QUOTE(Sarena @ Jul 1 2007, 10:56 PM)
It's extremely difficult to shut down your thoughts.
Well... it's more discipline than anything else. Discipline in a relaxed state rather than a forced one. My biggest problem is the difficulty in getting music out of my head so that I can meditate. I typically have a cranial jutebox thing going on most of the time and it's pretty disruptive when trying to meditate. If I don't have the music going in my head I can calm my mind and "shut down my thoughts." This is what I do to clear my thoughts of even the music, and I'm sure you can use it to clear your thoughts too: I cross my legs in meditation, close my eyes, and say "AHHHHHHHH" for a full breath as long as I can without forcing it. It may sound funny at first, but the constant droning serves as white noise that disrupts regular thinking, and in my case, helps drown out the music after a few minutes.
Once you quiet your thoughts initially, slowly stop the chanting and try to hold the quietness in your mind for as long as you can. If you start thinking about anything, and I mean
ANYTHING, even about the darkness behind your eyelids, begin chanting again, slowly increasing the volume. After a couple of minutes, slowly work the chant out of your meditation and repeat.
Once you get good at quieting your mind, 20 minutes can seem like 20 seconds.