‘The term “ordinary mind” can be confusing if we understand “ordinary” to mean “mundane”. If that were the case, then “ordinary mind” would mean mundane consciousness, confused mind, klesha mind – a mind that is totally caught up in the this world of samsara. However, in this context, “ordinary” means “unfabricated”. When we experience this ordinary mind, we experience buddha mind. Buddha mind is not some special mind that we always seem to be searching for elsewhere. It is simple and ordinary in the sense of being totally free from elaborations, from fabrications, and from all conceptual thinking. It is the best part of the mind. Usually we think of buddha mind as something extraordinary, extra-special, but at this point we cut through all these concepts and go back to the fundamental nature of mind, which is the mind of buddha, or the heart of buddha mind. It is ordinary because it is so simple.’ (Wild Awakening)
When I started practising, you would not have been able to convince me that there was a mind that was free from conceptual thinking, but I am glad to have a different feeling about it nowadays.
Shundo David Haye 