In the Gimhāna Retreat, the second daily practice that we can do is meditation to cultivate calmness and clarity of the mind.

Our quality of life and happiness is directly linked to the degree of our mental development.  Our minds create many problems in our lives when untrained.  With tremendous mental proliferation, there is little peace and tranquillity in life. 

Meditation is one of the ways that we can identify and deal with the disturbances that arise in the mind.  Some who first experienced mindfulness observe the agitation and defilements in the minds, and would rather not continue to meditate. 

We should be determined in meditation practice with patience and kindness so that we can gradually alleviate our agitation and ignorance.  Let us take a moment during the day for meditation, even if it is just a brief one.