Mirror Gazing

Instructions
Posture. You can sit erect - but not rigid - in full or half-lotus; or you can stand, taking a martial arts' "on guard" posture called Ma Bo, the Horse Stance: In this latter posture, your feet are spread apart, flat on the floor, your knees slightly bent, your trunk and head in a strait vertical line, and your hands held about ten inches in front of your chest, with the left hand resting on top of the right fist. The Horse Stance should be perfectly balanced around your center of gravity, the hara - a point deep in the abdomen at which the aorta bifurcates, becoming the femoral arteries.
In either case, the mirror should be placed at eye level so that it can be viewed with an untilted head.
Depending on the method, mirror distance can be as close as two to three feet from the face or as far as ten to fifteen feet away.
In the "close" variant, you should gaze into your image, focusing upon a point between your reflected eyes, trying not to blink. It is important: do not permit yourself to indulge in any discursive thoughts, whatsoever. If you do slip into a thinking mode, reject it calmly and return to the task of maintaining your focus upon the image.
Do not strain your eyes, but hold your gaze as steady as possible; and if your eyes tear, ignore the tears and gently persist in gazing into the mirror.
When your eyes are too tired, they will close; and at that moment you should try to recollect the image of the focal point. When you first begin this practice, the image will wander around your darkened visual field. With practice you can make the image stay still. When your eyes are rested, return to the active mirror gazing.
As you stare at the point between your reflected eyes, the point will tend to become dark and tunnel-like. You may also see the point glow with a kind of iridescence and then it may become a strange, opaque white. Do not think about these changes. Do not think about anything, but keep your attention focused on the point and exclude all analytical and discursive thoughts.
The "macro-micro" exercise is a popular variant. In this exercise, you focus on your imaged nose and then force the nose to expand. Let the image grow until, as scripture says, it "grows as huge as Mount Sumeru." Bring it back to size and then shrink it until it is as "small as a sesame seed."
When the mirror is placed at a distance, the focal point is observed as an archer observes the bulls-eye of a target. When your eyes tire, let them close and then shift your attention to the body's interior. Visualize the focal point as a surging point of Qi, which you then circulate through the meridians and gates. Or, if your regimen is more chakra-oriented, visualize the focal point as entering the Heart Chakra and glowing there.
In another powerful variant, the mirror is mentally brought forward until it nearly touches the face and then it is mentally pushed back until it seems to recede to a vanishing point in the horizon.
To interject a personal experience, years ago I had been told about a peculiar variation of this meditation. It required that the practitioner view the sun as it rose over the ocean at dawn. When the sun rose to the point that there was blue sky all around it, the mind, in a great force of will, had to get the sun into perspective. Normally we tend to think of the sun as a small ball that rolls around the periphery of the earth. The aim of this exercise was to see the sun as an immense ball, 93,000,000 miles away, that had merely appeared small because of its distance - in other words, to push back the sun and see it as a huge orb in outer space. I was at the Jersey coast and decided to try this exercise as the sun rose over the Atlantic at dawn.
I understood that the sun should not be viewed when it had risen much above the horizon - so before dawn I went onto a second storey porch and waited, leaning against the waist-high railing.
When blue sky completely surrounded the sun, I concentrated fiercely and mentally pushed the sun back to where it belonged. The effect was so intense that my legs turned to jelly and I literally collapsed, my hands grabbing the railing as the rest of me flopped around like a fish on a deck. What a sensation this exercise can give.
Another goal of the Mirror meditation is found in the Solar Path's attempt to create a Nietzschean hero, a kind of Apollonian Divine Child within the meditator's body.
Ercole Quadrelli, of the famous UR Group, a society of 20th century Italian intellectuals, prefaces his instructions with the warning that no one should attempt the meditation until he is possessed of a certain calm assurance that his ethical and spiritual life are in good order. Since this spiritual maturity is essential, the exercise is obviously not recommended for beginners. Quadrelli suggests that the meditator obtain a concave or parabolic mirror, one that draws light into a focal point. The mirror can be made of glass, crystal, steel, copper, or bronze.
His instructions then are to find a clean room in a quiet environment in which you are not likely to be disturbed. You should wear loose clothing, and if the climate permits, you should open a window and light incense. Be sure that you have not eaten within the past hour.
Position a lamp behind and to the side of you so that the fixture will not be reflected in the mirror. Use a soft, low wattage bulb and direct the light towards the mirror.
Sitting about two to three feet away from the mirror, perform a deep, controlled breathing exercise, then mentally get yourself into a "power" mode by evoking an interior, apollonian presence that is both imperturbable and commanding. (In previous alchemical disciplines the meditator has gained practice in evoking the awareness of this "fluidic" presence. These disciplines are remarkably Buddhist in character. For example, as in the non-ego disciplines: "I am not the food I taste. I am not the emotions I feel. [These sensations] are not mine. They are not me.") In Alchemy, the "Mirror technique" fatigues the optic nerve in order to facilitate a transfer of its power to the Interior One "who dwells in the Heart.")
Without blinking, stare at the focal point of light in the concave mirror and gradually notice the formation of a black center-point. Soon the black point will turn bluish and have an aura around it. Continue staring as the focal point turns milky white and then expands into a bright light. (In Alchemy, this is the Astral Light.)
Continue to stare, but now without effort, passively, as if you were about to fall asleep. Regard affectionately any interior activity that is not a resurgence of ego. Encourage the emergence of a bold, benign, and independent spiritual identity, one that can be activated at will during these meditation sessions.
Relax for as long as you want and then notice your state of mind after the session. If you find yourself emotionally disturbed, wait until you have gained more control over your emotions and have sufficiently detached yourself from the people, places and things of the world before you resume the mirror meditation.
The evocation of Vajra Sattva, the heroic savior of the Tantric path, is given by W. Y. Evans-Wentz in his Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines: (The Yoga of the Illusory Body.)
A picture of Vajra-Sattva (one of the two Bodhisattva forms of the Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya) or of any other tutelary deity, is positioned so that its face is reflected in a mirror. You should be positioned so that your own reflection does not appear in the mirror but that you can clearly see the Bodhisattva's reflected image.
According to the text, "By looking at that mirrored form with fixity of gaze and mind, and meditating upon it, the figure will come to appear as if animated.
"Visualize it thus as being between the mirror and thyself.
"Next visualize thine own body as being like that reflected body of the deity; and should the visualization become substantial enough to touch, proceed to visualize any other body thou happenest to see, as also being the deity's body; and should this visualization similarly become life-like, then visualize all visible forms as being the body of the tutelary deity.
"By so doing, all phenomenally-appearing things will dawn upon thee as being the sport [i.e., the manifold manifestations] of the deity."
Included among the manifestations is, of course, the one that occurs within the mediator, himself.
These are but of few of the strange powers that the dedicated gazer can encounter and acquire from a mirror's surface and from its mysterious depths.
The discipline is difficult, but the rewards are astonishing. But be careful.
Meditation or no meditation, breaking a mirror is still a guarantee of seven years' bad luck.

