@NoaidiX where in the sutras is the Buddha compared metaphorically to a mirror?
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Replying to @ericlinuskaplan
I've not seen the Buddha himself compared metaphorically to a mirror, but his wisdom surely is (e.g., [mahā-]ādarśana-jñāna, [大]圓鏡智) and this wisdom is within the capacity of all beings to uncover in themselves.
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Replying to @NoaidiX @ericlinuskaplan
The mirror is more commonly invoked as a metaphor for insubstantiality (i.e., the images reflected in a mirror are not real) such as in the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa/Sūtra and Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, but also to depict a mind capable of clearly reflecting phenomena as they are.
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Replying to @NoaidiX
cool. I recalled that the Buddha himself was compared to a mirror -- that if you talk to him you get what is actually going on with you reflected back at you. No?
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Replying to @ericlinuskaplan
That sounds like a Pure Land school interpretation, an experience evoked by 念佛, calling to mind the Buddha through recitation of the Buddha's name. The Chan school also likens the Buddha to a mirror, reflecting one's own nature, but these aren't directly sūtra-based metaphors.
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While not a sūtra, in the Zongjinglu (宗鏡録), Chan master Yongming Yanshou advises his audience to take the Buddha as a mirror (以佛為鑑) — not an actual mirror (鏡), but as a mirror-like example (鑑).
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