Importance of the Mind
Whatever we do – whether we are thinking, speaking or acting – brings either benefit or harm to ourselves and others.
Among thinking, speaking and acting, the most important thing is what we think. If we take good care of mind and thoughts, our verbal and physical actions will follow. When we meditate, we’re working with the mind, putting effort into making mind calm and clear. We’re making the mind more aware so that when there’s a problem, we won’t be as adversely affected or react in such unhelpful ways. Of course, we’ll always have feelings, but when the mind is disturbed, even small problems feel more magnified and unworkable than when we remain calm. From that small disturbance our minds create all sorts of bigger problems. Initially, we’re just uncomfortable with something, then that discomfort leads to seeing things negatively and benign things and situations can begin to feel harmful. Thinking a situation is worse than it is, we may become agitated, which then affects our discernment and actions.
It’s already a great help if we can avoid making problems that already exist even worse, but it’s the opposite of what usually happens. By taking care of the mind with meditation, we protect it. By the same token, our speech and actions are also protected, preventing us from saying or doing things we may regret. This is how we find ourselves in a much better position to help ourselves and others.
Motivation to Meditate
We can motivate ourselves to practice by remembering that dissatisfaction and negative emotions are contagious – by their very nature, they tend to harm others. As the saying goes, misery loves company. It is even more important to remind ourselves that good intentions and feelings are also contagious in just the same way. Just think of others. Even a small gesture of kindness has a ripple effect. If you smile at somebody, they’re touched and smile back at you.
Benefiting others starts with good intentions and taking care of our minds. And taking good care of our minds starts with meditation.
