Narcissus looked into the water and fell in love with his own reflection, not realizing it was himself. His longing for the image consumed him until he drowned, falling into his own image in the water.
The story of Narcissus is not only about vanity —it is the drama of consciousness awakening to itself. The myth is often told as a warning against self-obsession, but its deeper meaning holds a higher truth. Narcissus symbolizes the soul’s reflection in consciousness – the moment the Self sees itself through the mirror of Creation.
The lower Narcissus is bound by image. It says, “I am this form, this name, this body.” It seeks and strives for validation, power, and admiration from reflection, forgetting that the reflection is its own light.
The higher Narcissus is awareness returning to its Source. It looks into the mirror not to cling to an image, but to recognize that all images arise within the same field of Being where the ego becomes the instrument of realization, not the obstruction.
In Advaita Vedānta, the seers said, “Aham Brahmāsmi” – I am Brahman. This is not pride; it is recognition. The “I Am” that once belonged to a person expands into the universal Self.
The Hermetic teaching, “As above, so below,” appearing as the human “I” below is a reflection of the cosmic “I” above. The Self experiences itself through countless mirrors — each being, each life, each act of awareness.
In Yeshua’s teachings, he states, “Before Abraham was, I Am,” showing us the timeless awareness that exists before name and form. This “I Am” is not personal — it is presence itself. It is the same awareness that, in the myth, looks through Narcissus’s eyes
and realizes that the reflection and the source are not two.
In Advaita Vedānta, this is expressed as “Aham Brahmāsmi” – “I am Brahman.” In both East and West, the truth is the same: there is only one “I Am,” appearing as many faces. The Divine recognizes itself through creation — each being a mirror, each reflection a doorway.
The ego says, “I am special.” The Christ-consciousness says, “I Am That.” The lower Narcissus worships the image. The higher Narcissus bows to the Light behind it. Yeshua did not speak of a man claiming divinity, but of divinity realizing itself in man.
The same current flows through every awakened soul —the recognition that the Source of all life breathes through this very awareness, here and now.
When Narcissus looks into the water and sees his own image, it is the same act as the Divine gazing into creation. The tragedy of the myth rewrites itself through a recognition that the gaze no longer traps; it liberates.
The Eternal Act is this awakening — when the reflection and the light are seen as one. The “I” that once sought power realizes it is power — not personal, but divine. Not lost in the mirror, it is the mirror itself, clear, still, and eternal.