If you look at the religious traditions of the world as they are presented to the masses, you will not find much common ground. But if you dig deeper and read the more esoteric literature of each tradition, you will find that one salient fact stands out as a common thread: know thyself.  Self knowledge is stressed by all of the great mystics throughout the ages. He who finds himself finds God and he who finds God finds himself.

Socrates said “Know thyself” and “An unexamined life is not worth living.” In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus said, “…..the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the children of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, then you will dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.”  Mohammed said “Those who know themselves know their Lord.” Confucius said “Those who know completely their own nature know heaven.” Confucius also said “In the depths of the soul, one finds the Divine, the One.” In Hinduism the Atman (individual consciousness) and the Brahman (universal consciousness) are one and the same. The Buddha said “Look within–you are the Buddha.” Consider the following quote from the Dhammapad (Buddhist literature). “Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men is he who would conquer just one–himself.”