Knowing and Being

Knowing and Being

The uncomplicated and direct imperative ‘Know thyself’ encompasses all that is needed for conscious evolution. Without knowledge of the lower self - the four lower functions, the higher Self - higher centers - would remain ignorant of themselves. Know thy lower self, so that your higher Self may know it’s own divine presence.

The question becomes, how to know the lower self? Indeed, without full knowledge of the four lower centers, thoughts, emotions and sensations can and will be mistaken for higher states of consciousness. And without self-knowledge when higher states do appear, they are immediately submerged in imagination, identification, and negative emotions.

Being, simply put, is the ability to Be. By applying the objective knowledge that the system provides, we gain knowledge of our lower self, and thereby foment higher centers. However, without a school, a teacher and three lines of work, our efforts to Be will invariably deviate and descend into identification and imagination.

Our image is a Rembrandt painting depicting Christ. Looking at Christ, it is clear that his being has transcended his lower centers. His commanding presence looks firmly and directly at our higher centers. In fact, as we look further into the painting, we experience Rembrandt’s being reaching out through time, and space to our own.

In relation to knowledge and being, the Teacher expressed the following: “The essence of knowledge is self-knowledge and the essence of self-knowledge is self-remembering.”

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Detail from Christ with Arms Folded, Rembrandt, c. 1657-1661

Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY