“Know thyself”: Γνῶθι σαυτόν- is a philosophical maxim which was inscribed upon the Temple of Apollo in the ancient Greek precinct of Delphi. The most well-known of the Delphic maxims, it has been quoted and analyzed by numerous authors throughout history, and has been given many different applications. Although traditionally attributed to the Seven Sages of Greece, or to the god Apollo himself, the inscription likely had its origin in a popular proverb.
The ancients knew the real value in knowing oneself.
Yoga Sutras
Thousands of years ago, The “Yoga Sutras” of Patanjali were written just to teach to the initiates how to liberate themselves from the false ego and to know their true self.
The first step would be restraining the monkey mind with its false premises. This is important for the student of animal communication. We have to be able to stop our monkey mind to listen to what the animal is saying; the same happens with Meddiumship: you must “lose” yourself to give space to spirit to speak through you, during trance.
On verse 1.3 of the Sutras explains that when Yoga (restraining the mind) occurs, the seer abides into his true nature (union with the true nature). And Swami Satchidananda, one of the translators and historians of the Yoga Sutras, affirms that it is the same for animals, he says. The “spirit of a dog and a human is the same”.
As we saw in my latest article on the Natural Law (Hermetism) https://www.animalcommunication.gr/natural-law-is-universal-law/ there are seven principles in Universal laws, called Natural law.
In the sixth principle: “Every cause has its effect. Every effect has its cause. Everything happens according to law. Chance is but a name for law not recognized. There are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the law”- The Kybalion.
If we think on the first law: all in the universe is mind, we start to understand that the mind of each one creates his or her reality. I don’t mean by that to say that whole reality is created only by us (that is solipsism), but we create our own life. It is very simple; a good example is that if we work or make an effort in producing something, we will be able to survive, be paid or sell what we produce; if we sit at home and expect to get what we want, we will never attain our goals. If we are nice to people, normally people will be nice to us, if we avoid fights or problems with other people, then we will not have problems. It is the law of cause and effect. But everything starts in our minds.
Author Prentice Mulford wrote a book called: ““Thoughts are things “in which he states: “WE need to be careful of what we think and talk; because thought runs in currents as real as those of air and water. Of what we think and talk we attract to us a like current of thought. This acts on mind or body for good or ill.”
Medium Edgar Cayce taught the same precept and occultist Dion Fortune explained that current thoughts can create “tracks in space”. Rudolf Steiner: philosopher, Rosicrucian, teacher, Theosophist and the creator of Anthroposophy insisted in all his talks about controlling oneself and his thoughts. In the book: “Start Now, the book of soul and Spiritual exercises” it is mentioned the general requirements for a spiritual path: “Third Requirement: the reality of thoughts and feelings. The third requirement requires that we win through to the conviction that thoughts and feelings are as important for the world as actions. We should recognize that, when we hate our fellow human beings, it is just as destructive as physically striking them. This brings us again to the insight that anything we do for our own improvement, benefits not just ourselves, but also the world.”
The principle of causation and studying Animal Communication
How many times I hear some of my students say:” Oh, I would love to be able to communicate with animals”, but if they make no effort to practice (the same goes for any profession), then they will never develop themselves. I have a Pilates’ client that told me she was in pain after going to the market and carrying lots of bag of food. I had to explain to her the law of causation. And the cause comes from our own mind. When we decide to act recklessly, we will eventually suffer the consequences of our behavior.
Also, in animal communication, we are connecting in another realm; we are using telepathy. It is of the utmost importance to know oneself to understand when we are using our own mind and conscience and when it is the voice of the animal you hear. I am a good example of this precept as I tend to see things quite negatively; when doing the tracking of lost animals, I tend to let, sometimes, my conscious mind think that the animal passed away. Immediately, I stop my monkey mind and continue tracking. We own to the animal and his human, the respect and impartiality when acting as a medium for the communication.
Shadow work
Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung popularized the expression” Shadow Work”; when we find out which part of us are hidden in the subconscious mind, firstly accepting them and then learning to control and transform them. For this to happen, the first condition is to know oneself.
When I studied psychology during my BA in University, the first thing I learned is that nobody is perfect and nobody is a hundred per cent healthy psychologically; this confirms the Universal law of polarity transmitted by Hermes Trismegistus. We are all somewhere in between: good and bad, sane and crazy. Our job, in this life is to work in ourselves. My animals and specially my cat Kostakis brought out the worst of me, the most superficial, cruel, crazy, unbalanced person I ever met. He mirrored it back to me and I did not like what I saw but I knew I had to accept this person, first, and then learn to deal with it and transform that negative energy into something positive for the rest of the world. Working with regression and Mesmerism helped me recognize and understand that hectic behavior.
As you learn more self-awareness, you will accept other beings easier, realizing that they too, they can make mistakes. We learn and understand why we chose to behave in a certain way and we can control and change our behavior.
Rudolf Steiner affirms that we must master our train of thoughts, first: “Just consider the way thoughts whirl about in our souls, how they flit like will-o-the-wisps; one impression arises here, another there, and each changes our thinking. It is not true that we govern our thoughts; our thoughts govern us completely. We must reach the point where, at a given time in the day, we can become so absorbed in a thought that no other thought can enter and disturb our soul. In this way, we hold the reins of thought life for a while. The second quality is to find a similar relationship to our actions, that is, to exercise control over our actions. The third quality is to strive for equanimity.”
Only when we know ourselves, we can work in ourselves and recognize behavioral and thought patterns and it is only when we recognize those patterns that we can control them.
Conclusion
Going back to the Universal/Natural law, in the sixth principle of cause and effect, we recognize that our behavior comes from our thoughts and beliefs. The plane of causality is the mental world, where our thoughts originate, “This is where causes are set in motion prior to manifesting as formed realities. The plane of causality constitutes the causal factor which underlies and precedes all manifested things and events; all power to affect change lies on this plane. Human consciousness must “move” from the plane of effects to the plane of causality in order for human beings to understand the causal factors of the conditions which they are collective manifesting in their lives. Only then will humanity be able to co-create their shared reality on a conscious level, rather than an unconscious one.” Mark Passio, Natural law Seminar
Photo courtesy of Marc Passio
To change our mind, we must know ourselves and be able to control our own mind. Linda Tellington Jones uses to say in her seminars: “If you know what you do, you can do what you want”, I would complete it by saying “if you know why you do what you do, you can change your behavior and act in a positive way towards a better world”.
Sources:
“Thoughts are things” Prentice Mulford
“Start now! a book of soul and spiritual exercises”, Rudolf Steiner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57UBuxnicOA&t=5702s
