To know yourself, see where your actions are coming from

We always exist in relation to something or somebody. So, if you want to know yourself, you just see what is the effect that the other has had upon you. We then are a sum total of all those effects.

What are we? We are mental fragments devoted to the nation, the society, the education, the upbringing, the commerce, the culture, the civilization. You want to look at yourself, you will have to look at the effect all these external influences have had upon you.

We exist with respect to these influences. There is nothing in us that is not coming from somewhere or the other.

So, to know yourself is to know these things that are coming from somewhere or the other. “So, this part of me, well it’s coming from religion. This part of me, well it’s coming from ethnicity. This part of me, well it’s coming from culture. This part of me, well it’s coming from my gender. This part of me, well it’s coming from my genes. This part of me, well it’s coming from education.” This way you can know all that you see yourself to be. Are you getting it?

This way you can know everything that you see yourselves to be. All the conditioned bit that we are. Remember that we are very totally conditioned.

There is nothing in us that is not conditioned. Every single cell in the body is conditioned. So, the conditioned bit that we are can be known only by seeing the genesis of that conditioning.

If you can see where your conditioning is coming from, you have seen who you are. This is called self-knowledge. Do you see what self-knowledge is? To know yourself, see where all your actions are coming from.

How do you know that? You watch your actions. You watch every bit of yourself, your activities from morning till night, your thoughts, your inclinations, and you come to appreciate all the conditioning that has gone into making you.

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