Know Thyself

The best part of being a human is that you can make anything out of you. All other species have limited functions. Only Humans have the ability to make anything out of them. You can be a God or Devil. The choice is yours to make. Often we do not realize this. We tend to go by the flow. We rely on external visions of ourselves to make us. If your Dad says you are haughty, then you will immediately assume that to be correct and try to become consciously humble. If your friend says you are intelligent and smart, then you will take it into your subconscious and gloat in hubris. If your manager at work promotes your peer, you sulk. You are like a ball bounced by events hitting you. Here, the ball is shaped by the events. You do not have a clue that you have a choice in how you can be. This society and its compulsions limits you in all possible ways. You are constantly afraid of someone talking ill of you if you don’t appear in such and such way. You stop speaking truth as it might misfire and come to haunt you or spoil your friendship. You make yourself into a one track existence, a machine that functions in a certain way, that is molded by other machines which are molded by some other and so on, effectively losing that immense opportunity of knowing who you really are or what you can make of yourself.

True liberation is when you can remain yourself without compulsions and explore this possibility of what to make of you, leave others the freedom to choose what to make of them. This is the true gift you give to others, to your family, society and nation.