Although The Organon and its Aphorisms are a roadmap for a rationale system of medicine according to Homoeopathic rules, so to say The Organon is a guidebook to heal through homoeopathy.
There are pearls of pure philosophy hidden in the Organon challenging readers/students.
One such gem is the motto of The Organon: Aude Sapere (Dare to know). The second interesting philosophical gem is found in footnote of Aphorism 141:
“The foundation of all true wisdom: yvvoqisTOV”
Hahnemann here teases the reader/student of The organon stating a profound philosophical truth but he codes it in Greek, Why?
Hahnemann knows that a serious reader/student would like to know what is the meaning of yvvoqisTOV ?
The Ancient Greek aphorism “know yourself”, Greek: yvvoqisTOV gnothi seaton was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
The saying “know thyself” may refer by extension to the ideal of understanding human behaviour, morals, and thought, because ultimately to understand oneself is to understand other human as well.
In Latin, the aphorism is generally given as nosce te ipsum. The Latin version of the aphorism is written on a plaque above the Oracle’s door in the Matrix film series, where it is rendered in a non-traditional Latin; that is to say temet nosce (“thine own self thou must know”) translated in the Matrix as know thyself.
So what isHahnemann is stating in footnote Aphorism 141 is:
“The foundation of all true wisdom: Know Yourself”
Let’s realize why Hahnemann is challenging us to Know Yourself. In the true theological sense, “Know Thyself’ is a fundamental tenet of the question of life’s meaning. To truly ’know oneself’ in this sense involves a deeply personal, spiritual transformation whereby a person would seek to orient themselves towards understanding their own phenomenological perceptions of reality, so as to gain earnest insight into aspects of one’s own existence. Thus the theological sense of “know Thyself’ entails an experiential revolution of spirit.
In Homoeopathic context what Hahnemann is trying to say that to know homoeopathy prove medicines on yourself only then you shall come to understand the power of Homoeopathy. To believe in Homoeopathy you would have to practice Homoeopathy carefully as laid down by the master himself in The Organon (swayam se jano)and above all to do so physician know yourself (Swayam ko jano).
For us students of The Organon, the proverbs from the ancient Egyptians Temples sum it best:
1. The first thing necessary in teaching is a master; the second is a pupil capable of carrying on the tradition.
2. Experience will show you, a Master can only point the way.
3. A pupil may show you by his own efforts how much he deserves to learn from you.
4. Routine and prejudice distort vision. Each man thinks his own horizon is the limit of the world.
5. There are two kinds of error: blind credulity and piecemeal criticism. Never believe a word without putting its truth to the test; discernment does not grow in laziness; and this faculty of discernment is indispensable to the Seeker. Sound skepticism is the necessary condition for good discernment; but piecemeal criticism is an error.
6. Knowledge as consciousness of reality.
7. Reality is the sum of the laws that govern nature and of the causes from which they flow.
8. By knowing one reaches belief.
9. By doing one gains conviction. When you know, dare. (from gnothi seaton to Aude Sapere)
10. All is within yourself. Know your most inward self and look for what corresponds with it in nature.
In the end I shall quote Alexender Pope who in a poem entitled An Essay on “Man,Episttle 2”, which begins
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is Man
