In explaining what is Knowledge of Self I ought to begin, it seems most natural, at the beginning. But that would take us into such an abstruse discussion that it makes better sense to start, instead, at a very familiar midpoint. Let's start with what you are doing this very moment. As your eyes race across these lines I want you to make the effort of becoming aware of the fact that you are involved in two sets of functions. On one hand, you are making the effort to keep your attention on the sequence of words as you read on. On the other hand, without your conscious effort and awareness, the meaning of what you are reading is taking shape. These two sets of functions are more apparent in more complex activities. While you need to think of getting up and going somewhere you need not think of the details of the muscular activities involved in getting up itself. They are taken care of for you. When you type, dance, play an instrument, perform in a sport, drive, write, etc. you can become aware of the fact that some part of your activities is performed without conscious effort. Now, this dualization of your being into two fundamental sets of functions is the central theme of Self Knowledge. One part of your being is concerned with activities that you have to direct while the other deals with activities that occur without your attention to them. You may have noticed that I have gone to a little trouble to avoid the popular designations "voluntary vs. involuntary" or "conscious vs. subconscious" behavior and we will later see why. Let us for now label them "willed" and "automatic" respectively.

It might not surprise you, because you already know, that great performers make poor teachers. Yet, you might be surprised to know that you could not give an accurate description of how you walk, or articulate the words that you speak, etc. You fail for the same reasons that most great performers do as teachers. The performance of the tasks in question is carried out without your attention and awareness of the intricate details involved. You direct your attention to the desired result and the other part of your being unattended takes care of the execution. In fact as you sit here this other part is, without your attention or consent, determining what understanding you are extracting from what you are reading and at the same time it is taking care of your breathing, exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide in your blood, circulating the latter through every cell in your body, probably digesting some food, and getting ready to shut down the part of you that directs activities that it (the automatic part of being) may have more freedom and energy to do some major repairs on your vehicle while you sleep, among many, many other, very complicated things. It should be obvious by now that there exists a vast difference in the knowledge and capabilities between the two parts of our being. While the willed part of our being has to be instructed and is no better in it's performance than the quality of the material taught to it the automatic part of being is directed by an omniscient factor. Let's realize that it directed the formation of the physical part of our being the very moment that our progenitor sperm and egg came together. What if the willed part of our being, instead of learning from the nescient will of others, learned from the omniscient being that directs the automaton within us? I.e., instead of the "limited in knowledge" learning from the "limited in knowledge" it learned from the omniscient? The answers to these questions will provide full insight into the nature of our being, the cultures we have produced, the shaping forces of our history, and explain the causes of the problems besetting mankind, and will also show, definitively, the way to their solutions.

It is sufficient to say for now that according to the African spiritual tradition the automaton within us is in touch with all functions in the world and is capable of manipulating them. With the proper directions we will come to see that there are three kinds of people in the world. One type inclines toward relying on the willed part of being for survival and flourishment, the second on the omniscient intelligence and the automaton, and the third on an equilibrium of both parts of being. In fact, all cultures fall into one of these categories. These three categories do not represent distinct types but stages in the spiritual development of individuals and nations. The first stage corresponds to the polarization in the willed (outer) part of being, the second to the polarization in the inner, and the third to their equilibration. We can better comprehend this if we paraphrase it as the stages of 1) reliance on the part of being with limited knowledge and capability, 2) reliance on the part of being with infinite knowledge and capability, and 3) the equilibrium between the two. Another paraphrase will explain further, 1) polarization in learning from outside of ourselves (from someone else), 2) in learning from within ourselves, and 3) an equilibrium of both approaches. Further still, 1) polarization in reliance on externals (tools, machinery, medicines, etc.), 2) polarization in reliance on internals (the power of the spirit) and 3) an equilibrium of both methods. We can begin to see which cultures shape up to which categories. The 1st type, polarized in the cultivation of the external part of being corresponds fundamentally to Western Man and some Orientals while the opposite, polarized in the cultivation of the internal, corresponds to the Black race and some Orientals. Success in the cultivation of both parts has only been truly achieved by the Kamau (Ancient Egyptians) who, for the record, belong to the Black race. Now we can understand why, for example, all the fundamental skills and institutions of civilization began with Black nations: Kamit [Ancient Egypt], Sumer, Babylon, Elam, the Harappa Valley civilization, Kush [Ethiopia], Indus Kush [Black India], and Canaan. Because of their people's ability to learn from the internal part of being, with it's storehouse of knowledge concerning every secret of the world, they were able to intuit, 6000 + years ago, the knowledge that forms the basis of our civilization (religion, mathematics, geometry, medicine, astronomy, writing, literature, agriculture, metallurgy, government, architecture, painting, sculpturing, algebra, science, etc.). Because Western man is polarized in the cultivation of the external part of his being he had to learn these skills from others (Blacks and Orientals) who were able to learn these things intuitively.

This brings us to the critical part of our introductory discourse. Underlying all the functions of the automaton within us is a program of order. The maintenance of our bodily processes in a state of order according to this program is what we call health. We will come to see that this very same program of order is in charge of regulating the social behavior of people. Where it finds full expression in the social arena there is morality, wealth, spirituality, and prosperity. True religion, we will come to see, deals with the techniques of communicating with the director of the automaton within us in order to gain access to the power, storehouse of information, and the host of shaping factors of our lives. The world is in the sorry mess that it now finds itself in because the dominant culture in the world is that of the external part of being. It is not enough to say that the external part of our being does not know much about creating and maintaining order, for even if it did, it lacks the ability to generate order in the life of people. Hearing sermons and reading books (external means) on moral behavior will make you as moral as reading books on healing will heal our illnesses. The most that a book on health, for example, can do is to direct you to some means of directly influencing the automaton yet such information must have originated from some person's intuition. The same holds true for religious, moral, and spiritual behavior. All teachings on the subjects originated from the inner part of people's being. If you observe very carefully you will see that in the religions of the dominant cultures today people are directed outside themselves (to scriptures, sermons from priests, etc.) for moral and spiritual guidance. In contrast, African and some oriental cultures direct their members within themselves (trance) for intuitive guidance for the same ends. The differences are vast. We must recall the fact that the external part of being, however lucid on a subject, lacks the power to direct the processes that shape our behavior and bodily functions. Now we can fully understand the lack of wisdom in denouncing Westerners as hypocrites for preaching doctrines of such high moral values while their destructive acts in the world are unparalleled. The inner culture for accessing the program of order that is the shaping force of a harmonious social life, an essential prerequisite for man's spiritual growth, and the flourishing of all social institutions has been displaced by the outer culture which is far from equal to the task although it is long on words on the subject of spirituality.