Melong

File:Melong Dorje.jpg

Drubthob Melong Dorje (1243-1303), a lineage holder of the Vima Nyingtik, depicted wearing a mirror hanging from his neck

(Tibetan: Template:Bo-textonly, Wylie: me long; Template:Langx) is a Tibetan term that means "mirror", "looking glass". The is a Template:Linktext symbol, divine attribute, and quality of the enlightened mindstream or .

You should look in the mirror and see your being and how it seems to be. Just actually looking into your natural condition. Through that you start to see your Buddhaform in its entirety.

Meaning and significance

The mirror is an ancient symbol throughout Indian religions. In Tibetan iconography it may be understood as a symbol of emptiness () and pure () consciousness.Template:Sfnp The mirror is often depicted as an accoutrementTemplate:Efn of the hagiographical 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 .

Mahayana

The mirror is part of the iconography of Akshobhya, one of the Five Tathagatas, who is the embodiment of "Mirror-like Awareness" (Template:Langx,Template:Sfnp which is "devoid of all dualistic thought and ever united with its 'content' as a mirror is with its reflections";Template:SfnpTemplate:Efn This type of wisdom is a transformation of the eighth consciousness, the Alayavijnana.

Vajrayana

The mirror may be engaged in the advanced Tantric of the . As the mirror, so the mind. The mirror as the mind, following Yogacara, reflects quality and form, though it is not directly altered and is 'beyond all attributes and qualities' ().

In an essay accompanying the curatorial notes of an exhibition for the c. Template:Trim xylograph on silk entitled Offerings to Mahakala, which depicts an 'array of ritual offerings'Template:Efn to the Mahakala, Sawyer notes the importance of 'mirror' iconography to the :

The looking glass/mirror (T. me-long, Skt. adarsa), which represents the dharmakaya or Truth Body, having the aspects of purity (a mirror is clear of pollution) and wisdom (a mirror reflects all phenomena without distinction).Template:Sfnp

Dzogchen

The mirror motif is pervasive throughout Buddhist literatureTemplate:Sfnp and is important to traditions of Dzogchen, representing the ground or base.Template:Sfnp Namkhai Norbu (1938–2018) writes that the term base denotes "the fundamental ground of existence, both at the universal level and at the level of the individual, the two being essentially the same." This base is "uncreated, ever pure and, self-perfected, it is not something that has to be constructed," however it "remains hidden to the experience of every being affected by the illusion of dualism."Template:Sfnp Jean Luc-Achard defines the basis as "the actual, authentic abiding mode of the Mind."Template:Sfnp According to Achard, Dzogchen tantras define the basis as "Great Primordial Purity" (ka dag chen po). The Tantra of the Beautiful Auspiciousness (bKra shis mdzes ldan gyi rgyud) defines this as "the state abiding before authentic Buddhas arose and before impure sentient beings appeared."Template:Sfnp

Namkhai Norbu relates that the metaphor of the mirror reflects the trifold nature of the base:

• The essence, or 'fundamental voidness' of the base, which cannot be changed, just as a mirror is not changed by the reflections it enfolds;
• The nature of the base is 'to manifest', just as a mirror must reflect whatever is before it, without judging the content;
• The energy of the base, or dang, refers to how the 'world around us' arises due to the delusion known as 'karmic vision'; just as a mirror faithfully reflects any content, dang "has the capacity to adopt any form".Template:Sfnp

A number of texts use the mirror motif in their title, such as The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva (Tibetan: Template:Bo-textonly, Wylie: rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long) which is one of the Seventeen Tantras of the Upadesha.

See also

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References

Works cited

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