Melong is a Tibetan term that means "mirror", "looking glass". The melong is a polyvalent

Polyvalent

In chemistry, polyvalence or multivalence refers to species that are not restricted to a distinct number of valence bonds....

 symbol, divine attribute, and quality of the enlightened mindstream

Mindstream

Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...

 or bodhicitta

Bodhicitta

In Buddhism, bodhicitta jang chub sem, Mongolian бодь сэтгэл) is the intention to achieve omniscient Buddhahood as fast as possible, so that one may benefit infinite sentient beings...

.

Discussion

The mirror is an ancient symbol throughout Indian religions. In Indian iconography it may be understood as a symbol for clarity, wholesome or complete perception and 'primordial purity' (Tibetan: ka dag) of the mindstream or consciousness. The mirror is often depicted as an accoutrement of the hagiographical signification of fully realised Mahasiddha

Mahasiddha

Mahasiddha is a term for one who cultivates those teachings that lead to becoming perfect. They are a type of eccentric yogini/yogi in both Sanatan Dharma and Vajrayana Dharma, given by Siddhartha. Mahasiddhi are those practitioners, or tantrikas who have gained sufficient understanding and are so...

, Dzogchenpa and Mahamudra

Mahamudra

Mahāmudrā literally means "great seal" or "great symbol." It "is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism" which "also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism."The name refers to the way one who...

 sadhaka

Sadhaka

A sādhaka is someone who follows a particular sādhana, or a way of life designed to realize the goal of one's ultimate ideal, whether it is merging with brahman or realization of one's personal deity. The word is related to the Sanskrit sādhu, which is derived from the verb root sādh-, to accomplish...

. The mirror may be understood as a quality of the mindstream that denotes perceiving experience as it is without obscuration forded by klesha, etc.

The mirror may be engaged in the advanced Tantric sadhana

Sadhana

Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...

 of the Gyulu. As the mirror, so the mind. The mirror as the mind, following Yogacara

Yogacara

Yogācāra is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It developed within Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism in about the 4th century CE...

, reflects quality and form, though is not directly altered and is 'beyond all attributes and form' (Sanskrit: nirguna).

Sawyer (1998: unpaginated) in an essay to accompany curatorial notes for an exhibition and a particular c.

Circa

Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

19th century xylograph on silk entitled 'Offerings to Mahakala' depicting an 'array of ritual offerings' to the Dharmapala

Dharmapala

In Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharmapāla is a type of wrathful deity. The name means "Dharma-defender" in Sanskrit, and the dharmapālas are also known as the Defenders of the Law , or the Protectors of the Law, in English....

 Mahakala

Mahakala

Mahākāla is a Dharmapala in Vajrayana Buddhism, and a deity in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, particularly in the Vajrayana school. He is known as Daheitian in Chinese and Daikokuten in Japanese...

, conveys the importance of 'mirror' iconography to Dharmakaya

Dharmakaya

The Dharmakāya is a central idea in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā , composed in the 1st century BCE...

:

The looking glass/mirror (T. me-long, Skt. adarsa), which represents the dharmakaya or Truth Body, having the aspects of purity (a mirror is clear of pollution) and wisdom (a mirror reflects all phenomena without distinction).

Akshobhya

The Dhyani Buddha, Akshobhya

Akshobhya

In Vajrayana Buddhism, Akṣobhya is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, a product of the Adibuddha, who represents consciousness as an aspect of reality...

, is the embodiment of 'mirror knowledge' (Sanskrit: Ādarśa-jñāna; refer Panchajnana).

Literature

The mirror motif is employed pervasively throughout Buddhist literature but it is very important to traditions of Dzoghcen. A number of texts use the mirror motif in their title:

• 'The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva
  The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva
  The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva is numbered amongst the 'Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde' within Dzogchen discourse and is part of the textual support for the Vima Nyingtik....
  
  ' which is one of the Seventeen Tantras
  Seventeen tantras
  In Tibetan Buddhism, specifically in the literature and practice of Dzogchen, the seventeen tantras of the esoteric instruction cycle are a suite of tantras belonging to the textual division known as the "esoteric instruction cycle" .-History and tradition:The seventeen tantras, though not...
  
   of the Upadesha.

The Mirror

The Mirror is the title of the newspaper of the International Dzogchen Community established by Namkhai Norbu.