When I was ten years old, I asked my grandmother a very serious question.
"Lola, if you were to give me words of wisdom, out of all the things you can think of, what advice should I remember forever?," I innocently asked with a huge grin.
She immediately recognized my 'coming-of age' inquisition, and due to the gravity of my question she stopped what she was doing. Taking a deep breath, my grandmother closed her eyes as to divine some eternal truth from the ether.
She released a long and deep exhale and then slowly opened her oracle eyes.
I was anticipating a great response from this pre-world war woman, mother of eight, and sole vessel of our family's great repository of elderly wonders...
"Know thyself.", she calmly replied.
Her reply was short and simple.
"That's it!?" I was dumbfounded.
"That's it!," she quickly responded and resumed her mindless activities.
What did she mean?
I felt confused and frustrated. I was expecting a great dissertation from my holier-than-thou grandma, the seat of aged profundity. Instead of a personal story I could relate to, maybe about her pre-internet struggles or what it was like 'back in the day', she decided it was time for me to absorb a thought beyond my usual simpleton thinking.
So I had to ask again for clarification because she seemed all too well with my dissatisfaction.
"Lola! What do you mean?," I complained earnestly.
My grandmother laughed in a lovingly but mystical way, like a sage of yore.
"You don't know what you don't know...so: Know thyself! Even the ancient Greeks spoke of this, so don't forget it!"
I often still hear her witty chuckle when meditating. And from that day forth, her timeless transmission still haunts me. Even up till now, I hold this aphorism true and rely on it as personal sound judgement. Yet that goes to saying, I really had to research her words from the ground up, making sure this timeless statement was valid- not just an elusive reflection which dissolves into the twilight.
To begin with, one must ask the true meaning of the word 'know'. In this context, it's etymological roots are birthed as a verb derived from the old English word 'cnāwan' which means "perceive or understand as a fact or truth". This first element brought forth the supposition that 'to know' is to have the capacity of knowing or knowledge. Knowledge (Old English cnawlece) is attributed to "acknowledgement of a superior, honor, worship", and thus brings even more cosmic mystery into question.
What is superior? How does it tie into honor or worship?
These mysteries certainly led to deeper pondering with implications of a higher plane of existence, where in the act of 'knowing' payed homage to an elevated dimension of reality beyond space and time.
According to the Greek writer Pausanias, the Know Thyself maxim "gnothi seauton" could be found inscribed within the inner temple forecourts of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Furthermore, when one looks at it's usage during Grecian ancient history, as suggested by my grandmother, an abundance of stories from Plato to Socrates arise!
In Plato's Protagoras, Socrates uses the maxim to imply that despite the brevity of the statement, which only contains two words, the very meaning goes above and beyond the literal saying. In a way, the actual wisdom inherited therefore comes from the person self-reflecting on them and not just the words! It requires a subtle self-referential of one's own experiences which demands an active partaking of the perception of "Thy + self".
Without getting too lost in the words, I began to realize that my grandmother gifted onto me the holy grail of wisdom itself! And her advice was really a gateway, so to speak, to what it means to be conscious. The seed of human consciousness sprung forth, and the saplings of awareness became evident as I delved deep within her sagely message.
I am alive.
As time passes, these words have taken root throughout my entire being. They have defined my identity as a yogi, and act as impetus for reaching higher levels of gnosis or awakened states of knowledge. Now that I think about it, my grandmother totally went 'meta' on me.
Even as I express myself at this very steemit moment, I will never forget my grandmother's words which have imprinted itself onto the cortex of my human psyche. And I cannot wait to hear her response when I email this anecdote to her, just to check if she still remembers her own advice.
Fast forward to the future, I'm sure she hasn't forgotten her own sentiments- even at the age of ninety-three!
