Why The Mind Is So Restless

You might notice that focusing your mind on something is not always difficult. Do you ever have to put any effort to stay focused watching an exciting movie? No. Focusing the mind on anything that produces sensual pleasure of any kind does not require any effort. It seems to get focused without we giving it a thought.

However, it becomes the most daunting task to focus on something not pleasurable to the body’s senses. That is so because the mind has been trained to stay distracted. The distracted mind seems to engender sensual pleasure. Even a newborn’s attention is distracted by making some noise to stop crying. As we grow older, we seek to keep ourselves busy with friends, entertainment, or even shutting the mind down by some intoxication.

When one tries to meditate, the mind is deprived of all the distractions that it is used to. Mind is a creature of habit. It takes a long time to train it one way or the other, but by practice, you can train it whatever way you wish. Don’t we train the mind to stay distracted all through our life? The effects of such lifelong training cannot be ignored or subdued by a few attempts to meditate.

Since the mind reacts as per its habit, it revolts the moment you try to deprive it of its distractions. Secondly, indulging in sensual pleasures over the years creates a huge collection of memories that is now readily available to the mind. Therefore, when meditating, you would be like trying to subdue an energetic child while all the toys the child likes to play with are within reach.

Do not be disheartened by the fact that you cannot meditate easily. Controlling the mind has been a challenge even for the very capable. Even Arjuna, the great warrior in Mahabharat, asks Lord Krishna why it is difficult to focus the mind. Yogis spend several lifetimes practicing before they can attain Samadhi, the highest level of meditation.