Time to Clean Your Mind

We have both body and mind. Everyday we take care of our body, we eat, take shower, exercise, put clothes on, etc. Often enough we forget to take care of our mind. How do we take care of our mind? Practicing meditation is like cleaning our mind. Similar to cleaning our body everyday, we need to clean our mind everyday as well. When both body and mind are well kept we run our life at full efficiency.

Not meditating for seven days is like not taking a shower for seven days. We like our body clean, likewise for our mind. When we do good deeds, we feel good. This is also a way to clean our mind. On a contrary, we feel bad and our mind get cloudy after doing bad deeds. Hence practicing meditation and doing good deeds are the way to clean our mind. To meditate well, we need to have these three components: consciousness, relaxation, and continuity. if we don’t meditate regularly, the lack of continuity, it will take longer to get to a good level conciousness and relaxation. Practicing meditation is like driving a car. It takes practices to be good at it.

How long should we meditate? The answer is as long as you like but at least 15 minutes a day. Imagine having a cup of water. If water is clear, you can see the bottom of the cup. If the water is not clear you will have to keep the cup still and let all the contaminants settle out before you can see the bottom of the cup. Stirring the water will only make the water more cloudy. Similar to meditating, you need to keep you mind still and clear before you will be able to really see your mind. Analyzing or reflecting on anything is like stirring water in the cup, your mind will only get cloudy. Just let your mind settle. Once your mind is clear, You will see your own mind. It has a spherical shape like a clear crystal ball. You will be one of the happiest people in the world. Lord Buddha said that there are three levels of happiness. The first level of happiness is Worldly happiness obtaining from having good family, good job, fame, wealth, etc. But this kind of happiness is completely depending on many other factors including your relationship with others, world economy, and so on. A king or billionaire may not be the happiest people walking. This happiness is transient, It does not last long. The second level of happiness can be obtained from meditation. When you can see the crystal ball inside, you will understand what the real happiness is like. At this level nothing can disturb your mind. Even though you lose everything, You will still feel happy and at peace. The highest level of happiness is obtained from enlightenment or in Nirvana. Let’s all meditate.

Phra Nattawat
12/20/14

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