By quieting the mind and bringing it to a state of wholeness, the mind reveals its deep intelligence.

Spiritual culture often depicts the mind as the bad guy. We often recognize the mind as the source of our disconnection and the instrument that scatters and shatters our sense of well-being. In meditation, we move toward a quiet and disengaged mind. The Yoga Sutras tell us right upfront that our mission is to "unthink." Swami Satchidananda translates verse two of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras this way: "The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga."

And yet, we think as naturally as we breathe. We think incessantly. So, how do we go from automatic thinking to no thinking?

It helps to have a ramp. It helps to have a system that allows the mind to think, and yet, by its thinking, it leads to no thinking. Or more integrated thinking. Or more "whole" thinking.

Rather than screeching on the brakes and crashing into your thoughts at high speed, it helps to have a way to gradually and naturally decelerate your thoughts so that you glide into higher states of awareness in mediation.

By approaching the mind in a nonresistant mood, we immediately dissolve one of its biggest obstacles. In fact, it is the mind that has decided that the mind is a problem!

Here are three steps you can take to begin the process of preparation for mediation. With this approach, you achieve greater wisdom and more precise intelligence. As you honor your mind and treat it with love and respect, it reveals its true brilliance.