When we meditate, we’re simply trying to observe what’s there—thoughts, emotions, everything. Trying to control our thoughts—or anything else—is actually one of the major contributors to suffering, because we experience suffering the moment we want things to be other than they are. We do this regularly with our own thoughts. I have a thought, I find it unpleasant, and I try to forcibly remove that thought from my mind. But the thought of removing the unpleasant thought only reinforces it.
