Understanding the mind is a complex process and controlling it a mammoth task. However, there are many who attempt this, maybe not to attain enlightenment but simply to gain control over their basic nature, handle their lives better or to understand the purpose of life. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche illustrates beautifully how our mind and thoughts make us what we are. Here is an extract from the book:
The purpose of meditation
The purpose of
meditation is to awaken the sky-like
nature of mind, and to introduce that which we really are, our unchanging pure awareness
Neither follow thoughts nor invite them; be like the ocean looking at its own waves, or the sky gazing down on the clouds that pass through it
