The Magic Mirror

The Magic Mirror

“Would the Gods the gift to give us, to see ourselves as others see us.” ~ Robert Burns

Just like the buffers on trains that soften the jolt of one carriage into the next, so we too have ‘buffers’ that soften, if not completely conceal, our contradictions. Buffers conceal the reality that we do not remember ourselves, that we are not present.

Curiously, if you ask someone if they are remembering themselves, they will say ‘Yes’, and it will be true. But only for that one instance. The fact is, for most of the time, no-one remembers themselves.

We all see when someone has expressed a negative emotion or succumbed to a weakness. More often than not, a judgment occurs. ‘Oh that’s weak’ or ‘I can’t believe he acted like that!’ or, even more common, ‘I’d never say or do anything like that.’ Actually we do ‘say and do something like that’ all the time. We buffer it through laughter, judgment, a nervous scratch of the head. As if relinquishing the present moment was not enough, some buffers lead to unfortunate circumstances - dependence on alcohol or drugs. Some people buffer by becoming permanently dependent on the expression of negative emotions. At that point, conscious evolution is no longer possible.

At first it’s easier to see buffers in others. We are in fact, mirrors for each other. We all, more or less, contain the same mechanics and weaknesses. If we cannot observe them in ourselves, we will see them in others. By observing buffers in others, and internalizing the observation, this allows us to see the same in ourselves and thus become more objective about our condition.

“We are the mirror, as well as the face in it.” ~ Jalal al-Din Rumi