Discovering the Nature of Mind

Behind the restless flow of thoughts lies a vast, silent field of awareness – the natural mind that precedes and sustains all experience. We live mostly within a fragment of this wholeness, mistaking our conditioned patterns, stories, and identities for the entirety of who we are. Meditation, when understood in its deeper sense, is not simply a technique to calm or improve the mind but a doorway to directly recognize the luminous consciousness from which all mental activity arises and dissolves. When we cease trying to fix or follow our thoughts and instead rest as awareness itself, the veil of confusion thins, serenity expands, and the essence of our true being reveals itself – clear, boundless, and ever-present.

Transcript

                                Discovering the Nature of Mind

In Eastern literature the word “mind” may refer to either the ordinary day-to-day mind or the natural essential mind. The intended meaning can be inferred from the context of the preceding sentences or paragraph. Understanding this distinction is of great importance.

The ordinary mind is the aspect of consciousness we are most familiar with. It represents a fragment of our larger consciousness, which serves as the source of all experience. Through its dynamic energy this expansive consciousness gives rise to all that we experience – intellect, memory, cognition, identities, forms, mental, sensory appearances and more. All experiences arise and dissolve within the fundamental space of consciousness – it cannot be otherwise. The ordinary, day-to-day self is merely one of these transient experiences.

Our ordinary mind is “tricked” into believing that the fragment of self we relate to in daily life represents our entire being. We mistake our learned habits, perceptual patterns, and identities—those elements that shape our familiar personal self—for the entirety of who we are. The crucial persistent yet mistaken belief that this single fragment of consciousness, our ego self, constitutes our full self, confines us to a limited and constricted life.

Yet, we sense there is more. We feel the absence of something essential and in the background of our life we hear a persistent inner voice that calls out to be heard, beckoning us to a larger life. It reminds us that we are more than our familiar, well-worn personality and that life is a profound mystery – an untapped opportunity waiting to be fully embraced.

Meditation, as a path, leads in two directions. The first aim is to cultivate a healthy, balanced human life—one with reduced stress, less distress, and fewer cycles of suffering. Through meditation, we work toward mental calm, greater insight, healthier relationships, and virtuous behavior. To achieve this, we can use a variety of methods and techniques, such as guided meditation, mantra recitation, breathing practices, mindfulness, and more. These approaches, often referred to as developmental methods, play a vital role in accomplishing this initial goal of meditation. 

But these mental calming and psychological insights at best are preliminaries to attaining the central second aim of meditation. That aim is to directly experience the essential nature of mind and self. This approach does not rely on intellectual understanding, methods, or practices – in fact, these may hinder the experience. Instead, it simply calls for an unmediated encounter with the essential nature of consciousness, which is ever-present and accessible. 

There is, however, one key challenge: we must first learn to naturally relate to the obscuring mental activity that separates us from our essential self. Typically, we become entangled in this activity, attempt to suppress it, distract ourselves, or succumb to the mind's habitual patterns. While such approaches may calm the mind, as do the practices mentioned earlier, they often leave us trapped in a cycle of mental struggle. Instead of engaging the moving mind with insight and wisdom, we tend to approach it with force – like wielding a hammer.

What is the wisdom I am referring to? It is the understanding that mental and sensory activity are natural yet transient expressions of the dynamic energy of consciousness. These mental appearances arise like waves on the ocean, persist briefly – typically for about 200 milliseconds – and then dissolve back into the vastness of consciousness, just as waves return to the sea. This is their natural rhythm and lifespan.

However, this is not what typically happens. Instead of allowing mental activity to arise and fade naturally, our psyche becomes entangled in it – labeling it, projecting qualities and characteristics onto it, and elaborating fragments of mental activity with stories or memories. In doing so, we mistakenly fix these mental appearances in place, prolonging their presence, rather than allowing them to dissolve naturally as they would if left untouched by our egoic attention.

This wisdom is beautifully captured in a Zen proverb: we are advised to let mental activity enter through the front door of the mind and pass freely out the back door, without offering it tea or giving it any attention. In the same way, we learn to allow all mental activity to follow its natural cycle – briefly arising from and dissolving back into consciousness. No fight, no effort, no struggle. Simply let it be. Don’t log in.

We begin, if necessary, with a calming technique such as breathing or breath-holding, which naturally and effortlessly quiets the coarse activity of the mind. It is helpful to have some instruction on the effective use of the breath. 

Once the mind has settled, we release the technique and bring our attention to the present moment. Without effort, we allow the mind and body to rest in their natural state of stillness, letting random activity come and go on its own. Then, we direct our attention to awareness itself, looking at it directly as it is right now this moment. This is a special kind of “looking.” It is looking without looking for a particular object or experience. It is a simple being with what is there, the unadorned mind as it is. This may only last a few moments before we once again engage with a mental appearance. That’s OK. Just be aware of what is in the moment.

 As awareness becomes aware of itself, we may, with grace, merge with and become one with our foundational nature, effortlessly and without struggle. This knowing by being is the most direct perception of the mind and the true self. There is no separation. We cannot “order” this. If it comes, it comes and leaves as it does. Just be aware and let it be. 

It will take practice to progressively relate to mental activity in a wise and natural way, allowing for a direct experience of the true nature of our full consciousness. As we progress, we will experience increasing spaciousness, serenity, and ease. And when the time is right, a deeper, transcendent wisdom will naturally and spontaneously emerge and stabilize. At that moment, we will know what there is to know. We will know through direct perception rather than developmental learning and gradual change.

Though this process is inherently natural and effortless, overcoming our habitual fascination with obscuring mental activity will require practice. The clearer our mind, the clearer our life, the more likely it is that we can we touch the center of our being.

With patience, intention, guidance, faith, perseverance, and commitment, you will finally unravel the mental obscurations that have constrained your life, revealing the long-sought revelation that awakens the profound truths of life and enables full living.