“When you practice meditative concentration, your thoughts may flow very strongly — like a stream rushing down a steep mountain — and it may be difficult for the mind to be still. At that time, you must not become discouraged. Remembering the beneficial qualities of meditative concentration, you should persevere by placing your mind on your meditational object repeatedly. If you do this, it is natural that you will make progress every day.
“Because you have been long accustomed to following your thoughts without applying an antidote to mental wandering, it is not easy to bring the mind under control. However, as Shantideva remarks in the Bodhicharyavatara:
“There is nothing that does not grow light
Through habit and familiarity.
Putting up with little cares
I’ll train myself to bear with great adversity!
“If you practice with a suitable degree of focus and concentration — not too loose and not too tight — your mind, which is like a stream chasing after objects and turbulent with many thoughts, will attain more stability. Both coarse and subtle thoughts will become pacified.”
