A Shocking Thing Happens in Meditation

Meditation starts with your posture, of course. Then, when you sit down to meditate in this way, something shocking happens. Your mind is full of thoughts. Right, have you seen that? Then you’re a good meditator.

It’s shocking: your mind is full of thoughts, full of all kinds of crap. When you look at those, you may think, Why, why did I think that? This is too many thoughts.

You think, This is terrible. My meditation is not working. Meditation is not happening at all. But actually, it is working. When you notice that, it is the first moment your meditation is actually working. 

Before meditation, your mind was just as busy. Your mind had just as many thoughts. Your mind was just as full of crap. But you were simply too distracted to notice. 

When I studied with my teacher, Khenpo Rinpoche, in India, at first I was studying Buddhist philosophy. At that point you learn a lot of concepts and various arguments. Then later, Rinpoche was teaching me meditation. And then I wondered, Why have I just acquired so many new thoughts, if I’m supposed to meditate and have fewer thoughts?

I went to my teacher and asked him about it. I said Rinpoche, I’m having this conflict. On one hand, I’m learning these new concepts. On the other hand, I have to let go of my thoughts, like, pacify my thoughts. So, how is it working? You know, why should I learn more? Like, we have to learn something new every day in our lives. So, my teacher told me, Actually, by learning these teachings, you’re not acquiring more thoughts. You’re seeing the subtlety of your thoughts. Your thoughts are getting more focused, more clear, and more subtle. 

So, it’s not that we have more thoughts when we sit to meditate. It’s just that, in the process of having more concentrated, clear thinking, it appears as though you’re acquiring more concepts. 

When you meditate, you can remember this. When you notice a lot of thoughts, that’s great. Your thinking is becoming clear and focused.

This article is based on a teaching given by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche at Nalanda West in Seattle, Washington, on April 5, 2026.