[Buddha-l] Mirror in Kegon

[Tom Short]

Michel,

I am wondering if this refers to the 
demonstration by Fa-tsang (643 – 712), the Third 
Hua-yen (J: Kegon) Patriarch to his Imperial 
patron the Empress Wu Tse-t’ien (625-705) that 
simulated the ‘Jewelled Net of Indra’ and 
demonstrated the idea of 'interpenetration' using 
a series of 10 mirrors (rather than 2) facing 
each other, including one above and below and one 
at each of the eight cardinal points, surrounding 
a statue of the Buddha illuminated with a flaming 
torch in a darkened room. In his own words:

'
in each and every reflection of any mirror you 
will find all the reflections of all the other 
mirrors, together with the specific Buddha image 
in each, without omission or misplacement. The 
principle of interpenetration and containment is 
clearly shown by this demonstration. Right here 
we see an example of one in all and all in one – 
the mystery of realm embracing realm ad infinitum 
is thus revealed. 
These infinite reflections of 
different realms now simultaneously arise without 
the slightest effort
' (Quoted in Chang, 1971, p.24)

Chang, G.C.C., (1971), The Buddhist Teaching of 
Totality: Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism, Penn 
State University Press, Pennsylvania.

See also: (Cook is particularly good)

Cleary, T., (1983), Entry Into the Inconceivable 
– An Introduction to Hua-yen Buddhism, University 
of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Cook, F.H., (1977), Hua-yen Buddhism: The Jewel 
Net of Indra, Penn State University Press, Pennsylvania.

At 21:34 12/11/2006, you wrote:

>Hello
>I'm looking for references concerning the notion 
>of mirror in Kegon School of Buddhism, 
>especially concerning the image of two mirrors 
>facing each other. Does anyone know about this?
>Michel Dalissier