Many people are confused about what it means when we talk about the outer world being a reflection of the inner self. It IS a complex concept, and it’s one with several different layers of meaning. Here are three explanations, each incrementally more advanced than the one before.
The Simple Version:
The first, and simplest way we can look at it is that whatever is in me, is what I’ll most obviously recognize in the people and circumstances around me. Whatever beauty and love I carry, whatever pain and aggression I carry, I will readily recognize that outside myself.
This perspective is built around the concept that we are most acutely aware of that which we most intimately know.
The Intermediate Version:
As we grow and evolve, the next, more advanced level one begins to perceive is the concept that we create our own reality. We do not simply create what we think about, we create what we ARE. So whatever is unhealed, or sad, or in grief – whatever we do not like or cannot accept about our selves will be “re-created” in the stories that show up in our lives. (Sometimes we call these “patterns”.) We’ll attract people who trigger our own unhealed places. They will trigger us because they will either dislike THEMSELVES in the same way we dislike our selves, or they will dislike US in that way. Whatever it shows up as, the idea is that it’s an opportunity to look more closely at our own inner world with the ultimate goal of healing what’s out of alignment with Love.
Join Paige’s Love Revolution on FACEBOOK!
This perspective is built around the concept that the universe is a fractal. That is: whatever energy signature we carry will be repeated infinitely, again and again, until we change that vibration.
The Advanced Version:
At the most advanced level, one comes to know that in the deepest spiritual reality, there is only One Being in all of existence. Because there is only one of us here, “it” is creating all of this. “We”- the One – create seemingly billions of facets of our self. Each facet believes in its small sphere of perception that he or she is a distinct entity, separate from all the others. It is when we reach the highest levels of spiritual wisdom that we realize that we can choose to either operate from this small, single little self, or we can remember the Oneness that we are and harness the power of All That Is.
From the highest spiritual perspective, we know that the “others” are mirrors for us, because they actually ARE us. And at this level of spiritual attainment, the whole thing is uproariously entertaining – because we know that it’s all an illusion and that in reality, we are “all” just fine.
This world is a mirror into which I gaze – To see the Divine. My Beloved. My Self.
Join Paige’s Love Revolution on FACEBOOK!
For a FREE GUIDED MEDITATION by Paige Bartholomew – CLICK HERE
Paige Bartholomew - The Loveworker's Way 
These are such eloquent explanations of the layers of the mirror concept. Thank you! I feel like this is needed because what may have come to seem like a new age cliche is actually such an important concept for us to grasp for our own grown, personally and collectively. I appreciate the way Paige discusses spiritual concepts like this by illustrating some of the basic striations, and how we can integrate these teachings on various levels of profundity. I’ve noticed that with other articles as well, which allows for new and well-versed seekers to find something useful!
Alena, Thank you so much for your beautiful message and feedback. It is soooo important that we all – all of us who understand these mystical ‘secrets’ of the Divine worlds, share with as many people as are open to hearing.
Love for your heart, my sister. xo Paige