The Mind Before Awakening Versus After

A human being is endowed with an excellent "thinker." Yet any self- aware person sees how the mind oversteps its bounds in its ceaseless effort to understand and control, to distance us from life's difficulties. Many people wanting to wake up assume that post-awakening the mind would grow entirely still. It is natural to think so because of how much torment the thinker has inflicted all our lives. But what actually occurs after we wake up is that the mind becomes truly useful. It can be turned on and off at will. We're aware when it's operating. It no longer runs of its own accord, nor is it saturated in emotion. The mind has become an actual blessing. It's just that it doesn't run morning, noon, and night. Before awakening the mind is an inducer of unconsciousness. After awakening it is a clear- eyed seer: one that truly sees. Its lifelong mission of maintaining-a-self has come to a rest.