Namobuddhaid Dear Meritorious devotees and my dear children, one of the major questions that a young generation, students ask from us is Bhanthi, how we can focus our mind when we are studying, how we can focus our mind when the exam is near. So this is a big question that students and young generation are having. So first of all we must know that staying focused, being concentrated, staying calm is not an act. Staying calm and staying focused is a practice. We need to be practiced to stay focused. So what is the nature of a practice? Practice is something that you do again and again continuously for a certain period of time and when the continuity happens you get used to that. It becomes a practice. You no longer need to put an effort to do that. So we do many things in our life as practices. Getting up at a certain time is a practice. Soon after you get up, you brush your teeth and you do your cleaning purposes, it's a practice. So as that there are so many practices that run through our day. We do many things as practices. Staying focused is a practice. So we need to practice it. So how to practice it? First of all we need to know that we are dealing with our mind to stay focused. So before staying focused, before practicing to stay focused we need to know about our mind. How the mind works, how the mind behaves. Supreme Buddha taught us the nature of this mind is like a monkey. So what is the nature of a monkey? The monkey is easily distracted. Monkey does not stay at one place. It runs through here and there. It jumps from one tree to another. It shouts and it runs everywhere. It is easily distracted and disturbed. So the same nature is there with our mind. Our mind is like a monkey which jumps from one thought to another very rapidly. So what we have to do to stay focused? We have to make this monkey mind. We have to train this monkey mind to stay at one place. It is same as catching a monkey and putting into a cage, putting him into a cage. So what do we need to do to catch a monkey and put him into a cage? We need to practice or train that monkey to come into the cage and live inside that. If we catch the monkey and put him into the cage at once, it will be distracted even more. So what we have to do? We just need to open the cage and put some fruits inside and let the monkey comes in and grab the food and go. So in the first day, the monkey comes in and grabs the foods and it runs away. What we have to do in the next day is to put some fruits again. The monkey comes in the next day and it grabs the foods and runs away. If we keep on putting food inside the cage for a little time, the monkey gets used to it and it starts to think that it is very safe inside this cage than being in the forest. I get my food and I am safe inside it so I must live in this cage. Same like that, dear meritorious devotees and my dear children, we have to train our mind to be at one place. So how to do that? We can do certain meditations and certain tricks to stay focused and to keep our mind within ourselves. It is quite normal that the mind to be distracted easily. That is the nature. It runs everywhere. It runs from thoughts to thoughts very rapidly. So what we have to do? We have to keep on taking back the lost consciousness or the lost contemplation again and again to our focusing thing. So for an example, when we do meditation, it is quite normal. Our mind will easily be distracted when we are doing the meditation. So for an example, if we are doing the breathing meditation, we keep on thinking about the flow of breath. But the mind is not ready to stay at that moment at that focus point. So what the mind does? It jumps out of our focusing thought and it runs away. So as an example, when we are doing the meditation, the mind will vent us here and there for a long time. So what we have to do? We have to keep on taking that lost contemplation to the focusing thought or to the meditation. So same thing that we can apply to our mind. So when you are studying, if you are at your class, if you are doing a meditation, it is quite normal that our mind to be easily distracted. All we need to do is we have to take back that lost contemplation again to what we are focusing on. If you are studying, if you have lost your contemplation, once you are aware of that, take back again to it. If you are meditating, if you have lost your contemplation, take back your lost contemplation to that meditating thought and do your meditation. If you keep on practicing focusing on yourself, the mind will make a habit of it. Because what we think again and again and again, what we do again and again and again will become a practice easily. So what we have to do to take back the lost focus and the contemplation to our self, we need to keep on practicing it. At the beginning, it will be overwhelming and distracting. Don't worry. What we have to do is we have to keep on doing this again. We have to practice the continuity. If you practice this continuously, your mind will focus one day. So you have to be ready for that. You have to study about your mind. You have to study about your life. You have to practice focusing on yourself. Once you get used to focus on yourself, it is very easy to do your studies and your meditation and your spiritual practice. So if you make your mind well-focused and contemplated one, you can attain successful goals in your life. Namobuddaya.