Picture this: you close your eyes and see yourself, not in a real mirror, but as an inner image in front of you, without judging it and without comparing it with anything. The mirror-image meditation is built around this image. It combines deep physical relaxation with the experience of looking at yourself without a filter. In this article I'd like to describe the idea behind it and explain why the mirror has such a special meaning in Japan.
What the mirror-image meditation is about 鏡像
The basic form is simple and doesn't need any special place, equipment or previous knowledge. You sit in a comfortable meditation posture, close your eyes and imagine seeing yourself in an inner mirror. Some people see a clear image, others only an outline or a feeling, and both are fine.
Of course thoughts come up as soon as you look at yourself, such as judgments, memories or plans. That is completely normal. You can think of them as clouds drifting across the mirror. They don't change what the mirror shows. Then the physical relaxation is added, from the crown of the head down to the feet, a bit like the body scan. The difference is that you also notice how your mirror image changes while your body relaxes. The meditation in detail, with all its variations, is something we practice together in the community.
Why a mirror? 鏡
The mirror has a long history in Japanese spirituality. The sacred mirror Yata no kagami 八咫鏡 is one of the three imperial regalia of Japan, and in Shintō the mirror stands for truthfulness, because it shows what is, without adding or leaving out anything. In many shrines you'll find a mirror on the altar.
In esoteric Buddhism there is the great mirror wisdom (jap.: daienkyōchi 大円鏡智), literally the "wisdom like a great round mirror". It is one of the five wisdoms of the Great Sun Buddha Dainichi Nyorai. Put simply, it describes a mind so clear that it reflects everything as it is, without distorting it. In my book on the Reiki symbols I describe how the perfect form of the circle, and also the full moon, stand for this mirror-like wisdom.
When you look at your own image in the mirror-image meditation, you practice something similar on a small scale: perceiving without distorting. You see yourself without immediately trying to change yourself, you notice tension without fighting it, and you notice thoughts without following them. That sounds passive, but it actually takes a certain strength to simply let yourself be as you are.
Being free instead of adapting 自在
Most relaxation methods are about bringing you down: less stress and less tension. That's useful, but for me it isn't everything. The Japanese word jizai 自在 describes another aspect. It is made of 自 "self" and 在 "to be", and it means being free and at ease. You find it in Kanjizai, an old name of the Bodhisattva of compassion Kannon, "the one who sees freely".
In the meditation you notice this aspect especially when thoughts come up. Many of them aren't really your own, but voices of parents, colleagues or social expectations. The mirror helps you to recognize them, not to analyze them, but simply to notice that they aren't you, and then to come back to your own image. For many people, and especially for highly sensitive people, this can be a real relief.
The mirror-image meditation goes well together with the 108 breath meditation. When the mind has become calm through counting the breath, the inner image is often much clearer.
What do you think you would see if you looked into such an inner mirror today?
Discover the whole path
The mirror-image meditation is the beginning. In Shingon Reiki it opens doors that reach far beyond relaxation. Find the entry point that fits you.
Your Path in Shingon Reiki Body Scan Meditation