The consistent mindfulness still feels slightly harsh so I've gone back to the Clarifying the natural State instructions and the mindfulness is getting smoother again and even more smooth when I use the below instructions from Lama Kong Ka. I can start seeing in Daniel's instructions on seeing everything that is considered a self and how both instructions point in different ways to the same thing so there's a smoothness from a lack of aversion to what's happening. Things are causal or happen on their own.
I'm still working with intentions and trying to notice and feel them. This talk goes into more detail:
http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/4927.htmlSome notes from Maria:
Intention is about motivation. Eg. Baking a cake for someone to enjoy vs. Showing off.
Using intentions to guide conditions is better than just reacting with default intentions.
Default intentions “I want what I like and I don’t want what I don’t like”.
Motivations determine whether intentions are skillful or unskillful.
Intentions are ethically neutral but motivations are not ethically neutral.
Feel the energy to move your hand. That is your intention. The motivation to move your hand or not move your hand is the energy for the action. Volition is also in the continuing of the action.
Checking your intentions allows you to stop them. What you think will be the inclination of the mind. Letting go of clinging is renunciation (a form of intention). Make intentions based on what is skillful instead of self-measurement.
Align intentions with deep values. When purposefully cultivating intentions you can at a later time check into your intentions as you go along with your day and have ready made intentions to remind yourself of.
If the intention is good then when there are mistakes there will be less self blame.
By paying attention to motivation, intentions, action,
and the continuance of the action I can see how incredibly quick they are, because they feel one and the same. Since any Right Effort movement is exercising intention then you can see how intentions are all over the place and habitual intentions have to be countered by the intention to pay attention. Eg. Adjusting intentions to return to the breath. When paying attention is happening (hopefully as often as possible) this time should not be wasted and the skillful intentions and actions should be put in place. More paying attention = more freedom. This also means that being tired of pay attention can reduce your freedom from old habits. By developing better habits when there is more attention hopefully when someone is tired their good habits will kick in.
Seeing things happening on their own feels even more true when trying Lama Kong Pa's instructions. It's like I can notice more of the sensations when I pursue "naturalness". I really understand now how there's no self in the experiential level and because of how quiet, peaceful (yet groundbreaking) it's convincing. I can also see how old habits still have to be dealt with but there's no need to make that project a "self" project full of the typical judgment and aversion. Just Do, Observe, and Correct intentions.

I don't know if I fully understand intention in an experiential level yet but this combination is working. I'll know if I can follow Kong Pa's instructions to deliberately cultivate desire and aversion and not act on them but just observe their nature. It's clear to me now that having my senses knocked out in classical stream-entry is not necessary to see and understand non-inherency. Everything happens as causes and conditions and seeing this in more clarity can allow cultivating better intentions/actions/habits. Because of tiredness and ignorance there will be errors and falling off the wagon but now that isn't a self-judgment anymore.
Lama Kong Pa's instructions point directly but it's very subtle:
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abuddhistlibrary.com%2FBuddhism%2FA%2520-%2520Tibetan%2520Buddhism%2FSubjects%2FWisdom%2FMahamudra%2FThe%2520Essentials%2520of%2520Mahamudra%2520Practice%2FThe%2520Essentials%2520of%2520Mahamudra%2520Practice.rtf&ei=5OnPU4XJO4eIjALA9oDIBA&usg=AFQjCNESyy3ec9YoGAgB7iUrnTfxE5uRzw&sig2=89VkM1gKURadVFqzweK5Xw'Equilibrium' means to balance body, mouth, and mind.
The Mahamudra way of balancing the body is to loosen it,
of balancing the mouth is to slow down the breathing,
and of balancing the mind is not to cling to and rely on anything.
"This is the supreme way to tame the body, breath ,
and mind.
" 'Relaxation' means to loosen the mind, to let everything go, to strip off all ideas and thoughts. When one's whole body and mind become loose, one can, without effort, remain in the natural state, which is intrinsically non-dis- criminative and yet without distractions.
" 'Naturalness' means not 'taking' or 'leaving' anything:
in other words the yogi does not make the slightest effort of any kind. He lets the senses and mind stop or flow by themselves without assisting or restricting them.
To practice naturalness is to make no effort and be spontaneous.
"The above can be summarized thus:
The essence of equilibrium is not to cling.
The essence of relaxation is not to hold.
The essence of naturalness is to make no effort."
THE ERRORS IN MAHAMUDRA PRACTICE
"(1) If one's Mahamudra practice is confined soley to the effort of stabilizing the mind, the activities of all one's six consciousnesses will be halted, or dimmed. This is called a 'frozen ice' type of practice, and is a very harmful tendency in Mahamudra meditation which must be avoided.
"(2) He who neglects the clear 'Awareness' but abides soley in Non-distinction will see or hear nothing when confronted with sights, sounds, smells, and touches. . . This is an error due to having become sluggish.
"(3) When the last thought has gone, and the next one has not come, this immediate, present moment is a very wonderful thing if one can abide therein; but, if he does so without clear awareness, he still falls into the error of sluggishness.
"(4) he who can hold the bright Awareness but thinks there is nothing more to Mahamudra also falls into error.
"(5) If one only cultivates 'Blissfulness,' 'Illumination,' and Non-distinction' without practicing 'penetrating-observation-into-the-mind,' it still cannot be considered as the correct Mahamudra practice.
"(6) He who develops a dislike to manifestation os most likely to have gone astray.
"(7) He who concentrates on his Awareness and cultivates the illuminating-void Self-mind [I'm assuming non-inherency] is said to practice Mahamudra correctly. However, this 'concentration- effort' has a tendency to hinder that spontaneity and freedom of spirit, without which it is difficut to unfold the vast and liberating Mind. One should therefore never forget to practice the 'looseness,' 'vastness,' and 'spontaneity.'"
* * *
"What, then, is the correct Mahamudra practice?
"[Answer:] The ordinary mind [Tib.: Thal.Ma.Ces.Pa] is itself the correct practice. That is to say, to let the ordinary mind remain in its own natural state. If to this mind one adds or subtracts anything, it is then not the ordinary mind but the so-called 'mind-object' [Tib.: Yul.]. To make not the slightest intention and effort to practice, and yet to not be distracted for a single moment, is to practice the natural mind correctly. Therefore, as long as you can keep your Self-awareness, no matter what you do, you are still practicing Mahamudra.