meditation

when we meditate we watch our thoughts

while focusing our attention on a

certain anchor that keeps us in the

present

for example the breath while watching

the breath

we observe how our thoughts come and go

along with our feelings and emotions

and when we get dragged into them we

bring back our attention to our anchor

but this isn't the whole story

meditation isn't just about watching our

inner processes

it's a tool to transform and cultivate

the mind

used in spiritual practices as we see in

buddhism and hinduism

cultivating the mind is like a gardening

project

by meditating we train ourselves to

become aware of our inner garden

so we can cultivate as well as protect

it

this means that we prevent weeds from

growing

eradicate the weeds that are already

present and replace them

with beautiful plants and trees a

well-tended garden

resembles a serene and joyful mind

when you investigate yourself you'll

find three things 1.

that your thoughts feelings and

emotions are impermanent

2. that there is no solid or fixed self

and 3 that we're mostly in a state of

dissatisfaction

this means that we're always looking for

pleasure running from pain

and that who we think we are and what we

want is constantly shifting

most of the time we are pushed around by

our environment

that not only dictates what we should

and shouldn't want but also strongly

influences

how we feel and what we think a mind

that's subject to the whims of its

surroundings is what the buddhists call

the monkey mind the monkey mind is

untrained

and as a consequence it's in an ongoing

pursuit

of century pleasures like a monkey

swinging from branch to branch

untrained minds are led by impulses

they're

mirrors of the surrounding world when we

have such minds

and let's face it most people do we are

in pain

not so much because of the world itself

but because we're ill-informed about the

reality of existence

for example we think that century

pleasure equals happiness

while in reality this isn't the case or

that we're somehow entitled to certain

objects

experiences or people while in reality

we aren't this causes destructive mental

states

like greed hatred and anger

let's imagine the mind as a garden in a

city surrounded by a stone wall

with one gate there are six roads that

lead into the city

these roads resemble the six sense doors

seeing hearing touching smelling tasting

and ideas

all this information coming from our

senses about the world around us

must go through that one gate before it

can enter

the garden and once it is inside it will

influence the quality

of the garden however it's not the

sensory information

itself that impacts our garden but our

own perceptions

beliefs and ideas regarding that

information

if we are averse to certain people for

example seeing them will be unpleasant

but if we are kind and accepting

to these people seeing them wouldn't be

unpleasant at all and could even be a

joyful experience

thus the garden is filled with sense

perceptions

and our thoughts about them this

interplay decides our mental state

that in turn influences how we behave in

the world

when the gate to the garden is

defenseless and wide open

enemies can enter these enemies come in

the form of delusions that provoke

feelings of hate

or strong desires for certain century

experiences

like trolls ruining a comment section or

viruses affecting a computer these

delusions

wreak havoc on the mind they scream i

need this i hate that it's not enough

i want something else making the mind

suffer an ongoing path

of dissatisfaction they are the bad

weeds that not only need to be pulled

out

they should be prevented from entering

in the first place

but how well the gate to the garden

needs to be guarded and this is the job

of the century the beauty of our garden

depends on the skillfulness

of the sentry whose job it is to

carefully select who can enter

wholesome thoughts that are rational

wise and

truthful about reality may enter

unwholesome thoughts that are irrational

unwise and deceptive are considered the

enemy

and must stay outside the sentry

can also reject sensory information

which doesn't mean that we for example

close our eyes and cover our ears but

that we don't engage

with what the senses pick up because

unwise attention to external things

like over-indulging in food or beauty

but also the excessive engagement in

ideas

damages our garden as over-watering will

destroy a plant

the sentry symbolizes mindfulness the

ability to pay attention

only by paying attention we are able to

discern

friend from foe unfortunately in many

cases

the century isn't well trained and this

is where meditation comes in

meditation is a method to train the

century so

that instead of being a lazy stupid

deadbeat

he or she will be sharp and strong a

trained sentry has the wisdom to decide

who is an enemy and who is a friend and

will prevent

bad influences from entering our garden

and help us to

uproot the weeds that are already

present

when our gardens are well tended we'll

experience

peace joy and serenity as our minds are

filled with wholesome thoughts

and face the reality of life with

clarity.