(; sa, ādarśa, darpaṇa, italic=yes) is a Tibetan term that means "mirror", "looking glass". The is a symbol, divine attribute, and quality of the enlightened

mindstream Mindstream (''citta-santāna'') in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: ''saṃtāna'') of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another. Definition ' (Sanskri ...

or .

Meaning and significance

The mirror is an ancient symbol throughout Indian religions. In Indian iconography it may be understood as a symbol for clarity, wholesome or complete perception, and 'primordial purity' () of the mindstream or consciousness. The mirror is often depicted as an

accoutrement Accoutrements are the personal/individual equipment of service people such as soldiers, sailors, police and firemen and employees of some private organizations such as security guards, other than their basic uniform and weapons.In American English ...

of the

hagiographical A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies mig ...

signification of fully realised , , and . The mirror may be understood as a quality of the mindstream that denotes perceiving experience as it is without obscuration formed by , etc.

Tantric Buddhism

The mirror may be engaged in the advanced Tantric of the . As the mirror, so the mind. The mirror ''as'' the mind, following

Yogacara Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through ...

, reflects quality and form, though it is not directly altered and is 'beyond all attributes and qualities' (). In an essay accompanying the

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

ial notes of an exhibition for the

xylograph Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

on silk entitled ''Offerings to Mahakala'', which depicts an 'array of ritual offerings' to the

Mahakala Mahākāla is a deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is regarded as the sacred '' Dharmapāla'' ("Protector of the Dharma"), while in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and th ...

, Sawyer notes the importance of 'mirror' iconography to the : The mirror motif is pervasive throughout Buddhist literature and is important to traditions of Dzogchen. A number of texts use the mirror motif in their title, such as ''

The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva () is numbered amongst the 'Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde' () within Dzogchen discourse and is part of the textual support for the Vima Nyingtik. The ''Continuum of Vajrasattva's Heart-Mirror'' conveys ...

'' () which is one of the

Seventeen Tantras The ''Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series'' () or the ''Seventeen tantras of the Ancients'' (''rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun'') are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the c ...

of the Upadesha.

Akshobhya

The mirror is part of the iconography of

Akshobhya Akshobhya ( sa, अक्षोभ्य, ''Akṣobhya'', "Immovable One"; ) is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, a product of the Adibuddha, who represents consciousness as an aspect of reality. By convention he is located in the east of the ...

, one of the

Five Tathagatas 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

, who is the embodiment of ' mirror knowledge' ( sa, ādarśa-jñāna, italic=yes; refer ).

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * (Print) (Online) *

External links

* {{URL2, http://www.tsegyalgar.org/mirror/, The Mirror - newspaper of the International Dzogchen Community established by

Namkhai Norbu Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, par ...

Dzogchen Mirrors Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan words and phrases