Thoughts in Meditation

Question: I'm new to meditation and have trouble getting into the gap between my thoughts. It seems that every time I try to meditate, thoughts keep running through my head. I can't make them stop! What can I do to still my mind so that I can enter the gap between my thoughts and begin experiencing the benefits of meditation? Answer: rnThoughts are a natural byproduct of the meditation process. You shouldn’t try to push thoughts away or resent them. They signal that a subcycle of your meditation period of settling down has completed. The mind has released some bit of old conditioning and has returned to the conscious level and is now ready to begin the cycle again. rnAnd between the point where you were thinking the mantra and then found yourself thinking other thoughts, there was a brief discontinuity where the mind briefly experiences the gap. In the beginning, it is so fleeting that there is often no cognizance of it afterward. Over time however, that experience of the gap will become more familiar and open up and extend for longer periods of time. You may notice, for instance , after some thoughts pop up in your mind in meditation that just before then there was a space where you weren’t thinking the mantra, and you weren’t thinking any other thoughts either. You were just there awake, without thoughts. That is the gap, that is your Self. rnThat experience will naturally develop as you continue meditation, but it has to be allowed to happen, you can’t make it happen by trying to clear your mind of thoughts, because that is just mental effort, or more thoughts. rnLove,rnDeepak