wow, this sound interesting. Never have heard of it until now.

Amazing.I liked it.

I know this is an old post but when I read the subject, it was like it just jumped out and smacked me in the face!!

I'm gonna try to "cut to the chase" on this one 'cuz I tend to just type like crazy when I get excited and I could go on forever.  Forgive me if I do.

I'm new here and have been reading for daaaaaaaaays!!!  Some of you may not have read my previous posts but my Mother was psychic (what I call her) and my brother-in-law called her a witch 'cuz he was scared of her 'cuz everything she told him came true.

Anyway, she had this "thing" she did that I tried one time.  Without going into a lot of detail, it involved sitting with your back to a table which had a Bible, an oil lamp and a mirror.  I tried the exercise when I was young -- about 15 or 16 -- and saw my boyfriend and what he was doing at that exact moment!  I know it for a fact because I saw him pick up the phone and dial my number.  When our phone rang and I was told it was him wanting to talk to me, I almost fell down the stairs trying to get out of that room!!!

This is the first time I have ever heard of anything even remotely describing that experience I had.

Oooooooooo, I'm all tingly now!  Thanks for helping me remember.  P.S.  I have a very hard time remembering things -- any things.  As a matter of fact, I can't remember ANYTHING from my childhood or even my son's childhood.

Enough now!  I just get carried away!  Sorry!!!

Hi again

Your comment about not remembering anything from your childhood worried me. It worried me for the simple reason that we all should remember at least parts of our childhood so this makes me wonder what it is you are blocking out? Many talented and gifted children hide and block things and events and psychic phenomenon that have happened to them as a child and then close down psychically. Perhaps you were scared or scolded when you saw or found you could do or see something? Perhaps you were told off or wanted to be more normal. Have you tried deep visualising meditation to see what is there? From your post in General discussion I do wonder if this holds the key?