“Who Am I?”

So this is who I am
And this is all I know
And I must choose to live
For all that I can give
The spark that makes the power grow
Immortality by Celine Dion (1998)
The ancient Greeks often quoted the maxim, “Know Thyself,” which I have adopted as my own life motto. When I first learnt of it many years ago, I heard it as “Man, know thyself,” attributed to Thales of Miletus in the 7th century BC. I now know that it was inscribed in the forecourt of Apollo’s Temple at Delphi – in Greek (naturally): γνῶθι σεαυτόν, transliterated as gnōthi seauton and meaning “Know Thyself.” So, the word “Man” is probably superfluous.
The quest to know oneself gives rise to the question: “Who Am I?” If you make the statement, I want to know myself, it implies that there are two parties involved: I and Myself. It is important, I believe, to love yourself – not in a narcissistic way, but with true, spiritual, unconditional love. Once again, the inference is that there are two selves.
To clarify this, I will draw on the explanation used by one of my favourite teachers, Dr Sue Morter. According to Dr Sue, it is limiting to ask whether you are the “I “or the “Myself.” It means you are identifying with the mind. Our identity becomes attached to the mind and we think that is who we are. We are compromised in this situation – it means we haven’t yet anchored to our real self and we need to build presence in our central being. She says that we are talking from the mind, and we want to know our soul.
Read the full article on Paul’s blog at his web site southernsunlightcom.wordpress.com.








