Complete works, tome 17 : Know thyself : jnana yoga. Vol. 1

"'Know thyself" was the maxim inscribed on the

pediment of the temple at Delphi. What is this 'self'

that we have to know? Is it a question of knowing our

own vices and virtues, our strengths and weaknesses?

No: to know oneself is to know the different

bodies (the physical, etheric, mental, causal, buddhic

and atmic bodies) of which we are formed and what

each of these bodies needs. If the initiates of old

insisted so much on the necessity of self-knowledge

it was because this knowledge opens up tremendous

possibilities for growth, progress and success. As

long as man is ignorant of the needs of his higher

self, he will continue to surfeit his physical body while

his soul and spirit suffocate and die of hunger and

thirst.'

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov