In applying this understanding we have two options.
1/ The FIRST OPTION is just to go on living our lives as usual while bearing in mind that all thinking, all problem - solving - all conscious mental activity- has only a limited role to play in our life. We must continually remind ourselves that we use conscious mental activity only to solve our problems and once they are resolved we relinquish it. However, it must be emphasised that, though limited in this manner, the role conscious mental activity has to play is an absolutely essential one - we all have appetites and they must be satisfied. For instance, we must eat, drink and procreate, if the human race is to continue. But to reap our just and proper reward for successful actions we must realise, first theoretically and then practically, that conscious mental activity is redundant to our being happy, no matter how temporarily we abandon it. As the experts have repeatedly stressed: all it takes to be happy is our being passively aware.
It cannot be overemphasised that not for an instant is conscious mental activity being deprecated. On the contrary, conscious mental activity has provided us with inestimable benefits of vastly improved living standards which we enjoy today; benefits which will continue to accrue so long as we persist in developing our technology. Without employing efficient conscious mental activity, humanity would never have even entered the stone age let alone escaped from it. Using our intellectual powers has given us an invaluable degree of control over the world in which we live. Long may it continue to do so! Our future is bright because computerised and automated production can relieve us of the drudgery of routine labour releasing us into a richer more rewarding world where every individual has more leisure and a greater opportunity to be happier; just as long as everyone understands what being happy entails.
When our day's work is done we can benefit from this understanding by not making our leisure too dependant on conscious mental activity. Particularly when we listen to music or look at a painting, we must learn to let conscious mental activity abate; then we will really enjoy those pastimes. Even while watching T V, when the programme which we are watching requires a minimum of intellectual involvement on our part (and there is plenty of scope here!) we can allow conscious mental activity to die away. When out walking, when sitting in the park, when enjoying a meal or when making love we must learn not to spoil the experience by intellectualising it to death. The Zen masters would advise you to, "just do it". Take their advice, and eventually you will experience a deep and lasting contentment and an escalating peace of mind during activities which are not heavily dependant on conscious mental activity.
2/ The SECOND OPTION we have is to specifically practise being happy. Effective systems of meditation have that end in view. We can practise emptying our mind of all concepts, predispositions, attitudes, aims, ambitions, goals etc. We can practise relinquishing conscious mental activity while remaining normally alert and aware in order to experience whatever mood holds sway in our mind. Once we have acquired the knack of relinquishing conscious mental activity, that mood will be one of extreme happiness. Not employing conscious mental activity establishes the mood of happiness which we then become directly aware of.- independently of our senses. This is how we usually experience whatever happiness we can boast of. This is why the experts insist that Buddha-mind is within you at all times.
There are many qualified meditators around these days who offer expert tuition on how to meditate and who will guide you through your initiation into the skill of relinquishing conscious mental activity. The recent influx to the West of Tibetan monks who are trained in the various techniques of meditation has provided us with an invaluable opportunity to acquire meditation skills under their expert guidance. The art of how to become enlightened has never been lost.
With diligent practise, and with the passage of time, the underlying condition of the meditator's brain slowly changes; where once chaos reigned in the form of a never-ending clutter of random and habitual thought there will be a contentment, peace of mind and a sense of fulfilment underpinning our every waking moment.Primary happiness will rise to a maximum, enhancing the quality of our whole life. While, during our meditation sessions, awareness will occasionally retreat, back through the gates of language and (with more difficulty) BOS, to what the old Masters described as the very centre of our being. We will have a good chance of eventually experiencing perfect happiness - the Nirvana of the Buddha, the utter bliss of the void - because we possess a clear, logical, penetrating understanding of the essence.
Don't for an instant fear that the benefits of meditation burst upon you when and only when you experience Nirvana. This is not an all or nothing situation. As you gradually develop the skill of abandoning conscious mental activity, while remaining alert and aware, primary happiness will slowly improve ensuring that the ordinary, every-day happiness you experience improves in quality. One inch of meditation skills - one inch of Buddha mind, according to the old adage. Your intention during and after meditation should be to improve what happiness you experience. Forget Nirvana. It will happen when it is ready to happen - by definition! Enjoy enhanced happiness.