Taking Care of Your Mind

Taking Care of Your Mind

What do you think is the most fascinating thing in the world? To me, it is the human mind. If we look closely at it, we can see how complex it is. The way it works is so interesting.

We can see that our thoughts and mental states can be put into two categories:

1. The thoughts that automatically occur to us
2. The thoughts that we purposely generate

Many of our thoughts are the ones that naturally occur to us. These types of thoughts mainly happen based on what we encounter: what we see, hear, smell, and taste. They are also based on our habitual patterns that we have taught to ourselves throughout our lives.

The thoughts that we generate are very important because we can control them. We can make these thoughts wholesome and healthy. Meditation helps us fill our mind with thoughts like these. We should use the ability to generate thoughts to keep our mind wholesome, instead of letting other people or the environment influence what our mental state is. When you wake up in the morning, before you get out of bed, you can make four wishes to yourself and generate wholesome thoughts. For example, you can wish:

• "May today be a good day for me"
• "May today be a good day for my family"
• "May today be a good day for all people"
• "May today be a good day for all living beings"

If you can make these four wishes in the morning, you are setting a good tone for your day.

You can also use this ability when you meet someone new, or when you are starting something new, like going to the first day of school or work. Make a wish in your mind for everything to go well, and let your wholesome thoughts be reflected in your speech. Then you will have wholesome words and gestures. It might influence others to be wholesome as well. The more you generate wholesome thoughts, the more you will develop a pattern of wholesome thoughts in your mind.

Told by Bhante Pemaratana

Written by: Melanie