THE MIRROR PERSON IS NOT YOU

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE MIRROR PERSON IS NOT YOU

Meditation is a transforming state of the interior, the “antakarana”. It is a transforming
activity of the active mind in order to take it beyond activity and to leave all activity behind and to
shift our consciousness from its confined ego-center into its source, into its original, eternal natural
center.
If you stand before a mirror, you see yourself inside the mirror. Now you have all your
attention fixed upon you within the mirror. You are not aware of the you standing outside of and in
front of the mirror. It is very strange. It goes by unnoticed, but this happens when any person stands
before a mirror in order to look into the mirror. At the time of looking at oneself in the mirror,
oneself is forgotten. One’s reality is forgotten! One is no more there, yet one is elsewhere where he
really isn’t! You are inside the mirror, but you are really not there. If you pass your hand behind the
mirror, you will find you are not there. This is the wonder. The consciousness leaves its actual
center and becomes transferred into the mirror. The mirror person is the real person, but the mirror
person is not the real person. That will be apparent if you consider that in the mirror person
everything is wrong. Your real right hand is the left hand of the mirror person and your left hand is
the right hand of the mirror person. If you have got a birthmark or a mole on the right side of your
nose or chin, the mirror person will have it on the left side. So you can find that the mirror person is
all wrong, full of error, full of mistakes. In one word, everything is upside-down, topsy-turvy,
inside-out.
That mirror person is therefore an illusion and a delusion. But this illusory/delusory,
topsy-turvy person is so powerful that as one stands and gazes one is oblivious of oneself and is
intent only upon the mirror person. The actual, factual you, the substantial you is, for the time being
forgotten, because the attention and the consciousness has been shifted. It is transferred to the
mirror person and the mirror person dominates the field of attention and the field of consciousness.
Your ego-center consciousness is your metaphysical mirror person, and the mirror is the
“antakarana”, your mind. The actual factual person is forgotten. It is that person who is being
reflected in the mirror. Why? Because the consciousness has been diverted and shifted from its real
inner, eternal natural center to this temporary appearance, the ego-center, and this will persist as
long as the mirror continues. If you want to get rid of that illusory mirror person, either you have to
move away from the mirror or take a stick and break the mirror. Either way the illusory person is no
more there. 

Meditation is the process of nullifying the mirror. Yogic scientists have discovered that the
mind does not exist apart from its activity as thought process. No thought, no mind. Thought
activity, mind. Thought activity is equal to mind. No thought is equal to no mind.
Once three friends were going for a walk on a clear, sunny day. Somewhere another person
had released a big balloon and it had gone straight up, up, up, high into the vast blue skies where it
was a tiny, almost invisible speck. Only when the sunlight was reflected upon it at a particular angle
did it appear in a flash, for amoment, and as the angle of the sun changed, it disappeared from view.
One of the friends perceived this far distant, tiny speck. He said, “Look at it! Look at it! It looks like
an orbiting satellite.” “Where? Where?” “There! There!” So they all stop in their tracks and look up
to where their friend is pointing. But now the friend himself, his attention having been diverted, has
lost it from sight so he also is trying to once again pick it up. After amoment or two, again he sees it.
“There it is!” The other two try to locate the spot where their friend is pointing, far, far up in the sky.
When they are thus trying to search out and locate the nearly invisible tiny speck, at that moment
they are not on this earth. The are not aware of themselves; neither age, nor sex, nor body, nor time,
nor space. All awareness is finished, lost, because the mind is at a standstill. The mind has gone out
through the eye and is completely concentrated and focused inside the eye. It is trying to find that
object. There is no thought. If one thought comes, they cannot see the object. It is a mindless,
thoughtless state. Time stops, and space does not exist. There is no consciousness of where they are,
because they are not there until the object is suddenly seen again. “Oh, yes, there it is.” Only then
are they aware of the I. Otherwise even the I is not there. So in that state, when there is a total
focusing of the attention elsewhere, far out, the mind comes to a complete standstill. There is no
“vritti”. There is no duality. There is neither this nor that, here nor there, now nor then. Everything
ceases and mind is devoid of content. It is only when the speck is again perceived that suddenly
content comes into the mind and then awareness comes: “I see”.
In the same way, when the attention is totally focused on the object of meditation within,
you come into a mindless state. Thought activity ceases. Meditation is an attempt to prolong and to
continue in this state. And what is that object? The object is that which is a symbol or that which
represents your natural eternal center of Being, Consciousness and Bliss, from which you have
uprooted and shifted your consciousness and transferred it to the ego-center. Thus personality is
created. You become the illusory/delusory here and now you. But in its pristine state, there is
neither here nor there, now nor then. There is just Being, and that Being is Bliss. That Being is
consciousness of bliss, therefore it is an unbroken stream of bliss experience. Meditation is
therefore a process aimed at putting an end to all mental activity, or of taking the consciousness
beyond mind activity into a state of pure Awareness. Either way, to rise into that state mind is a
support and help. Therefore you have to deal with the mind first, making it fit to be capable of lifting
up your consciousness. A gross mind is not fit. An agitated, distracted mind is not fit. A tamasic and
rajasic mind is not fit. An impure mind weighed down with many cravings and desires is not fit; not
fit in a technical sense, and not in an uncomplimentary or critical sense. When you pay a coin for a
purchase that you have made and the shopkeeper returns the coin saying, “I am sorry. This is no
good. It is a dud”, he is not accusing you of being dishonest. Neither is he blaming the government.
There is no negative implication or intent in the shopkeeper’s gesture or words. He merely says he
cannot keep it for it is not of any use to him. It cannot complete the bargain; no transaction can be
made. Therefore the coin has to be replaced. The only statement is the fact that this coin will not
work because it is not the right thing. So the shopkeeper returns the coin. In the same way, when you

