The Buddhist definition is close to the definition for ataraxis (the absence of stress or anxiety; serenity) but implies more than just serenity or peace of mind (perhaps even a mystical “blessed” state). In addition, the existence of the other subordinate definitions of enlightenment create more confusion about exactly what is meant than the relatively simple term ataraxis. 

Also for clarity, I have chosen to avoid using conscious/unconscious and have stayed with aware/mindful and unaware/mindless. While the terms conscious, aware, and mindful are synonyms, conscious has multiple meanings (a kind definition “baggage” I would prefer to avoid). This becomes important when trying to distinguish between being aware or mindful and being unaware or mindless. After all being unconscious can mean being asleep or “out” – something quite different than being unaware or unmindful.

Finally, I use the phrases “staying in the present” or just “the present” repeatedly. In each case and perhaps obviously, the “present” is what is happening “now” not what will happen or what has happened.

The primary advantage of “staying in the present” is staying aware of what is happening. Staying aware allows you to observe as much as possible of what is occurring “now” within and to you, within and to others, and in your surroundings. Your observations are the feedback you need to make decisions about what about you needs improvement and what is fine. For example, if you put a “spin” on some information you have, how does distorting the information make you feel and what do you notice about the reaction of others? You may need to process or “digest” your observations during a moment to come but without observations in the “present”, you will not have answers to the questions.

In addition, staying “present” opens the way for you to redirect your actions as they happen – it is where (and when) the action is. After all, you cannot change what is in the past and you only can change the future by acting in the present. You may rehearse your future actions but you can only act in the present. The importance of staying “present” is hard to overvalue.

The secret to success in acquiring any ability is to allow for it to build gradually. Expect periods of rapid progress followed by relatively long periods when there is no progress. This is the nature of true growth. Be gentle with yourself along the way, not frustrated by times when you do not seem to be moving forward.

Key Skill – Awareness

There are several key skills to master while seeking a state of ataraxis. The first of these is awareness.

Awareness here refers, in part, to noticing how what you see and hear (and even feel, smell, and taste) influences your thinking.

If we could map the process of generating thoughts, one path would show sensory information (what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste) entering your nervous system through your sensory organs (eyes, ears, etc.). This sensory information generates a thought (if it is deemed noteworthy by a system that controls your attention).

The fact that a thought or a combination of thoughts, might trigger the release of neurochemicals is an important part of the phenomena but even more important for this discussion is the fact that much of this happens outside of awareness – with the goal being to bring it totally into awareness.

To understand this process better, think of an alarm sounding. An infant who has no experience with alarms might react to the shrillness and intensity of the sound but will stop there and not generate further thoughts of alarm and/or feelings of fear. The infant’s thoughts (if any) will not be linked to experiences or stories about alarms and the danger they potentially represent: injury or death.

In comparison, the unaware adult links the alarm sound to thoughts of danger (of injury or death) without being aware of the association or connections being made. He or she associates the alarm sound with experiences or stories of injury or death outside of awareness and generates feelings of fear out of proportion with what is actually happening. Such an adult “panics” and may be “frozen by fear”.

On the other hand, the aware adult sees the situation as unique and stops short of making an association between an alarm sounding and stories of injury or death. The aware adult attends to the sensory information (the alarm sounding) and directs his or her thinking to the actual situation – remaining alert for more information but stopping short of mindlessly generating thoughts and feelings associated with different situations, including those that have been experienced before, in the news, or shared by a friend.

Specifically, an individual who is actively aware, hears the alarm sound and generates thoughts about what the sound’s source is, whether it signals danger or not, what action can be taken if any to prevent injury, how to help others in the situation, etc.

s might be obvious from this example, the sound of the alarm being heard almost instantaneously generates a thought. To be fully aware means to be mindful during the generation of thought, rather than after the thought and feelings have occurred. This requires constant awareness or “mindfulness”and the requirement of mindfulness is one of the reasons ataraxis is a difficult state of being to achieve.

The other part of awareness, as it is used here, is noticing when thoughts occur spontaneously or spring forth from another thought or a feeling or a memory, through association – a second path for generating thoughts.

For example, you may spontaneously think of a favorite place and that thought might generate feelings about and memories of friends that have been there with you. These thoughts or others like them, whether occurring spontaneously or through association, take your focus from the what is happening around you (the “present”) and frequently produce additional thoughts that become an “internal dialog”. This internal dialog may (1) concern plans, (2) be a rehearsal of dialog, or (3) be grist for a judgment of self, others, or circumstances.

Being aware of spontaneous thoughts and thoughts generated through association, gives you the opportunity to direct or end any ensuing dialog. The aware individual will be able to track the thoughts that arise spontaneously or through association as well as those thoughts that follow.

In contrast, the individual who has not yet fully aware, will be unable or uninterested in tracking his or her thoughts and will allow them to continue in a nonstop and typically mindless or aimless journey, interrupted only by an endless supply of emerging thoughts (occurring spontaneously, through associations, or because of new sensory information).

It is worth noting that before you learned to speak, you did not have the capacity for mindless thinking. As an infant, your attention was directed either inward to the sensations of your body or outward toward your experiences and the sensory information the experiences provided.

When you started to learn to speak, you acquired the ability to communicate along with the ability to think using words, that is, to have thoughts. The ability to communicate had benefits for you and others, including your getting your needs met more precisely through verbal communication. The ability to think using words opened the door to directed or mindful thinking. It also opened to door for undirected or mindless thinking.

In keeping with the dual nature of things, directed or mindful thinking could not exist without the potential for undirected or mindless thinking. The goal here is to maximize mindful thinking, including productive thinking that arises spontaneously (the source of creativity).

Mindful thoughts that plan for the future, rehearse conversation, and analyze and judge the past and present are not the problem, mindless plans, mindless rehearsed conversation, and mindless judgments are the problem. Practicing awareness allows you to stop mindless thinking and the unease that it frequently creates. In other words, practicing awareness paves the way to ataraxis.

If you have any doubt of your potential to think mindlessly, sit quietly and “empty” or clear your mind. Notice the internal dialog that starts almost immediately and how it generates mindless thoughts. Alternatively, observe children who are able to speak but haven’t learned to keep their dialog to themselves. You will hear how the dialog starts and meanders on, seemingly endlessly.

In summary, being aware of your internal dialog gives you the option of directing it. If you are unaware of it, it will direct itself, producing a endless stream of thoughts and associated feelings that sooner than later take on a life of their own and are incompatible with peace of mind.