CLEANSE THE MIRROR OF YOUR HEART AND YOU WILL SEE GOD.
–Neem Karoli Baba, in Ram Dass, Miracle of Love, 249
The heart-mind of the ordinary person is like a dirty and stained mirror. One needs to make a concerted effort at cutting away and polishing in order to completely eliminate the various defilements covering it. After such an effort, even the smallest speck of dust will easily be seen [upon the mirror’s surface], and brushing it off will require little effort…. Even before defilements are eliminated, there naturally will be small spots of clarity [on the mirror’s surface]. If dust or dirt falls upon such places, they certainly will be seen and easily can be brushed away. But when defilements are piled upon such dirt and dust, there comes a point when they can no longer be seen.
–Wang Yangming, in Philip J. Ivanhoe, Readings from the Lu-Wang School of Neo-Confucianism, 119
Bodhi originally has no tree,
The mirror also has no stand.
Buddha nature is always clean and pure;
Where is there room for dust?
–Hui-neng, in Phillip B, Yampolsky, The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, 132
The effect of erasing extraneous thoughts for such long periods is highly beneficial. Vast accumulations of ego-centered thinking, petty cares and real anxieties are obliterated. Freed from this burden, the mind becomes clear and bright like a mirror from which mist and dust have been lovingly rubbed away. No wonder such sessions are effective in promoting realization of reality’s true face—Mind!
–John Blofeld, Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin, 133
