Hi Magic, I really think this path in itself it’s a great, wonderful mystery. Think about it, how crazy it is where we ended up, challenging the core of our own existence. I really feel we all can be very thankful that this path in some form or another caught our attention. It really is graze and gods love towards us that we are blessed and that those questions draw our attention inwards.. I really liked what bhagavan ramana once said: "Just as the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the Guru’s gracious look will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost.”
I have another pointer which you might like. It’s from rom Meister Eckhart, a german mystic. He used to point to awareness like this:
"Ask yourself: I wonder which thought will arise next…. and than be alert, watch closely, watch the doorway, where thoughts would arise and be awake that no thought passes your attention”
If you keep looking out for thought this way you will recognize your thoughtless awareness(i also like the word presens) very well..
Since you mentioned that your mind responded to your question, I just wanted to briefly mention the practice of “neti, neti” (not this, nor that) which is also a contemplative inquiry. You ask yourself: Am I this body? Am I the senses? Am I this thought? Am I this Conciousness? And for each question you try to find out if your own sense of I is the same as body, or the same as thought, like is IT THAT ? and you find, no I is not the same as body, not the same as thought, and so on.. this inquiry wll guide the mind into deeper understanding of oneself..
I hope you will find these inquiries joyfull 
Warm Regards, philipp
