Questions are submitted by participants during spiritual practice classes 
with Rev. O’Brian.  

I have come to the spiritual path late in life. For so many years, my attention 
has been focused on the mind. I find it difficult to let go of thinking during 
meditation. What can I do to be able to quiet my mind?
How to quiet the mind is the question of every person who comes to meditation, 

not just someone who finds the discipline later in life. A helpful key to quieting 

the mind is learning to concentrate. When we concentrate on one thing, this 

keeps our attention from wandering and stimulating thought activity. The mind 

naturally becomes calm. In this way, we actually use the mind to get beyond 

the mind. Just knowing this can be helpful—that you must use the mind. Too 

often people approach meditation passively, imagining that just turning atten-

tion within should result in quieting the mind, then becoming frustrated when 

it doesn’t. Instead, put your active mind to work. Concentrate on observing your 

breath flow, or focus on a mantra. Bring your attention back to your focus again 

and again. Soon, your success at concentrating on a single point will clear the 

mental field and meditation will naturally follow.  

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Enlightenment Journal | Summer 2012

On the Path: Questions & Answers