@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 @ericlinuskaplan
For instance, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra understands the mirror in multiple contexts, one of them being the insubstantiality of all phenomena, including the practices one undertakes on the path, and another the capacity to reflect and illuminate all phenomena.
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Replying to @NoaidiX @ericlinuskaplan
Continued: The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra explicitly liken the activity of consciousness to a mirror reflecting images, while the Śūraṅgama Sūtra uses the mirror metaphor to depict the fundamentally pure mind free of discrimination.
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Replying to @NoaidiX @ericlinuskaplan
I resonate most with the range of metaphors invoked by the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, which also compares the Buddha's purification of beings (instantaneous, culminating in non-discrimination and imagelessness) to a mirror reflecting images indiscriminately/instantaneously.
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Replying to @NoaidiX @ericlinuskaplan
One more which I have open next to me for a direct quote is the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra: the "determination for enlightenment" (bodhicitta|菩提心, literally "awakened mind," often portrayed as compassionate resolve) "is like a mirror, showing the reflection of all ways into truth."
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Replying to @NoaidiX
nice! thanks! that's a good one. I'm not familiar with that sutra.
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It's included near the end of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra but circulated independently and is one of only two chapters preserved in Sanskrit!
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