When Many Thoughts Come

Sometimes when we sit to meditate, we find thoughts are just bouncing around continuously, and don’t seem to quieten when we try things like focusing on the breath. We’ve talked before about how moving meditations, like Tai Chi or walking, can help. But what can we do when we’re planning a seated meditation, and we can’t do this (maybe you’re on the train!). The first thing to remember is not to judge yourself for having thoughts. It is entirely normal for your mind to wander during meditation. It would, in fact, be very unusual for no thoughts to come. I remember the story of one meditation teacher who started a sit by saying “raise your hand when you lose focus because of a thought”, and ten seconds into the sit, his hand was up! So it’s important to know we can simply acknowledge the thought, and then return our attention to our point of focus. What can we use as a focus? The breath is of course traditional, but sometimes that doesn’t seem to be a strong enough anchor. In these situations, we can use a mantra as our focus.
A mantra can be any word or phrase, repeated at intervals to yourself. Traditional mantras are Sanskrit phrases like “Om mani padme hum”, which means something “the jewel in the lotus”, or “Om shanti shanti shanti”, which is a prayer for peace in body, mind and spirit. These can be a bit long for some people - I quite like “So Hum”, which translates to “I am this”.
Of course, you can also use English phrases: “I am enough”, or “I am at peace”, or perhaps just “Love”. Pick something that embodies qualities you wish to cultivate, or that resonates with your specific intentions. Once you’ve started a sit with a particular mantra, you should resist the temptation to change it half way: that’s just more thinking! And of course you should be patient. It takes time and practice to train your mind to be still. Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself having a lot of thoughts at first. Just keep practicing and you will eventually find it easier to quiet your mind. Remember, the goal of meditation is not to eliminate thoughts. The goal is to learn to observe your thoughts without getting carried away by them. Ultimately, we can come to realise that thoughts just come and go on their own, and the idea of a “me” doing the thinking is just another thought.
With practice, you will find it easier to find peace in the present moment, thoughts or no thoughts. Next time you find yourself beset by thoughts, try a mantra and see what happens!