say “mind is not fit”, it is a statement of fact, just to indicate that you have to work to make it fit. It
carries no sense of criticism nor of negative derogation, nor any unfavorable implication or
comment. It merely says that for this purpose the mind has to change its condition. For this purpose,
in its present condition, it will not work. If someone wants to put diesel oil in a petrol car by mistake
thinking it to be a diesel engine and someone says, “No, no, please. It won’t work. You need petrol”,
it is not an unfavorable aspersion cast upon diesel oil. Diesel oil is perfectly ok in a diesel car.
It is only a highly subtle, refined mindstuff that can engage in the specialized process of
taking the consciousness out of its ego-center, lifting it up and placing it back into its natural eternal
center of Satchidananda Consciousness. As it is mind itself which has to do it, so it requires a mind
refined through the patient persevering practice of all the principles and rules of Yoga: Yama,
Niyama, ethical standards, Yogic principles, moderation, self-control, sattvic qualities and virtues
such as forgiveness, tolerance, indifference to attractions, overcoming the pull of objects and
having an inner balance devoid of attraction or repulsions, an inner serenity and contentment. These
sattvic qualities begin to qualify the mind and fill your interior, and it assumes that state of sattva, or
purity, of refinement and subtleness where it is a fit instrument to engage in the process of
meditation. Thus when meditation is carried on, it transforms the inner content of your
consciousness from human to Divine Consciousness, from gross physical and psychological
consciousness to pure, spiritual consciousness.
From then onwards, meditation is of the spirit by the spirit. The individual no longer
meditates. The Self meditates upon the Over-Self. The “So and So” personality is once and for all
made to sit on the sidelines. It is no more in the center. It is made to retire. It is pensioned away and
the luminous spiritual consciousness of the seeking soul flows towards the vast, infinite Universal
Consciousness of Absolute Being. Then that perennial current of communication between the
individual and the Universal becomes the inner sadhana at all times, everywhere, in the midst of all
activity. Irrespective of what the mind is engaged in doing, irrespective of where the body is, this
unbroken flow of consciousness from individual towards the Universal continues. It becomes the
inner content and state of your consciousness. When that is reached, all other sadhana naturally,
automatically and effortlessly falls away and recedes into the background and this continuous state
of communion becomes the constant inner condition.
Meditation is therefore like the philosopher’s stone converting base metal into gold.
Meditation converts and transforms your human consciousness into Divine Consciousness. This is
the purpose and the objective of meditation. This is the inner “swarupa”, the nature of spiritual
meditation. It is not mental gymnastics. It is not forcing the mind to do something which it is
reluctant to do. In the beginning, certain mental gymnastics help in order to break the old habit
patterns of the mind. You make it go through the paces of a new activity meant to completely break
away from the old habit pattern of external, outgoing tendencies, of the constant thought of objects
and the constant shifting from one object to another. All these tendencies have to be overcome.
Therefore certain mental gymnastics or concentration exercises become necessary. They are to
bring the mind away from its old confirmed, habitual thought patterns. So they have their place and
importance, but only as a means to an end. Ultimately, meditation must become natural and
effortless. When aspiration takes over it does not leave any option for the mind. It does not ask the
mind, “Do you like to concentrate or do you not like to concentrate? Do you like to meditate or are
you displeased and is meditation distasteful to you?” It does not leave you any option. It does not 

