True Self-Awareness: Embracing Love and Confronting Fear
Self-awareness and the understanding of the soul are closely linked to the quality of our self-love and the ability to live without paralyzing fear. As the cited texts show, proper self-love is not an egotistical fulfillment of selfish norms but rather the execution of moral commandments and a virtuous attitude toward oneself, combined with care for one’s neighbor. In one of the sources it is stated:"Proper self-love lies in fulfilling the life-giving commandments of Christ: this is love, let us walk in His commandments, said Saint John the Theologian. If you do not become angry or nurse grudges—you love yourself. If you do not curse or lie—you love yourself. If you do not hurt, steal, or take revenge; if you are patient with your neighbor, meek, and free from malice—you love yourself. If you bless those who curse you, do good for those who hate you, pray for those who harm you and persecute you, then you love yourself; you are a child of the Heavenly Father, whose sun shines on the wicked and the good alike, who sends His rains to both the righteous and the unrighteous." (source: link txt)This concept asserts that true self-awareness arises when we clearly understand our duties toward ourselves and others, making self-love the firm foundation of the human soul.Furthermore, the idea of “understanding love” is highlighted in the comprehension of the soul—a manifestation of inner enlightenment where love is seen not merely as an emotion but as the profound realization of self-identity through understanding. As noted in another source:"Understanding love, amor intellectualis [...] — is, according to Spinoza, the happy fulfillment of a person in the very nature of his soul, the first and last aspect that defines a human being. Therefore, at the end of Spinoza’s 'Ethics'... understanding love is 'the nature of the soul'." (source: link txt)Here, love is considered the essence of the soul’s existence—a deep intellectual and spiritual comprehension of oneself that forms the basis of self-awareness.The absence of fear, in turn, reveals our capacity to acknowledge the inevitability of change and to embrace life without the illusory protection from future harm. One source analyzes the nature of fear as follows:"For we fear losing much of that which we love and possess, and therefore we guard it with fear. Yet no one can protect the absence of fear while being afraid. Similarly, anyone who loves the absence of fear and does not yet have it, but hopes to, should not fear that they will not achieve it. For this fear only intimidates—nothing but fear itself. Since every fear avoids something, and nothing avoids itself, fear cannot be eliminated. But if anyone decides that it is wrongly stated that fear is afraid of something, for rather the soul is afraid of fear itself, then let them note this, which is easy to understand: there is no fear except when facing impending and inevitable evil."(source: link txt)This perspective emphasizes that fear stems from our attempts to hold onto what we value, and its relentless recurrence indicates that true freedom of the soul and self-awareness are impossible if we remain captive to the inevitable. Liberating ourselves from such fear enables us to delve deeper into understanding our nature and to align ourselves with love, which is the foundation of our spiritual existence.Thus, self-love in this context is not merely a feeling of satisfaction but an active pursuit of a life in line with profound moral principles, reflecting true self-awareness and the essence of the soul. The absence of fear, in turn, allows us to break free from the ego’s defensive mechanisms and paves the way for the complete realization of our inner self and the understanding of our destiny without the limitations imposed by the fear of inevitable evil.