Parable of Narcissus: the myth of falling in love

You must have heard the parable of Narcissus.  He had fallen in love with himself.  Looking into a silent pool of water, he fell in love with his own reflection. - “Love, Freedom, Aloness”, Osho

“Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection - not with himself.  That is not true self-love.  He fell in love with the reflection; the reflection is the other.  He had become two, he had become divided.  Narcissus was split.  He was in a kind of schizophrenia.  He had become two - the lover and the loved.  He had become his own object of love - and that’s what happens to so many people who think they are in love.”  This is how Osho reminds us about what we think we fall in love with somebody. 

The Magic of Narcissus

We are all Narcissus, the story is actually an analogy for us all.  For our self reflection, it is how we think we are and what we think we want to be.   Just like Narcissus, we have the “magic” of spliting ourselves and projecting out our self reflection. 

Love of Narcissus

When we fall in love with somebody, just like Narcissus looking at his own image reflected in the water (an analogy of our mind), we project our self reflections to our beloved ones.  Narcissus fell in love with his own image, and it is our self reflection that we fall in love with.  To love somebody, turns into the fulfilling of the love to ourselves. 

We take one step further than Narcissus, we do not only ask our beloved ones to fit in our self reflection, we ask them to become our self reflection in this materialistic world (how romantic this is!).  That’s why we have so many expectations on our beloved ones and we experience so many frustrations in love.

Love, in this form, is a kind of “selfish” love, not love for others.  Don’t blame our beloved ones for failing our expectations and bringing us the frustrations, it is our selfish love that makes us unsatisfied.  The myth of Narcissus, is a reminder for us all.

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