question. For when spiritual aspiration takes over, you are consumed with the keen urge to
meditate. When such aspiration dominates, meditation becomes a natural condition of the interior.
To reach this state of concentration, refinement and purification of the mind is required through the
“sattva-cation” of the mind to make it subtle, refined and filled with spiritual attitudes and feelings.
Meditation thus initiated with right preparation becomes a bridge to close the gap between finite
and infinite, individual and universal, human and Divine, yourself and your divine origin and
source. Thus should you understand and know this all-important process. Thus you must meditate.
Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all beings in this Universe. Peace be unto you from the joy of
the Lord, from the joy of the Divine Who is seated in your hearts as your own Self.
Good morning and God bless you. Before breakfast, a little bit of juice from the fruit of
immortality, “ELIXIR DIVINE”.
“Repeating the name of God once with devotion is better than repeating it several times
with a mind far away from God”. There is a humorous, very understanding, mild and kindly little
saying in India, “Oh, you are doing japa. The beads are going round and round, and while the beads
are going round and round, mind also is going round and round”. So better to make the mind do the
japa rather than the beads going round and round. That is no good. Beads may go round and round,
but the mind must be fixed. “Repeating the name of God once with devotion is better than repeating
it several times with the mind far away from God”.
“When the sun disappears from one part of the world, it appears in another part of the
world. The sun exists always, even when we do not see it. Similarly, the Atman does not die, even
when it seems to have disappeared from the body after the body’s physical death.”
This third one I keep on telling to myself: “An ignorant person tries to put others right, but a
wise man tries to put himself right first”. There was a brilliant young Vedantin monk, younger than
Swami Vivekananda in age. He did not go much to the East Coast because he had gone from India
to Tokyo to attend some international conference and from there he crossed the Pacific and went to
San Francisco. He stayed only in the San Francisco area less than a year. There are some old people
who still remember him. He was a brilliant, scintillating man. In one of his books he asked the
publisher to print a poster which read: “Wanted! Wanted! Reformers! Reformers not of others, but
of themselves!” (So He said, “Physician, heal thyself”) We want people in the world who are ready
to reform themselves. A wise man tries to put himself right. If you are right, then everything gets
righted.
“Spread forth the wings of aspiration and rise up from earth to heaven in consciousness.
Just as rainwater prepares the soil for the germination of seeds sown, even so does dispassion
prepare the soil of the mind for the germination of seeds of wisdom sown through study and
satsang.”
“Even negative, unspiritual thoughts cannot enter into the heart whose doors are guarded
by thoughts of God”. When there is a constant undercurrent of God-thought already there, contrary
thoughts cannot enter. 

“Truly sorrow, like hunger, is caused by spiritual starvation and it will be relieved only by
spiritual food”.
“To get rid of external conflicts both outside and in the surface mind, we should go into the
inner solitude. As sleep is necessary for the well-being of the body, so solitude, even at home, is
necessary for the well-being of the soul”. Even in your house you must have a period of aloneness.
“Fortunate are those who are blessed with a single blessedness. He who has control over
tongue is a greater hero than the hero on the battlefield”. This means that the conquest of tongue is
a greater conquest. “Tongue” here means the dual control over speech as well as over the sense of
taste. Control of speech means many things, not only speaking, but also control over speech in the
form of refraining from falsehood, from harsh words, from self praise, from unkind words, from
gossip and from unnecessary words. If you observe something unfavorable to others, keep quiet.
Don’t spread it. That is called “scandal-mongering”, back-biting, gossip. Also refrain from
wasteful talking. These are all common frailties of human nature. Control of tongue means control
over all these aspects of avoidable speech, over falsehood, bad temper and harsh words that hurt or
harm others. It means control of speech in all its unspiritual or wasteful aspects. It also means
control of the sense of taste.
“The throne of your heart, the Kingdom of your throne, is occupied by the invading rulers of
lust, hatred and passion. They have usurped the throne of your heart and displaced you. Push them
out and invite in righteousness and the friendly monarchs of love, purity and peace”.
“Wisdom never dawns upon that mind which is enslaved by desire and expectation and
which is at the mercy of cravings and discontent. A mind destitute of contentment cannot open itself
for the dawn of wisdom”.
“The gross physical sheath craves for gratification of desires. The awakened spirit within
imposes discipline. The gross physical sheath is extrovert and noisy. The awakened spirit is
introvert and silent. The gross physical sheath is subject to moods, but the spirit is always serene
and peaceful”.
You have been given a pre-breakfast drink of Gurudev’s ELIXIR DIVINE. God bless you.