Know Thy Self

If the Greeks urge us to "Know thy self", and the bible tells us that "Eyes are windows to the soul", then how does one know one's self while still trapped inside one's self?

In human thinking, the words self and soul are often synonymous. The dictionary defines the self as one's consciousness of one's own identity. Our eyes see everything in the world but the one thing we truly desire to see the most: Our "self" or our soul. Men often feel a strong urge to define their own self, but we can only look into the windows of others', and can only look through our own windows, which are often dirty with prejudices and assumptions that obstruct a clear view.

We are trapped within ourselves. We are trapped within the walls that we have built around ourselves and are looking through the dirty windows that we have made and have placed in front of our own view. How can we ever free ourselves from this trap?

We must first see that we have created these walls that imprison us. We can free ourselves by seeing. Only then can we tear down the walls that we have built up around ourselves. Once we realize that this prison we call the self only exists in our mind, we see that there are no barriers or boundaries between you and me. When I look into your eyes, I don't see your soul or your self. I see one soul that belongs to all. Your soul is mine and mine is yours and everyone's is everyone's combined.