Slogan #6
In post-meditation, be a child of illusion
Meditation practice can be divided into two parts: formal and non-formal meditation (aka real life)! Cultivating presence, spaciousness, clarity, and stability in our daily lives is the reason to practice formal meditation. This “practice” of being in the world includes fostering child-like wonder—remember reveling in the delight of cartwheels in the rain?! Or singing, dancing, drawing, reading, creating make-believe worlds...this slogan is asking us to be a child and to embrace the beginner's mind.
Illusion does not refer to hallucinations or fabrications of the mind but as an antidote to our need to fixate, personalize, concretize, intellectualize, and rationalize. There is no life in holding on so tightly. Find the illusionary quality of experience and hold seemingly disparate concepts in your awareness. Make meditation an alive practice by finding the middle way between form and space; silence and sound; stillness and movement; and stability and ease.
“In the beginnerʼs mind there are many possibilities, but in the expertʼs there are few.”
Shunryu Suzuki
Journaling Prompts
Beginner’s Mind is a core teaching in meditation; in order to be truly present, you have to be able to empty your cup, to wipe the slate clean and start over. Consider how the concept of Beginner’s Mind impacts both your formal and post-meditation experiences.
Here’s a link to therapeutic journal writing with Dr. James Pennebaker; https://www.journaling.com/articles/expressive-writing-a-tool-for-transformation-with-dr-james-pennebaker-ph-d/