What we’re doing as we’re meditating is giving it good food to eat. The sense of comfort that comes with being familiar with the breath helps get the mind more and more inclined to keep coming back.

"Learning how to make [the breath] comfortable is one of the tricks in learning how to maintain [your focus], because the mind is always looking for food. What we’re doing as we’re meditating is giving it good food to eat. The sense of comfort that comes with being familiar with the breath helps get the mind more and more inclined to keep coming back. It’s like feeding a stray dog. If you give it good food, it’s going to come back. The mind has a tendency to stray, but as long as you feed it well, it’ll learn more and more that this is a good place to be, a really good place to feed. You can think of the meditation techniques as cooking techniques — you’re learning how to feed yourself well."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Doing, Maintaining, Using"

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