We have to learn the art of stopping — stopping our thinking, our habit energies, our forgetfulness, the strong emotions that rule us. When an emotion rushes through us like a storm, we have no peace. We turn on the TV and then we turn it off. We pick up a book and then we put it down. How can we stop this state of agitation? How can we stop our fe

Those of us who like to skip steps can learn to rest in the present moment. Those of us who tend to take shortcuts to get where we’re going can rest easy, take a deep breath, and remember, in the well-known words of Ram Dass, to “be here now.” Those of us who get confused or impatient, who think a lot about future plans, can begin to recognize that

The Buddha teaches that change requires insight, and insight cannot begin until we stop and focus our attention on what is happening right in front of us. This stopping, or shamatha, allows us to rest the body and the mind.

If you keep up this practice, you’ll find that even though thoughts and emotions come and go, the mind’s natural clarity is never disturbed or interrupted.