Finding Your Way

It has been long known that meditation can improve our physical health. However, its main purpose is to free our minds of thought.

According to traditional Buddhist teachings, wisdom shines the brightest when our minds are stripped of thought.

As we have learned in our previous lesson “Preparing to Meditate,” breath tracing and counting exercises help us calm our minds down.

When we are so intensely focused on our breath, the mind simply cannot stay confounded and disordered.

Oftentimes you will hear people advise someone who is going through an acute episode of emotional distress, to count their breaths.

This simple exercise relieves the body from tension and allows the mind to quiet down.

Through meditative practice, we learn how to refine our states of mind.

As we make our minds less confused and erratic, we grant ourselves the power of self-regulation.

While there are many different methods of mind regulation, the most common and favored one is to rest your attention on a single point and, without engagement, witness the vast array of thoughts that enter and leave your consciousness.

Taking less part in what is going on in our minds is a necessary step for reaching utter concentration.

Essentially, when we manage to concentrate on a single point, we strip our minds of disturbing thoughts. The more we practice this, we begin to see that less disturbing thoughts start arising throughout the remainder of the day.