The shadow-images of the six sense objects are like reflections in a mirror

The defiling sense objects are like reflections in a mirror—everything we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think, and do is a shadow in the mirror. When we look at the reflections in the mirror, no matter what feelings or thoughts we have about them, no matter how we wish to manipulate them, in the end they are merely reflections, not real things. We discriminate among those reflections in the mirror—this one is so good, that one is so evil—and we keep grasping and clutching at them ceaselessly, yet no matter what, we never truly grasp anything at all; they are all mere reflections, without any real function, all an empty illusion. It is like the reflection of a tree in a river: however much you admire it, it is not truly real after all; it is like the moon in the river—no matter how the monkeys reach out to scoop it up, in the end they never grasp even a shred of it, because there is no real moon there at all.

It is the same with all the states we come into contact with: it seems as though we enjoy something within them, but in fact we enjoy nothing at all—we are merely dealing with reflections. The manas directs the six consciousnesses in continual mental engagement, continual contact, continual feeling, continual perception, continual grasping and clinging, yet in reality nothing is ever grasped; we are all just dealing with reflections, and we ourselves are one of those reflections. Illusory dharmas confronting illusory dharmas—what reality is there to speak of? And yet we cannot leap out of it, cannot come to know these true facts, because of meager merit (alpa-puṇya) and foolishness. Out of compassion for sentient beings, the World-Honored One taught and transformed them with all manner of words and parables: cultivate precepts, meditation (samādhi), and wisdom; remove the obstructions and veils; recognize the facts—that in the world there is truly not a single dharma to be obtained. Rest the mind and cast off deluded thoughts, and one will then see the true reality. Only by relying on the Buddha's words and cultivating genuinely can sentient beings see through the reflections, return to their self-nature, and attain liberation.