The purpose of meditating is to train the mind to have single-pointed focus. It is not to relax the mind or rest the mind. Meditation is a form of mental exercise intended to increase the mind's powers of concentration and stabilise emotions. If we have this ability in our mind, then although our daily life changes we will not have worry, stress, anger or other negative feelings.

Normally our mind is like a monkey - it runs everywhere because it is attracted by many different things (phenomena). Because of its wandering nature, our untrained mind brings increased stress, worry and unhappiness due to our constantly changing emotions. When the mind is very disturbed by negative emotions, if we eat a meal it will have no taste. Similarly, when we see our relatives/ wife, husband, children, and other dear ones, we will not be happy. The problem is not in these outer things but in our internal emotions.

If our emotions are shifting like this, then our body channels are also changing. When these channels change, due to our unstable mind, then we will experience illness, unhappiness, anger, depression and/or stress. By training the mind to focus on one object for a longer period of time we increase its power of concentration and make it more steady. As a result, our mind becomes more peaceful and supple, and we are better able to control our stress and deal with our daily problems. If we have a strong meditation practice, then we can control our mind and avoid wide swings in our emotions. Our mind will stay steady and as a result our physical and mental health will improve.

If you have a big bucket of water and pour it on the floor, the water will spray everywhere. If instead you make a channel in the ground and then pour the water in the channel, then the water becomes very powerful. Similarly, the mind when focused becomes very powerful.

When you start to meditate, do not expect results right away. Results depend on effort. Do not expect that as soon as you start to practice your mind will become focused and peaceful. However, through consistent daily practice you will see that over a few years the mind does change in this way. To get positive results, try at least to meditate every day for 5 minutes.

Source: Red Deer Buddhist Meditation Society newsletter