Lojong #6

#6) In Postmeditation, Be a Child of Illusion

Jamgon Kongtrul:
After meditation, do not allow the experience of resting evenly to dissipate, no matter what form of activity you engage in. Continually foster the feeling of knowing that all appearances, yourself, others, animate or inanimate, appear though they seem to be nothing - be like a child of illusion.

Chogyam Trungpa:
Illusion does not mean haziness, confusion, or mirage. Being a child of illusion means that you continue what you have experienced in your sitting practice [resting in the nature of alaya] into postmeditation experience.

You realize that after sitting practice, you do not have to solidify phenomena. Instead, you can continue your practice and develop some kind of ongoing awareness. If things become heavy and solid, you flash mindfulness and awareness into them. In that way you begin to see that everything is pliable and workable. Your attitude is that the phenomenal world is not evil, that 'they' are not out to get you or kill you. Everything is workable and soothing.

Linus Furious:
Since no one reads these entries anyway, I thought I'd put my two cents in on this one. Trying to take the meditative state with you when you leave the cushions is very difficult. A simple way to begin is to use the labeling practice commonly taught by Tibetan meditation teachers. When something siezes your attention, label it without judgement, and then let it go. So as you are walking down the street you might say to yourself, "tree" or "mailman" or "sidewalk" as these things catch your eye, but you are not making judgements about them. The tree, mailman, and sidewalk are not good or bad or pretty or ugly or anything other than what they are. You can use this to label thoughts as well; when your mind has wandered off, simply label that "thinking" and let it fall away.

If you missed the explanation of the lojong sayings and tonglen meditation, click here.