Mirror

A mirror is a thing in which we can see ourselves. The reflection in the mirror can tell us something about ourselves. And it is always said that the mind is comparable to the mirror whose reflection can tell us what we are and who we are. The reflection is comparable to experience, which is regarded as knowledge. It is also said that we should not attach to knowledge because it gives rise to arrogance.

Arrogance is a stumbling block to real knowledge so we must break the mirror or let go to be free of attachment to knowledge, don’t form opinions about what you know; as is illustrated in this story, the mirror. Here is the story;

There was a young man who wanted to see his face. But at that time, it was very hard to find a mirror. “To see your face, you have to find a mirror”, someone told him, so he went in search of a mirror. While he was searching for the mirror, he got to the hut which an old man owned. With tiredness and thirst, he thought that he would take a rest, and ask for some water to drink. He did that and the old man was kind enough to give him a glass of water. After a while, he felt better and was asked by the old man, “Why do you come here?” He told the old one the aim of his trip. The old man said, “I have a piece of it. Would you like to see it?” The young man said excitedly, “Yes sir, please show me, I would like to see my face”.

Then the old man showed him a small piece of mirror. The young man had a look in the mirror and saw his face. One thing interested him when he looked in the mirror; it was not his face. But was it because the piece of mirror, it was so small? He asked the old man about that. He told him, “It is small because I broke it”. “What did you break it, sir?”, the young man asked. He answered him, “Because I was very proud of myself and started to attach to myself. Then I realised that it was because of the mirror so I destroyed it. That is why it is so small like this. Young man, to know, and attach to what you know is not good”. The young man nodded his head to show that he had understood.

It is true what the old man said, “Young man, to know and attach to what you know is not good”. If we hold on to things we know, we form an ego ‘I know something’. When we repeat it again and again, it will become bigger and bigger so that it overwhelms us. We have to break it as the old man broke the mirror into pieces. To destroy an ego is the right thing to do because it causes a lot of problems to mankind. See it and break it.