A vast deal of coolness, and a peculiar degree of judgment, are requisite in catching a hat. For me, it seems like something is missing in my life and sometimes it is hard to enjoy the moment because there are things I want to do and people I want to spend time with and I get anxious and start missing them or desiring their company or wanting to go places to have fun. There is just something so exciting about the nightclub, the light, music blaring through the speakers, and all the people having a good time. However, in order to awaken the unconditioned mind, we are required to live in a state of ongoing completion. We are required to be complete with the past and fearless about the future. When we are complete we do not need to think about what we have done, or what we will be doing. This allows us to fully encounter the next moment.

There are two ways in which we create incompletions. Either we do not do what is required to be done, or we do what does not need to be done. Often we find out why some precious seconds, minutes, hours, or days afterwards, when we sense that we have been careless or unconscious with our words or deeds. When our actions come from the conditioned mind they are not optimally responsive to the requirements of them moment. We are unable to read and respond to the uniqueness of each situation because we were operating from a model of what has worked in the past. However, it is also possible to tune into the present moment with a subtlety and depth that lets us sense the potential of our speech and behavior to condition the future. In fact, this sensitivity and care arises naturally when we connect with the unconditioned mind. 

When we grow as a person, traditions and nature of the spiritual path change from one of avoiding suffering and pursuing pleasure to one of expanding our capacity to be present to everything that human life can produce—open to the full force and richness of our conditioned existence. We develop a capacity to receive all experiences without fear or addiction. Suffering is not necessarily something wrong—as something that should not happen to us. Problems are natural. We all suffer, and will learn to handle problems better as we walk down our journey in life. We stop making a problem out of having problems! We accept the basic structure and patterns of our experience—our life circumstances, not in a defeatist way, but with dignity and grace. We welcome what is as a gateway to the unconditioned mind.

When we try to escape the burden of boring and limiting thoughts, it is difficult to be effortlessly present. Initial access to the unconditioned mind can be greatly enhanced by slowing our thinking down so that we feel peaceful and serene. If a person’s thoughts are racy or disturbed, a crucial step is to help them slow down and discover a place where they are more composed and less urgent. We do not need to eliminate thoughts completely. We are just required to arrive at the point where thoughts can float through awareness without producing disturbance. This is called serenity. A heart at ease flies into no extremes-it is ever on its center. A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent pleasure.  

The most direct and effective way to slow down our thinking is to give ourselves nothing to think about. This is logical. If we have nothing to think about we have fewer thoughts. And thinking about nothing also reveals the unconditioned mind. The two practices support each other. Thoughts are thinned out by not feeding the interpretive process, by not digging for problems, by not offering anything to think about. Stay in intimate communication and relationship without pushing your mind to be so active. You do not have to figure everything out. Just take some time to rest and relax.  

Experiences of bliss arise in the slipstream of the unconditioned mind. The supremely blissful state of natural rest—is sublime stability, spontaneously present without having to be cultivated. These experiences occur like clockwork when our thinking slows down and we move into more subtle states of consciousness. These experiences can be profoundly healing, especially for people who deprive themselves of pleasure. They are medicine for the mind and the spirit. They soothe our minds and repair the damage done to our nervous system by pain and trauma. However, like all conditioned experiences, bliss comes and goes. When you are healing, there is still further to go. There is at least this good thing of toil, that it takes the nonsense and fancy-work out of a human, and leaves nothing but what truly belongs to one.