You Keep Trying to Fix the Mirror, Gita Says Fix the Eyes

Manika | Jul 05, 2025, 17:55 IST

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Last month, I stood in front of the mirror, frustrated. My career wasn’t going how I wanted. A friendship felt one-sided. I wasn’t “feeling like myself.” Naturally, I did what most of us do, I tried to fix the outside. Bought new clothes. Took a break from social media. Switched shampoos. Rewrote my to-do list. But the unrest stayed. One sleepless night, I picked up my old copy of the Bhagavad Gita, looking for anything that could still me. And then I read this line in Gita: "One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among men." I realized I was chasing shadows in the mirror. Because the Gita doesn’t tell you to fix your job, or your relationship, or even your body first. It tells you to fix the lens. Fix the eyes. Fix the way you see. And then everything outside changes, without even trying.

1. The Mirror Is Not the Problem, Your Mindset Is

Mirror is not the problem

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The world we experience is a projection of the thoughts we carry.

We try to fix people. Fix jobs. Fix situations. But if your inner world is cloudy, even the most perfect mirror will reflect distortion.

The Gita teaches that reality is not objective—it’s filtered through the mind (manas) and ego (ahankara).

"As the mind, so the man. As the vision, so the world."

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Until you correct the way you're seeing life, everything will look “wrong.”

It’s not the mirror, it’s your eyes.

2. We Don’t React to Reality, We React to Our Interpretation of It

Two people can experience the same thing, one sees a lesson, the other sees betrayal.

In the Gita, Arjuna saw war as destruction. Krishna helped him see it as duty, purpose, and liberation.

Your version of truth is shaped by:

Past experiences
Fears and insecurities
Your emotional state at the time

Change your perception, and what once looked like chaos becomes clarity.

3. Why We Obsess Over the Mirror (And What the Gita Says About It)

Gita

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We spend hours:

Fixing our face, but not our thoughts
Curating our social media, but ignoring our solitude
Managing impressions, not inner alignment

Krishna doesn’t promise that the world will adjust to your comfort. He teaches inner steadiness so the outside can no longer shake you.

"He who remains unaffected by pleasure and pain… he is fit for immortality." — Gita 2.15

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4. The Real “Fix” is Shifting from Ego to Awareness

When we live from ego:

Everything feels personal
We want control
We blame or shame

When we live from awareness (buddhi):

We respond, not react
We choose purpose over performance
We start asking: “What is this teaching me?”

The Gita is not about being passive. It’s about being aware enough to act wisely.

You don’t need to control the mirror. Just clean the eyes.

5. What "Fixing the Eyes" Looks Like in Real Life

Journaling your reactions before blaming someone
Pausing to breathe before sending that impulsive text
Questioning your narrative: “Is this actually true, or just how I feel right now?”
Seeing your flaws with compassion instead of criticism

The Gita teaches viveka (discernment) — the ability to see without ego’s fog.

6. From Projection to Perception: Healing Begins With You

Think of your life like a mirror maze. When your inner eyes are full of judgment or fear, everything reflects that back.

But when you tune your inner sight:

Relationships soften
Confusion clears
Even your face starts to glow differently

You stop chasing external validation because you finally feel “seen” by yourself.

7. Krishna’s Prescription: Fix the Seer, Not the Scene

Krishna

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In Chapter 6, Krishna says:

"Elevate yourself through the self, not degrade yourself. The self is your friend, and the self is your enemy." — Gita 6.5

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He’s saying: You are both the wound and the balm.

So stop trying to fix the mirror—learn to hold yourself differently.

That’s the shift from chaos to clarity.

You Are Not Broken, Your Perception Is Bent

So the next time you find yourself spiraling:

Instead of asking “What’s wrong with them?”, ask “What am I seeing?”
Instead of obsessing over what they said, ask “Why does this hurt me?”
Instead of changing the outer world, pause to meet your inner world

Because the Gita’s deepest truth is this:

You were never broken. You were just looking at yourself through cracked glass.

And the moment you learn to fix your eyes—you’ll realize the mirror was perfect all along.

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Manika