How To Be A Master of The Cosmic Illusion

Remaining in the ‘Unborn’ was Zen master Bankei’s advice to avoid straying into the illusory appearances of the world. Abiding in that which does not arise and does not die as a personal experience of unmoved naturalness. There is no need to practice further, he would say. There is no need to follow the dreamlike appearances, just remain in the completely silent consciousness that was his way of pointing to that permanent presence at the heart of all experience. Another great meditation master Arjahn Chah alludes to the same thing when he said:

“This is precisely the purpose of all these difficult exercises we have put ourselves through; is discovering the natural purity of our mind and not getting lost in sense impressions.”

To become entangled in our sense impressions is to become entangled in the judgment of them, to become entangled in the never-ending matrix of comparisons and desires, and to search for completion in the ever-unfolding relative world. That is precisely the cause of suffering, trying to be complete in what is by nature incomplete and constantly changing. How can we find satisfaction in things that are constantly ending?

A master of illusion is a meditator who can remain conscious and ‘dream’ lucidly during waking hours; continues in normal everyday life, but with a clear impression that the events are ephemeral and dream-like. This allows spiritual practitioners to navigate the world while staying connected to the natural presence of consciousness while experiencing the ebb and flow of ever-changing events. This is closer to the actual reality of things than our normal impression that things are fixed and objective. Buddha himself described the reality of things with various metaphors and warned that things do not exist as they appear and therefore he said that reality is as follows:

“A mirage, a cloud castle, a dream, an apparition, without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.”

So who is the deceiver deceiving us? is it the Buddhist demon Mara? Is it the temptations of the Christian devil or is it the Hindu idea of ​​the great deceiver Maya? Well, they could all be symbols of what seems to be only the limited apparatus of human mechanism. We are not designed to witness the totality of reality, it is simply too vast. Our brains are designed to filter out most of reality, so what’s left are the essentials for survival in our limited dimension. It is we who conjure up illusory phenomena with our own minds and then believe them. Or even more bluntly, people tend to make things up and then believe it to be true.

When one becomes involved in 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 are drawn into an illusory dream in search of love and security, but we forget that nothing is really substantial. We strive for unattainable goals and therefore get frustrated again and again. Like the Christian analogy of being lost in the shadow of the valley of death. Or like Plato’s allegory of the cave in which prisoners in a cave mistake the shadows on the wall for real people and start giving them names until a brave person stands up and goes out for the first time and discovers the truth of the illusion. Ironically, he has trouble convincing the people still in the cave that the shadows are not the whole picture.

“Don’t worry about the dream things, and they’re all dream things.”

The practice of viewing life in a dream-like manner also undermines our habitual selfishness and selfish pursuits that usually lead us to harm ourselves and others. Viewing life in a dream-like way illuminates the moment with a light-hearted presence that helps one to be easy-going, relaxed and not take things so seriously. However, this is more than just relaxation; when the letting go is complete, the enlightened ground of our being is touched and activated.

Letting go of controlling the dream and surrendering to just being brings enormous freedom and a flow of good qualities. There is no other place to go, the infinite is not an experience, nor is enlightenment, all experiences are conditioned and come and go in the flow of the dream.

When you are no longer distracted by fear or desire for a dreamlike world; the naturally awakened qualities of love, wisdom and joy can shine through unhindered. To be a master of illusion means to detach from the belief in the dream and connect with the pure energy of an eternal vigilance. There’s nothing left to do but dive right in and enjoy the show. Or as a Great Meditation Master once said:

“Since everything is just an appearance, which has nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, you may well burst out laughing.”

Chad Foreman is the founder of The Way of Meditation and 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 lived in a retreat hut for six years and studied and practiced meditation full-time. He now has over twenty years of experience teaching meditation. Chad likes regularly
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