Many people have the impression that meditation should be a completely thought-free zone. Perhaps they read somewhere that this is what it should be like, or they were taught this, but in either case they were done a disservice.
It puts you in an impossible situation when you believe that you shouldn’t be thinking when meditating. Then you are sitting, attempting to meditate, while thinking about the fact that you shouldn’t be thinking. So you are thinking anyway – and the ‘thought police’ are on full alert!
It’s exactly like believing that the ocean should never have any waves. Even when it is calm there are usually gently undulating waves moving across it.
Thoughts are exactly like waves on the ocean. One of the most important things is to accept that they are an integral part of meditation. In the same way that your arms and legs are a part of your body, so thoughts are a part of your mind.
However, when you are meditating you do need to know how not to get caught in thoughts, and the technique is exactly the same as a surfer uses. Most of the small waves – the everyday bits and pieces of thoughts – will not be big enough to really disturb you. By allowing your mind to gently focus on your meditation – watching or feeling the breath, or scanning through the sensations of your body, for example – you are like a surfer resting on a surfboard. You will simply ride over the top of the waves of thought.
By just accepting them as they are, you’ll find that you can stay relatively calm and keep your balance. They will come and go like waves, and by coming back to your meditation, you’ll find that they stay most of the time in the background. 
Hari Om Tat Sat ~ Om Namah Shivaya
