06/14/2026
“There are many intellectuals who constantly toy with rationalism, but in the end, what good does it do?
To be scholarly does not mean to be wise. Learned ignoramuses are as abundant as weeds. Not only do they not know, but they are not even aware they do not know.
Learned ignoramuses are those know-it-alls who believe they know everything and who indeed do not even know themselves.
We could theorize splendidly on the psychological I, but that is not exactly what interests us in this chapter.
We need to know ourselves directly as we are, without involving a depressing process of “options.”
This would in no way be possible unless we were to observe ourselves in action from instant to instant, from moment to moment.
This is not a matter of seeing ourselves through theories or by simple intellectual speculation.
We are interested in seeing ourselves directly as we are; this is the only way we will be able to gain true knowledge of ourselves.
Although it might seem incredible, we are mistaken with regard to ourselves.
Many things we believe we have, we do not have, and many things that we do not believe we have, we do.
We have formed false concepts about ourselves, and we must, therefore, do an inventory to find out what we have too much of and what we lack.
We assume that we have such and such qualities, which indeed we do not, and we are surely ignorant of many virtues that we do possess.
We are asleep, unconscious, and that is very
serious. Unfortunately, we think the best of ourselves and never even suspect that we are asleep.”
V. M. Samael Aun Weor
Excerpt from “The Great Rebellion”, Ch. “The Psychological I”