Meditation Can Help You Quit Smoking ?

Daily life if full of "controlling business", we try to manage everything that we could, our business, our life or other people's life as well. But have you ever think that meditation is also some kind of management ? Yes, mind management. We can manage our mind as said by The Buddha in His message about mind :

- To know the mind, that is so near to us, and yet is so unknown.
- To shape the mind, that is so unwieldy and obstinate, and yet may turn so pliant.
- To free the mind, that is in bondage all over and yet may win freedom here and now.

It's not an easy thing to do but it is not impossible otherwise there wouldn't be The Buddha in this planet. Meditation is about to give attention to the mind, watch the movement and how to deal with it and you don't have to be a genius person for being able to do so.

The first verse of Dhammapada (one of the best known books of Sutta Pitaka - a collection of Buddha's teaching) stated clearly that our thought, speech and action have the mind as their forerunner. For example, smoking activity (habit to be precisely :P). We don't just merely grab a cigar and light it on. Actually there is a process in our mind. Only we couldn't see it, First the thought about smoking arises, after thought arises, feeling arises (what a pleasure if we can smoke) and next is a desire to smoke will follow. This restless wanting mind won't stop until we grab a cigar and start smoking.

Meditation can help us see this process more clearly. If we know how the mind works then we can start to learn how to deal with it that means we have chances to get free from its trap.