My Personal Retreat experience has drawn, sometimes, painful attention to differences between my on-the-cushion and off-the cushion experiences. With the great fortune of your teachings from this lineage, I have confidence in the "knowing" that these 2 experiences are, in essence, the same. And yet, the truth of my human life is that they often feel different, especially in regards to being a force of "fierce compassion" in the world. Can you give some practical guidance in regards to bringing the spiritual inspiration from the cushion into my human world off-the-cushion?
Dakini's Whisper
How about turning that question around and asking, "How can I bring my off-the-cushion human journey, whatever arises, into my on-the-cushion spiritual practice?" This way whatever experience we have in life and the world becomes materials for spiritual growth. If we try to bring our "holy" on-the-cushion practice to our "messy" human life, we encounter lots of problems.
First, we judge ourselves for not meeting expectations about what we think we are supposed to do or who we are supposed to be and that is, as you said, "painful." Secondly, we are starting with the wrong premise - 'life should be spiritual and needs to be fixed,' which only leads to disappointment. Thirdly, a phrase like, 'being a force of "fierce compassion" in the world,' becomes mere words and involves too much ego.
Unless we first work with our own world called "mind" and bring whatever arises including mental afflictions, confusion, and even numbness in life to our spiritual practice, the idea of "bringing the spiritual practice to our life" becomes meaningless and even a way of spiritual-bypassing. So reverse your thinking about this and see what unfolds!
Ah! The Dakini pulls the rug out from under me again! Thank you.