The wise man beholds all beings in the Self,
and the Self in all beings;
for that reason he does not hate anyone.

To the seer, all things have verily become the Self.

What delusion, what sorrow, can there be
for him who beholds that oneness?


Isa-Upanishad, Verse 6-7
(Translated by Swami Nikhilananda)
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I got into a minor argument with someone recently, and in the heat of the moment I could recognize how our frustrations mirrored one another. Each saw the other as stubborn in their ways, and the discussion was going in circles. I hate interactions like this, but they’re important to reflect back traits about yourself, or perhaps repeating stories from childhood. In this one I could feel a trigger from a parental relationship bubbling up from adolescence. Fortunately, in this case, this person and I could agree to disagree and end the conversation with love and respect. It was not so much the case back then.

Anyway, I’ve scratched the surface reading stoic philosophy over the years, and I believe in the importance of being in control of your emotions, but there are still times when I allow mine to get the best of me. Whenever this occurs, I immediately try to dig into why it happened and resolve the underlying issue that lingers beneath the surface. This practice has allowed me to mature from the state of a leaf in the wind toward that of an immovable stone. I’m not quite there yet, but it’s the recognition when it happens and ability to reflect upon it that’s important.

I’ve seen this concept of others providing a mirror for what you love and hate in yourself floating around as new age internet memes, but here we can see the concept dates back thousands of years.

I strive to be this seer of self in others and others in self, and hope to one day be the wise man who feels no anger, no sorrow, no delusion arise. The realization of oneness melts away the sense of diversity and therefore the cause of misery along with it. For as Eknath Easwaran translates the last line above to, “How can the multiplicity of life delude the one who sees its unity?”