“Thinking is the natural activity of the mind. Meditation is not about stopping your thoughts. Meditation is simply a process of resting the mind in its natural state, which is open to and naturally aware of thoughts, emotions, and sensations as they occur. The mind is like a river, and as with a river, there’s no point in trying to stop its flow. You may as well try to stop your heart from beating or your lungs from breathing. What purpose would that serve?
“But that doesn’t mean you have to be a slave to whatever your mind produces. When you don’t understand the nature and origin of your thoughts, your thoughts use you. When the Buddha recognized the nature of his mind, he reversed the process. He showed us how we can use our thoughts instead of being used by them.”
-Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, The Joy of Living, Chapter 12: Working with Thoughts and Feelings
Learning to Rest with it All 