Everyone will have their own perception of what 'self knowledge' is. For me, self knowledge leads to mastery over the elements within and includes the study of past life influences and karmic conditions that need to be addressed this lifetime. These past life influences and karmic conditions have been built into the present incarnation and represent what the personality needs to experience and learn from. They have a bearing on the sort of issues that crop up in our day to day life and how we subsequently deal with them.
When we understand our **karma we can get a 'handle' on why certain things keep happening in our life and consequently work towards accepting the things we cannot change. And for the things we can change, identifying karmic conditions speeds up our realisation that there are likely better, more effective ways, of dealing with people, situations and events that we find challenging.
Self knowledge is also, obviously, about getting to know yourself in relation to this current lifetime. This means knowing your strengths and weaknesses; understanding how you operate as an individual and recognising opportunities that are presented to you that lead to personal growth.
Knowing ourselves helps us to set realistic goals and formulate our future. Each new day gives us a fresh opportunity to address karma, to clear the way for future growth, and put plans into action to create our ideal life. Self knowledge is crucial if you want to live the life that is right for you.
If you project yourself 5 years into the future do you want to be living exactly the same life that you have now?
If there are things you would like to change there is no better time than the present to start the ball rolling.
'Talk' to your 'future self' and ask yourself "what do I want and what steps do I need to take to bring me closer to achieving my goals?"
This can all seem a little over-whelming at first but it can be a lot simpler than you may imagine if you just follow the 'map' of the Tree of Life. The statement that is repeated throughout the Tree of Life and practical Qabalah teachings is:
KNOW THYSELF
It's such a simple message. Qabalah is a great way to learn about Self. There are no judgements. It is a wealth of non-religious information that can easily be put to practical use in everyday life providing down to earth insights on how to go about improving your life. The first step towards knowing yourself using this ancient wisdom begins with the personality. The sephiroth Malkuth, Yesod, Hod and Netzach on the Tree of Life take you through all aspects of your behaviour, subconscious memories, attitudes that 'colour' your life and feelings that you have about Self and others. Gradually as you learn more about who you 'truly' are - and who you 'were' in previous lives - this self knowledge means you can 'see' much more clearly what changes you need to make to help you to become the Master of your own Life.
Take a look at the links below for more information on Qabalah and the Tree of Life and how to get started with the process of Know Thyself.
**More on personal karma and karmic conditions can be found in the practical Qabalah book - Geburah
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