We see reflection everywhere we look. We hear reflection in everything we hear. The eyes perceive light reflecting off surfaces. The ears hear sound reflecting off surfaces. Reflection is more than just a common pattern in the universe: it is the way in which the universe appears. Let's explore the world of reflection.
In my first book, Philosophical Contemplations, I started using the term The World of Opposites to describe the world that we experience. It occurred to me that opposites were everywhere and opposites were the means by which the world appears. It's not a new recognition really: the Taoist Yin and Yang understanding is well known. High and low, near and far, good and bad, happy and sad - this is the play of the world. It was clear that without opposites nothing can appear. The contrast is needed for something to appear out of nothing. Light needs darkness for it to be evident. Silence needs sound for it to be 'heard', or rather known. Without ever knowing sound, silence is overlooked. It is only when sound is gone that the silence is noticed.
But it's not just that the world is made of opposites. The apparent World of Opposites is itself a reflection of Reality. There are certain qualities that are timeless and formless, and these cannot become apparent without the appearances of opposites. Oneness, Stillness, Harmony, Endlessness, Being - these qualities are imperceptible. These are the qualities of reality that can only seem to be expressed by aid of their opposites. It is in expressing the inexpressible that the universe appears as a World of Opposites and the Reflection of Reality.
Oneness is reflected as many, a seeming multitude of forms. We see many different objects, or at least we think we do. It is the mind or mental activity that defines and divides. We call this a cat, that a dog, this a building, that a person. The mind breaks up the world into components or individual elements. But these apparently individual objects are not separate. Nothing is truly divided and separate from the rest of the world. It only seems that way. The world remains forever One, throughout this seeming reflection of division and separation.
Stillness is expressed in its opposite of apparent movement, and in the movement of the universe stillness can only appear as an illusion. Look around and see the illusion of stillness. The ground feels still, buildings seem still, furniture seems still. Even parked cars seem still. But it's only a relative stillness whilst the planet swirls through space. True Stillness is inexpressible.
Harmony is expressed as imbalance or disharmony, where opposites seem to fall out of Oneness and fluctuate through seemingly different levels of 'harmony' and disharmony. The World of Opposites is really an appearance of disharmony, reflecting the unseen Harmony that is the true nature of reality.
Endlessness is reflected in the world as the seeming limits and divisions of things. It is only an appearance of limits and division, as the true nature of reality is Endless.
Being is expressed in the World of Opposites as not being, or death. Being is Life itself. The quality of existence. In this world we experience the illusion of non-existence - humans live and die. Life seems to come to an end. But it is only an illusion or play of relative life and death. The planet continues its play of life through the change of form. As one life form breaks down it transforms into other life forms. This play of life and death is the expression of unending and imperceptible Life. Being.
These special qualities that are the nature of reality are not created. Creation and destruction are reflections in the World of Opposites. Being doesn't require creation. Oneness doesn't require creation. Stillness, Harmony and Endlessness don't require creation. They are the qualities of Life, What Is. These crucial qualities of Life, to which we could add Clarity, Peace, Completeness and Contentment, are the same One Infinite Beingness. It is in reflecting this Infinite Beingness that the world appears. The world is not something else, just as the reflection of trees on a pond are not other than the pond. The reflection of reality, the illusion of the world, appears within the Reality, made of the Reality.