Raven,

In addition to the other kindly advice and metaphors, consider the one given to me by my teacher. The quiet space we approach and grow with meditation is much like a house. When a wind blows, it is very natural to run to the front door of our house and close it, pressing our body against the door to keep it shut. “Keeping thoughts away”. Then the wind rattles and blows open the windows, so we run over… And of course as soon as we step away from the door, it blows open. By the time we get up from the cushion, whew! Exhausted from staying on top of all that wind! Exhausted from throwing the tabs back over the wall!

To sidestep this cycle, instead of trying to push to door closed, we can go to the back door and open it up. Then, the wind passes right through, no biggie. Its just wind, after all. When we don’t do anything with our thoughts, just note them passing through space, they stop being so important. They’re empty, after all, just wind, air, fueled by old stories, attachments. The fuel is consumed, wind passes through, peace grows.

With warmth,
Matt