Dualism is an illusion. The events on earth reflect the events in heaven. Man and Woman contain the pattern of the universe.”As above, so below” is quoted from the Emerald Tablet, which is the summary of the alchemical work as revealed to Hermes Trismegistes, an ancient sage of unknown origin.

Yoga Sutra 1.47

Nirvicara vaisaradye dhyatma prasadah

Self luminous radiance emerges in the purity of nirvichara samadhi

In Sutra 1.17 Nivichara- is a detached reflection of the state of being without the attention to quality.  We dont hide in pure inner stillness but take it into the present to be aware of our actions.  Our minds gossiping to us all day only distracts from our daily activities.  A steady state of nirvichara always knows the truth and gives us direct knowledge to life’s questions at hand.  

Notice in this card we see the mountains reflecting into the lake.  We also had a dharma talk in Sangha yesterday about being an island unto ourselves.  An islanders pointed out that an island is a mountain to just land elevated from the sea.  To underneath is a huge anchor grounding us.  The teaching of island unto yourself is to represent looking deeper and inward when the seas of life become rough.  

Alchemist often know how to take raw ingredients and transform them to their best and highest us. When sitting in direct knowledge it is easier and the path is clearer. The ocean is in our eyes and our iris patterns are representative of the cosmos. We are just another version of all the vibrations we see as matter.  This is also true for out nivichara- whatever quality cultivated internally will show externally.  As we work with the physical plane remember you are echoing the universe.