The Mirror

Mirrors have a great deal of spiritual significance - at least metaphorically. Imam 'Aly ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him and his family) was once noted to have said that "remembrance of God (Zikr) is like polish for the heart." Why would we polish our hearts? So that we can reflect better.

The spiritual self is often compared to a mirror. The cleaner it is, the better the individual, the purer one is. However, there is another way of looking at the mirror of the self.

A mirror reflects an image. This image does not exist as substance or matter. Therefore, the internal aspect of a mirror is in it's non-existence. What a mirror reflects is non-existent. It is perceived, it reflects reality, but in and of itself, it does not have a being. If a mirror were to be focused upon emptiness, it would reflect only emptiness.

Our spiritual mirrors reflect our own selves, our own being is reflected in the mirror of the self. What happens when the self disappears? What happens when all we leave is the mirror?

Rumi argues in his Masnavi that since "Not-being is the mirror of Being, [...] a wise person would choose their own self to be Not-being (self-abnegation)." This would mean that Being would be displayed in that Not-being.

Complicated... What does this mean? Not-being in this sense would be to forego the self, when an individual ceases to be an individual, they are infused with the rest of creation. To quote, "Not-being and Defect, wherever they occur, are the mirrors of the Beauty of all beings. [...] Defects are the mirrors of the attributes of Beauty [...] because one contrary shows forth its contrary." Rumi is saying that no individual, no matter how pious is perfect. The belief in self-perfection is a path which leads to only pain.

When we understand that our existence and our faults are actually the reflection of the Divine things become more clear. Our faults, our defects, serve to mirror and showcase the attributes of the Divine. Our clear mirror, when it reflects only it's defects and not our own imaginary image is the closest we can get to understanding and "seeing" God. Only through examination of the unavoidable faults in each of us, do we have the opportunity to see the perfection of He Who has no faults. To get to this stage, we must first remove all the avoidable faults. We must cleanse the mirror, polish it's reflective surface and have it reflect... nothing.

Through the image of nothing, everything becomes clearer.