His description of the parental state of mind is true for the meditative one as well. It does not need to be a blank slate or an empty void. There can be tenderness but also humor, self-pity mixed with self-deprecation, anger swaddled in love, a teasing quality that is nevertheless subservient to the rocking, singing, and cradling of the lullaby. And behind it all, there is the echo of the inevitability of separation and change as described by Right View: Down will come baby, cradle and all.
