Man Know Thyself!

The ancient wisdom traditions always depict "man" (male and female) as a composite being and frequently as the microcosmic reflection of the conscious living universe: as above, so below. Plato, for example, allegorizes the kingdom outside (the ideal State) and within (ourselves) as a Republic composed of many citizens. He describes it as a diverse yet interdependent polity ideally ruled by the philosopher, the wisdom-loving hero who has struggled up the steep and rugged ascent from the prison of ignorance to the luminous realm of truth. Self-discovery is a process of self-transformation: progressively taming and refining the disorderly elements of the soul, and "solarizing" one's inner nature by identifying with the author of one's being and its radiant ideals of Justice, Beauty, and the Good.