The Long-Distance Meditator

When you settle in, make up your mind you’re going to stay here. Concentration requires determination. You’re going to make this the desire that overrides all other desires right now.

In other words, with any determination, it requires four qualities. The first is discernment. Figure out how to make the mind want to stay here. Make the breath comfortable. Think about what the breath energy can do for you in the body. If you have any chronic diseases or pains, how can the way you breathe help relieve some of that pain, lessen some of the diseases? So you’re here not only with a sense of pleasure but also a sense of interest.

Once you’ve made up your mind you’re going to stay here and this is how you’re going to do it, then you’re true to what you made up your mind to do. That requires that you let go of anything else that would get in the way. That’s the third quality: relinquishment. Any other thoughts that come up, you don’t have to pay them any attention. Think of your mind like a hand. You’re holding on to the breath. Other things come and brush up against the back of the hand, but you don’t have to turn your fingers around and grasp on to them. Stay attached to the breath.

And finally calm: Whether the mind settles down quickly or slowly, try to be calm about what you’re doing. That doesn’t mean being lazy, but it does mean that when it takes a while to get the mind to settle down, just stick with it, stick with it, stick with it, with a sense of equanimity that this is what’s required, this is what you’ve got to do. Then you calm the mind with any thoughts that say, “Well it should be better than this; it should be faster than this.” Do what needs to be done.

You might think about planting a tree. You water it; you give it fertilizer; you look after it, make sure the bugs don’t get to it. Then whether the tree is going to grow slowly or quickly, that’s the tree’s business. You take care of your business, your duties. As for what the tree decides to do, that’s up to the tree.

When you have these four qualities of discernment, truth, relinquishment, and calm, then it’s easy to make a determination and to stick with it and stay with it over the long term. After all, this is a long-term practice we’re doing here, not just a weekend or a week-long project. It’s a lifetime practice. It requires that you have a clear sense of what your priorities are—that you want the training of your mind to be the number one priority because your mind is your number one possession. Even your own body is going to leave you at some point, but the mind will always be there. So you want to make sure that it’s in good shape.

So. Have a sense of sticking with this over the long term, like a marathon runner. You want to make sure you make it all the way to the goal. That requires that you learn how to pace yourself, how to talk to yourself, how to keep yourself in a good mood all the way. No matter how long it takes, you’re ready for it. That’s the attitude you want to develop.