The mind is a cul-de-sac when it comes to the “logical” conclusions that it comes to in order to sustain the fear and hate that are so convenient and prevalent to its emotional state. The mind has thoughts it “thinks” are seemingly “unstoppable,” while also reacting to the “immovable” emotions that dictate the entire process.

The question is: How do we stop the emotions from influencing the quality of our thoughts?

It is very important to understand the nature of both mind and emotion, then introduce an entirely new process into these two elements of being in order to create what is called consciousness.

In other words, to be able to recognize the process of the mind without the use of the minds’ mechanism, which is the “unstoppable force” that meets the “immovable object.” The ability to realize how emotions affect the mind is the very essence of entering into consciousness. I cannot stress this enough.

The reason we have difficulty absorbing the spiritual is because we are using the wrong instrument for the process. When we use the mind, with its agenda of logic and reasoning that only sustains emotional fear and hate, we miss the entire meaning of the process of meditation and inner work. The mind, used under the influence of emotion, will create many a problem and seeming answer to that problem…only to create a new problem later on.

We cause ourselves a great disservice in this world by living as a paradox, by pitting one thought against another, pitting our emotions against the logic of the mind and coming up with all sorts of convolutions. Learning what an “emotion” is and that we can live with them as an option and not as an obligation, is the very essence of learning how to live without pain and suffering. It can be done, but it will requires willingness on our part to no longer indulge our fixations and compulsions.

Emotions cannot stand by themselves as purity. They are all about the FEAR of survival and the deep and unconscious HATE that builds from this. This state of emotion drives us to speak, act and live in ways that are very painful and deeply unkind…all of which creates our Karma because we are spiritually dim.

Karma is both our fate and our destiny…and so much more. It is the Law that operates behind the scenes of the conscious mind and reveals the face of our inner being.

The reason we have difficult Karma is not because we are evil or bad. It is because we only think from our emotions that are all about “me, me, me.” We have removed ourselves from Love and created a “me” that lives in nothing but fear. “Me” is emotion, “me” is utter obsession in fear and drives the life that we are in to an impasse of immovable meets unstoppable.

There is a huge difference between the authentic being that we are and the “me” that we have come to believe in. When a person enters into an authentic spiritual practice, the need for there to be a “me” diminishes and the essence of being occurs, which means that we no longer have to “think” about anything. Thinking, as we experience it now, becomes antiquated and we become free of the fetters of mundane mind. We enter into the state of consciousness that allows for only Love – we move into direct experience.

In Zen, this state of mind is called “No-Mind” and is derived through mindfulness, which occurs through the practice of meditation. Mindfulness is a state of being where we no longer need the push and pull of thoughts, guided and motivated by fear and hate, to pull us from one thought to another.

All of this occurs through persistent practice of meditation and inner work. It seems tedious to the person who finds comfort in the monotonous thoughts that require only gratification as a means for living. Our life is important, as is our death. Learning what is meant by “important” is what living is all about.