Have you ever had this experience? You walk outside, and suddenly, the silence strikes you because it is in such sharp contrast to the chatter that is going on in your mind. We live in a very quiet place. We walk outside and it is pretty quiet — a few birds chirping, and the sun shining. Then suddenly the chatter in the mind stops because we see that it is just chatter. It is in such stark contrast to the silence that is outside. We want to learn to notice that chatter before we even walk outside. We want to be able to find that quiet place inside ourselves and keep it with us so that even when we are in a place where there is a lot of noise, the mind can be quiet.

All that mental chatter is basically negative conceptualisation. If we were thinking about emptiness or developing compassion with that kind of mental activity, fine! Continue that outside, inside and everywhere. But most of the time what is going on is, “I like this. I don’t like this. I want this. I don’t want that. Why does this person do this? Why don’t they do that?” This kind of mental activity makes the mind stressful as well as accumulates negative karma and wastes a great deal of time. As soon as we can catch it and be aware of what is going on in our mind, and come back to that silent space inside, the more peaceful we will be. Our lives will be more productive in terms of having the Dharma grow in our hearts, and we will be more focused on whatever daily activities we are doing. We would then not be so distracted.

“365 Gems of Wisdom” e-book is out now!