Life is the clear reflecting mirror in which we see our own image. Without this mirror we would have no means of being aware of ourselves. We become aware of ourselves each time we interact - with the environment, in our relationship with others and even conceptually in our own minds. Thinking is a sort of conceptual interaction where we interact with ideas, scenarios and images.
Each interaction creates another line in this image of who we are. Each interaction is another thread in the tapestry of our lives. And life, the experience of being here and now, is the mirror that reveals this tapestry to us as its being woven.
However, the mirror itself is imageless, is neutral, is completely clear. It reflects, unbiasedly, each and everyone that looks into it. It creates reality according to each one's unique specifications.
Life is inherently meaningless, clear and unbiased. The world it reflects back to you is your own image. It is a reflection of who you are. If the image you perceive in the mirror is bleak then if you were to introspect upon yourself you would find that sense of bleakness and hopelessness inside yourself. If the image you perceive is troubled, then it is a reflection of that aspect within you that is troubled. If the image you see is one of compassion then it is a reflection of the compassion in you.
Most commonly the world we see is a combination of all these aspects. The mistake we make is in assuming that the image in the mirror is real. It is not. It is only an image. It is your own reflection. When looking in the mirror, if you were to see a strand of hair out of place would you attempt to fix your own hair or that of the image in the mirror?
Attempting to affect positive lasting change in the world by trying to fix external circumstances is a similar idea. Until we see that the source of the issue isn't in the image but in the one watching the image, no lasting change can take place.
When Gandhi said, "be the change you want to see in the world..." he wasn't being inspirational. He was being literal. You are 100% responsible for the reality you live in because you have created it.
