A Million Thoughts: Learn All About Meditation from a Himalayan Mystic

There is nothing there: you can’t say “it’s like this”.

Thus, the nature of mind is inherently like space:

It includes everything you experience.

Stop all physical activity: sit naturally at ease.

Do not talk or speak: let sound be empty, like an echo.

Do not think about anything: look at experience beyond thought.

Your body has no core, hollow like bamboo.

Your mind goes beyond thought, open like space.

Let go of control and rest right there.7

Just like two pieces of wood can be rubbed together to produce fire and the same fire later consumes them both, intellect and concentration support the contemplative meditation. But when the fire of insight arises, it consumes both intellect and concentration, giving way to pristine awareness. This is the ultimate state for a meditator – not only understanding the nature of thoughts and rising above them, but living in complete awareness.

Like waves in the ocean disappear in the same sea they had originated from, thoughts emerge from and merge back into the same mind. Some start to surf these waves, but no matter how giant or exhilarating a wave, how beautiful the swell, how tidal the sea, how expert the surfer, the waves will toss him eventually. And this brings me to the moral of the story: there are no calming thoughts really, just like there are no stable waves.

A thought that’s appeasing today could well be disturbing tomorrow. For example, you love someone today and their thought brings you joy, but tomorrow you may fall out of love and those same thoughts of them will give you grief. A good meditator knows that thoughts, at their best, can only calm the mind temporarily and intermittently.

In the ocean of your mind, when it comes to the waves of thoughts, you have three choices: first, surf and accept the highs and lows; second, watch the waves and put up with the constant sound of the sea; and third, move away from the ocean altogether.

The lifespan of every thought, however good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, is exactly the same.

It emerges. It manifests. It disappears.

These are the only three stages in the life of a thought. If you don’t recall a thought or if you don’t pay attention to a thought, it must disappear on its own.

Thoughts that you do not let go leave an imprint on your mind.

That imprint is the residue. Meditation is the process of washing away that residue. It is the cleaning of your slate and keeping it that way. When we fail to abandon our thoughts, they assume different forms. They can become desires, expectations or emotions.

When Thoughts Become Desires

There’s a beautiful story in Durga Saptashati, a puranic text. While slaying the demons, Mother Goddess came across a particularly different and difficult type. His name was Raktabija, the one who is born from blood. Raktabija had a special boon. For every drop of his blood that would fall on the ground, one thousand more Raktabijas would manifest, and each new Raktabija would have the same boon. It was practically impossible to exterminate such a demon. As soon as he was attacked, blood would spill and thousands like him would spring forth, creating armies after armies of Raktabija in the battlefield. It was a problem unlike any other that the Goddess had encountered

A long battle ensued, after which the companion energies of Mother Goddess decided that just attacking Raktabija wasn’t enough. There had to be someone to gather and drink his blood before it spilled on the ground. A form of the goddess, Ma Kali, emerged from the forehead of the goddess. Before Raktabija’s blood could touch the ground she would lap it up with her lolling tongue. Eventually the forces of goodness triumphed over the demons.

Similar is the case with our desires, for Raktbija was nothing but a symbol of desire. For every desire we humans fulfill, a thousand more will take birth. Suppressing them is the same as attacking them. That’s not the solution. Fulfilling them is accepting your defeat at their hands, giving birth to a thousand more. Ma Kali emerging out of Devi’s forehead represents mindfulness. When we are mindful of our thoughts, actions and desire, they subside on their own.

Look around and you’ll see how each one of us is driven by our desires. The kingdom of consciousness is under siege by the desires of our mind. All that we have accumulated or hope to achieve has originated from our desires. Our unfulfilled desires froth, ferment and layer up on the tranquil surface of our mind. Unless we understand the nature of our desires, we have no hope of winning over them, they can’t be tackled individually.

They are Raktabija. We have to go to the source if it is peace and everlasting bliss we seek.

Going to the source is understanding the nature of your desires. The seed of a desire is thought. That’s the bija, seed, of this Raktabija.