I have found that modern spiritual practitioners lack the tips of how to integrate their meditation practice with everyday life. I cannot say it strongly enough: to integrate meditation in action is the whole ground and point and purpose of meditation.
That is, to apply meditation in everyday life. The violence and stress, the challenges and distractions of modern life make this integration even more urgently necessary. People complain to me, “I have meditated for twelve years, but somehow I haven’t changed. I am still the same. Why?” Because there is an abyss between their spiritual practice and their everyday life. They seem to exist in two separate worlds, which do not inspire each other at all. How, then, do we achieve this integration, this permeation of everyday life with the calm humor and spacious detachment of meditation? There is no substitute for regular practice, for only through real practice will we begin to taste unbrokenly the calm of our nature of mind and so be able to sustain the experience of it in our everyday life. That is, you must first be able to be mindful and calm during meditation. If your mind is full of wandering thoughts or is drowsy, without mindfulness even during meditation, then you definitely won’t have mindfulness in your daily life. First, we need to engage in regular meditation practice. This gives rise to an effect similar to the cause, thereby habituating ourselves with it naturally. Hence, in daily life, our mindfulness will spontaneously arise. I always tell my students not to come out of meditation (sitting) too quickly: allow a period of some minutes… When you leave the cushion, don’t immediately let your mind run away. When the meditation bell sounds, which signals the end of the meditation session, don’t immediately talk or ponder; instead, stay seated for a few more minutes. …for the peace of the practice of meditation to infiltrate your life. Here is a transition from meditation to daily life: take a few minutes to allow your mind to keep the meditative experience and feeling, and then gradually resume your daily life. As my master Dudjom Rinpoche said: “Don’t jump up and rush off, but mingle your mindfulness with everyday life.