Book I — Origin

Sure 6 — The Mirrors

1.6.1 Recall the community that used mirrors to see themselves.

1.6.2 The mirrors showed what was. The mirrors did not lie.

1.6.3 In the mirrors they saw their faces. They saw their errors.

1.6.4 At first they thanked the mirrors. They said: the mirror shows the truth.

1.6.5 But the errors did not go away. The faces did not change.

1.6.6 The mirrors began to disturb them. The mirrors showed what they did not wish to see.

1.6.7 Then they silenced those who brought the mirrors.

1.6.8 They said: the mirror-bearers cause unrest.

1.6.9 The mirror-bearers were removed. The mirrors remained.

1.6.10 Then they declared the mirrors wrong.

1.6.11 They said: the mirror distorts. The mirror lies. The mirror is not to be trusted.

1.6.12 Still the mirrors showed what was. The community grew angry.

1.6.13 At last they broke the mirrors. They shattered every one.

1.6.14 The shards lay on the ground. The community rejoiced.

1.6.15 But the faces continued to change. The errors did not cease.

1.6.16 They could no longer see. They had destroyed the means of seeing.

1.6.17 The feedback was the mirror. To destroy the mirror is not to destroy the error.

1.6.18 Blindness is not lack of information. Blindness is refusal.

1.6.19 They ceased to see because what they saw displeased them.