As children, we take in everything and are not generally introduced to the idea of thinking about what we are thinking about. Our thinking is constant and we tend to repetitively think about the same things. Thinking overlays reality. Mind creates identification, is wary of everything as a threat, and seeks to survive at all costs. Throughout our lives, it looks for something to make things better while being averse to recognizing that something is not quite right. The best way to consider reality is to work with accepting what is as it is here and now, including our own reactions. Bala is manager of Hohm Press, which has published a few hundred books of spiritual literature.