Be a watcher and not a controller of mind in meditation practice

One of the mistake i have made in meditation practice is to put effort to be in control of things. When i used to sit for meditation practice then i used to have the idea that my mind should be without thoughts. My thoughts should slow down quickly, so that i could feel the bliss and silence of no-mind state.

Over a period of time, when my meditation matured then i realized that it is a wrong way to practice meditation and i have not understood the meditation properly. In meditation practice, your job is just to be a watcher and not the controller of mind. Allow the mind to do what it wants and you just be a silent and passive watcher of mind. Watch every thought which comes to your mind without labeling it good or bad or judging it in any way. Meditation is about getting in touch with your inner center. Meditation does not require you to change things. It only requires you to get still from within. Meditation is all about being aware and conscious. Meditation has nothing to do with controlling mind or stopping your thoughts. Although thoughts slows down on its own as a by-product of witnessing them.

When you actually try to control the mind then it becomes more active. The more you struggle with the mind, the more it receives energy from you and it becomes more unstoppable. So one of the important principle of meditation is not to desire anything and don’t try to stop or control the mind. Because desire means a bundle of intense thoughts. One thought will lead to another thought and you are slowly caught in the trap of mind. Stay away from all this mess. Don’t entertain this idea of stopping thoughts or controlling the mind. Just be a watcher of all the thoughts without any liking or disliking for them. Watch the thoughts as if they don’t belong to you. Dis-identify yourself with your thinking and desires.

So next time when you sit for meditation then instead of slowing down the mind, just try to be a watcher. Try to get centered from within. If you feel lot of psychic disturbance around you or within you, then don’t worry about it. Don’t do anything to remove the disturbance. Let it be there. As a meditator your job is not to change the things around you. Your job is to get centered from within and be a passive watcher. Remember, everything will change with time. Nothing is permanent. So don’t focus on changing things around you. Instead put your energy in becoming more centered and more watchful. So get centered and you will watch the watcher within, watching the disturbance around you.

You cannot control things or change the world. Only thing which is in your hand is to be a watcher. So don’t worry if your mind is full of thoughts or there is lot of disturbance around you. Let it be there. You just be a master of your inner energies and get centered. Be still from within. Stillness, watchfulfness (witnessing) or inner centering is the key to success in meditation. So focus your energies on getting centered than on changing or controlling things around you.