The main idea of Buddhist meditation is to tame the mind. Human beings have powerful minds — tremendous intellectual ability — but, at the same time, this can bring many complications. That’s because often we don’t recognise or appreciate the good and positive aspects of our lives. We have within each of us loving-kindness and compassion — an open, genuine heart that embraces self and others. If our powers included knowledge of our minds and skill in using that knowledge, this would make our lives quite different. Meditation helps us to recognise and activate those positive qualities, and through meditation eventually these become part of daily life. Once we understand that these good qualities are always with us, we begin to rejoice in our life — we appreciate it more — which encourages us to be even more positive. So our mind can become more wise and aware through meditation. We become connected with the joy and contentment we are longing for.

-- Dza Kilung Rinpoche