Original Eastern Dialogue Parables – The Mirror Without a Face
The monastery was known for one peculiar thing. Hidden inside the meditation hall stood an ancient mirror. Pilgrims traveled for months just to see it. Some claimed the mirror revealed one’s true nature. Others insisted it reflected enlightenment itself. Many left disappointed.
One spring morning, a young monk approached the abbot. “Master, today I wish to see the famous mirror.” The old man nodded. “Then come.” They entered the silent hall. The mirror stood taller than a man, framed in weathered cedar, polished so perfectly that it seemed almost invisible.
The monk stepped before it. He frowned. “I see only myself.” The abbot smiled. “So you do.” The monk adjusted his robes. He straightened his posture. He softened his expression. Still, it was only his own reflection.
“This cannot be the famous mirror.”
“It is.”
“But everyone says it reveals the truth.”
“It does.”
The monk stared harder. Minutes became an hour. He searched every corner of the glass. He looked for hidden symbols, secret images, signs of enlightenment. Nothing appeared. Frustrated, he finally turned away.
“It shows me nothing.”
The abbot quietly asked, “Who is this ‘me’ that keeps looking?” The question lingered in the stillness. The monk opened his mouth to answer. No words came. He looked back toward the mirror. For a brief moment, he forgot to search. He simply looked.
The face remained. The eyes remained. The body remained. But the one trying to become someone…was nowhere to be found.
The hall seemed impossibly quiet. The monk laughed. Not because he had discovered something new—but because he suddenly realized there had never been anyone standing between himself and the mirror.
As they walked outside, the monk asked, “Master, why do people travel so far to see this mirror?”
The old man chuckled. “They don’t.” “They travel to see themselves.”
“And do they?”
“Only after they stop looking.”
Years later, the young monk became the keeper of the meditation hall. Pilgrims still crossed mountains to see the ancient mirror. Every visitor asked the same question. “Is this the mirror that reveals enlightenment?”
The old monk would smile and reply,
“No. It only removes what was never there.”
Reflection
Who is it that has been searching all this time?
