Heart Mirror Gazing

Greetings Friends,

I have a deep love and appreciation for the wonderment and creativity of this life. It’s un-pin-down-able, slippery, un-define-able—like a water color painting that continuously repaints itself.

One story from the Zen tradition that has always helped me stay awake to amazement and in courtship with the great mystery is the Zen Mirror of Tokeiji.

A partial-telling of which can be found in Case 34 of the Hidden Lamp.

The convent of Tokeiji had a great mirror. The founding abbess, Kakuzan Shido, would meditate before it in order to “see into her own nature.” Later generations of nuns would practice zazen in front of the mirror, concentrating on the question: “Where is a single feeling, a single thought, in the mirror image at which I gaze?” Each abbess of Tokeiji wrote a verse in response to the mirror practice. The following verse was composed by the fifth abbess Princess Yodo:

Heart unclouded, heart clouded;

standing or falling, it is still the same body.

When I was first introduced to this story it was during a silent meditation retreat, and we were invited to sit as this great mirror in the mirror hall. The invitation to be a mirror was a powerful pointing out instruction for me.

In the invitation to be a mirror, I glimpsed the mirror-like-nature of Mind.

The aspect of Being that is clear, open and all-inclusive.

The reflections of mind, body and heart danced inside this mirror together with the reflections of other bodies, the floorboards and the sound of the birds. The Heart-Mirror didn’t have preference for any of it, allowing pain to co-mingle with ecstasy, judgment to merge with the electrical hum and blowing wind. I was all of it— nothing left out.

In a strange unfolding of circumstances I inherited an old mirror from one of the deceased residents at the assisted-living facility I was working at while still in training at Great Vow. I started practicing mirror-gazing in my small dorm room, the old mirror propped up against my cubicle-board wall.

Since inheriting that old mirror the practice of mirror gazing has continued to evolve in my life, practice and teaching. In 2020 Jogen Sensei and I led a sesshin where we took up the Mirror practice of Tokeiji—encouraging participants to gaze at their own face in the round mirrors we taped to the backs of chairs.

The practice of mirror-gazing is much like the practice of zazen, in that it opens as we stay with it. Although often non-linear many people find in both seated meditation and in mirror-gazing that they move through various stages in the practice.

Below is a sampling of some of the phases of practice people often move through in both mirror-gazing and seated meditation. In both practices we endeavor to stay in present moment experience, in mirror-gazing we take the mirror as our support for meditation, in zazen the support may be breath, sound, the felt sense of the body or some other aspect of the present moment.

* Meeting mind’s reactivity—we start to see all the ways the mind doesn’t want to stay, it flits here and there, gets caught in circles of judgment, resistance, planning. In mirror gazing we may meet the harsh critics who want to pick apart our faces.

* Settling—if we stay with the practice, continuing to come back to just seeing. We may start to experience our bodies and faces more like the mirror does— without reactivity or judgment simply seeing the color, textures, shapes of what is in front of it. We may even experience compassion, love, tenderness or simply equanimity for this face that looks back at us. This also happens in zazen, where peace and acceptance opens up for whatever experience we are having.

* Inquiry—As the thinking mind settles and space opens up curiosity can be engaged with. The women of Tokeiji practiced with the breakthrough koan: Where is there a single feeling, a single thought in this mirror image which I gaze? Is this reflection thinking? Does this reflection have feelings? Where are the thoughts that you are aware of? The feelings? Are they too reflections in this great mirror of awareness?

* Mirror Awareness—whether mirror gazing or practicing zazen sometimes we wake-up to the mirror-like quality of awareness itself. In mirror-gazing it can happen when we notice the clarity and spaciousness of the mirror itself. Our Mind’s are like this clear and open mirror.

Every woman who came to train at Tokeiji practiced mirror gazing, and would write a poem expressing the insights that came through from engaging with this practice. The poems of the women who became abbess became part of an emerging koan curriculum unique to this temple.

Below are three poems from the Abbesses. The nuns living at Tokeiji would meditate on their poems and then would be asked to demonstrate their understanding without using words, but through their bodies.

The poem of the sixth teacher, Ninbo:

Even without any mirror to reflect the things,Every time one looks, there is a mirror reflecting them in theHeart.

The poem of the third teacher, Shotaku

As night falls, no more reflections in the mirror,Yet in this heart they are clearly seen.

Poem of the seventh teacher Ryodo

If one asks where the reflections in the pure mirror go whenthey vanish,Do you declare their hiding-place?

Listen to the Dharma Talk for a more in-depth exploration of this story. I share some reflections from the commentary in the Hidden Lamp, by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel and also some from Ruth Ozeki’s book The Face: A Time-Code.

If you take up the practice of mirror-gazing or sitting as a mirror, I would love to hear your reflections or feel free to share your own mirror-poem.

I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha.

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