Here’s an interesting thought I came across.
How do we steady the mind? How do we prevent it from having thoughts? By sleeping of course!
In sleep, all the thoughts of the awakened state, at least whatever we were thinking about just before sleeping, is all gone.
But can we force ourselves to sleep? Impossible. The more we force ourselves to sleep by thinking that we should sleep, the more active and stressed out our mind becomes!
The 4 states of the mind – active, sleeping, dreaming and dhyan (meditative and ‘awakened’) are all natural states. If we “try” to reach these states, then we effectively only prevent these states from happening.
What can we do then? Simply prepare conditions for these favorable states to come about (like ensure a fit body for instance!).
PS: Dhyan, according to Shri Durga Charan Mishra is when one is doing something and becomes one with that process, then it is a state of dhyan, meditation.