Mental activity is antagonistic to meditation.

Thoughts and desires weigh us down as lead weights. They lure us to the limited, bind us to the finite, ensnare us in the realm of the relative. Thoughtless meditation bathes us in oceans of silence, elevates us on updrafts of ecstasy, projects us beyond skies of light, liberates us from ignorance and ego, releases us into the infinite, reveals us as co-eternal with the sovereign absolute.

As a drop of arsenic ruins a good hot chocolate; a sideways glance topples a tightrope walker; a breath of breeze brings down a house of cards; a muscle twitch betrays the leopard’s stalk; a single smudge besmirches a page of pure white – so a momentary thought can wreck, a flicker of desire can undo a beautiful and fruitful meditation.

During meditation, it is essential to quarantine your spiritual heart and place all thoughts and desires in lockdown. Show no mercy, no compassion.

It is true that some thoughts are inspiring and helpful to us, so the temptation is to keep the door of our mind slightly ajar during meditation, in case these “friendly” thoughts arise. The problem is that the hordes of negative and “junk” thoughts have no manners: they will notice the door ajar and barge right in.

Don’t worry about missing out on inspiring messages of the good and helpful thoughts: if they are your true friends, they will return and revisit you after your meditation, when you have removed the “Do Not Enter” sign from your door.

Just as the only way to prevent the spread of a virus is to restrict the movements of everyone in the population, if we value our meditation, we must enforce a strict embargo on ALL thoughts and ALL desires ALWAYS during meditation.