Liam didn’t plan on remembering the dream.
Most mornings, dreams slipped through his fingers like bathwater. But this one lingered.
He had been yelling at someone—someone he couldn’t see. He didn’t know what the argument was about, only that his voice was sharp and rising and full of that heavy, breathless heat that came right before a door slam or a walkout.
Then suddenly, he saw his own face.
Not in a mirror—just hovering in the space between. His jaw clenched. Eyes too wide. Lips thin and pale.
He woke with a jolt, heart pounding. His pillow was damp with sweat.
He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
“Okay,” he muttered. “Not ominous at all.”
Caleb wasn’t at his desk when Liam arrived at the office. That was unusual.
He dropped his bag and walked to the kitchen, then froze.
Caleb was sitting at the small round table by the window, eyes closed. Not sleeping—just… sitting.
Hands resting on his thighs. Face calm. Tea steaming in front of him.
Liam started to tiptoe away, but Caleb opened one eye and smiled.
“Hey.”
Liam grinned sheepishly. “Wasn’t trying to interrupt your… Jedi mind tricks.”
“It’s all good.” Caleb gestured to the other chair. “Want to sit?”
Liam poured himself a coffee and sat down.
“You meditate?” he asked.
Caleb shrugged. “I sit. I breathe. Sometimes my mind screams at me. Sometimes it just hums. Mostly it wanders off and comes back tired.”
Liam smirked. “Sounds fun.”
Caleb chuckled. “It’s not about fun. It’s about seeing.”
“Seeing what?”
Caleb tapped his temple. “What’s in here.”
Liam hesitated, then told him about the dream.
Caleb listened without interrupting, then said, “Sounds like your mind is starting to reflect.”
“Reflect what?”
“Whatever it’s full of.”
Caleb sipped his tea and leaned forward. “There’s a verse. Dhammapada 3 and 4. It says when you dwell on hurt—he insulted me, he defeated me, he stole from me—hatred grows. But if you don’t dwell on it, the hatred dies.”
Liam exhaled through his nose. “So I’m supposed to forget what people did?”
“No. Just stop feeding it.”
He sat back and let the silence hang between them.
“Your mind is a mirror,” he continued. “But mirrors only reflect what’s placed in front of them. If you keep holding up old fights, betrayals, shame—it’ll keep reflecting those back at you.”
Liam nodded slowly. “So what do I do? Pretend it didn’t happen?”
“No. See it. Acknowledge it. Then put something else in front of the mirror.”
“Like what?”
Caleb smiled. “Like kindness. Forgiveness. Or even just breath.”
That night, Liam sat on his couch with the lights dimmed.
No phone. No TV.
Just stillness.
He closed his eyes. Let his mind wander. He thought about an old boss who had belittled him in front of a client. He thought about his ex. About a college friend he hadn’t spoken to since that stupid fight years ago.
Then he did something different.
He whispered, “I see you.”
And let the thought drift away.
He sat in silence a while longer.
And somewhere, between the breath in and the breath out, he began to wonder—what else could he reflect?
Dhammapada Verses inspired this Chapter
Yamaka Vagga (The Pairs) – Verse 3 and 4 – The Story of Monk Thissa
The Dhammapada
The Dhammapada is the most widely read Buddhist scripture in existence, enjoyed by both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. This classic text of teaching verses from the earliest period of Buddhism in India conveys the philosophical and practical foundations of the Buddhist tradition. The text presents two distinct goals for leading a spiritual life: the first is attaining happiness in this life (or in future lives); the second goal is the achievement of spiritual liberation, freedom, absolute peace. Many of the key themes of the verses are presented in dichotomies or pairs, for example, grief and suffering versus joy; developing the mind instead of being negligent about one’s mental attitude and conduct; virtuous action versus misconduct; and being truthful versus being deceitful. The purpose of these contrasts is, very simply, to describe the difference between what leads to desirable outcomes and what does not.
