is that you can realize the essence of who you are!
Know thyself as this primordial emanation of the One that is you in essence. And you thought you were a person in this world with little problems!"
Eckhart Tolle “Timeless
Wisdom Retreat” in Greece & Online 2024
Shamans, mystics & saints had directly experienced their true nature for thousands of years before Plotinus, but each of us can only truly benefit by directly experiencing our true nature for ourselves.
So, can we practice being still & silent, and get to know directly - beyond words & concepts - that we are Divine?
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