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February 2, 2020
“Look how a mirror will reflect
with perfect equanimity
all actions before it.
There is no act in this world
that will ever cause the mirror
to look away.
There is no act in this world
that will ever make the mirror
say, ‘no.’
The mirror, like perfect love,
will just keep giving of itself
to all before it …”
In Chapter 13 of Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna speaks of Hafiz’s mirror this way: “The supreme Brahman in this body is also known as the Witness. It makes all our actions possible, and, as it were, sanctions them. It is the Infinite Being, the supreme Atman. He who has experienced Brahman directly and knows it to be other than Prakriti and the gunas, will not be reborn, no matter how he has lived his life.”
You can attain to this realization and state of being, through the practice of meditation. Swami Yatiswarananda, a Vice President of the Ramakrishna Order and Swami Yogeshananda’s guru, said —
“Meditation in the primary stage is like waging a war with the mind. With effort, the restless mind has to be brought under control and placed at the feet of the Lord … Through regular practice, the mind will become steady and meditation will be easier. You will no longer feel any strain even while sitting for long hours in contemplation …”
In this talk we read and discuss Hafiz’s full poem, line by line. Then, we tie his ecstatic declaration to the teachings of Sri Krishna, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and Swami Yatiswarananda.