The Mind in Meditation

written by YeShey on Monday, December 28th, 2009

What do I do with my mind in meditation?

The first problem we encounter when meditating is that our minds do not want to cooperate. We want the mind to focus on the breath but it runs off in every direction. We need to learn how to manage and relax the mind to in order to meditate.

Manage the Mind

It could be said that managing the mind is meditation. The undisciplined mind jumps from thought to thought like a monkey jumping from branch to branch. During meditation we try not to follow the thoughts, the stories, the demanding questions or brilliant ideas that they become. Rather, we manage the mind by simply leaving the thoughts alone, not following them one way or another. In this way we start to gain a little control over the mind, and eventually the interruptions will be less and less and the mind becomes more and more aware of each thought that does rise.

For example, in meditation we may think of something that happened in the past, followed by a reaction to that memory (thought), followed by a reaction to that thought or emotion, etc, etc.  At some point we remember “oh, I am supposed to be meditating”. At that point, no more comments, just simply come back to your object of focus, your breath. This is managing the mind.

By not following the thoughts – meditation is simply leaving things just as they are – we find that the mind calms down quite naturally by itself.

Do not force the mind to be still, this further agitates the mind, hindering the meditation. Be gentle with the mind. Be relaxed and open when you meditate.  Be happy when you notice you have been thinking, be happy you noticed and simply bring the mind back to the meditation.

We don’t use the instruction “happily, or joyously bring the mind back to the meditation” lightly. The mind is more malleable when it is in a state of happiness then when it is in a state of frustration or anger. Enthusiasm is encouraged because you we yield results faster with a joyful sate of mind than using a ‘negative’ state of mind.

Relax the Mind

It is important to keep the mind relaxed during meditation by finding the balance between being tight and loose. Too tight often occurs when you are trying very hard to concentrate and too loose occurs when you become lazy and the focus on the breath is hazy or barely there. Your mind should be attentive and alert but not rigid and tight. This takes a bit of practice, but continue to come back to this concept and slowly you will come to understand, what this means and how to do it.  As we learn to relax the mind during meditation, our minds become more relaxed in general.

This may be simple, mastering them is not easy. Do not expect to ‘get it’ right away. It may take a while.  You have to work at it.  Just like learning to play piano or baseball. You have to work at it and some people get it faster than others.  The things that will help are:  joy and enthusiasm and a commitment to a daily practice, work ardently and work diligently.

Best wishes for the new year.

In Dharma

YeShey