A Clean Mirror

The true sage in total harmony with the Tao is like a clean mirror reflecting reality as it really is. All love is reflected back in kind and returned. All insults are reflected back to the originator of the same. The dust particles on the mirror referred to here are our emotions and thoughts interfering with the true reflection of reality. Our thoughts and emotions turn cloud our mirrors and make it unable to reflect reality and truth without distortion. In Zen, this means controlling your thoughts to a point where they do not influence you, and where your analytical mind ceases to interfere in your perception of reality. Only then will you be able see things the way they really are.