Meditate not on the problem, but in the reality that you are the witness to the problem. A problem or a situation is an experience. The experience in the feeling translates as a thought in the head. You, as a conscious entity, are the observer of the thought.
The thought by itself has no reality. It has no beginning and there is an end to it, because it disappears from your mind vision. However, when the thought is there, it persists as though it is real. That few moments of apparent reality in the existence are enough to wreak havoc in the personality by generating emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed and delusion.
If the thought is understood right away in its raw essence as just a thought which is non-existent by nature and even its existence is only ephemeral, the content of the thought will cease to bother you.
Awareness of a thought immediately weakens the thought and it loses its staying power. For instance, if we know a person is lying and we do not express our emotions with any reactions or words, then the person becomes so utterly and acutely conscious of his own deceit. With attention from outside and inside of an individual, that deceitful thought receives so much power that it immediately comes crashing down, never to come again.
When there are many problems which are physical, emotional or intellectual, the first thing to realise is that they exist in the mind as mere thoughts. The core of that thought is nothing but knowledge. The thought dispenses to us the knowledge of a situation. Beyond that, the thought has got no work.
When there is a thought, ask yourself this question, “What is it that I need to know from the situation?” When you ask this question, the answer is also on its way. When the exact knowledge arising out of a thought is thoroughly analysed, there is nothing much to do except doing the right thing, speaking the right words and thinking the right thoughts.
One more way to clear the mind of these pricking thorny thoughts is to write them all down in complete detail. All the people, situations and objects involved in a thought should be clearly spelt out. The writing is more for awareness and must be non-judgemental or non-accusative in nature. Then the unwanted thoughts get completely erased by lighting up that paper to a lamp fire.
This ash can be applied on the forehead, washed off or sprinkled on the ground. If this is not possible, create a bonfire. Prepare a white paper with one negative quality you want to give up. Offer it into the fire with a prayer that it may get burnt completely. The author is Acharya, Chinmaya Mission, Tiruchi (www.sharanyachaitanya. blogspot.in)