Mirrors
I was driving home from my trip driving through the New England states and I heard a song on the radio which really impressed me. The title of the song is No Mirrors In My Nana’s House by Ysaye Maria Barnwell. The song is about a young girl growing up in her grandmother’s house where there were no mirrors.
Every day the girl saw the beauty in her grandmother’s eyes. She never knew that her skin was too dark, or her clothes didn’t fit. The young girl only knew herself through the beauty her grandmother saw in her.
Imagine your life if you did not see in the mirror every day the faults we see that limit our joy. Imagine if you didn’t see yourself as too fat, or too skinny, or too poor, or not pretty, or not stylish enough. Imagine if you only saw the beauty that is at the depths of your life. Imagine if you could see first the Buddha in your life before you saw all the little things we normally use to judge ourselves by.
“Although he has not yet obtained the wonderful body of the Bodhisattva who knows the nature of the Dharma without-asravas, he will be able to have all these things reflected on his pure and natural body.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XIX)
Whether we can see it or not and whether or not we think it is there, our life already reflects, it already manifests the life of the Buddha. But it is possible for us to tell ourselves, to convince ourselves that we are not as we truly are.
We see the distortions reflected back to us via the mirror of society and are unable to see ourselves reflected in the mirror of Buddhism.
In Nichiren Buddhism we talk about polishing our mirror. The mirror we are trying to polish is the mirror that most truly reflects our Buddha life. When we are deceived by false images of ourselves we are misled into thinking that we are not worthy or incapable of manifesting such a great and wondrous thing as enlightenment.
“Just as a reflection is seen in a clear mirror, all things in the world will be reflected on the pure body of this person, that is, of this Bodhisattva. No one but he will be able to see all things clearly.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter XIX)
Chant every day so that the true mirror of enlightenment is clear and you can see the Buddha reflected back to you as you look at yourself.
