This book was created by a Tibetan master especially for Western students interested in practicing Dzogchen, the long-secret teaching of the "Great Perfection." This teaching has only been presented openly, if selectively, in recent times by a small number of teachers. In this concise text Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche offers straightforward and practical instruction on exactly how, in everyday life, to apply the sophisticated, direct and refined teaching of Dzogchen.

In particular, The Mirror aims to precisely define the principle of innate awareness (rig-pa). It makes clear how the practice of the continuous presence of such awareness is, for the serious practitioner, the only real alternative to the rules and limitations characteristic of most religious traditions. The text includes detailed instruction in discovering the "State" of Rig-pa both in sitting meditation, as it is practiced in Dzogchen, and in integrating this awareness with all of one's activities.