A Short Meditation

When you have a short time to meditate like this, you want to replace the quantity with quality—in other words, get the mind to settle down right away. Any thought that comes into the mind, just think of it exploding. Next one comes, it explodes. You stay with the breath.

If some thoughts come in while you hang on to the breath and they won’t go away, just tell yourself, “Well, they can stay there, but I’m not going to pay any attention to them. I’m going to stay with the breath.” Find one or two spots where you can stay settled in. Two spots are good because that fully occupies the mind—one in the middle of the head, one at the base of the spine. Think of a line connecting them, and you’re with that line. Then fend off anything else that would come and attack it. You protect what you’ve got.

The mind needs this ability to cut off thoughts when they go in a bad directionWhen you’ve started something, you don’t have to finish it—remind yourself of that. Sometimes we feel obligated. When this thought comes up, “Where does it lead? Where does it go? Let’s finish it off, then we can put it to the side.”

Well, no. Put it aside unfinished. Leave the ends dangling. You’ve got more important work to do, which is to learn how to focus the mind—and keep it there. Keep it where you want it to be.

Think about when you die. All kinds of thoughts are going to come in: memories of childhood, memories of your adulthood, things you did that you’re proud of, things you’re not so proud of, worries about where you may be going, worries about the people around you. You can’t let those things influence you. You’ve got to maintain your one intention, which is that wherever you go, you want to be able to practice the true Dhamma. And the best way to ensure that is to practice the true Dhamma right there, right then.

As to what’s going to happen to the body, you don’t have to be responsible for it anymore. You have to be responsible for your mind. So learn how to be responsible right now. Develop this habit of short meditations where you get into place right away. And then you can transfer that skill to your longer meditations.

Now, sometimes you may feel a little lost. You’re used to drifting gently down, gently down, gently down, landing just before the bell. But when you get the mind right in place right away, then you have to learn all the skills that are required to keep it in place. And those are some of the most important skills in the meditation.

Learn how to fend off a thought that sneaks in: You assume that you’re the one thinking the thought. Well, tell yourself, “No, these things are anattā. They’re not self. They’re not mine. I don’t need them.”

Whatever tricks you need to keep your first intention, the intention to stay with the breath—solidly there—work on those. That’s where the real skill in the meditation comes in—not just in doing it but also maintaining it so that you can put it to use.