‘As if’

As if : Bsm. teaches that all manifestation is in the last analysis illusion. Within this field of Māyā the imagination may be usefully directed to create in thought the condition of mind desired, and an effort made to behave ‘as if’ this condition had been achieved. Thus the Sōtō Zen monks are taught to ‘act as Buddha’, in meditation and in daily life, on the principle that they are Buddha already, and have only to become aware of it.