Inner Work

For the week of: June 25, 2001

Mirror, Mirror

The eyes are said to be the windows of the soul. A mirror can be a window into our attachments. When we look into mirror, what do we see? Obviously we see our body, our primary and primal attachment. We identify quite thoroughly with our body. We see our body in the mirror and without doubt we know that it is us. “Yep, that’s me.” We never even suspect the truth that we are not our body. Our real Self inhabits this body, but is not identical with it. Yet the mirror mesmerizes us: “that’s me.”

Having cognized our body in the mirror, the reactions proliferate. Perhaps we like what we see. We start to feel proud, preening under the spell of our vanity. Perhaps we dislike what we see. We start to criticize, noting with hope what we want to change, noting with despair what we cannot change, noting with fear the changes due to aging, trying to hide what we deem needs hiding, and adorning our body to enhance the view.

Our body changes every day, as does our response to the mirror. But something in us, the kernel of who we are, transcends time and does not change. For this week, whenever you look at a mirror, let it be a reminder to awaken to self-awareness, to awareness of how you feel in response to seeing your body in the mirror, awareness of your identification with your body, and awareness of your inmost self who looks at your body but is not your body. Use the mirror as much as you normally would, neither avoiding it nor gazing longer than usual. But be aware of your inside as you view your outside.

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