“It’s like a child in your home. Suppose your child is always getting into mischief. No matter what you do, it won’t stop. It won’t stay still. So what do you do? You give it a balloon to play with. It’s content to stay engrossed in its balloon. It doesn’t cry; it doesn’t bother you. Why? Because you give it something to play with, and so it’s engrossed in its balloon.
It’s the same with the mind. When it’s in a turmoil, jumping all around, give it a meditation topic to play with. What kind of topic? Recollection of the Buddha, recollection of the Dhamma, recollection of the Sangha, recollection of virtue, recollection of generosity, recollection of death: Let it contemplate death.”