Not knowing that the mind is a mechanical thing that follows the law of Cause-and-Effect—each thought arising from the previous one in chain-like succession, coming and going like the bubbles in a glass of Coke—many meditators struggle with their thoughts and become exhausted therefrom, thinking that a mind free of thought is the object of meditation.

Though the mind might become still and free of thought, it is not within our capacity to make it so, because we are the thinker. If we were to sit down and say to ourselves: "Now I’m going to stop thinking", that would be just another thought, would it not? By no act of will can we stop our thoughts coming and going. We shouldn’t be upset by this, however, shouldn’t despair, as it is natural, and this is what we can learn from it, so that the conflict with our thoughts may cease. Thought, like everything else, is Impermanent.

In meditation,

let your thoughts

come and go,

like birds that fly

through the sky,

leaving no trace …