"… the visible universe is an illusion … Mirrors
and fatherhood are hateful because they multiply
and proclaim it."
"Uqbar" – Anglo-American Cyclopedia
(Volume XLVI, New York 1917)
On the belief that physical reality is nothing more than an illusion to be overcome, and that mirrors — which multiply that illusion infinitely — are therefore an abomination, the master Hakuin saw to it that all such devices were removed from his estate when he took possession of the property. His abode was not, of course, devoid of all reflective surfaces … how could it be? Nevertheless, he banned from the premises any objects whose express or primary purpose was to allow one to gaze at one’s image or that, however inadvertently, multiplied the physical surroundings of (or objects in) a room to an unreasonable or unseemly degree.
Thus it was that his staff and retainers were more than mildly surprised when, shortly after his marriage, Hakuin allowed the placement of one, narrow, floor-to-ceiling mirror in his wife’s chamber. His capitulation on this point was seen as a clear sign of the normally somewhat dour man’s affection for, and devotion to, his spouse.
Those same servants were astonished beyond words when, eight months after the nuptials, Hakuin’s wife died in her sleep and their master did not immediately order the offensive mirror removed. Indeed, day after day, whenever he had a spare moment, the master himself could be found meditating in front of that very glass. The surprise of Hakuin’s loyal retainers quickly turned to puzzlement and concern.
Hakuin’s actions were, however, entirely consistent with his theological and metaphysical beliefs. If mirrors multiplied reality by creating images of it, they also retained the images that they created. Thus the lord of the estate sat day by day gazing into the looking glass hoping to catch a glimpse — however fleeting or illusory — of his departed mate. He hoped also that one of his own images might someday join one of hers somewhere in the fathomless, and admittedly-diabolical depths of the glass.