Nobody has every encountered anything but a thought or projection of a thought. One does not escape from now, but one may deny it or be distracted. To be lost in thought is to forget the essence of being.
Perception combines feelings and sensations with judgment. The inner judge introduces thought and tells you existence is based on structures and forms that you work out. Curiously, everything is fine already. Time is irrelevant. As you ask, how do I still the mind? Mind tricks you to believe it is not already still.
In terms of form and linear time, you may not be able to add much more to your cv or identity. The mind-created sense of specialness or recognition may or may not be realized. What is the point then, of obsessions with form, the search for things, engagement in endeavours? What is already transforming?
To feel the luminous, formless being is beyond thought, beyond a conceptual dream of personal history. Move beyond constant neediness and drama. Awareness is stillness that exists beyond images and comparisons. It is not something you experience if you follow a course of action. Stop thinking to just be.