Tuedsay's Principle

The Second Principle: Through the mirror of relationships I discover my nonlocal self.

Sutra: Tat Tvam Asi (taht t'vahm AH-see)

Meaning: I see the other in myself and myself in others.

The sutra for this principle mans "I am that." This principle builds on the first principle, in which we learned that we are all extensions of the universal energy field, all a single entity with different points of view. I am that involves looking at everything in the world, everyone else in the world, and realizing that you are looking at another version of yourself. You and I are the same. Everything is the same. I am that, you are that, all this is that. We are all mirrors for others, and we need to learn to see ourselves in the reflection of other people. This is called the mirror of relationship. When I look around me, everything I see is an expression of myself.

Through the mirror of relationship - all relationships- we discover extended states of awareness. Those whom we love and those whom we are repelled by are both mirrors of ourselves.


Who are we attracted to? People who have the same traits as we have, but more so. We want to be in their company because subconsciously we feel that by doing so we, too, might manifest more of those traits as well. By the same token we are repelled by people who reflect back to us traits that we deny in our own selves. So if you are having a strong negative reaction to someone, you can be sure that they possess some traits in common with you, traits that you are not willing to embrace. If you were willing to accept those qualities, then they wouldn't upset you.

When we can see into the mirror of relationship, then we can begin to see all of our selves. To do this, we need to be comfortable with our ambiguity, to embrace all aspects of ourselves. At a deep level we need to recognize that we are not flawed simply because we have negative traits. No one has only positive traits. Recognizing that we have negative traits simply means that we are complete. And in that completeness we gain greater access to our universal, nonlocal selves.

When we are willing to embrace both the light and the dark sides of our selves, we can begin to heal both our selves and our relationships. We are all multidimensional, omnidimensional. Everything that exists somewhere in the world also exists in us. When we embrace these different aspects of ourselves, we acknowledge our connection to the universal consciousness and expand our personal awareness.

read the sutra exercise for today