Compassion For The Conditioned Mind

• Learn not to criticize the mind for doing what it has been conditioned to do.
• If judgment arises, do not judge the judgment.
• Be willing to face the pain associated with identifying with the conditioned mind. You never experience more than you can handle.
• Let the mind speak when it has a strong urge to do so. Don't fight the mind. Allow it to flow like water under a bridge. Observe this flow without being caught in it.
• Trust your intention to do no harm.
• Forgive any hurt that you have caused others due to ignorance.
• Forgive others any hurt that they have caused you due to ignorance.
• Be grateful for your difficulties. They point out where you need to grow.
• Recognize that it is not "your" mind -- it is just the conditioned mind.
• Take time to play. Let the mind relax.
• Maintain balance in all areas of your life.
• Include yourself in your practice of generosity.
• Spend some time each day offering loving kindness to your conditioned mind.
• If difficult mental states arise in the mind, follow Rumi's suggestion to "meet them at the door laughing and invite them in." Hold them in the heart the way we would treat a naughty child. We don't throw them out of our heart.
• Appreciate this human vehicle that you have for coming to freedom.
• When fear can be observed as a conditioned phenomenon, it loses its power -- for it is not being fed with aversion. When its not fed, it dies a natural death.