How To Be A Master of The Cosmic Illusion
Masters of illusions are people who can move through the world while staying detached whilst still keeping their compassion for all the dream-like characters that they meet. Or as Meditation Master Milarepa says:
“Know that the world of appearances are illusory , and have compassion for those who don’t understand.”
“Just this is the aim of all this difficult practice we put ourselves through; is to discover the natural purity of our mind and not get lost in sense impressions.”
A master of illusion is a meditator who can remain in awareness and ‘dream’ lucidly during waking hours; continuing through normal everyday life but with a distinct impression of events being ephemeral and dream-like. This enables spiritual practitioners to navigate the world while keeping connection with the natural presence of awareness and simultaneously experiencing the ebb and flow of constantly changing events. This is closer to the actual reality of things than our normal impression of things being fixed and objective. Buddha himself described the reality of things with several metaphors and warned that things do not exist the way they appear and therefore he said reality is like:
“A mirage, a cloud castle, a dream, an apparition, without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.”
When a person gets drawn into the seemingly real dramas of life, the sense of a dream-like existence fades into the background and the predominant experience becomes one of being contracted, serious and confused. We get drawn into an illusory dream searching for love and security but we forget that nothing is really substantial we pursue unattainable goals and therefore get frustrated time and time again. Like the Christian analogy of being lost in the shadows of the valley of death. Or like Plato’s allegory of the cave where prisoners in a cave mistake shadows on the wall for real people and start to name them until one brave person stands up and goes outside for the first time and discovers the truth of the illusion. Ironical he has a tough time convincing the people still in the cave that the shadows are not the whole picture.
“Don’t sweat the dream stuff, and it’s all dream stuff.”
Letting go from controlling the dream and surrendering to just being brings with it an immense freedom and a flood of good qualities. There is no where else to get to, the infinite is not an experience neither is enlightenment, all experiences are conditioned and come and go in the flux of the dream.
When you are no longer distracted by fear or desire for a dream like world; the natural awakened qualities of love, wisdom and joy can shine through unhindered. Being a master of illusion is detaching from believing in the dream and connecting with the pure energy of an eternal wakefulness. What’s left to do but to plunge right in and enjoy the show. Or as a Great Meditation Master once said:
“Since everything is but an apparition, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter.”
Written by Chad Foreman
Chad Foreman is the founder of The Way of Meditation, has been teaching meditation since 2003, determined to bring authentic meditation practices into the lives of millions of people in the modern world. Chad is a former Buddhist monk who spent 6 years living in a retreat hut studying and practicing meditation full time and has now has over twenty years’ experience teaching meditation. Chad holds regular
Meditation Retreats on the Sunshine Coast Australia, has
Online Meditation Coaching, delivers three online programs - The 21 Day Meditation Challenge to help guide people gradually from the basics of mindfulness and relaxation to profound states of awareness.
Breath-work to help manage stress and go deeper into meditation and
The Bliss of Inner Fire which is a Buddhist tantric method for purifying energy blocks and contacting the clear light of bliss. You can also now get Chad's free e-book Insights Along the Way.
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