When we meditate, all we are doing is noticing when the mind has wandered and returning it to the object of meditation.
Say for example, we are meditating on the breath. We simply sit, with our awareness on the breath. As soon as we notice that our mind has gone somewhere other than on the breath, we let go of whatever we are thinking about and remember we are supposed to be meditating. Sometimes, we will catch ourselves after a single stray thought. Other times, we will have a series of sequential thoughts which can spiral off into daydreams or worries, meaning that some time passes before we notice what has happened and return to the breathing.
Sometimes it is a pain in the body, an itch, or a strong desire to fidget that pulls the attention away from the breath. Often, it is a random memory, idea, or worry that pops into the mind seemingly out of nowhere. Background noises can also catch our attention, causing us to lose our focus on the breath. These distractions can sometimes lead to feelings of boredom and frustration, making the meditation feel like a struggle. But these kinds of feelings do not need to be taken so seriously; they can be treated just like anything else that comes up in meditation. Whatever the disturbance, the practice is the same. Just let go of whatever you are thinking about and return to the breath.
Sometimes people think that they are bad at meditating, or not doing it right, because they are constantly having to catch the wandering mind. But catching the mind is what the practice is all about – this is where the learning happens. There will always be thoughts popping up, bodily sensations and sounds to distract us. The skill we are developing is the ability to simply notice this without reacting and return to the meditation. If you respond to the disturbance with self-critical thoughts about your meditation ability, all you are doing is creating another distraction. If you simply greet the disturbance with acceptance then release it, it will be much easier to return to the meditation.
One powerful technique that even a beginner meditator can try is to notice the gaps between the thoughts. We can assume that there will always be distracting thoughts; this is a fact of meditation. A thought arises, you notice it and return to the meditation, then another thought arises and so on. But what about the gaps between these disturbances? After one thought is released and before the next arises, there is the gap where your attention is simply resting on the breath.
If you set a solid intention to become aware of these gaps, then they will start to get longer, and there will be more time when you are simply sitting with the breath. Instead of seeing the distracting thought – or series of thoughts – as a problem or personal failure, you can simply welcome it as an opportunity to return to that mysterious gap where no thought arises. With sustained practice, the mind may start to prefer the effortless gaps to the busy thoughts. But, even if you have to catch your mind many times in a meditation session, there is still the opportunity to experience the mental silence found in the gaps between the thoughts.
Many contemplative traditions have recognized something profound in this silence. Tibetan Buddhists call it Rigpa – a natural awareness that exists before conceptual thinking arises. Hindu practitioners speak of accessing pure consciousness, while Christian contemplatives describe encountering the divine presence in the silence beyond words and thoughts. These gaps offer glimpses of something transcendent that can only be experienced, not explained.
“When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet risen, in that gap, in between, isn’t there a consciousness of the present moment; fresh, virgin, unaltered by even a hair’s breadth of a concept, a luminous, naked awareness?” — The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
“Only silence can reach that dimension of reality that is too deep for words.” – Thomas Merton
This transcendent awareness is not something we actively search for, because searching itself creates more thoughts and desires – this is why the practice must remain simple: notice the distraction and return to the breath. Trying to explain these things using words just ends up with the words getting in the way; the silent mental states cannot be described, only experienced. But whatever that indescribable space is, it can be found in the gaps between the thoughts.