Parable of the Woman who Wanted to Adorn her Reflection
A woman looked at herself in the mirror. Her bare body and head were unattractive. The reflection disgusted her. She ran in and brought a number of ornaments. She began to adorn the reflection with them. But she could not. When she took the ornament near the image in the mirror, it looked as though (in the mirror) the ornaments are being taken away from the reflection. At last, she started wearing the ornaments on her own self. To her wonder, the image in the mirror also put the ornaments on, and looked beautiful.
The reflection represents the Jiva and the woman the Self or God. The ignorant man finds that he lacks prosperity, wealth and happiness. He hunts for the things of the world and goes on accumulating around himself the wealth and luxuries of the world. These do not satisfy him or enrich his soul! The more he tries to adorn himself with the riches of the world, the farther they seem to recede from him in truth. Then he understands that his little self is but the reflection of the All-Pervading Atman, the Supreme Self. He offers all his wealth to the Self by doing charity to the poor, by self-abnegation and self-dedication. He serves the poor, the sick and the suffering and brings happiness to them with the Bhava that he serves the All-Pervading Self in all. He offers himself to the Self through meditation on It. He pays no more attention to the little reflection, the Jiva; but devotes himself to the adorning of the Reality. Instantly he finds that he (the Jiva) is the centre of all auspiciousness, of all beauty, of all happiness and bliss.
O Man! Abandon self-seeking, and seek the Self. You are not this body, mind, intellect and little 'I'; you are the Immortal, All-Pervading Satchidananda Atman. Realise this and be free.
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