{"id":50572,"date":"2022-06-04T05:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T12:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nalandabodhi.org\/?p=50572"},"modified":"2026-04-21T10:19:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:19:34","slug":"the-importance-of-post-meditation-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nalandabodhi.org\/nl\/2022\/06\/04\/the-importance-of-post-meditation-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Post-Meditation Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My first Buddhist teacher was Shunryo Suzuki Roshi. After Suzuki Roshi died, I went to study with Ch\u00f6gyam Trungpa Rinpoche due to having witnessed firsthand the remarkable devotion Rinpoche had for Roshi. Trungpa Rinpoche said that meeting Suzuki Roshi was like meeting his root guru, or most important teacher.\u00a0<\/p>

In teaching us, Roshi always emphasized ordinary life as spiritual practice.\u00a0<\/p>

In Tibetan Buddhism, which I have practiced for many years, now with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, I have heard \u201cpractice\u201d discussed in many different ways, including as a distinction between meditation and post-meditation (daily life) practice. But sometimes when we focus too tightly on these labels, it can create an obstacle for us.<\/p>

We may give more importance to meditation practice than our post-meditation daily life practice. We may burn our omelet while obsessing about how many mantras we still have to do. Even worse, after engaging in meditation practice diligently for an extended time, we may think we are better than people who don’t meditate.<\/p>

Drawing on my good fortune to have studied with such great teachers, I have been able to remember that many ordinary situations that I used to think \u201cdidn’t count\u201d are actually situations of spiritual practice.\u00a0<\/p>

I used to avoid cleaning the bathroom, until I heard the story of how, as a young monk, Suzuki Roshi, would get up in the middle of the night to secretly clean the monastery toilets (not his job!). After that, my view of practice \u2013\u2013 and of toilets \u2013\u2013 changed.<\/p>

Now when I enter any bathroom, no matter how \u201cunkempt\u201d it may be, I recall what life would be like without indoor plumbing. I refresh my gratitude for having the use of such a bathroom, and for the efforts of all the people who invented, produced, and installed it.<\/p>

Roshi made it very clear that such moments deserve our attention. If we don’t extend our commitment and diligence beyond meditation into our post-meditation daily life practice, we run the risk of making our practice no more than a personal ego trip, leaving our habitual sense of ingratitude and entitlement untouched.\u00a0<\/p>

With each of my subsequent teachers I heard the same message in different ways. But without knowing about Roshi\u2019s vivid example of selflessly, secretly cleaning the toilets used by everyone in the monastery, I might not have given the message much importance.<\/p>

“Taking the attitude that the phenomenal world is sacred is the first and last practice of all.”<\/em>
\u2013\u2013 Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche<\/p>

“Every living situation can become a part of your practice. You can be living the practice, instead of just doing it.”<\/em>
\u2013\u2013 Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa<\/p>

\u201cThis path of mindful activity is indispensable for arousing the courage we need to connect with our heart of enlightenment and the experience of immeasurable love and kindness for all beings.\u201d<\/em>
\u2013\u2013 Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche<\/p>

I have read that Thich Nhat Hanh would hold up a piece of paper and ask, \u201cWhat do you see when you see this paper?\u201d He would share that he saw the woodsman who cut the tree to make the paper. He saw the woodsman\u2019s wife who baked bread for him to eat before he left for work. He also saw the farmer who grew the wheat for the bread. And on and on.\u00a0<\/p>

“When you see a piece of paper on the ground, pick it up.”\u00a0<\/em>
\u2013\u2013 Shunryu Suzuki Roshi<\/p>

Whether in formal spiritual practice or daily post-meditation practice, may you have success on the path!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Jack\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJack Elias\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Jack Elias has studied and practiced Buddhism since 1967, first with Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi, then with Buddhist teachers Ch\u00f6gyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. A hypnotherapist and NLP trainer since 1988, Jack is co-author of The Outrageous Guide to Being Fully Alive: Defeat Your Inner Trolls and Reclaim Your Sense of Humor<\/i> and author of Finding True Magic: Transpersonal Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy\/NLP.<\/i> More at jackelias.com.<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The author shares how the advice of five Buddhist teachers inspires him to view even the most ordinary parts of daily life as spiritual practice.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":50574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3009],"tags":[3411,3417,3410,3402],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Importance of Post-Meditation Experience - Nalandabodhi International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The author shares how the advice of five Buddhist teachers inspires him to view even the most ordinary parts of daily life as spiritual practice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nalandabodhi.org\/nl\/2022\/06\/04\/the-importance-of-post-meditation-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"nl_NL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Importance of Post-Meditation Experience - 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