Orienting Yourself
Natural Ways In
There is no right or wrong way to enter Unfettered Mind. People come with different questions, needs, and curiosities, and these shift over time. What calls to you today may not speak to you next month. This is part of the design. Begin where something touches you, and let that be your way in.
Some people are drawn first to the stand-alone talks. They offer a glimpse of Ken’s teaching style and help you sense whether his way of teaching resonates with you before stepping into a longer class or retreat.
If you want to begin or re-establish a meditation practice, the practice materials—short meditations, reflections, and prayers—offer simple ways to settle, open, or reconnect. In the series, you’ll find deeper exploration of all of these themes woven through longer teachings.
If you are drawn to depth and continuity, the series let you follow a theme—such as attention, emotions, compassion, living awake, or mahamudra—across many sessions. You may not understand everything at first. Understanding develops through listening, returning, and listening again.
Then and Now merits special mention. In this 37-part class Ken unpacks The Jewel Ornament of Liberation by Gampopa, bringing the wisdom of this classical text into a form that is accessible in the present day. He also integrates insights from other great Tibetan masters, along with modern perspectives and his own experience. The series explores central teachings of the Mahayana path: refuge, the six perfections, the bodhisattva vow, and buddha nature—showing how these can transform daily experience and deepen spiritual practice.
If you are drawn to learning through questions, the Q&A archive is a rich resource. Many people find clarity when they hear someone articulate what they themselves cannot yet express. Ken’s responses shed light on common challenges—how to work with emotion, how to practise in daily life, how to relate to teachers, and how to navigate uncertainty or internal conflict.
If you turn naturally to written reflections, the articles offer essays that explore practice, culture, emotional life, identity, and meaning. These pieces invite contemplation and often challenge assumptions in ways that can open unexpected insights.
Each of these is a natural way in. Attention provides the thread; your task is simply to follow it.
Searching the Site as Practice
The search bar on Unfettered Mind becomes more helpful the more you explore how it works. When searching for phrases, try using quotation marks. Searching often becomes more effective when you enter short, focused phrases:
- “fear”
- “working with anger”
- “letting go”
- “reactive patterns”
- “cultivating attention”
- “staying present”
You can refine your results by choosing a format—Series, Q&A, Articles, or Practice Materials—before typing your words. You can also search by topic. The topics act like threads woven through the archive, and they may reveal material you might not have found otherwise.
It’s worth trying a few variations. A single word may be too broad; a longer phrase may be too narrow. Often the best results emerge when you adjust your phrasing until the results returned feel relevant to your question.
Remember that search is only one way in. Browsing, wandering, and following whatever catches your attention are equally valid approaches. The site is designed for exploration. Let curiosity guide you, and let your own questions shape the path you take.
Finding Your Own Way
Unfettered Mind has no map because your path emerges as you engage with the material. What you notice, what matters to you, and what unsettles or inspires you become the organising principles of your journey.
As you explore, certain passages or teachings will speak directly to your experience. These become threads. Following a thread across audio, transcripts, articles, or Q&A creates a kind of personal curriculum—that emerges naturally from matters to you at the moment.
Over time, you may begin to recognise “pivot points”—moments in a teaching when Ken shifts from explanation to direct experience, or from description to instruction. These moments often show you how to practise with what is arising in your own life right now.
Finding your own way in depends less on planning than on noticing. Notice what draws your attention. Notice what stays with you after listening or reading. Notice what you return to again and again. In a labyrinth, you do not navigate by plotting the route. You navigate by staying close to the thread in your hand.