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[ Dhamma Talk ]
I have come across an insight into the Mirror Image which was very helpful. I did so while "site-seeing" and it was not until a couple of days later that persistant recollection of the idea caused me to pay enough attention to it to see it's value.[1] The simile of the mirror is found several times in the suttas. One in particular speaks about examining one's self thoroughly for faults before bringing the faults of others to their attention. I have always considered the idea of the Mirror in terms of the reflective properties of the mirror (as above, so below; the outer environment that is subjectively perceived being a reflection of the inner state of mind; etc.) but this teacher saw in the image the impassivity of the mirror as the important factor: the mirror reflects without interaction. Everything looks the same but there is no "subjective dimension."
My experience when dealing with the Teachings of the Buddha is that every possibility needs to be kept in mind; that at least very often if not always, multiple possibilities were intended.
Here we can see the case where using the combined image could be very useful in rooting out subjective reactions based on notions of self.
For example, take the situation where there is a person there that is habitually lying, stealing and harming living beings, where one is continuously thinking: "Why is this person doing this? This person is injuring me, but that is not important, what is important is that they are injuring both self and others. This person needs to stop doing this," and further, when instructed as to their own good, they do not listen, remember and alter their patterns of behavior, and one gets angry and upset.
So then in this case, using the simile of the mirror in both ways, we would see: This person's behavior can injure "me" and "others" and "themselves" only in-so-far as these individualities are holding on to the idea of self; otherwise what is happening there is simply alterations in the perception of the material of the world (the mirror as the impassive reflection). What is happening here that is upsetting to "me" is based on my identification with a "self" which concept requires the existance of "others" and this person's behavior is threatening to shatter that delusion and I am reacting to my own disadvantage in that this is a delusion that has beneficial results when shattered (using the mirror as a reflective device).
Thus...um...reflecting in this way he sees: "In reacting in this way I am in effect perpetuating my own self-deception (lying), depriving myself of benefits (stealing), and injuring myself! This behavior in this "other" that I am reacting to is just a reflection of my own behavior! My concerns just concerns for myself! This concern is misdirected when directed outwardly and should be directed at correcting this unskillful posture and behavior in myself! And, additionally, this misdirected concern is an embarassment, shameful, unworthy of an aristocrat, something to be got rid of by me.
[1]See: The Fundamentsls of Meditation Practice, by Ting Chen, translated by Dharma Master Lok To (another of my teachers). I have put it on the Downloads Page. The Reference is on page 12.
I think it is important to mention that while there are certainly things in the various schools of Buddhism with which one can strongly disagree (such as the practice of taking the Bhodisatva vows, or the idea of renouncing Nibbana), the fact is that there are teachers in these various systems who have developed or discovered or remembered or have had passed along to them some extremely valuable and effective techniques and insights. We should be like the bee: let the flower go and retain the pollen.
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