Mirror-Like Wisdom - A Day Retreat

Venue - Brighton Buddhist Centre, Brighton, UK - Book with Brighton Buddhist Centre

We see the sky reflected in a puddle. That sky is not a sky — and yet it arises, dependent on certain causes and conditions. Completely empty of sky, it nonetheless has an effect: we have seen a sky, in a puddle.

A mirror works the same way. Look into one and you see something completely clearly — every detail, every colour, sharp and undeniable. No amount of searching will find a solid "thing" behind the glass. And still, somehow, it has an effect.

In Buddhism, this quality of mind is called mirror-like wisdom — one of the qualities of an enlightened mind. It reflects everything with perfect clarity, showing each thing exactly as it is, without distortion or preference, and without holding on to anything it shows.

This is close to how the mind works with everything we perceive, not just mirrors and puddles. In the seen, only the seen. Form is emptiness; emptiness is form. We see clearly, we act on what we see, and yet what's there can't be pinned down the way we assume.

What to expect

We'll spend the day exploring this from two directions. In the morning, meditation and teaching: working directly with perception, looking at what "seeing" actually is, and what it means to say form is empty. In the afternoon, we pick up our cameras and go looking for mirrors and reflections out in the world — using the camera itself as a tool for noticing.

No photography experience needed — just a camera or phone, and a willingness to look closely at what looking actually is.